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BUSI1007H

GROUP 1:

Chan Yuen On AliceWong Jason

Hui Man Kwan JaneChau Chun Sing Anson

Contents

A. Movie Synopsis 3

B. Central Message 3

C. Principles of Management

1. Leadership and Motivation

1.1. Transformational Leadership

1.1.1 Mission and Vision 4

1.1.2 Idealized Influence 4

1.1.3 Inspirational Motivation 5

1.1.4 Intellectual Stimulation 6

1.1.5 Individualized Consideration 6

1.2. Fiedler Contingency Model – Relationship-oriented vs Task-oriented 7

2. Teamwork and Communication

2.1. Teamwork – Goal Alignment

2.1.1 Culture 8

2.1.2 Conflict Management 9

2.2. Communication

2.2.1 Feedback 10

2.2.2 Concurrent Control 11

2.2.3 The Grapevine 11

D. Conclusion 13

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A. Movie Synopsis

Kinky Boots (2005) is a comedy film about a traditional Northampton shoemaker, Price & Sons Shoes,

which switched its production focus from high quality men shoes to boots for drag queens, in order to save

the failing family business. The sudden death of Harold Price, the company president, left his son Charlie

Price, the apparent heir and manager of Price & Sons Shoes, unexpectedly in charge of the sinking family

business. In a chance encounter, Charlie Price met a sassy drag queen performer Lola and saw the possible

market of shoes for male transvestites. In an attempt to save his family business, Charlie, with Lola as his

fashion advisor, led his company efforts to set out and conquer the new drag queen market niche by

producing women boots which can support the weight of a man. With an extravagant and innovative

showcase of the new boots in the Milan fashion season, Charlie Price managed to revive his family shoe

business and build a strong and cohesive relationship with his employees.

B. Central Message

Quoting Lola, “A factory is not about its bricks; it’s about its people.” Managers lead, employees follow;

managers make decisions, employees provide feedback; managers command, employees execute; managers

motivate, employees work more efficiently individually or as a team.

Our central message is: People are the most important assets to the company. Therefore, a good manager is

needed to lead and motivate, so that ultimately, the goal to increase productivity can be attained.

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C. Principles of Management

1. Leadership & Motivation

1. 1. Transformational Leadership

Charlie Price can be seen as a transformational leader throughout. He has a clear vision, idealized influence,

inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration.

1.1.1 Mission and Vision

Charlie Price’s mission was to revive the dying family business. Price and Sons’ Shoe Factory was his

father’s blood and sweat and he wanted to continue it against all odds. His vision was to be the pioneering

market leader in the drag queen niche market. He believed that as the drag queen niche was unexplored,

being the market leader would help him fulfill his mission.

1.1.2 Idealized Influence

Idealized Influence, or “charisma”, is the enthusiasm and passion of a leader which influence people to

behave in a similar way. Charlie Price successfully earned respect from his employees due to his persistent

attempts of designing and manufacturing the “perfect” pair of kinky boots. He clearly articulated his goal –

to go to Milan for a kinky boots showcase; communicated high performance expectations through attending

to the slightest details; and exhibited confidence in his employees to meet those expectations by telling his

employees, “You are craftsmen, not shoemakers”. By being truly committed to his goal of going to Milan,

he served as a role model to his employees and influenced them to work hard and commit themselves. When

his employees were committed, the ultimate aim of increasing productivity was attained.

1.1.3 Inspirational Motivation

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Charlie’s revitalization of the company can be described as nothing less than inspirational. Following a

strong intrinsic perspective, he implements numerous motivational theories that incite others to follow his

example to work for the betterment of the company.

By the end of the movie, Charlie’s major focus is on raising a personal sense of achievement at the creation

of the boots as well as giving out recognition as it is due, both being primary intrinsic motivators. A simple

way to explain these motivational effects can be through the classical model of the Herzberg Motivator-

Hygiene theory, where sense of achievement and recognition are the two major motivational factors, and

coupled with the excellent hygiene factors of good work environment, good co-worker relations and a steady

income allow for the transformation at the factory.

But more than the classical interpretations of motivation, more contemporary motivational frameworks can

also be applied to understand the effects of Charlie’s actions. Applying the Job Characteristics Model,

recognition leads to higher positive feedback, while sense of achievement increased task identity and task

significance. This offers one of the best motivational situations as Skill variety and Autonomy are

necessarily low in any factory setting. Alternatively, applying expectancy theory, recognition increased

expectancy and sense of achievement increased valence (through goal-alignment). This coupled with an

already high instrumentality (good quality boots lead to success at Milan – a well understood fact), ticks all

the boxes for this motivational process to occur. In both cases it is clear that the two intrinsic motivational

factors of raising a personal sense of achievement and providing recognition are the key drivers to allow

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effective motivation to occur.

We learn from Charlie that not only are your employees the most important asset, but the act of inspiring

them and ensuring they are motivated enough to work at a consistent and high standard is important as well,

and that the ideal way to achieve this is primarily through intrinsic motivation.

1.1.4 Intellectual Stimulation

Charlie Price stimulated and encouraged creativity in his employees by bringing them to the pub to observe

drag queens and investigating into the drag queens’ needs for boots which can support their weight. This was

intellectually stimulating to both Charlie and the employees as they could gain first-hand information and

insight into how they could better execute their ideas.

1.1.5 Individualized Consideration

Individualized consideration was most vividly seen in the later part of the movie when Charlie Price

attended to Lola’s needs and gave him empathy and support. Initially, due to the conservative culture in

Northampton, Lola was despised by other employees in the Price and Sons’ Shoe Factory as they couldn’t

accept a man dressed up as a woman. Lola wasn’t able to fit into the factory; he wanted to be respected as a

person. Charlie empathized with Lola’s difficult situation and talked to him. Charlie comforted Lola and

assured him that no matter what, Lola had all the respect and support from him, the top manager. Charlie

instilled value and respect into Lola, attended to his needs and concerns and intrinsically motivated him.

Charlie influenced and inspired Lola and transformed him to turn out extraordinary designs, thereby

increasing productivity.

1.2. Fiedler Contingency Model – Relationship-Oriented vs Task-Oriented

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When Charlie Price first took up the management position after his father’s sudden death, his employees

didn’t like him because they thought his management style was very different from his father. The

employees had a strong resistance to change. The leader-member relationship was poor. Task structure was

high because of the nature of the shoe business – there was a clear-cut division of labour and production

stages were structured and well-defined. Charlie Price’s position power was also strong. The factory was

highly mechanistic in structure. Power was centralized in the top manager – Charlie Price’s hands. These

characteristics fall into Category V of the Fiedler’s model, which call for a relationship-oriented leader.

However, Charlie Price was task-oriented instead. He was only primarily interested in getting the job done at

the expense of his workers’ resting time. This made the employees hate him more and productivity and team

morale plunged. Clearly, Charlie Price was not managing effectively.

Luckily, he later realized his mistake and decided to improve his relationship with his employees by being

more reasonable in his demands and attend to his employees’ needs and concern through individualized

consideration. Charlie Price’s successful change in leadership style overthrew Fiedler’s assumption that

leadership styles cannot be changed.

2. Teamwork and Communication

A good manger should be capable of leading and motivating. However, quoting John Donne, “No man is an

island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” With no people, there is no team. With no

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team, the ultimate goal of increasing productivity is greatly limited.

2.1. Teamwork - Goal Alignment

Originally, the employees in Price & Sons’ Shoe Factory resisted innovation. Individually, their primary goal

was just to keep their jobs, whereas the group goal was to have a kinky boots showcase in Milan so as to

revive the dying company. At first, individual goals and the group goals were not aligned. Employees didn’t

commit themselves to the new product line. Team morale was low, people were not motivated and

productivity plunged. Two major elements: culture and conflict management affected the alignment of the

individual and group goals.

2.1.1 Culture

The culture of an organization affects how team members get along together and whether the group goal can

be efficiently and effectively achieved. There was a conservative culture in the Price and Sons Shoe Factory;

one that resisted change. Employees had been so used to producing traditional high-quality men’s shoes that

they were reluctant to venture into the new kinky boots product line. The company’s conservative culture

and employees’ resistance to change hindered the achievement of the group goal. Clearly, the individual goal

and group goal were not aligned.

As a transformational leader, Charlie wanted to influence and inspire his employees so that everyone, as a

team, can strive for the group goal. Charlie wanted to change the conservative culture in the factory because

it was a hindrance to the factory’s development. He brought about the change by delivering inspirational

speeches to his employees, telling them his father’s vision of helping people create value in their identity

through their shoes, regardless of profession or race. He made his employees realize how pressing the

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situation the factory was in: business was sinking and Charlie either had to lay off people or sell the factory

if they all did not unite together to revive the business. At this point, the factory’s culture started to change

due to the change of mindset of the employees. If their individual goals were to keep their jobs, they had to

put down their conservatism and be bold to try out the new product line. Or else, the business would die and

they would lose their jobs. Employees were also inspired by the great vision of their past employer, Charlie’s

father, as well as Charlie’s passion and determination to revive the business despite selling his house to

cover the cost of the Milan fashion show. The employees’ change of mindset led to a complete change in the

company culture: it was no longer conservative but daring and innovative. This change of culture

successfully boosted team morale and catalyzed the alignment of individual and group goals. It was also

beneficial to the attainment of the group goal – to increase productivity, to showcase in the Milan fashion

show and ultimately, to revive the business.

2.1.2 Conflict Management

Conflicts are unavoidable in a team. In the movie, there are examples of process conflicts which refer to how

the work gets done. As mentioned, Charlie Price was over-demanding at the start and over-worked his

workers. Process conflicts arose as he seemed never satisfied with how the kinky boots were designed and

manufactured. Since conflicts could easily turn dysfunctional and hinder productivity, Charlie Price took the

initiative to solve them through compromising. Charlie Price compromised by giving up being over-

demanding; the employees compromised by giving up their resting time in order to strive and produce the

perfect pair of boots.

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These process conflicts were functional because they allowed the manager to articulate his expectations for

his employees and remind them of how pressing the situation was. This facilitated the alignment of

individual and group goals, which thus enhanced teamwork and productivity. Since it was clear to the

employees that the business was dying, to keep their jobs, they only had one choice: To change the product.

Only by changing to a new product line can the factory showcase its kinky boots in Milan to revive the

business. At this point, the individual goal and the group goal were aligned – Only by making it to Milan can

people keep their jobs. This resulted in an increase in productivity and a high boost in team morale.

2.2. Communication

Good communication is important for good teamwork. In the movie, communication, in terms of feedback

and concurrent control, was well-conducted. As a further improvement, the Grapevine can be better

managed.

2.2.1 Feedback

When Charlie Price first became the manager, he was managing behind the office doors. He physically

positioned himself above his employees and used a loudspeaker to communicate with them. He didn’t

provide any channels for his employees to voice out their opinions. Clearly, this was a one-way downward

communication which was highly ineffective. He failed to lead and motivate his employees and so

productivity was low.

Fortunately, he soon realized that ineffective communication undermined productivity. He changed to a two-

way communication by introducing the feedback mechanism into his communication flow. He introduced

upward communication, where feedback was used to minimize noise in a communication flow,. Here, noise

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was the selective perception of the employees on only the bad attributes of the kinky boots product line but

not the opportunities this market niche might also bring. With a two-way communication flow,

communication and teamwork were thus enhanced and productivity increased.

2.2.2 Concurrent Control

Control can be seen as a way for the manager to communicate with his employees what was expected from

them. In the movie, concurrent control was done effectively. Charlie Price managed by walking around the

office and required his employees to immediately correct the mistakes in the boot production process. Since

control and the production process took place simultaneously, this increased efficiency and facilitated the

factory’s goal to increase productivity.

2.2.3 The Grapevine

A grapevine existed in the Price and Sons’ Shoe Factory. At the beginning, the employees didn’t like Lola

because they couldn’t accept having a man dressed up like a woman. Don, one of the employees, later

changed his views towards Lola because Lola deliberately lost to him in a wrestling match. Lola didn’t want

Don to lose people’s respect as Don had never lost a match. As Lola said, he knew what it felt like not to be

respected. Don was impressed and felt guilty for not paying Lola the respect he deserved. He communicated

with the other employees through the grapevine - the happy hours after work that he appreciated Lola’s

courage and that he deserved their respect. The communication through the grapevine was effective and very

soon, the employees started to change their views towards Lola.

In fact, in retrospect, the grapevine can be better managed and utilized. Charlie Price should have cultivated

an open, honest and respectful atmosphere for communication in the factory. He should have encouraged

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employees to voice out their feedback on each other, mingle and interact with each other more, so as to

increase mutual understanding and eliminate the hard feelings harboured by the employees for each other.

This way, a more harmonious relationship may be fostered. Team morale can thus be boosted.

D. Conclusion

Quoting Lola, “A factory is not about its bricks; it’s about its people.” Since people are central in

management, a good manager is one who can lead and motivate his employees. However, since one highly

motivated man alone cannot run a factory, teamwork is paramount. For good teamwork, good

communication is a prerequisite.

Once again, our central message is: People are the most important assets to the company. Therefore, a good

manager is needed to lead and motivate, so that ultimately, the goal to increase productivity can be attained.

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