Office Space - Movie Review Example

The film Office Space, directed and written by Mike Judge, is the story of a make-believe corporation d Initech that is responsible for changing code in computer programs in order to prepare for the coming Y2K bug. Over the course of this movie, it is possible to see several psychological aspects of working in an office present. Things such as employee motivation, employee placement, organizational commitment, occupational stress, and organizational culture are present at various points in this film and are mostly represented in the relationship between the boss Bill Lumbergh and his disgruntled employee Peter Gibbons. Through the relationship between these two men, the viewer is able to see many psychological factors at work which help to make this work environment so unbearable. It is also possible to see that Bill Lumbergh’s style of leadership is responsible for the majority of these problems and, therefore, he should be blamed for the eventual destruction of the company. A force that allows for employers to have a psychological advantage over their employees is job security. There have been massive layoffs lately and those who were lucky enough to keep their jobs must work hard to ensure that they are just as lucky when the next cuts are made. This gives the employers all of the power, as they can work the employees harder, without any backlash because there are so few jobs in many sectors. The employers know that if an employee does not perform up to expectations, then someone else will be readily available to take his or her place. The employees also know this so they must work hard to keep their jobs. In Office Space, Lumbergh utilizes this as a method of employee motivation, as many of the characters are terrified of losing their jobs. He also uses this threat to get certain members of the company to work on weekends, as they must do so in order to keep their jobs. This movie shows a negative form of employee motivation, as employees do not respond will to threats like this, as can be seen in this film. A manner of employee motivation that would work better would be incentives for working overtime and working harder than everyone else. If Lumbergh would offer employees like Peter bonuses for doing extra work, he would be able to get more out of them on a regular basis and would keep them more motivated. Happy workers are much easier to deal with and Lumbergh does not do an adequate job of keeping his employees happy. Longer hours and averted overtime pay would completely ruin employee moral and would cause them to look for other employment opportunities, which shows a lack of organizational commitment. While there would be some employees who might believe that it is still worth it, many of them would be forced to look for other jobs, as they would not be able to handle the workload, especially without the promise of overtime pay. Employees would also begun putting less effort into their work, as they would begin to have distain for the company. This type of policy would almost certainly lead to a backlash by employees, as they would not be given a fair deal if this were to happen. These situations often arise because executives are given stock options within the company. This means that the better to company does, the more profitable it is for those at the top of company. Therefore, they will attempt to get the most out of their employees that they possibly can. The erratic-ness of the situation causes many problems in the office because the employees always fear for their jobs. With the executives always looking out for their own financial gains, it is easy to see why employees do not take much pride in their work. They do not see any positives come from working harder, but are rather forced into doing more just to keep their low paying salary. An example of this would be if an executive needs a project finished very quickly in order to make a presentation to a prospective client. He will most likely make an employee do the project, even though there will not be much of a bonus for that employee. Acquiring this new client will cause the stocks to rise, which will make the executive more money and since he or she only really cares about his own bottom line, he or she will have accomplished what he or she originally set out to do. This also occurs in Office Space when certain employees are asked to show up on weekends without any extra pay. What this does is lesson the amount of organizational commitment that these employees have. Peter does not care about Initech and it show in both his performance and his actions, as he eventually attempts to steal money from the company. This shows an extreme lack of commitment to the organization as a whole. A better way of doing this would be for Lumbergh, once again, to offer incentives, which would create some commitment to the organization as a whole. Since every brain is different, different people will thrive in different working environments and situations. Just because one person is able to complete a task with relative ease, does not mean that his or her replacement will be able to, and it is up to the manger to figure out who is capable of doing what. If a manager wants his or her employees to be productive, he or she should put them in a role where they are most likely to succeed, not just a role that has yet to be filled because when someone leaves a company, he takes value with him - more often than not, straight to the competition. Think of it as being similar to putting a famous quarterback like Joe Montana at a position like offensive tackle. If a coach had done this, there is not doubt that Joe Montana would not have been a successful football player and, therefore, his coach would not have been happy with him and his career would have been very short. If a worker is not put in a role that he or she can thrive in, then he or she will not perform to the best of his or her abilities and neither the worker nor the manager will be happy. Too many times, managers will blame the employee for his or her negatives, but not look at whether or not that employee is being utilized in a situation where he or she can be effective. It is important to remember that a manager is a leader and the employees must have faith in their leader and believe that he or she is entirely competent if they are to follow him or her. Peter has not been placed in a situation within this company where he can best succeed and his performance has suffered as a result of this. All Peter is expected to do is put in code after code and he is never really challenged. This leads to him hating his job, as he it is boring and repetitive. Lumbergh fails at placing Peter in a position where he can succeed, as he is only worried about his own interests. If Lumbergh would speak with Peter and determine what he wishes to accomplish within the company, then maybe it would become more of a career than simply just a job. The blurring of the line between home and work will cause more occupational stress on people, as they will begin to equate the stress of work with home life. This means that whereas home used to be the place where people went in order to get away from the stress of work, they will now have this stress follow them home and it will begin to affect their households. Also, not having the ability to ever be truly off work adds to the stress because it does not allow for any downtime. Without any time to relax, it is certain that more stress will occur for these employees. American employees are also beginning to become less effective because they are working so much. In many European countries, the workers take vacations of up to 6-weeks per year, but they are still more productive than the American workers who do not take vacations because Americans get worn out. This is also a result of the fact that they take their work home with them so much and they do not have any time to relax with their families or even on their own. In Office Space, Peter is constantly being bothered at home by Lumbergh and, therefore, he does not have a chance to get away from the stress that is present in the work environment. This is an example of occupational stress that is present in this film, as Lumbergh does not give him any breathing room, which makes Peter hate his job even more. This turns into a vicious cycle for Peter, as the more he attempts to avoid this occupational stress, the more Lumbergh pushes him, which is what leads him to finally snapping. If Lumbergh would have recognized the fact that Peter was having occupational stress issues, he would have been able to effectively intervene and do what he could order to help alleviate these problems. Unfortunately, Lumbergh is much too self-absorbed, which led to Peter no longer caring about anything. Organizational culture, now more than ever, are constantly changing because there is so much movement in the business world. Employees do not know if the company that they are working for will go under in the near future, or if their bosses will decide to keep them around for a long time. Employees are also left feeling very insecure about their jobs because they do not trust their superiors. Those in charge are often only worried about their own pocket books and do not seem to care how the employees do financially. This has made organizational culture much different than it used to be. The corporation and the worker used to act together to bring stability to both, but that is no longer the case because there is so much movement internally and externally. There is no longer any trust between workers and their corporations, which has led to many problems within the work environment. Organizational cultures are always changing and the business world is more competitive than ever, so these issues will continue on well into the future. The organizational culture that is present at Inetech is one where everyone hates the boss, Lumbergh. The office is also set up in a manner that promotes dreariness. No one on the staff, save the receptionist Nina, has any sort of enthusiasm. This company seems to thrive on the fact that everyone is miserable and their spirits have been broken. Lumbergh needs to establish a new organizational culture that promotes an enjoyable work experience because that will allow for him to get more out of his employees on a regular basis. It is obvious after viewing this film that Bill Lumbergh’s leadership style is responsible for many of the problems at Initech. His employees do not have any job security, as he uses negative motivational techniques, they are not placed in the roles that are best suited for them, they do not have any organizational commitment because they do not feel secure or wanted, the are forced to bring occupational stress home with them because of Lumbergh’s pushy nature, and the organizational culture is such that the workplace is horrible to be around. The employees do not enjoy their jobs because of how Lumbergh has set up the work environment and, therefore, he is directly responsible for the negative things that occurred to the company, including it ultimately being burned down. Bill Lumbergh personifies many of the negative psychological issues that are present in many workplaces all over the world. Works Cited Judge, Mike (Director). (1999). Office Space [Motion Picture]. United States: Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. Read More