Transcript Organizational Behavior Movie Analysis

“MICHAEL CLAYTON” AS IT
REPRESENTS SYSTEMS THEORY
Analysis of the movie. Exploring and evaluating the
impact of systems theory.
By Marla Smith
Introduction
This presentation explores the systems theory as
it pertains to an organization portrayed in the
movie “Michael Clayton” written and directed by
Tony Gilroy and produced by Sydney Pollack.
Concepts relating to the theory will be
presented, including organizational structure.
Definition of Systems Theory
Organization
– human
systems of
cooperation
and
coordination
assembled
within
identifiable
boundaries to
pursue shared
goals or
objectives.

“Systems theory provides a simple way
to model organizations by focusing on
the structure and relationships or
interdependence among parts of the
organization. A systems approach
conveys the idea that organizations are
made up of parts and that the parts
interact with each other to accomplish
the organization’s goals.” (Hodge,
Anthony, & Gales, 2003)
Differentiation & Integration
Structure – the
total sum of
the ways in
which an
organization
divides its
labor into
distinct tasks
and then
coordinates
them.

Differentiation
Division of labor into tasks
 Allocate tasks among workers


Integration

Involves the various means that
organizations use to pull together highly
differentiated tasks into cohesive output.
The Organization
The
organizational
charts show
differentiation
The law firm’s
differentiation
complexity was
highly vertical
and highly
horizontal
Clayton had
informal
reporting
relationships,
often feeling
pulled in too
many directions


Kender, Bach, and Ledeen – a Law Firm
specializing in litigation. Employs
upwards of 600 lawyers.
Partial Organizational Chart
Senior Partner
Kender
Senior Partner
Bach
Senior Litigation
Partner
Edens
Senior Partner
Ledeen
Investigation
Special Counsel
Clayton
Litigation Partner
Grissom
Associates
Informal reporting relationship
Legal Assistants
Formal reporting relationship
Differentiation at the law firm

Under the three senior partners were their own
branches of litigation & teams (Kane, 2009)
 Branches
 Investigation,
pleadings and discovery
 Pre-trial, settlement and appeal
 Teams
 Senior
Litigating Partner
 Litigation Associates
 Legal Assistants
 Legal Secretaries
Integration of the law firm


Each team worked with a client throughout the legal
process. The many branches assisted the team in
different parts of the process.
Michael Clayton worked in the Investigation Branch.
He interviewed the client, assessed the situation,
and referred the client to a team.
Integrating Structure of Firm
Stardardization at
the Firm:
Process: Practice in


seven areas of
litigation process,
accounting, human
resources, public
relations, and
advertising
Inputs: Clients (U-
North), employees,
labor, financing

Outputs: Litigation
services, responding
to government
agencies that tax and
regulate business,
dealing with
unexpected events
(Arthur stripping
down naked and
chasing a member of
the client’s
opposition).
Formalization - High
Centralization – High Centralization



The firm had many formal rules, policies, and
procedures in place, including contracts and
agreements signed by employees.
Decision making vested in top management.
Spans of Control – Narrow spans
Standardization: Process, Input, and
Output (see side panel)
Nonstructural Means for Integration

Liaison Roles – coordination and communication was necessary between
each branch of the firm.



Teams – employees and managers are organized into work and
interunit teams in order to enhance communication, coordination, and
control.


Each team represented clients throughout the legal process
Culture – composed of the informal and unwritten values, norms, and
behavior patterns that are commonly accepted and observed by
members of an organization.


Clayton acted as the investigation liaison to the litigation team.
The senior litigation partner acted as a liaison for his team to all other branches.
Firm members shared a thick culture. Employees were expected to behave
professionally and dressed in business wear.
Information Systems – The firm used e-mail, conference calling, and
local area networks to perform business. Some information was
classified according to hierarchy.
Goals and Effectiveness
Goals –
statements that
identify and
endpoint or
condition that
an
organization
wishes to
achieve.

Official Goals, or Mission Statements



Operative Goals



Establishment of broad strategy, setting guiding
principles
The law firm had a mission statement as a base for
setting operative goals
Specific actions to enact strategy, guiding divisions, or
business units
The partners decided how the firm should be
organized and set directives in place
Operational Goals


Individual jobs or tasks, guiding individuals’ behaviors
Each level of the organization had specific duties to
perform that were integrated to conduct business
More on Operative Goals
Ethical
Principles are
part of social
responsibility
and ethical
behavior.

Ethical
behavior =
doing good







Market goals
Financial Performance Goals
Resource Goals
Innovation Goals
Productivity Goals
Management Development Goals
Employee Performance and Attitude
Social Responsibility and Ethical
Behavior
Focus on Social Responsibility
The premise of the story revolved around the unethical
behavior of the firm’s client U-North and its chief legal
counsel Karen Crowder. The senior litigation partner,
Arthur Edens, exclusively handling the settlement case
found substantial information in regards to the health
hazards caused by the chemicals of U-North’s product.
Instead of continuing to argue the case for U-North,
Arthur moves toward representing the opposition as he
felt it was part of his social responsibility. He was
about to present his evidence to the firm, but was victim
of a hired hit by Ms. Crowder (unethical behavior).
The firm’s response



Senior partner Bach was informed of the
information that U-North was hiding about cancercausing chemicals (unethical behavior)
He informed Clayton to stay quiet because the news
would force U-North to settle and it would ruin the
planned merger of the firm with an organization in
London (hidden agenda)
Ms. Crowder finds the information and encourages
U-North to settle, while the firm feverishly makes an
effort to complete the merger
Michael Clayton’s ethical decision



Michael Clayton feels that concealing the information
on U-North is unethical and sets out to expose U-North
and Karen Crowder (social responsibility)
With the help of his brother who is a police detective,
Clayton confronts Ms. Crowder (she thinks Clayton’s
dead, because she ordered a hit on him too-what a
surprise)
He gets her to confess that she knew about the
hazardous chemicals and that she ordered the hits. She
accepts his bribe for him to stay quiet (unethical
behavior) and the police arrest her
Summary & Conclusion

The law firm in the movie was an example of a large organization,
which could be differentiated and integrated as such


The firm had many people working in a structured environment
producing output from input to obtain the goal of the organization (to
be a successful and lucrative firm), a perfect example of systems theory
This movie portrayed hidden agendas, unethical behavior, and poor
management of resources


Poor management of resources was evident where Bach demanded
Edens get better in a unreasonable time frame and that Clayton and
Edens do everything possible to correct Edens’ outburst.
When human resources started to experience problems, management
ignored the problems in hopes the merger would be complete before
everything fell apart.
Evaluation

I feel that the organizational structure was effective
for this type of business, with the exception of the
extent of Clayton’s informal reporting. However,
because of hidden agendas, human resources were
poorly managed and unethical behavior hurt the
firm’s reputation. With the firm’s reputation soiled,
large clients would bring their business elsewhere
and the business would not be as lucrative,
deterring the London firm from merging. No matter
how well an organization is structured, unethical
behavior can destroy it.
References



Gilroy, T. (Director). (2007). Michael Clayton [Motion
Picture].
Hodge, B., Anthony, W. P., & Gales, L. M. (2003).
Organization Theory (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Kane, S. (2009, October 30). The Role of a
Litigation Attorney. Retrieved May 9, 2010, from
About.com:
http://legalcareers.about.com/od/legalspecialties/
a/litigationatto.htm