Human Resource Analysis of the Office Space Movie

The observation of social actions and their effects in the work place are covered throughout sociology. Specific examples can be seen in the movie, “Office Space” directed by Mike Judge. Several theories that can be observed throughout this movie are Strain Theory, Dysfunction of Bureaucracy and the use of primary groups.

Human Resource Practice says “it maybe a cliché that people are an organisations greatest assest, but no orgaisation exists without people and nothing is achieved expect through their efforts” (Page 9)

The movie Office Space, directed by Mike Judge in 1999, is a comic cry of rage against the nightmare of modern office life. The beauty of the script, or the genius of Mike Judge is that they are apparently simple everyday life pieces: caught in a traffic jam, reacting to office mates in the cubicles next to yours, at a coffee break with software engineer colleagues, being attached to/simply resenting your office tools/equipment, dating, courting, maintaining a relationship, in a therapy session, having a neighbor over, having dreams/nightmares, dealing with your boss and office politics, wanting to buck the system…

Film Assignment #1 – Office Space Director: Mike Judge Question #1: Throughout the movie Office Space, the workers had plenty of different coping mechanisms and resistance strategies inside and outside of the workplace to help them handle that “work sucks”. One of the main coping mechanisms and resistance strategies used throughout the film, as mentioned by John Kane, is escapism. Within the first hour of being at work, Peter was confronted by multiple managers that he did not complete his TPS reports correctly. A memo went out to everyone and there needed to be a cover sheet on the report. Frustrated and annoyed, Peter went to his coworkers (and friends)

Office Space is a comedy movie about a man name Peter Gibbons who hates his job at Initech. The movie title is a pun about Milton who constantly states in throughout the movie that if he is moved that he will eventually set the office on fire freeing up space in the office. In the beginning of the movie, Peter has reached his breaking point at his current job and vows that one day he will not go to work or do anything with his life. Peter then decides to take a hypnotherapy session with his girlfriend to try to improve their relationship. He asked the hypnotherapist to take the worries and stress that his job brings away from him and he did. From that point on Peter did not care about his job, he decided when he wanted to go to work and how he spend the rest of his free days.

In 1999, Hollywood writer and director, Mike Judge, wrote and directed a movie entitled Office Space. Office Space is a satirical look at the human experience in the workplace environment. Although the scenarios presented in this comedy are far-fetched, they do shine a light on several industrial and organizational psychological principles. Some themes that are touched on in the movie are leadership, communication, motivation, job analysis, groupthink, and counterproductive workplace behaviors. This paper will attempt to analyze and evaluate the workplace conditions presented through the lens of Herzberg’s two factor theory and make recommendations to increase production as well as job satisfaction.

1. Gather the Facts The premise of the movie Office Space is about a group of workers, Peter, Michael, Samir, Tom, and Milton, work at Initech who are fed up with their jobs. The movie starts with Peter, the protagonist, going through his typical day of work at Initech. Various annoyances have been accumulating and Peter views his days at work as a waste of time and has no motivation to do anything productive.

The need for human resources evolved as a reaction to the authoritarian structure of the classical organizational theory. Neoclassical addressed many of the problems inherent in classical theory. The most serious objections to classical theory are that

Upon the first read of Hammonds’ “shot heard ‘round the world” article, one would consider it to be a poignantly appropriate article that calls the polarizing function of Human Resources to the carpet. However, a second or third reading of the article, Hammonds’ extraordinary words begin to show their flaws. Given the subjective nature of HR, it wouldn’t be difficult to muster up some relevant anecdotes that support his argument. So let’s skip the fancy rhetoric and call Hammonds’ article for what it is, lazy; and here’s why.

“Orientation” is a short story that shows the complex nature of working for an office and the way it causes people to feel stressed or overwhelmed when being around this nature for extended periods of time. David Orozco discusses the “Orientation” of a new employee in humor-based way that also shows why it can be mind-twisting to work in an everyday routine in an office building. This story developed both a sense of humor while also trying to add it in an everyday situation. When reading this short story, it starts to develop the sense of concern as well as the sense of the vibe of this office building compared to others.

The Movie “Office Space” features a typical cubicle style office environment. There is no culture clash, just classic examples of bad management. Peter and Joanna are two people in different environments who both suffer from dissatisfaction. Peter works at a company similar to Intel or IBM, Joanna at a restaurant similar to TGI Friday’s. The office environment is exactly how our book says it should not be, which leads to many comical scenes. Communication comes from the top-down only, in the form of impersonal memos. There are 8 bosses that Peter all must answer to. This is described as a “Tall” structure of business in our book, like IBM. “At IBM there are many units, with many supervisors, and fewer employees per supervisor” (53). Power is very centralized at Peter’s job; his main boss is named Bill Lumbergh. Bill is a greedy, overbearing authoritarian and abuses his power in many ways – he has his own reserved parking spot right in front of the building, he forces Peter to come in to work on the weekends, and he is very condescending to his employees. The multiple bosses just create a more negative work environment. For example, when Peter forgets to put coversheets on his TBS reports, Lumbergh and a couple of his other bosses talk to him like he is stupid, asking if he “got the memo.” The memo represents the formal, written mode of communication that classical organizations use. As stated, Communication comes from the top-down, and any

The movie “Office Space,” which was directed in 1999 by Mike Judge, examines and critiques the various organizational

Human Resource Management is a vital function in any organisation and operates in legal and social environments that are becoming increasingly complex. It is defined as the process and practice of managing and advising executives on staff recruitment, selection, retention and development (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis 2011). In the post-bureaucratic era, these management styles have altered to cater towards satisfying employees through intrinsic rewards by providing pride, relationships, meaning and a sense of accomplishment through their work (Clegg, Josserand & Teo 2006). Throughout this essay, the evolution of human resource management from the bureaucratic era’s ‘hard theories’ to the post-bureaucratic era’s ‘soft theories’ will be

Instead, human resource practices of ‘best fit’ are more effective when they are designed to fit certain contingencies in the organization’s specific context. Consequently, ‘best practice’ is perceived to improve performance within an organization when a select bundle of policies is implemented and the employees are managed more efficiently. Jeffrey Pfeffer’s (1994) work under this conception offers a list of seven practices assumed to be most beneficial to an organization for achieving competitive advantage ‘through people’. (1) The importance of employment security is emphasized because it is unrealistic to expect such hard work and commitment from employees without some expectation of security on their part. (2) Selective hiring is a source of sustainable competitive advantage through its “capturing” of particularly exceptional human talent (human capital). (3) Self-managed teams require efficient teamwork, and are seen as a route to achievement of more creative solutions. Employees deserve to be rewarded for

Human resources is the function of the company that organizes the people and takes care of them. People within a company need to feel that they are useful to an organization and that they are making a contribution to the overall success of the company. Job satisfaction comes from being able to perform at what a person considers their best level. This cannot be achieved unless human resource functions such as training, hiring, and scheduling are done properly. This paper will look at all aspects of human resources that were discussed in the class-- EEO and affirmative action; human resources planning, recruitment, and selection; human resources development; compensation and benefits; safety and health, and; employee and labor relations and reflect on how they work together, whether