Steven Farmer asked:
> What movie as a metaphor most closely captures management theory
> and why?
My favorite movie management metaphor is "Metropolis" the silent German
science fiction film by Fritz Lang. I have in my home laserdisc
collection the 1984 reconstruction by Giorgio Moroder. This version has
an original soundtrack by several new wave artists including Pat Benetar
and Adam Ant.
The film has several management themes. Because the film was produced in
the late 1920's it reflects the issues of trade unionism that was being
dealt with in the industrialized countries of the time.
The story takes place in a culture where technology has become more
important than humans. A management has effectively separated itself from
the workers. The workers unintentionally organize an revolution through
the work of a spiritual leader. Management is slow to recognize the
problem. When management does recognize the problem, it tries to use
technology (represented by a robot) to quash the revolution.
The managers' tactic fails because it ends up treating symptoms, not root
causes. Eventually, the managers lose control of the robot, which
threatens to destroy the city inhabited by both managers and workers.
The story ends with an uneasy truce between the workers and managers
assembled by the spiritual leader. The spiritual leader explains:
"Without the heart there can be no understanding between the hands and the
mind."
I believe that the film could probably be used in leadership training. It
is only about 75 minutes in length, so a group of students could view the
film and spend another 45 - 60 minutes discussing it's management themes.
You may be able to find this film in video stores that specialize in
science fiction or silent films. I believe it's still "in print" so you
should be able to order it.
--Brad Myers, CQA bmyers@gelman.com Gelman Sciences Ann Arbor, Michigan
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>