Caalaman, Eda Rose Shane A.

PRELIM EXAM
Media Management – BD7A

Most of the Filipino thinks that if you are wearing a necktie, long sleeve, trousers, and has
a brief case for a bag, you are someone who’s working life revolves around sitting all day in an
air-conditioned office in front of a computer and filling some paper works. It may sound easy but
white collar jobs isn’t as fancy and satisfying as most people think. Corporate life can be tough
like living through hell and it takes allot of guts and courage to deal with it.

Office Space is a 1999 cult classic movie directed and written by Mike Judge. It portrays
the harsh reality of the world of works and the sad truth about white collar jobs. The film also
showed the effects of inefficient management style and how it influence the well-being of
employees.

The story revolves around the protagonist Peter Gibbons, a programmer at company
plagued with excessive management called Initech. The staff is constantly under callous
management of their cruel vice president, Bill Lumbergh. One day upon returning from a lunch
with his co-workers Samir and Michael, they were greeted with a news that there will be a staff
meeting. This signals the arrival of “efficiency experts” informally known as “the Bobs” which is
tasked to “help Initech run a little smoothly” which brought agitation and tension in their office.
Due to depression and fear of being in the downsize list of the Bobs, Peter went to a hypnotherapy
session. But during the hypnosis, the doctor dies of a heart attack. Leaving Peter in a deep state of
relaxation and reduced inhibition. As a result, he became more honest, confident, and carefree.
This became the turning point of the story. The next day, Peter just start to ignore everything. He
even skipped work the following day to ask a waitress named Joanna out for lunch. When he finally
decided to go to work, he was interviewed by the Bobs. Unfazed, he confidently shared the brutal
truth of his corporate experience. He identified the inefficiency of the management and gave
insight into office problems. Over the next few days, Peter disregarded office protocol. When
Lumbergh raises his concern to the consultants, the Bobs defended Peter’s action. They said that
Peter was not challenged enough in his role due to Lumbergh’s inefficient management and they
recommended Peter to have an immediate promotion. Peter accepted his new position and learned
that his friends, Michael and Samir will be terminated. He immediately relayed the news to them
and decided to get even with Initech. They infected the accounting system with a computer virus
designed to divert fractions of pennies into an anonymous bank account. Everything was going
smooth until Peter learned that Joanna previously slept with a colleague identified as “Lumbergh”.
Because of this, they fought and broke up. Peter then discovered that a bug in Michael’s virus
caused to steal over $300,000 in only a few days. Haunted by his conscience, Peter decided to take
full responsibility for the crime and went to see Joanna (who decided to quit her job) to reconcile.
Ready to surrender, Peter writes out a confession and slip it under Lumbergh’s office along with
the checks for the stolen money. On the other hand, due to the unfair and harsh treatment of the
management, Milton Waddams has excided his breaking point. As a result, he set the whole
Initech’s building on fire. Because of this, all evidence leading to Samir, Michael, and Peter’s
crime was burned to ashes. At the end, Peter found a job that he actually likes.

To further understand the movie and the hegemonic management approach depicted by
each character, let’s take a closer look at their behavior. Peter Gibbons is someone who always
play by the rules but eventually became so frustrated and unsatisfied. This changed him to be this
bored and depressed worker who’s being pushed around to work without real motivation. But after
the hypnosis, he became more confident, and carefree. He stopped caring about social expectation
and started saying what he exactly think and feel. Peter also portrayed qualities of a leader. He is
persuasive to the point that he convinced Samir and Michael to agree with his idea to steal from
Initech. He became an informal leader and supervised the individual goals of the trio. He made
sure that it is coordinated towards their general goal which is to take their vengeance upon Initech.

As for Peter’s colleagues Michael and Samir, they proclaimed themselves as the best
programmers in Initech. Michael Bolton is a geek looking guy who happens to like rap music.
Samir on the other hand is short tempered. It is evident whenever their printer malfunctions. He
would be so pissed off that he cannot form a coherent sentence. Both of them share the same
perspective regarding Initech’s management. It was evident during their conversation at
Chotchkie’s. Michael foreshadowed a threat when he said that Initech don’t understand the
potential of software engineers. He even stated he could program a virus that could rip off Initech
bigtime if they don’t start treating the software people better. They actually liked their jobs to begin
with. They just don’t like the unfair treatment and lack of appreciation and compensation. When
the two of them got terminated, their feeling of bitterness led them to agree with Peter’s idea.
Michael and Samir became the resource for their “revenge project”. Michael programmed the virus
while Samir installed it. Peter on the other hand, organized and managed the resources to ensure
that their plan will work accordingly.

In contrast of the first three characters, Milton Waddams is the doormat type of person.
Doormat in a sense that he is a type of person who lets other people walks over him. He is quite,
obedient, and stoic towards Lumbergh’s treatment. Milton has something to say about the bullying
of the management but because he likes to mumble words and wasn’t commanding enough, most
of the time people just take him for granted. This is evident during the scene when Milton was
talking to Peter thru the phone. He said that if they will move his desk one more time then he will
quit. He also made it clear that if they will take his beloved stapler then he will set the building on
fire. Another clear threat that is overlooked. Just like the other employees of Initech, Milton is a
victim of a highly bureaucratic management. Milton was denied the opportunity to voice out his
concerns and he was continually abused thru out the movie.

As for Initech’s VP, Bill Lumbergh. His character actually stand out because of his passive-
aggressive approach. Aside from that, he is emotionless, cruel, arrogant, unenergetic (he talks
monotonously) and a big bully (especially to Milton). Despite all this negative qualities, he still
managed to be nonchalant despite Peter’s disrespectful acts. As if he believes that not raising your
voice is all it takes to be considered a nice guy. This is evident when Peter destroyed the front wall
of his cubicle and Lumbergh came to talk to him. Lumbergh still managed to be calm even if Peter
was provoking him. His management style is to walk around, indulge in an insincere conversation
with his employees, and to micro manage them. He is also bureaucratic as portrayed by his
obsession of getting the T.P.S reports perfect.

The outrage of the employees would have been avoided if the management were sensitive
enough to sense the dissatisfaction of its employees. Throughout the movie, signs of inefficient
management is looming all over the place. Micromanagement and excessive amount of supervision
is dominant. The workplace is boring and highly political which cause employees to disengage.
Aside from that, the work environment is distracting due to its compactness. Their office has
become a cubicle farm with no windows in sight. Because of this Peter spends his days listening
to “Corporate accounts payable, Nina speaking. Just a moment”. Passive-aggressive type of
communication is obvious resulting communication barrier between the employees and the
management.

Initech should focus on enhancing the employee-employer relationship and creating

strategic organizational objectives that the employees must conform to. As for Peter’s case, what
he needs is an intrinsic motivation to improve his productivity. Not just a silly “Hawaiian Shirt
Day”, nor a banner saying “Is this good for the company?” Just like what the Bobs said, Peter was
not challenged enough because for Peter, extrinsic motivation like money, shared profit etc is not
enough to make him feel satisfied. What he’s actually looking for is a sense of enjoyment and
competence that Initech wasn’t able to provide. An effective manager should know how to
categorize and value the power of motivation. The type of motivation to be given should align to
the personality of the employees to encourage productivity. With the right motivation, employees
are happy to do their best and more likely to be loyal to the company. Going back to Michael and
Samir, it can be noted that their problem was the unfair treatment and lack of compensation or
even support for software engineers. According to Peter, Michael is working for Initech for five
years already but still he haven’t been promoted. Therefore, Career advancement is slow. Both of
them are easier to manage than Peter since they don’t hate their jobs as much as Peter does and are
actually motivated to work. The best way to deal with this type of employee is to support what
they do. By simply asking what they want and what they need and actually providing those can be
life changing. Some might argue that providing what they want can be bad for business. Yes, it
might be but what they need will never be bad for business since it is a form of investment. For
employees like Milton however, it is best if the management consider listening to what the
employees wants to say. Most importantly, managers should stood up for those employees that are
being bullied not the managers bullying its employees. Managers should be mindful of how they
treat his or her employees. Their treatment are reflections of the employee’s value within the
company. Thus, little miscommunication can result to reduced productivity. Management should
also encourage trials. During a conversation between Peter and Milton, Milton refused to give up
his Swingline Stapler when the company switched to Boston stapler. A clear evidence that Milton
is a passive employee who tends to resist change. Leaders should encourage giving change a try
by viewing the change as an experiment. In addition, managers should know how to deal with
conflict when it arises. Pretending that a problem is non-existent means it will solve itself.
Problems should be dealt with as soon as it arises to prevent it from getting worse. Just like what
they did in Milton’s case. Instead of letting him know that he was fired five years ago, they just let
Milton discover it on his own. Now poor Milton keeps coming to work wondering why he didn’t
receive his pay check. Lastly, Lumbergh could have been a great manager if he took some time to
ask for feedback from his subordinates. As a manager, assessment of your own management style
is the best weapon to determine whether your style is effective. But managers should bear in mind
that assessment is useless if one is not willing to change his or her management style for it be
efficient and effective. Thru this process, employees can raise their concern regarding office
policies, employee compensations, and even office culture. All the problems stated above would
have been avoided if the concept of assessment or feedback was practiced.
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