Professor David I. Levine Spring 2002

Haas School of Business UC Berkeley

BA 24: Films About Work

We will watch movies about workers, bosses, unions, and how they get along. We will use these films to explore basic questions about how workers are motivated, what makes for more and less effective leadership in different circumstances, the effects of unions on workers and firms, and discrimination by race and gender. We will also consider issues about how filmmakers use their craft to convince viewers of their point of view. The class includes comedies (Nine to Five), dramas (Apollo 13), classic movies (On the Waterfront) and contemporary ones (Startup.com). Students will compare these movies with workplaces they know, and draw conclusions about workplaces, about films, and about their relationship.

Jump directly to: Class Procedures | The Movies | Watching a Movie | Typical questions about a movie.

Overview

Introduction
Jan. 22	Modern Times (first 20 minutes) VHS 999:47	Read notes on watching a movie.
Working Together (?)
Jan 29	Nine to Five (1980, 110 min.) DVD 949	Watch in class.
Feb. 5	Apollo 13 (1995, 140 min.) DVD 845	Watch prior to class.
Feb. 12	Glengary Glen Ross (1992, 100 min.) VHS 999:1072	Watch in class. Paper topic due.
Feb 19	Office Space (1999, 89 min.) VHS 999:2844	Watch prior to class
What do Unions Do?
Feb. 26	Norma Rae (1979, 114 min.) VHS 999:2419	Watch prior to class
March 4	On the Waterfront (1954, 108 min.) VHS 999:18	Guest speaker Katie Quan Watch prior to class
March 11	Roger & Me (1988, 91 min.) VHS 999:439	Watch prior to class
Women at Work
March 19	Rosie the Riveter (1987, 65 min.) VHS VIDEO/C 1927	Watch in class

Class Procedures

The class meets in Haas F318. The class is for 1 unit. Tuesday 1-3 most days, but 1-4 on days we watch films in class: Jan. 29, Feb. 12 and March 19.

To watch films: For the weeks we do not watch films in class you need to go to the Media Resources Center at 150 Moffitt Library. If three or more of you come at once you can watch it on a bigger screen without headphones. I recommend you establish a default time such as Friday 2-4.

Contact me by email Levine@Haas.Berkeley.Edu, phone 2-1697, or by dropping by my office (Haas 671).

About you: Please email me your name, potential major(s), a list of past jobs, any background you have related to films, and 2 sentences about yourself.

The class Web page is Faculty.Haas.Berkeley.Edu/Levine/Ba24. Essential information such as required readings will be posted to that page, and you must visit it each week.

Subscribe to the class email list BA24-1 at http://haas.berkeley.edu/majorcool-scripts/majordomo. I assume people check email at least twice a week.

The format of the class is largely discussion; thus, attendance is mandatory. See me if you must miss a class.

Grades will be based 60% on class discussion and 40% on short papers each week. Unless otherwise noted, it is required that students watch all movies carefully before class. “Watching carefully” means that you take notes during the film and you write up thoughts after viewing it. You must bring these notes to class and be willing to share them with us all.

Weekly writing assignment: Each week you owe me about 5 paragraphs (2 double-spaced pages). These can be on any of several topics:

1. Answer the “questions to consider” for each film.

2. Relate the films we see to workplaces or current event stories you are familiar with.

3. Relate the films we see and the principles of management we discuss to other movies, TV, and other media images of work. For example, talk about management styles in the TV show ER, or relate On the Waterfront and Norma Rae to your aunt’s teachers union.

4. Write about how a film affected you, or other thoughts about a film and the workplaces it represents.

Our class representative Chris Pawlik <c_pawlik@uclink.berkeley.edu> will give me feedback periodically about how class is going. If you are uncomfortable sending me any feedback, please send it to him

The Movies

Modern Times (1936, first minutes) Jan 22.

How can managers motivate workers? Which of those techniques are used in this film clip?
What are the best and worst examples of management you have seen?
Who is the single leader who has most influenced you, and how?
Only a percent or 2 of American workers are on assembly lines. Do the images of this film have relevance to other types of work? Have you ever worked at a job with some of the elements parodied in this workplace?
What is the relationship of the worker and boss in this film?
What are relationships like among workers?
What is the relationship of the worker and technology?
What is the relationship between workers and government (as represented by the police)?
How does Chaplin convince the audience of his views on work and technology?
In the 1950s Charlie Chaplin was accused of being a Communist and left the United States. Does this movie subvert American values? Are there any circumstances under which the United States should kick moviemakers out of the country?

Related Web site:

“Modern Times - The Question of Technology”
For this film and all other films, the Internet Movie Database (www.IMDb.com) has a wealth of information and often links to related Web sites.

Working Together (?)

Nine to Five (1980, 110 min.) Jan. 29

We will watch this film during class.

Required reading: Before class, read these essays on the Web that help understand films and how to think about them:

Cinematic Codes
Sequence Analysis; both at http://web.uvic.ca/german/439/

Optional reading:

The 'Grammar' of Television and Film Daniel Chandler http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html

Questions to consider as you watch the movie:

Why does productivity rise during the course of the film?
Does the treatment of women caricatured in this movie still have relevance today?
When the boss left this workplace, productivity increased. Under what circumstances (if any) is productivity likely to rise when bosses leave or their jobs are eliminated?
Does the slapstick humor strengthen or impede the film’s political points?
Note: For all films, consider the questions listed below under “Typical questions about a movie.”

Possible paper topics:

Interview working women and men about sexual harassment on the job.
Examine workplaces that have implemented some of the changes implemented in the movie. Compare the outcomes.

Woody, Bette and Carol Weiss, Barriers to Work Place Advancement: The Experience of the White Female Work Force, Glass Ceiling Commission,” U. S. Department of Labor, 1994.

Apollo 13 Watch prior to class for Feb. 5

Questions to consider

In what sense is this movie about workplaces?

In what ways was NASA a well-run or a poorly-run workplace? What about the employees, the managers, and the organization helped and what impeded cooperation?

· What management practices helped or impeded cooperation?

The book and film The Right Stuff was about the first U.S. astronauts. The rocket designers preferred to deal with monkeys, not astronauts, as either could do the simple necessary tasks, while the latter were more demanding. Does Apollo 13 argue for or against manned (as opposed to robotic) space flight?
How well does NASA manage the switch between replication of the same tasks (like an assembly line) and a more creative mode?
In what ways was this mission a success and in what ways a failure?
Apollo 13 was NASA’s most famous failure. Why did NASA cooperate in making this movie? Do you think NASA’s cooperation (or the need to maintain it) affected the film?

Related Web site: NASA’s Web site on Apollo 13

Comparison movies: The Right Stuff, Aliens II.

Possible paper topics:

Interview people who work in aerospace about the combination of routines and creativity they use to ensure quality.
Read the original reports on the incident and compare them to the movie’s account.

Glengary Glen Ross Watch in class Feb. 12.

Each group’s paper topic is due today.

Questions to consider:

· What are the several bosses’ motivational techniques? Why do you think they are or are not effective?

Note three examples when workers cooperate and fail to cooperate with each other. Explain their motivations
Does capitalism make people evil? To be more concrete, list five examples of behaviors in the film that violate acceptable norms of business practice. For each action, explain why the characters performed that immoral act. Relate those motivations to the employer’s motivational schemes, and relate those motivational schemes to the employer’s need to make profits to survive.

Comparison movies:

Death of a Salesman
Boiler Room

Related Web sites:

The unofficial Glengary Glen Ross Site: www.uggr.com.
“Super Sellers” from Psychology Today: http://www.chally.com/super.htm.

Possible paper topics:

Interview people who work solely for commission about what motivates them. Which issues from the movie arise in other commission salespeople’s jobs?

Office Space Watch prior to class Feb. 19

Questions to consider:

What were the managers’ and consultants’ several motivational techniques? Did they mesh well together?
Why were the consultants impressed by an employee trying to be dismissed? Should they have been?
Why is the movie titled "Office Space"?
How does the process of commuting to work in this film compare with the others we have seen?
The waitress must wear "flair" and show positive attitude. What does it mean to enforce a policy of “positive attitude”? Is it inherently inhumane to the employees, or just being polite to the customers?
The restaurant manager requires 15 pieces of flair -- or does he? What does it mean to have universal voluntary participation?

Related books:

Anything by Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert).

Related Web Sites

Dilbert.com

Related movies

Working Girl
The Firm
Human Resources

What do Unions Do?

Norma Rae (1979, 114 min.) Watch prior to class Feb. 26

Questions to consider:

· After 3 minutes, what do you think about the health effects, working conditions, and management of this workplace?

· How does Norma change during the course of the movie?

· Some critics have noted the film, by emphasizing Norma and a single union organizer, downplays the number of people, particularly blacks, who were involved in the organizing drive. Do you agree?

Related book: Crystal Lee: Woman of Inheritance (1975)

Related movies

· Matewan. A great movie about a union organizing drive in a coal town.

· Harlan County U.S.A. On the 1973 Kentucky coal miner's strike

· American Dream. Academy Award winner best documentary on a Hormel strike.

Possible paper topics:

Interview people who work as union organizers and compare their experiences with Norma Rae’s.
Read new accounts and biographies of the movie’s model, Crystal Lee Sutton, and compare them to the movie.

Related Web sites:

UNITE! (the successor to Norma Rae’s union): http://www.uniteunion.org/
AFL-CIO http://www.aflcio.org/
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a Web site opposed to unions: http://www.nrtw.org/
Critique of union political activism at “Labor Union Fraud - A Brief Introduction” http://www.fraudfactor.com/ffunionfraudintro.html

On the Waterfront Watch prior to class March 4

Katie Quan, a former top official of UNITE (the successor to the successor of the textile workers union in Norma Rae) will come talk to class for 90 minutes. Bring her questions about working conditions in textile mills, organizing drives, what textile unions do, the rationality of workers’ fears that unions lead to job loss in textiles, etc. You are each responsible for bringing two insightful written questions to class.

Questions to consider:

What were the bases for power for the union leaders in extracting payoffs from the ship owners and from the union members?
The director of this movie was attacked for naming former friends as members of the Communist party. How do you think his former lefty friends’ hatred of him affected this movie?
Both “On the Waterfront” and “Norma Rae” are caricatures of unions and firms. In what way does either reflect reality today? In what ways are both outdated?
How do the reasons workers join the Longshoremen’s Union in this film differ from the AFL-CIO description of why people join unions presented at http://www.aflcio.org/front/joinunions.htm?

Possible paper topics:

Interview people who work as longshoremen and compare their experiences with that of the movie.
Read new accounts, particularly those on which the film was based, and compare them to the movie.

Roger & Me (1988, 91 min) Watch prior to class March 11.

In this film, do you root for the workers, managers, both or neither? Does the filmmaker identify with any of these groups?
Which of the three movies in this section presents a fairer picture of unions?
Is this film a documentary?
Would you ever like to be filmmaker Michael Moore’s enemy? In what ways is this move fair or unfair to CEO Roger Moore?

Related Web sites:

An interview with Michael Moore
Michael Moore’s Official Homepage

· A Short Bibliography of Reviews and Articles in the UC Berkeley Libraries: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/rogerandme.html.

Possible paper topics: Interview people who have been laid off and compare their experiences with that of the movie. Read new accounts of the GM layoffs in Flint and elsewhere and compare them to the movie.

Bateman, Thomas S.; Sakano, Tomoaki; Fujita, Makoto. "Roger, Me, and My Attitude: Film Propaganda and Cynicism Toward Corporate Leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology v77, n5 (Oct, 1992): 768 (4 pages).
Allen, Henry. "Have Grin, Will Film Despair; Documentary Maker Michael Moore and His Wry Look at an American Dream Gone Awry." ('Roger and Me') Washington Post v113 (Thu, Jan 11, 1990): E1, col 2, 66 col in.
Duffy, Susan; Treece, James B. "The real Villain in Roger & Me? Big Business." (also includes a related article on Roger Smith) Business Week, n3140 (Jan 8, 1990): 42 (2 pages).

Women at Work

Life & Times of Rosie the Riveter Watch in class March 19

Five women reminisce about their jobs and working conditions during World War II. Includes topics of sex discrimination, the women's movement, and the role of movies and radio in helping mold public opinion during World War II. 1987. 65 min. Video/C 1927

What backgrounds did these women come from before the war? What sort of labor segregation did they experience, both with regards to race and to gender?
After the war, what were the women war workers expected to do? What did the workers themselves expect? Did they resist expectations that they would give up their work? What did these women do with the rest of their lives?
Does the treatment of women portrayed in this movie still have relevance?

Possible paper topics:

Interview women who worked during World War II and compare their experiences with that of the movie.
Read news accounts from World War II of the working women. How do these accounts differ from those in the film?

Related Web sites:

Watching a Movie

As you watch the movie, it is important to take notes. Most viewers of a film are caught up in the story, and not paying attention to all the issues we will discuss in class. Your job will be to be much more attentive to issues of conflict, power and motivation.

Two styles of note taking are often effective. One style is narrative, with notes each few minutes. The other style considers specific people, and discusses their actions and motivations. Three or four people per film is usually sufficient.

Typical questions about a movie

The key questions for this class are usually:

What motivates the workers in this firm to work more or less hard for the employer?
What motivates the workers to cooperate more or less with each other as employees or within the union?
Why do the key characters do what they do?

Other questions that you should consider include:

What did you learn from this film? What surprised you?

How do the time period, place, and industry affect the story? How do the protagonists’ occupation, age, race and sex affect the story? How would the story work in a different country or industry, a different time, or with the race and sexes of bosses and workers reversed?

What is the point of view of those creating the film (writer, director, etc.)? What are they trying to convince you of?

What means does the writer use to convince you of his or her view: more or less sympathetic or attractive characters, desperate situations, humor, etc.? Were these mechanisms effective?

In what ways is the film realistic? In what ways is it unrealistic? Why did the author and director decide to be unrealistic? How do goals such as making money, appealing to an audience, making a political point, and satisfying important stakeholders affect the film?

Pick another movie we have seen. How does that film help us understand this one? How do they differ, and why?

Looking at the movies in this course as a whole, what themes have we ignored? Which occupations, industries, and demographic groups are under-represented in this course? Which are under-represented more broadly in American films and TV? Why do you think they are under-represented?