Walmart Organizational Behaviour

organizational behavioure.g. Walmart, K-Mart), will instantly recognize Employee of the Month (2006) as a comedy set in a common American workplace. It is the story of Zach Bradley, a box boy at Super Club, who goes through his work with negligible interest in his work or his company. On the other hand is Vince Downey, a head cashier who has won the last 17 Employee of the Month awards, and is committed to winning it once more so he can join the Hall of Fame and win a new car. Just when you think Vince is a winner and Zach is a loser, enter Amy- a new cashier transferring from another Super Club who has a reputation for dating only Employee of the Month awardees. Boy-meets-girl, and Vince and Zach become competitors for the award. After many twists and turns, Zach wins the award (as well as Amy).

The movie is a fantastic example of the role of motivation in influencing employee behavior and workplace commitment. Academics define motivation as the reason/s for engaging in a specific behavior. According to one theory, people can be either motivated by external (extrinsic motivation) or internal (intrinsic motivation) reasons. When intrinsically motivated, people do something because they want to. When extrinsically motivated, people do something for a reward to. Like with most psychological theories, there is an on-going debate between theorists who believe both intrinsic and extrinsic reasons are equally motivating, those who believe that one is better than other, and those who believe the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic reasons is absurd and meaningless.

In the movie, Zach ccould care less about extrinsic rewards such as the Employee of the Month award and the new car, while Vince is attracted to these external rewards. However, Amy's entry changes things- Zach is attracted to her and is now intrinsically motivated to become the Employee of the Month so she would date him. The competition between Zach and Vince is hilarious and provides a great example of how people are differently affected by intrinsic and extrinsic reasons.

→ 23 Comments

Posted in Movies

Tagged comedy, Employee of the Month, Hollywood movie, motivation

Tucker: The Man and his Dream

Posted on January 8, 2008 | 25 Comments

Tucker: The Man and his Dream is my favorite entrepreneurship-related movie. It is a movie about Preston Tucker, an American automobile designer and entrepreneur. It is the (fictionalized) true story of an entrepreneur who had a dream to produce the best car of his time. His dream cars had features that other contemporary cars (including the big Michigan automobile companies) did not have- an air-cooled rear engine, disk brakes, independent 4-wheel suspension, an additional center headlight that pivoted left and right for better vision when turning, a padded dash, seatbelts, and a popout safety windshield. He raised money, generated demand, and set up a factory to make his dream cars. Unfortunately, like many other entrepreneurs, he was not able to fight the Big Guys and failed to fulfill his dream.

Given that Tucker is my favorite entrepreneurship-related movie, there are many things I like about it. But what I like most about it is that it reminds me of a great Indian lore who is a legendary figure in Indian history- Subhash Bose, popularly referred to as Netajee (The Leader). On the surface, it is difficult to see many similarities between Tucker and Bose. Dig deeper, and you find two characterestics, two really important qualities, that both men shared- They were men with big dreams and they dealt with failure. The movie shows Tucker as a man who dreamed of making and selling a revolutionary new car in an industry dominated by giant automobile companies. Anyone who knows the autombile industry knows that it is a business with really big entry barriers. To borrow from management guru Michael Porter, it is not easy to get into the automobile industry. However, Tucker believed he could do it, he convinced many people to believe in him, and dedicated his life to achieving his dream. Bose, on the other hand, was no friend of entrepreneurs. However, he like Tucker, had a Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal (GOAL) to militarily defeat the mighty British army to free India. He believed he could do it, convinced millions to follow him, and dedicated his life to achieving his dream. Both men encountered many obstacles on their way, failed many times, and after every failure they would come up with an even more daring next step. Both men also failed to fulfill their dream directly. The Tucker Corporation was ultimately unsuccesful in manufacturing and selling the new Tucker car, and so The Indian National Army Bose founded also failed in its military battles against the British Army. But, in some ways, both men succeeded- The automobile industry gradually accepted many of Tucker's revolutionary ideas and the British did have to leave India. Of course, despite their apparent failures both men became legends, living in the hearts and minds of the people.

So, I guess, in some ways Tucker: The Man and his Dream raises an important question for entrepreneurs and those interested in entrepreneurship- How do you define success and failure for entrepreneurs? Is an entrepreneur succesful when s/he makes a lot of money (e.g. Bill Gates), when s/he succesfully introduces a revolutionary new product (e.g. Steve Jobs), or is it just the ability to dream and "go where no man has ever gone before" that is the true definition and success of an entrepreneur?

→ 25 Comments

Posted in Movies

Tagged Automobile industry, Hollywood movies, Tucker

The Corporation

Posted on January 8, 2008 | 176 Comments

I think 'The Corporation' (2003) is a shock movie for most people, especially young people who are new entrants to the business world. It is a documentary about the corporation- a ubitiquous, though artificial, entity- which has become an economic, social, and political force around the world. The movie is no balanced analysis of the corporation, rather it is an examination of a corporation's negative behavior- what the film refers