The Boss Movie Review Final
The Boss Movie Review Final
The Boss Movie Review Final
Directed by
Ben Falcone
Starring
Mellisa McCarthy
Kristen Bell
Ella Anderson
BUSINESS STUDIES
SOUTHDOWNS COLLEGE
By Isha Kalyan
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
General Management and Corporate Governance
Entrepreneurship
Surbhi (2017) states that an entrepreneur is the person who recognizes a markets potential and
decides to take a considerable amount of risk to start a new company by investing funds in the
hopes of making a profit.
Michelle is a natural entrepreneur, after being released from jail, she found an opportunity to start
a new business venture by starting Darnell’s Darlings.
Entrepreneurial qualities, characteristics and skills
According to Maryville University (undated), it is frequently necessary to be innovative and creative
in order to launch a new business. A successful company may result from differentiating from a
rival (differentiation strategy).
Michelle based Darnell’s Darlings on her competitor the Dandelions, but uses her innovativeness
to create a competitive advantage by differentiating herself from them. The opportunity she found
was to give the girls a commission of their sales and help them save up for college.
The entrepreneur must be able to efficiently secure and organize the necessary resources in order
to carry out the plan.
When Michelle realizes that Claire cannot bake all the brownies by herself in a small kitchen, she
rents out a commercial size kitchen and enlists the girls to help bake the cookies.
Motivation factors: Monetary vs non-monetary factors
Monetary Incentives
Financial incentives are used to financially commend employees for doing a great job. Salary
increases, bonuses and stock options are a few examples of financial incentives.
If employees are not given a monetary incentive, they may feel negatively about the business and
resign, increasing the business’s staff turnover.
When Claire was not given a salary increase for over three years, she threatened to resign,
because she no longer felt appreciated.
Non-monetary Incentives
Non-monetary rewards are given to employees for doing a great job by providing them with
opportunities. Job enrichment is an examples of non-cash rewards (Kalpana, undated).
Job enrichment is when the employee receives increased authority and responsibility. Thus, the
employee feels trustworthy and may feel that he or she may fulfil his or her potential on a personal
level.
When Claire told Michelle she wanted a title change to executive assistant; Michelle did not
acknowledge her request, making Claire feel unappreciated and demotivated. This was an ideal
opportunity for Michelle to practice job enrichment.
Management competencies
Global awareness
Understanding how local, national, international, and cross-cultural challenges, trends, and
systems are interconnected is known as global awareness (Meyers and Strydom, 2018, p. 73-74).
The manager must comprehend that even if the company does not conduct business with other
nations directly, the corporate world is interconnected, and that suppliers may come from a variety
of nations.
At the Dandelions meeting Michelle stated that she knew a guy in Shanghai who will make the
cookies for 90c. This shows that she has a supply chain across the world and knows where to
source goods to get her money’s worth.
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
Ethics, Professionalism and Social Responsibility
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment in the workplace includes: Unwelcome physical interaction; sexually
suggestive remarks, crude jokes about sex, unwanted questions about someone's personal
sex life, and inappropriate body language directed at an individual.
Additionally, employees are not allowed to interact with clients, suppliers, or anybody else who
does business with the company in any of the above-mentioned ways.
Michelle telling her helicopter pilot to take off his shirt; Dana slapping Michelle’s butt at the office,
and Michelle asking Claire if she had her child through intercourse are all examples of sexual
harassment.
Insider Trading
According to the CFI Team (2022), Insider trading is a practice where someone purchases or sells
“a publicly-traded companies securities” based on confidential information that is not yet public,
such as information that only an insider (or his friends/family) in the company will know.
Michelle committed insider trading when she used confidential information about Takoro merging
with Samson International to acquire majority of the stock.
Insider trading is a white-collar crime and is prohibited. Violating it can result in jail time, as well as
civil and criminal fines.
According to CFI Team (2022), the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) in the United
States, states that a conviction for insider trading may lead to a maximum fine of $5 million and up
to 20 years of imprisonment.
The SEC is responsible for protecting investors, and maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient
markets.
Michelle was sentenced to five months in federal prison for insider trading and defrauding the
Securities and Exchange Commission, which resulted in all her assets being frozen and property
seized.
The Relationship between management ethics and social responsibility
The concept of corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the ongoing commitment made by companies to act
morally by promoting the economic and social advancement of their employees and the
community.
Michelle’s previous companies did not seem to consist of any CSR programme, because it is
evident that when she hosted a seminar, the fire marshal nearly shut them down for endangering
people’s lives - but she did not care.
The implication of CSR
CSR programmes have an impact on the stakeholders of the business, such as the customers. By
implementing a CSR program, a company has the chance to set itself apart from its rivals. This
could provide the company a competitive edge since customers value businesses and people that
support their communities.
Michelle’s new business, Darnell’s Darlings, aside from making a profit focused on CSR. It
teaches young girls’ empowerment and gives them a good sense of self. They get ten percent
commission on their sales, and another ten percent goes towards their college funds. This gives
the business a big competitive advantage as it helps make a sustainable difference in people’s
lives and helps support the community.
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
Conclusion
“The Boss”, is a great example of how NOT to run a business. From the very beginning of the
movie, the story line and main character displays all the undesirable behaviours and practices that
is associated with good business. The topic of ethics in business features strongly as we learn the
consequences of decisions based on bad ethics. Additionally, the importance of good leadership is
also highlighted through Michelle’s negative traits. She does not respect rules, treats her staff
badly and does not care about safety of others. These are not great qualities for a leader and this
behaviour eventually catches up with her as she loses all the wealth and businesses she created
and must face jail time as well.
Despite all these setbacks, she displays other great and desirable qualities as well. Her ability to
bounce back is what gets her back on track. Although she has lost all her material possessions,
she still has a tenacious attitude with a keen eye for opportunities and a healthy risk appetite. Her
never-give-up approach, together with her focus and entrepreneurial abilities allows her to see an
opportunity in Darnell’s Darlings. Her negotiation skills and strong ambitions allow her to partner
up with Claire and very quickly recruit enough of the girls to start up the company.
In the end however, she uses her management and leadership capabilities to bring the team
together in order to right the wrongs of selling off the company. Her skills of planning, organising,
delegating and leading all come into play as the team go about the rescue mission.
Ultimately, “The Boss” teaches us both sides of business – the good and the bad. By remaining
focused, recruiting the right people, following well established management, leadership and ethical
practices, it is possible to be successful!
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
Reference List
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Business Movie Review – The Boss (2016)
The Boss (2016) Directed by Falcone, B [Film]. New York, NY: Universal Pictures
The Economic Times. (2022) What is Autocratic Leadership? Available at:
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Anti-Plagiarism Report
Section 1: Summary and Corporate Governance and General Management
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