Leadership & General Management

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead

Where do the great ideas come from? How does a company stay in touch with its markets and with changes in the marketplace? How does a senior manager identify the brightest, most creative and hardworking talent on his or her staff? What are the relative roles of analytical and intuitive knowledge in shaping and expanding product lines or spotting compatible acquisitions. In Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, teenagers find themselves having to survive in the business world and quickly learn to thrive in it…(click title for more info) More

Gung Ho

In an increasingly global economy Japanese cars are manufactured in America, American cars in Japan, and parts for both in each. Regardless of the relations existing between any two nations at any one time, the success of international partnerships may depend on a mutual understanding and respect for diversity of history, culture, language and business practices. In Gung Ho, a Japanese automaker moves into an abandoned factory in a down-on-its-heels Midwestern town. Both the automaker and the town’s newly re-employed autoworkers have an interest…(click title for more info) More

Hoosiers

MInute by minute, Hoosiers offers managers great lessons in style, practice, and principle that can be adapted to a broad range of business situations. In addition, Hoosiers offers inspiration. It’s a movie to watch when our team is in the doldrums, facing overwhelming odds against success, or when you, as team leader, are facing moments of self-doubt. Yes, it’s predictable; we know the Huskers will win; we know Ollie will make that free throw; we know Jimmy will make the final shot in the championship game; and we know for sure that before the credits roll, Coach Dale and Myra will be an item. It’s all as corny as an Indiana August, and yet, it’s done so well that it transcends its predictability. The acting is extraordinary, the photography stunning and Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack should on every manager’s music playlist. Listening to it, one hears the pounding of the basketballs, smells the crisp air of late autumn, and knows that whatever project is at hand, success lies ahead. More

Moby Dick

Your boss is nuts!

He’s started using company resources to achieve a personal goal. He has managed to hypnotize the whole staff (except you, of course) into following his lead. He’s offered them big rewards and exacted pledges of loyalty! Why do the owners put up with this? …(click title for more info) More

The Bridge on the River Kwai

David Lean’s classic 1957 film The Bridge on the River Kwai is rife with ambiguities. Two army colonels – one a captive British engineer, the other a rigid Japanese prison camp commandant – match wills while attempting to carry out their orders, obey the rules of their respective military cultures…(click title for more info) More

The Devil Wears Prada

Imagine you’ve just landed a job at the world’s most influential fashion magazine. You are second assistant to its editor-in-chief, arguably the most important person in the global fashion industry. It is a job “a million girls would die for” but you may not keep it for long because your hard-driving boss sometimes has insanely sky-high expectations, and people who fall short of them don’t last long. How do you survive? And, what can you learn from this powerful and monomaniacal dictator? (Click movie title for more info…) More

Twelve O’Clock High

Balancing the interests of the company you work for with the interests of the people who work for you can be one of the toughest jobs you’ll deal with as a manager. Being too distant from those you supervise can cost you their commitment and loyalty; being too close can lead you into the traps of overprotecting employees, reduced productivity and conflicts of interests between employee interests…(click title for more info) More