Tower Heist (2011)
Kyle Thompson
MAN2020 IDM Section 01
Maryanne Harkins
February 5, 2012
A Demonstration of the Four-step Managerial Process
The movie I’ve selected for my planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling (POLC) assignment is Tower Heist (2011). This movie was released under the direction of Brett Ratner and had a cast including Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, and Matthew Broderick. Tower Heist’s movie plot line provides perfect examples on how the four managerial processes can aid in the completion of set goals within any proposal, idea, concept, or scheme.
Step one of the managerial process is planning. Planning is defined as “establishing the main objectives or outcomes of the work” (Thomas, 2007, p. 10). In today’s business world we can see the effects of not having a solid foundation of planning and not sticking to a main devised plan. If companies stray to far from their initial business plan the results can be devastating to the company. In Tower Heist, the steps of planning were set in motion in the early stages of the movie. As the building manager, Ben Stiller recruits his fellow co-workers and a petty crook to plan the ultimate robbery from one of the high-rise apartment complex tenants to get back their stolen investment money. The planning process helps the team not get caught and to retrieve the stolen property back.
The second step in the POLC process is organizing. Organizing is defined as “establishing formal structures of authority so that tasks and activities can be defined and coordinated amongst the people involved” (Thomas, 2007, p. 11). For the building manager, he required all of his hired accomplices to have set steps in the robbery process that were specific to the teams background work. Having a strong organized process ensures that every part of the team would have the best chance of completing their individual goals correctly and the first time. Organization is key for any business as it provides an environment for the individuals to work within and avoid the pure chaos of miscommunication that is brought upon with the lack of an organizational structure.
In the third step of the process is leading/directing. According to Thomas, this part of this process is a combination of decision making, communicating, motivating and aligning people, and developing people. Even with a solid plan drawn up from the first step in the POLC process, plans do not always go as they were initially devised. With so many variables out there, the way the manager leads and directs the crew through turmoil makes up a great manager. A great leadership example from the film would be when the team saw one of the team members go off on his own to complete the mission and to take the money all for himself. The business manager re-grouped the team and re-directed them to the original plans end result. In this instance the manager motivated the team to not let one individual dictate what they had worked so hard on completing. By communicating this newfound plan to the team, the team members were able to communicate better and accomplish their goal albeit in a different approach.
The final step to the POLC model is controlling. In this function it “involves monitoring any work in progress so as to ensure results are ultimately delivered” (Thomas, 2007, p.12). During the course of the movie it became apparent to the business manager that the initial plan would work but someone would ultimately take the fall for the robbery charges. To ensure the results would be what they had planned, the manager was able to provide some dirty details on the rich tenant that provide the manager getting only a two year jail sentence and the team free on all charges. In this example the team accomplished what it set out to retrieve, which was their stolen investment money.
After reading about the POLC model as told by Thomas, I viewed the Tower Heist movie differently with a keen eye towards the managerial process and all of the steps attributed towards that model. Whether it is in movies or in “real life” the business process is the same and is broken down quite effectively through the use of planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling. When starting a project and the manager is developing a team, following the POLC model is the most efficient way to avoid errors, miscommunication, team angst, proper completion time, and good overall moral.
References
Thomas, Mark (2007). Mastering People Management. Location: London
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