Academic
Exchange Quarterly Winter
2002 Volume 6, Issue 4
Using Literature and Film in
Organizational Behavior
Stephen C.
Betts
Stephen C. Betts is an
Assistant Professor of Management at the Cotsakos
College of Business, William Paterson University of New Jersey, Wayne, NJ. He received his Ph.D. from
Abstract
In
management classes, examples and case studies are often used to illustrate
concepts. The vast majority of these
illustrations are taken from contemporary management situations. However, the theories presented, especially
in the area of organizational behavior, are portrayed as being generalizable beyond modern business organizations. In this paper a creative term project is
proposed, drawing on a single work of literature, along with a film adaptation,
to illustrate the vast majority of the course content. Besides being an
entertaining and engaging way to illustrate and apply course content, this
approach reinforces the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary education and
specifically encourages linkages between the business school and the arts. Romeo and Juliet, Wizard of Oz, and Moby Dick are used to illustrate how the project was
successfully employed.
Introduction
The
use of real-life examples and case studies is very common in management
classrooms. Textbooks typically have a
range of examples from brief anecdotes related to individual content points to
large case studies covering several chapters.
One creative way to augment these real-life examples is the use of
illustrations from literature and film.
The premise is that the ideas presented in the course are widely,
perhaps even universally applicable notions about people and
organizations. A single piece of
literature, if it has the proper characteristics can provide an ‘alternative
reality’ to serve as a comprehensive metaphor for contemporary organizational
reality.
Using
a single literary work has two advantages - first, the students become familiar
with the story, characters and situations, and second, it allows the students
to see how all of the content of the course interacts. This approach was successfully used for the
term project in an undergraduate organizational behavior course, which is a
required course in most management degree programs. The course addresses the 'micro' theories of
organization, focusing on human behavior and action within the organizational
setting. It is closely related to
industrial/organizational psychology, but also draws from sociology, social
psychology, organization theory, economics, and other disciplines. In three recent semesters the literary works
used were Romeo and Juliet, The Wizard of Oz and Moby
Dick.
Choice of Source Material
Several
criteria were employed in selecting the literary works upon which term projects
were based. The primary consideration
was that they had the requisite complexity to illustrate all of the course
material, which eliminated many types of stories. For example, many classics have a
single-minded heroic individual overcoming some terrible hardship or
adversary. This type of story would not
fit the needs of an organizational behavior class. The specific considerations were that the
work had identifiable organizations, groups and leaders, and involved a variety
of complex characters in complex situations.
Two
additional considerations were that the story be interesting to students and
that care be taken regarding extreme viewpoints. A story that holds the students' interest
hopefully will result in greater effort put into the term project and attention
during presentations. There is a potential problem that strong advocacy of
relevant political, ethical, or religious positions may create a polarized
topical debate that overshadows the course content. Although discussion of various points of view
is a vital necessity, extreme bias in a work may limit constructive discourse
and be distracting.
A
final, practical consideration in the choice of material was that there was a
film version of the book or play that captured the essential elements. The students were required to become familiar
with the material, and given the choice of reading the play/book, watching the
movie(s) or both. In practice, all of
the students watched a film version at least once, most read at least part of
the play/book and many read the work in its entirety. A preferred film version
was suggested for Romeo and Juliet (Zefferelli’s
1968) and The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939).
For Moby Dick two works were suggested, the well-known movie (1956) and
TV miniseries (1998).
Examples Identified by
Students
During
each semester that this project has been used, students successfully identified
and explored examples of the majority of the course content material. The following is a list of a few of the topic
areas covered in the organizational behavior course and some actual examples
identified and explored by students:
Romeo and Juliet
Organizational Structure - the
Inter/Intra Group Dynamics - (inter) the initial clash
between the servants of the Montagues and Capulets, (intra) Romeo trying to stop his friend Mercucio from fighting.
Transactional Leadership - the Prince of Verona’s
attempt to control the situation by talking to the head of each family.
Politics - Lord Capulet arranging
Juliet's marriage to
Expectancy Theory
(Motivation)
- Romeo and Juliet’s decision to run away was based on the expectation that
they would be together.
Communication - a failure in
communications between the Friar and Romeo resulted in the deaths of Paris,
Romeo and Juliet.
Decision-Making - The Montague servants
deliberated before each response directed toward the Capulets.
Wizard of Oz
Culture - the lyrics of the ‘Merry
Old Land of Oz’ song tell about the cultural norms of the
Teamwork - Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin
Man and Cowardly Lion worked together as a team throughout the story.
Coercive Power - the Wicked Witch throwing
fireballs at the Scarecrow.
Attitudes - Cowardly Lion’s cognitive
dissonance caused by being afraid and his image of a lion as a fearless beast.
Individual/Group Goals - Dorothy’s group all had
individual goals and a group goal of reaching the Wizard of Oz.
Problem Solving - the Scarecrow devised a
plan to distract the guards so they could get into the castle.
Moby Dick
Charismatic Leadership - Ahab rallying the crew to
hunt the white whale.
Goal Conflict - Starbuck’s concern with
the hunt for Moby Dick interfering with the goal of
obtaining whale oil.
Job Specialization/Rewards - Queequeg,
a harpooner received a high wage compared to Ishmael, an ordinary seaman.
Work Group
Autonomy/Coordination - the whale boats acted in concert and individually.
Personality - clear differences between
Starbuck, Stubb, Flask and others.
Perceptions - Ahab capturing St. Elmo’s
Fire viewed as something supernatural.
Industry Norms - Ahab violating a custom
by refusing to join in the search for the Rachel’s lost boat.
Basic Project Design
The
class was divided into 6 groups. Each
group was assigned a list of topics from the course. The group was to prepare a written report
and oral presentation. Their goal was
‘to show how the topics from class could be used to provide insight into the
dynamics of the case’. It should be
emphasized that the approach was for the students to apply the course content
to gain insight into the story, not to look for illustrations of course
material. The premise is that the
students will bring the course content into the world with them and use it to
better understand their workplace. In
this regards, the project goes beyond understanding the course material and
into its application in analyzing a situation.
The
project was worth 50 points out of 225 total points in the course (22%). Each student received a maximum of 25 points
for hi/her individual written contribution, 15 points for the overall group
written project, and 10 points for the group oral presentation. The written project was due and the oral
presentations were given during the last week of class before the final exam.
Written Report
The
group was required to write a report that consisted of an introduction, four
pages from each student and a conclusion.
Each student’s section needed to be clearly identified.
Some
advice given to the students regarding the written report:
- Use your discretion as to the most important
and relevant course material from the topics assigned; you are not obliged to
cover everything.
- Use your
discretion as to the most important and relevant people, situations and events
to address from the book/play (movie).
- Familiarize yourself with the story by
reading the book/play, attending a performance of the play, watching a film or
video version, and/or consulting other sources.
- Use a common format for the written
sections. Identify each group member’s
section in some way, such as starting each on a new page with the author in the
header.
- Consider dividing the assignment by: course
content, movie events/ decisions, movie characters, movie themes/ situations.
- Common Problems: repeating story (we know the
story), explaining course material (we know the material), weak connections
(clearly link the story and course content), odd interpretations (check with
your group to insure proper interpretations)
Oral Presentations
The
oral presentations were far less formal than the written presentations. Each group was given 30 minutes of class time
for the presentation. The students were
informed that the presentation grading would be very liberal, and they were
encouraged to take risks and be creative.
The classes came up with some creative, well thought out and
entertaining projects. One example was a
live “Juliet Has A Secret” episode of a Jerry Springer-like talk show. The various characters and issues were
systematically revealed as on the TV show, and ‘Jerry’ asked questions cleverly
using the terminology and concepts from the course. Another memorable project was a version of
the Hollywood Squares game with characters of the Wizard of Oz in the
Squares. The questions related storyline
elements and course concepts. Perhaps
the most ambitious and well executed project was a video presentation splicing
sections of two versions of Moby Dick and a
documentary on whaling, with captions indicating course content being
illustrated by the story or documentary segment.
Some
advice to the students regarding oral presentation:
- Have fun.
- Be creative.
- Tie course content into movie or book/play,
you can be entertaining, but still be informative.
- Assume audience is familiar with course
content and play/book (movie).
- Feel free to involve class, use
audio-visuals.
- Don’t feel obligated to cover all content of
written paper.
- Some successful ideas: Game show (Jeopardy, Hollywood
Squares), Talk Show (Jerry Springer, Jay Leno), Video, Power Point
Presentations and multi-media combinations.
Final Thoughts
Although
the project has been successful in its current form, some alternative
approaches might be considered, such as:
- Integration throughout the semester: Instead
of a project and presentations at the end of the semester, have the class
familiarize themselves with the story early.
The class can have a standing assignment to provide analysis of the
story with the current course material.
An alternative is for the instructor to center lectures around the
story/film.
- Scenarios and counterfactual analysis: Using
the people and situations from the story as a basis, ‘what-if’ situations and
alternative courses of action could be explored. For example, the unrest in
- Using multiple sources: This may be
particularly applicable when there is a limited range of course material being
examined. In this approach the
uniformity is in the material covered.
It allows students to see the material is applicable over a range of
situations.
The use of a single piece of literature, along with a film adaptation as a comprehensive metaphor for contemporary reality has proven to be an entertaining and engaging way to illustrate and apply course content. The students coming into the course already know of the project and look forward to it. To pique student interest, a different book/play/movie is used each semester. Several colleagues are also adapting the idea to other courses. I encourage management educators to consider incorporating this novel approach into their courses. The approach reinforces the university’s commitment to interdisciplinary education and specifically encourages linkages between the business school and the arts.