LogoutWelcome guest
Article Information:
Title:
Author(s):
Bert Spector
Journal:
Year:
2008
Volume:
Issue:
Page:
87 - 104
ISSN:
1751-1348
DOI:
10.1108/17511340810845507
Publisher:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Document Access:
Existing customers:
Please login above.
You do not have rights to view the article
Purchase this document:
Price payable:
GBP £13.00
plus handling charge of GBP £1.50
and VAT where applicable.
Purchase
Request this document:
Print or e-mail a document request to your librarian.
Request
Reprints & permissions:
Request
Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze how popular culture in general and movies in particular both reflected and shaped public attitudes to newly emerging corporate giants in the 1950s; to demonstrate how that view was itself shaped by political context and prevailing American ideology.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper rests on a content analysis of 11 corporate films released in the USA between 1954 and 1960.
Findings – Studying corporate movies during the 1950s lends an appreciation of the salience of understanding the political/cultural context of business history. The movies also reflected Cold War realities: the constraints imposed by an anti-communist blacklist, and the belief – hope, perhaps – that capitalist corporations would stand as a bulwark against the alien ideology of Communism.
Research limitations/implications – The films studied are all US-made. Studying films from later decades might also lend additional perspective.
Originality/value – The paper demonstrates the value of considering political context and ideology in understanding business history.
Keywords:
Cinema, Managers, Popular culture, Twentieth century, United States of America
Article Type:
Research paper