Double Indemnity The movie that I watched this week is a 1944 American film called, Double Indemnity. This film was directed by Billy Wilder, produced by Buddy Desylva and Joseph Sistrom and co-writen by Wilder and Raymond Chandler. The script was based off a 1943 novel with the same title and was written by James M. Cain. The film stars Fred MacMurray as Waler Neff an insurance salesman, Barbara Stanwyck as Phyllis Dietrichson a housewife who wishes her husband dead and Edward G.
Robinson as Baron Keyes a claims adjuster whose job is to find phony claims. This week is chose to take a look at the portrayal of woman in commercial cinema. American commercial cinema currently fuels many aspects of society. In the twenty-first century it has become available, active force in the perception of gender relations in the United States. In the earlier part of this century filmmakers, as well as the public, did not necessarily view the female “media image” as an infrastructure of sex inequality.
Today, modern audiences and critics have become preoccupied with the role the cinema plays in shaping social values, institutions, and attitudes. American cinema has become narrowly focused on images of violent women, female sexuality, the portrayal of the “weaker sex” and subversively portraying women negatively in film. Double Indemnity can be read in two ways. It is either a misogynist film about a terrifying, destroying woman, or it is a film that liberates the female character from the restrictive and oppressed melodramatic situation that render her helpless.
There are arguably two extreme portrayals of the character of Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity; neither one is an accurate or fare portrayal. Despite the fact that the character of Phyllis as the “tough as nails” perpetual, intentional aggressor is a valid attempt to eliminate the image of women as the oppressed, one interpretation of this role is that she ultimately seems to misrepresent herself, and females in cinema, anyway.
Janet Todd, author of Women and Film, states that, “Women do not exist in American film. Instead we find another creation, made by men, growing out of their ideological imperatives”. Though these “power girl” characters are strong examples of anything but submissive and sexual females, they still were created as images that misrepresent their existence as independent voices and rather “the knife-wielder on the screen acting as surrogate for the masculine sensibility enraged at the notion of female assertiveness”.
Cassie Carter, author of Woman, Red in Tooth and Claw, makes an interesting point stating, “The male avant-garde deliberately adopted the image of the base and violent woman in order to free themselves of the constricting image of the rational and civilized man…while the male avant-garde presents the decadent state as liberating, feminist performance artists who adopt Angry Essentialism often inadvertently reinforce a conception of the ‘feminine’ which validates the oppression of women”.
Carter then further states, “While these performances attempt to obliterate the image of woman as the oppressed, nurturing Earth Mother, they merely invoke her mirror image, the Devouring Mother”. Double Indemnity, in its attempt to lend its female character more strength and control, no longer situating her as the secure center of the family, but rather its destroyer, ironically seems to highlight a played-out submissive, weak, abused or lonely and alienated image of Phyllis. The varieties of passive, subordinate or pacified women are classic throughout the history of film.
Janet Todd states, “Film teaches us how to see and understand from the point of view of the dominant, male-orientated ideology”. Cinema has found an audience for the portrayal of the “weaker sex”. This is an example of cinema’s skewed portrayal of “womanhood” in film, which is often misrepresented as “homely” or “motherly”. Though this may be a characteristic of the female instinct in some instances, it is not a good generalization. For example, Timmy’s mother in the popular series Lassie, or Mrs. Cleaver in the classic Leave it to Beaver, are featured almost all of the time in the kitchen cooking or busy with duties around the household.
In fact, if these type characters are not featured in the kitchen during the actual act of cooking, cleaning, etc. … they are almost always seen, at any given time, wearing the classic dress and apron attire. Todd also reminds us “Since women constitute more than half that public, we are faced with the troubling reality of an audience passively, even willingly, accepting roles of its own degradation”. These are extreme examples in classic film but they do illustrate to viewers how Hollywood seems to be so identified with the maternal and simple values of these women.
Molly Haskell, author of, From Reverence to Rape, points out, “According to society’s accepted role definitions, which films have always reflected in microcosm, a woman is supposedly most herself in the throes of emotion (the love of man or of children), and least herself, that is least “womanly”, in the pursuit of knowledge or success”. These types of roles are so common we accept that these characters are distressingly naive and so fail to stun audiences, yet again, with the shimmering intelligence and ingenue of an interesting female role in cinema.
Rain Of Fire By Evan Thomas
In the article, “Rain of Fire”, Evan Thomas, assistant managing editor of Newsweek magazine, wrote about the story from Virginia Dichiara, victim of September 11th incident. In brilliant morning of September 11th, DiChiara, a self-discribed workaholic, somehow felt moseying; so she left home at 7:40am which was 40 minutes later than her usual morning routine. Inside On 78th floor of World Trade Center, DiChiara switched to the second elevator which leaded her 101th floor where her office is located.
At 8;46 am, when the elevator doors closed, Flight 11 plowed into the building. The impact of the plane crash made the elevator bounced up and down like a ball. DiChiara and her co-worker Bell crowched down to small opening space of the elevator door to escape from the fire. When she emerged from the narrow escape, she realized that her hair was burning. After tapping out the fire on her hair, DiChiara noticed her back was aflame.
She immediately dropped, rolled herself on the floor and did it again to make sure the flame was gone. Even though she got third-degree burned, the shock of being aflame made her feel numb for little while. Then DiChiara found a co- worker Ali. Ali’s reaction by seeing her told DiChiara how bad her burn was; and she started feel pain. Gently guided by Ali, DiChiara went through the dark smokey hallway toward a small security office where the light still works.
About dozen of people are anxiously sitting there; some of them are paralyzed, some of them tried to calm down and find out the way to get out of this situation. Suddenly a man who is a fire warden appeared and announced that there was a stairwell they can use. Everyone had to make decision either staying there until rescured or going downstairs by their own foot. Needed medical attention so badly, DiChiara decided to go down by own her foot. This story tells us what was going on inside World Trade Center the day.
Case Study: Volvo
Executive Summary: In 2001, Volvo Buses India sold 20 coaches. By December 2011, 5,000 of them were running on Indian roads. Volvo did not achieve this by toning down its products or cutting prices as multinational companies often do. It developed the market and waited for it to mature. Volvo now has 76 per cent of the Indian luxury bus market. The company changed the way Indians travel. Now, as the competition closes in, it is preparing to launch products that could transform the market – again.
By Geetanjali, Shukla Going Places July 8 2012 Business today 99 case study Volvo Think Beyond Buses the usual practice. Passey says: “We told them you don’t need that with a Volvo. We’ll give you one every 400 km. ” Volvo also departed from the norm by offering service support for the entire bus, and not just individual parts. With maintenance hassles reduced, operators could focus on routes. For example, Mumbai-based neeta tours and travels, which had 20 Volvos in 2004, figured it could serve seven destinations. bus could leave Ahmedabad at 10 p. m. , reach Mumbai at 6 a. m. , then go to Pune and back, and then head back to Ahmedabad at 10 p. m. operators could also focus on sprucing up service with hot towels and entertainment. this also meant they could raise ticket prices by as much as `100 on some routes. Phanindra sama, founder and CEO of redBus, a portal that sells bus tickets, says, “the Volvo phenom- The road To success decade ago, buses were more or less a by-product of trucks. hey were built on truck chassis. Bodybuilders bought chassis primarily from telco (now tata Motors) and Ashok Leyland. the difference between city and inter-city buses, or regular and ‘deluxe’ ones, was reclining seats and a stylish paint job. that is how things were when Volvo Buses entered India. the Swedish company bid for a tender by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) in 1998 while showcasing its B10LE low-entry city bus in several cities. the bus drew much interest. Akash Passey, Senior Vice Presidentregion international, Volvo Bus Corporation, who headed India operations then, says many people came to see it at the 1998 delhi auto expo. He laughs, recalling an animated discussion between two youngsters he overheard. “the older of the two, in an attempt to explain how the bus loses height, said: ‘When it halts, the driver jumps out and deflates the tyres’,” he says. the coach prompted more weighty concerns too: were india’s roads and travelers ready for rear-engine buses? What about prices? Volvo city buses cost up to 10 times more than those used by state trans- CHanGe strateGy Volvo brought in its inter-city bus when it saw the market was not ready for a city bus seLL tHe ConCePt, not just tHe ProduCt Volvo engaged with all stakeholders — from operators to passengers to drivers — to sell its buses use MaCro CHanGes to your adVantaGe when Volvo saw that increasing congestion and growing environmental awareness were making public transport attractive, it brought back the city bus CHanGe tHe GaMe when the competition started to close in on Volvo, it introduced products that would increase the number of passengers port corporations. Meanwhile, the
DTC tender was shelved. selling to state companies was proving tough, so in 2000, Passey changed tack. He imported two Volvo B7R inter-city buses from Hong Kong and Singapore and sent them out on a six-month demonstration drive. the B7R cost five times more than a ‘deluxe’ bus. But he persevered. “i felt there was little reason why an airconditioned bus would not work in a tropical country like india,” he says. the changing economic landscape strengthened his resolve. the company approached private operators who ran inter-city ‘deluxe’ buses and could price tickets higher.
Volvo refused to compromise on product specifications. Passey points out that inter-city buses are 12 meters long everywhere in the world. But in india, bus length was capped at 11 meters. “We got the regulation changed,” says Passey. it was a good thing Volvo had a wide range of products. “all i had to do was choose the one best suited for india,” he adds. “i did not choose the most sophisticated, because operators were used to front-engine buses, very little suspension and ordinary brakes. ” to persuade operators that Volvos were profitable, the sales team drew up a lifecycle cost comparison.
Volvos had a few more seats than others – a disadvantage in the early 2000s, when states taxed operators per seat. But the biggest advantage was that they could run for 22 hours without maintenance. operators were concerned whether Volvo would provide maintenance centres every 25 km, as was Volvo departed from the industry norm by offering service support for the entire bus, and not just parts enon coincided with higher per capita income, more awareness about luxury, and increasing migration to cities from tier-II and tier-III towns. as Volvos could run farther than buses used till then, routes such as the 1,000-km Bangalore-Mumbai run became popular. Being faster, they could depart later than a deluxe coach, yet arrive at the same time. in 2001 – within a year of demonstrating the inter-city coach – Volvo sold 20 of them in india. that figure reached 1,100 in 2006, and 5,000 by december 2011. Volvo ocal manufacturers did not upgrade bus technology almost until 2004, because there was no demand for a better product. Given this environment, Volvo’s strategy of bringing state-of-the-art products and creating a market for long-distance luxury travel has been commendable.
Higher disposable incomes and other changes in the economic landscape have certainly contributed to the success of inter-city travel driven by Volvo. But it was also because local manufacturers could not create this market successfully. urban public transport remains a challenge because it requires not just state-of-the-art buses, but also state-ofthe-art roads designed for public transport. this means creating central lanes for buses, stops for level boarding, passenger information systems, and making streets safe for pedestrians (because every public transport user is a pedestrian at the beginning and end of the journey). Also, money cannot be recovered from fares alone. there is need for thought on financing public transport systems. to fare better in the urban transport market, Volvo should offer a systemic solution, not just buses. it could form a consortium of planners, operators, and it service providers and offer comprehensive solutions supported by local or state governments. as the urban population is going to double in 25 years – about 600 million people by 2040 – the urban transport market will grow and could attract more investment. Growing environmental concerns and easy availability of information technology will fuel this growth. o demand for good quality buses will grow. Most indian cities will not be able to meet mobility demand without state-of-theart bus transport. the country requires about 5,000 more buses a year. it is up to the government and the mobility service providers, and not just vehicle manufacturers, to create a financially viable market.
L “to fare better in the transport market, Volvo should offer a systemic solution” Ministry of Urban Development Chair, Professor of Transport Planning, IIT Delhi geetam, Tiwari, 100 Business today July 8 2012 Business today 101 case study Volvo killing in The QualiTy Void t he bus industry in India started with a focus on public transport, especially to cater to the common man. there were quality issues, but no one really cared. things began to change with liberalization, as more people began to move from the middle class to the upper-middle class and above. they sought better quality travel. you needed to book months in advance for trains, and air travel did not suit them. they were willing to pay a premium for bus transport, but no such service was available barring a few air-conditioned buses.
Volvo was first to spot this opportunity. t firmly believed there was a market for luxury bus transport in india, for which commuters would pay a premium. Volvo’s success lies in converting this belief into a value proposition. its buses were many times costlier, and the operators needed to charge higher fares to make money. a comfortable journey that reduces travel time by a few hours was what Volvo bus operators offered to justify the premium fares, and people bought into it. the rest is history. What Volvo has demonstrated is that though Indians are traditionally cost-conscious, there is a growing crop of customers who demand quality. s road infrastructure improves and people get richer, the luxury bus segment, especially for inter-city travel, will grow faster and larger. We are far away from a bullet train era, and the poor state of the railways would only catalyze this shift. Volvo’s success has triggered the entry of more players into the luxury segment. the Swedish company is best placed to take advantage of this transformation, as luxury bus travel in the country has become synonymous with Volvo. now has 76 percent of the luxury bus market. the market itself, according to industry estimates, is growing at around 10 percent a year.
Volvo expanded gradually, starting with south and West India. it was not until 2004 that it had a countrywide presence. “it was of utmost importance to us to have service leading sales and not the other way round,” says Passey. Volvo also reached out to not only operators but also other stakeholders. it ran commercials in film theatres. Before launching the B7R in 2001, it sought driver and passenger feedback. “We realized we wouldn’t sell much if we sold merely Volvo stuck to its product specifications. it got India to change a regulation that capped bus length at 11 meters the product,” says Passey. We had to sell the concept of luxury bus travel. ” eventually, state bus companies not only bought Volvos but also built brands around them: Garuda in Andhra Pradesh, shivering in Maharashtra, the airway in Karnataka. the development of expressways such as the Mumbai-Pune one helped things along. Volvo became a ticket brand – something no other commercial vehicle has achieved anywhere in the world – as passengers asked for Volvo tickets, rather than an operator or a route. as with the inter-city coach, the success of the city bus was gradual. in January 2006, Volvo sold its first city bus to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation. under the Jawaharlal Nehru national urban renewal Mission, Volvos now ply in 13 cities. the company is again looking to change the market, especially with rivals such as Mercedes-Benz and tata Motors tail-gating it. its 14. 5-m inter-city bus is the longest in India, with more space for passengers and luggage. its 14. 5-m multi-axle city bus is being pitched as a solution for urban traffic congestion. With the 9,100 medium-haul bus (for distances of 300 to 400 km), Volvo hopes to make second-tier city connections viable, as traffic is set to grow in this segment. his move – changing the market when the competition closes in Volvo hopes to make second-tier city connections viable, as traffic is set to grow in this segment – is possible because of a previous strategic step. in 2008, Volvo started manufacturing buses near Bangalore. it makes 1,100 buses a year, and hopes to raise production to 2,500 by 2013/14. sama of redBus says: “the fact that Volvo manufactures its own buses works to its advantage. Mercedes still depends on its body maker, Sutlej. ” Would any other bus company, had it entered india in 2001, have done as well as Volvo?
Perhaps, if its product range was comparable, and if it were patient enough to develop the market. after all, one of the crucial factors in Volvo’s success in india is that it has invested in changing the circumstances. ~ What lessons can be drawn from Volvo’s success? Write to us at btcasestudies@intoday. com. Your views will be published in our online edition, and the best comment will win a Harvard Business School Press pocket mentor. Previous case studies are at www. business today. in/case study BesT of The loT Bt receives scores of responses to its case studies.
Below is the best one on Bacardi india (april 29, 2012) n 2007, Bacardi india was struggling in india, when its new CEO Mahesh Madhavan joined the organization. in less than five years, he transformed the company. its turnover has tripled and it is growing 40 per cent annually. the case study examined how Madhavan brought in the change. i Rakesh Ranjan (rakesh. ranjan@vodafone. com) wrote: Bacardi India was losing market share and the confidence level of its investors in India was dipping before 2007. No evidence of leadership and firmness in improving the business was seen during this period.
In such a situation, good resources tend to leave the organisation and incompetent people continue to stick around. As a result, attrition of top performers was high and the organisation was left with uncertainty. Mahesh Madhavan joining the company was a perfect example of a business head taking ownership of the HR agenda. The success story of any organisation depends on how HR becomes your SPOC (single point of contact). Calibration of performance and potential of the leadership team is essential to drive the culture of performance in an organisation.
Mapping of the existing leadership team against the desirable per- “Volvo’s success lies in converting its belief that there was a market for luxury travel in india into a value proposition” Partner and Leader — Automotive, PwC aBdul majeed, formance and potential parameters and hiring of a new team on the basis of required competencies were the important steps in curing the organisation and also making it ‘future fit’. Organisational support to the existing team was ensured by holding coaching sessions and thereby gaining the trust of the people.
Reconstructing the organisation was the need of the hour to make it effective. The new structure was future driven. Infusing new talent has given the organisation a new perspective. After making these efforts, Bacardi India started becoming a grooming ground for global talent and gradually regained investors’ trust. Some leaders moved overseas to handle bigger responsibilities. Marrying the business agenda to the people agenda was the key to success for Bacardi India.