Company Men - Analysis of Social Issues, Impact on Economy and Organizational Effectiveness

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“The Company Men” Essay Question #1 The „Company Men” touched upon the topics of stock markets, layoffs and mergers and acquisitions – and while this might seem to be rather superficial (the movie focuses mainly on the unemployed peoples’ hardships) – distinct correlations can be observed. Most importantly, the intricate complexity (additionally intensified by the crisis background) of the corporate world is presented to the viewer in a comprehensive manner. The movie gives us as a great notion of the management role in the company. In The Company Men the board of GTX and its executives were expected to take necessary actions, as the company’s condition weakened, due to such factors as crisis, increased competitors’ activity and obsolete, and inefficient structure. Also, the movie focuses on the ethical dilemma, whether the company should (or not) sacrifice long-term goals for short-term profits. According to the GTX’ executives, sharply cutting expenditures - by downsizing and redundancies - was necessary in order to push up the stock price and avoid upcoming aggressive acquisition by the competitors. But the question is how in real life investors perceive large layoffs? According to Gunther Capelle-Blancard and Delia Tatu – there is no distinct correlation and investors are likely to do the opposite of the board’s expectations: “Layoff decision can be associated with both positive and negative stock market reaction. The perception of investors is determined by the information incorporated in the announcement itself and in firm specific characteristic, but also by economic conjuncture” The next reason of the board’s decisions lays in the fact that the GTX was prioritizing the relationships with stockholders, neglecting the other stakeholders at the same time. As for other kind of relationships between the stock prices, layoffs and mergers and acquisitions –

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