Organizations and management at the movies
Article Type: Film reviews From: International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Volume 15, Issue 4
Animated films are a significant source of cinema content that show management and organizational behavior concepts. Such films are not simply children’s entertainment. They often have sophisticated content that will work well in the instructional environment. In this Issue, I review scenes from five animated films that show the following topical areas:
- 1.
problem solving;
- 2.
interpersonal trust and dependence;
- 3.
strategic planning;
- 4.
organizational socialization stage – “breaking in”; and
- 5.
organizational socialization stage – metamorphosis.
This review includes scene position information to help locate a film scene on a DVD.
Problem solving: Toy Story 2 (1999)
Film directors often insert metaphorical observations into their films. Whether intentional or not, a three-minute sequence from Toy Story 2has a memorable metaphorical look at the essence of problem solving.
Greedy toy collector Al McWhiggen (voiced by Wayne Knight) kidnaps Sheriff Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), setting off an adventurous search by all his toy friends. The snappy dialogue, in-jokes, and delightful music make this sequel better than the original. Watch for the elderly toy cleaner, Geri (voiced by Jonathan Harris), who repairs the damaged Woody. He is the same Geri from the 1997 Academy Award winning, animated short film, Geri’s Game(1997).
This scene follows Woody’s conflict with Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack)over who turned on Al’s television set. The scene begins as Buzz Lightyear(voiced by Tim Allen) slashes his way through some brush. Hamm (voiced by John Ratzenberger) and the others follow him through the bushes (DVD Chapter 16,“Crossing the road”). This scene ends after they successfully cross the street. Buzz says, “Good job troops. We’re that much closer to Woody.” The camera pans to the top of an apartment building and cuts to the toy cleaner arriving at Al’s apartment.
These scenes are a visual metaphor of problem solving. The problem? Cross the street to get to Al’s Toy Barn. Innovation in problem solving often requires using items immediately available. The traffic likely would not stop for them to cross the street, nor were they at a light-controlled pedestrian crossing. Problem solution: use the traffic cones. Of course, the humor from the scenes follows from the unintended effects of their problem solution –enormous traffic accidents.
Interpersonal trust, dependence, and problem solving: The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Only describing management and organizational behavior concepts, even with clear definitions, can leave students searching for a concept’s meaning. Animated films’ unique qualities help them give strong meaning to concepts that stay in a student’s memory. The Emperor’s New Groove has an entertaining sequence that brings meaning to interpersonal trust, dependence,and problem solving.
Self-centered, arrogant Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade) becomes a llama at the hands of sorceress Yzma (voiced by Eartha Kitt). Yzma’s clumsy,distracted henchman Kronk (voiced by Patrick Warburton) and Yzma want to take over the emperor’s kingdom. A hilarious adventure unfolds after Kuzco becomes a partner with peasant Pacha (voiced by John Goodman).
This scene starts with a shot of a hilltop palace. The camera pans to Pacha and Kuzco crossing the bridge (DVD Chapter 18, “Battle at the bridge”). The scene ends after Kuzco says, “What are the chances of you carrying me?”Pacha replies, “Not good.” The film cuts to Yzma scratching lines across some symbols while searching for Kuzco. Kronk has her carrier on his back.
A problem develops soon after they start across the bridge. The problem forces Kuzco and Pacha into an interdependent relationship to solve their problem. Questions of trust quickly evaporate as they discover they likely will die if they do not depend on each other to solve their problem.
Strategic planning: Chicken Run (2000)
Strategic planning, planning performance, and planning failure are major management concepts that students often find highly abstract. Chicken Runhas some early scenes that nicely illustrate those concepts.
The stunning claymation of Chicken Run captivates almost any viewer. Set on Tweedy’s Farm, a failing 1950s Yorkshire, England chicken farm, the chickens fear for their necks. Rocky Rhodes, a Rhode Island Red rooster (voiced by Mel Gibson), suddenly arrives. The resident chickens turn to Rocky as their savior and hero to help them escape from the farm.
These scenes start after some opening credits; they follow the black title screen, “an AARDMAN production.” (DVD Chapter 1, “No chicken escapes from Tweedy’s Farm,” start 0:00:46 to Chapter 3, “Eggless Edwina,” stop: 0:07:33). The camera pans from the moon to the chicken barns and Mr Tweedy (voiced by Tony Haygarth) patrolling with his dog. Ginger begins her escape efforts. The scenes end after Ginger (voiced by Julia Sawalha)returns from her solitary confinement. Babs (voiced by Jane Horrocks) asks her if she is back from her holiday. Ginger says she was in solitary confinement. The film cuts to a ringing bell on a post.
None of Ginger’s plans works. She also does not involve the other chickens in developing the plan, producing flawed, incomplete plans. Ginger presents the plan and expects no failures in carrying it out. She and the other chickens do not consider possible situations they could meet when carrying out the plan. Each effort fails with Ginger paying the price of time in solitary confinement.
Organizational socialization stage – “breaking in”: Ratatouille (2007)
People experience organizational socialization in a series of stages, one of which occurs after joining an organization. This “Breaking in” stage presents the new employee with the required behavior the person needs to learn for success in the organization. The stage often includes a mentor who guides and shapes the new employee’s behavior. A three-minute sequence from the stunning animated film Ratatouille captures the full meaning of “Breaking in.”
Remy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a French country rat, has a passion for haute cuisine and not garbage. He leaves his country home and family to go to Paris and find August Gusteau (voiced by Brad Garrett), the famous chef he admires. Remy discovers that Gusteau has died but ends up in the chef’s former restaurant. Linguini (voiced by Lou Romano), a young bungling fellow,arrives to take a job as kitchen cleaner. Remy and Linguini become an unbeatable culinary team, with Remy guiding him from inside his chef’s hat.
The scene that shows the “Breaking in” stage of organizational socialization appears in DVD Chapter 14, “Cooking with Collette.” It follows Remy’s successful efforts at shaping Linguini’s culinary behavior. Head Chef Skinner (voiced by Ian Holm) assigns him to Collette (voiced by Janeane Garofalo), an experienced sous-chef for further training.
Collette quickly outlines what Linguini does wrong and what he must do correctly. Her rapid fire instructions include the correct way to cut, keeping one’s station clear, and keeping one’s arms close to the body to have clean sleeves. She notes that the mark of a good chef is a messy apron and clean sleeves. She further describes that you can tell good bread from the sound of the crust and that you must bribe the grower to get the best produce. After describing the characteristics and history of each of the other sous-chefs,Collette notes that Linguini is one of them, an accepted member of the culinary team.
Organizational socialization stage – metamorphosis: Aladdin (1992)
The abstract quality of socialization theory’s metamorphosis socialization stage quickly disappears in the lightening fast blue Genie transformation scenes in Disney’s Aladdin. Academy Award®winning songs, Robin Williams’ voiceover of the blue Genie, and wisecracking parrot Iago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), offer smart entertainment and stunning symbolism.
Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger) wants to marry Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin). Her society’s law says she must marry a member of royalty. Genie can grant many of Aladdin’s wishes but not the one most important to win Jasmine – learning to be himself. Pay close attention to Genie’s changes and quick dialogue or you will miss many satirical allusions.
These scenes start with Aladdin lying on the ground knocked out by the fall down the shaft (DVD Chapter 10, “Trapped!” through Chapter 11,“Friend like me”). Abu the Monkey (voiced by Frank Welker) tries to awaken him. The scenes follow the old prisoner’s efforts (disguised evil sorcerer Jafar, voiced by Jonathan Freeman) to steal the magic lantern and kill Aladdin. These scenes end as the three fly off on the magic carpet with Genie saying, “Weeeeeee’re outa here.” The film cuts to the Sultan(voiced by Douglas Seale) telling Jafar that he must discuss prisoner sentencing with him before beheading them.
The rapid-fire animation matches Genie’s lightening fast dialogue. These scenes offer unquestionable symbolism of the metamorphosis socialization stage. Derived from the Greek word meaning “transformation” or change in form, Genie alters in shape and number. Along the way, he mimics and characterizes Ed Sullivan, Groucho Marx, Peter Lorre, and other well-known figures.
Stay tuned. We will review another set of movies, and what they tell us about management and organizational behavior, in the next issue of the International Journal of Organizational Analysis.
Joseph E. ChampouxThe University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
