Business studies media review

The office ep1 s1

Keratilwe moeketsi grade 11 B

Mr S.Mnisi
INDEX

 Summary of the episode

 Contractual agreement

 Legal binding

 Professionalism and ethics

 SWOT analysis

 My opinion on Downsizing

 Plagiarism declaration

 Bibliography

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 1. SUMMARY OF EPISODE ONE SEASON ONE OF THE OFFICE

In this episode we are first shown Michael Scott speaking to Jim Halpert in his office.Michael then
introduces himself as the manager of the the company he works at (DunderMifflinspapercompany),
he then proceeds to give a tour of the office. The characters we are introduced to are, Dwight
Shrute the assistant manager and volunteer sheriff’s deputy, Jim Halpert a salesman, Pam Beesly
a receptionist and Ryan Howard a new salesman. We also see their personalities with Michael
being a laid back manager and would be categorized as a Free rein leader as he see himself as a
friend before a boss to his employees, Dwight is more uptight and socially awkward, Jim has a
playful nature seen through the pranks he plays on Dwight and Michael and we see that he visibly
has a liking towards Pam, who has a nervous type character. During the episode we see that the
branch which is situated in Scranton,Pennsylvania has become under the threat of Downsizing and
Michael attempts to mask it. The show is filmed in a documentary style which is a crew trying to
observe the employees and learn about modern management. The characters also engage in
confessionals throughout the episode talking about the current situation in the office and their
status and how they view their colleagues. During the episode we are shown the dynamic of the
characters between eachother. Professionalism in the episode is lacking and we see this how
Michael interacts with his employees for example how he answers personal phone calls in his his
meeting with Jan with Pam present how he makes a comment on Pam’s looks in the beginning of
the episode talking to the camera. The ethics of the show are also questionable, while Pam is in
her confessional clips of her tipexing signatures on documents. In the middle of the episode
Michael calls a meeting to discuss the position of their branch and mentions the downsizing topic
while trying to play it of as it unlikely when it was mentioned by Jan that it would be highly likely.
Self management in a business context is the ability to management your emotions,behaviors and
thoughts in a productive way and the workers in the branch are from what is seen in the episode
unable to do that. An example would be that a scene where Michael states that he deserves a
raise and Pam makes a remak saying “don’t we all”, another example of it would be how Jim
pranks Dwight by taking work stationary and setting them in jelly which would be unproductive to
the work environment.

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2. CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT

The contractual agreement that is prevalent in the episode is if Michael can prove that the
Scranton branch can incorporate the other branch with Josh in Stanford to remain open with a limit
to downsizing.

3. LEGAL BINDING

Legal binding is a agreement between two parties where specific actions are required or prohibited
on behalf of one or both parties which is enforceable by law, which means if both parties sign a
contract that is legally binded and if party one does a prohibited action or does not a required
action party two can take party one two court. The elements of a legally binding contract are Offer
and acceptance, one party must make a offer and the other must accept the offer. Consideration is
giving time to analyze the offer. intention to create legal relations. Capacity is having the person
signing the contract be of sound mind and 18 years and older. Certainty is having the person
signing the contract clearly understand where its legal obligations are and Legality the laws applied
in the contract are based on where the commitments take place. Without these elements the
contract is no longer legally binding and may not be enforced by the courts .

4. PROFESSIONALISM AND ETHICS

4.1) An example of a character being unprofessional is when Michael answered a personal phone
call while in a meeting with Jan and Pam being present in the early minutes of the episode. He
could of handled that in a more professional way as follows by telling the caller that your in a
meeting and asking if it is urgent and by demonstrating your trying to cause minimal interruption
then finally apologize for the disturbance. One last example of the unprofessionalism of Michael is
when Pam hands him a faxed document of the agenda concerning his meeting with Jan and he
says that and I quote “how many times have I told you that there’s a special filing cabinet for things
from corporate” to which Pam replies that he had not and he then crumpled the paper up and
threw it in the bin and laughed which he later denied receiving at the meeting. A way he could’ve

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handled the situation is by taking the document and saving it for his meeting to be more prepared
with Jan.

4.2) I do not think Michael Scott behaved ethically when he staged Pam’s dismissal.

Reason no.1: He lied about Pam stealing office stationary(Post it notes)

Reason number no.2: He made Ryan an accomplice to the staging while Ryan had no idea and
disapproved of the whole ordeal seen in the way he shakes his head at the end and how Michael
said Watch this in relation to the reference he asked Ryan if he had known about it

5. SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is a study a personal or business takes to identify its internal strengths and
weaknesses as well as their external opportunities and threats.

A SWOT analysis of Jim Halpert effectiveness as a salesman to Dunder Mifflins paper company
would be as follows

Strength: His ability to make people laugh which would put ease to people minds and potentially
help them be better at work.

weakness: His inability to self mange his behavioral actions at work.

Opportunities: To take Dwight’s position as assistant manager.

Threats: His liking to Pam as she could report him for inappropriate behavior.

6. My opinion on downsizing

My personal opinion on downsizing would be to put it into effect if totally necessary. It benefits the
company to a great extent and would be a disadvantage to the employees that get let go to a
limited extent. The company would be limiting costs, improving efficiency and give opportunities to

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a change of location however the employees that are let go would be now unemployed buy they
would also a have the opportunity for a possible better job or to become a entrepreneur.

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Plagiarism Declaration

1. I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or

inventions of another as if they were one’s own. I know that plagiarism not

only includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another

person’s ideas without proper acknowledgement (which includes the

proper use of quotation marks). I know that plagiarism covers this sort of

use of material found in textual sources and from the Internet.

2. I acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong.

3. I understand that my research must be accurately referenced. I have

followed the rules and conventions concerning referencing, citation and the

use of quotations as set out in the Departmental Guide.

4. This assignment is my own work, or my group’s own unique group

assignment. I acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment, or

part of it, is wrong and that submitting identical work to others constitutes a

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form of plagiarism.

5. I have not allowed, nor will I in the future allow anyone to copy my work

with the intention of passing it off as their own work.

Student Name and Surname: keratilwe moeketsi

Student number: SD10039299

Student signature: ________________________ Date: ______10/05/23__________________

Teacher Name and Surname: _____________________________________________

Teacher signature: ________________________ Date:

Non-Plagiarism and Authenticity

_______keratilwe kutlwano moeketsi___________________________________

(Full name),

hereby declare that this assignment is my own, original work and that I did not

plagiarize in the following project in any way:

SCHOOL NAME: Abbotts College Northcliff

SUBJECT: Business Studies

PROJECT TITLE: Media Review

Where a secondary source (verbal, printed or electronic) has been used, I have

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carefully acknowledged and referenced it in accordance with Abbotts College

Northcliff Policy. I include a full Reference list of all sources used as proof. I

understand what plagiarism is and accept the IEB Policy in this regard. I have

also not allowed anyone else to borrow or copy my work.

Date: _______10/05/23________________ Signature:

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“The advantages of corporate downsizing” (2015) Atlasvanlines.com. Atlas Van Lines, Inc., 5
October. Available at: https://www.atlasvanlines.com/resources/blog/the-advantages-of-corporate-
downsizing (Accessed: May 10, 2023).

Contract (no date) LII / Legal Information Institute. Available at:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/contract (Accessed: May 10, 2023)

“Difference between ethics and professionalism” (2015) Compare the Difference Between Similar
Terms. Differencebetween.com, 23 January. Available at:
https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-ethics-and-vs-professionalism/ (Accessed:
May 10, 2023).

Juang, R. (2021) What is a contractual agreement?, Ironclad. Ironclad Inc. Available at:
https://ironcladapp.com/journal/contracts/contractual-agreement/ (Accessed: May 10, 2023).