Biz Lit 101

From New Republic (November 30, 1992)

by Douglas Coupland

As freshmen across North America dump liberal arts for more pragmatic business courses, literature faculties fight back with a new approach.

Literary Work & Author
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Plot
Civilized and primitive cultures clash on primitive culture's turf. Primitive culture wins.
Business Lesson
Younger, hungrier, less-calcified staff may resort to unusual self-advancement techniques.

Literary Work & Author
Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
Plot
Bored wife Emma empties the family coffers to fund trips to Rouen for romantic dalliances.
Business Lesson
Business travel by employees is necessary but requires judicious monitoring.

Literary Work & Author
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
Plot
Displaced Oklahoma dirt farmers enter the non-lucrative mid-1930s California citrus industry.
Business Lesson
Hungry workers are unstable workers. Is your employee cafeteria up to stuff?

Literary Work & Author
Lord of the Flies
William Golding
Plot
In the absence of order, the majority of schoolboys stranded on an island revert to animal behavior.
Business Lesson
Keep employees busy at all times.

Literary Work & Author
Vanity Fair
William Thackeray
Plot
Class and money roller-coastering in early nineteenth-century London. Many characters marry for security.
Business Lesson
Cause for reflection on the minimum-wage issue. Guaranteed incomes can prevent countless flawed life and career decisions.

Literary Work & Author
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
Plot
Heathcliff, angered by certain events, exacts revenge from tenants, friends, and relatives via cruelty and mind games. Becomes a ghost in the end.
Business Lesson
If you have a complaint with a staff member, healthy discussion rather than scheming is the way to promote positive change.

Literary Work & Author
Sons and Lovers
D.H. Lawrence
Plot
A mother's ambitions for her two sons warps their development. First son dies, second is very messed up.
Business Lesson
Don't overburden employees with unrealistic goals.

Literary Work & Author
Pygmalion
George Bernard Shaw
Plot
Professor Higgins alters the wardrobe and social skills of Cockney flower merchandiser Eliza Doolittle, ensuring her social and career success.
Business Lesson
A skilled image consult is a crucial link to the career chain of any ambitious executive.

Literary Work & Author
The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway
Plot
The complicated love lives of American expatriates in 1920s Paris; many lovely travelogue descriptions of Spain.
Business Lesson
Trips abroad make ideal employee bonus incentives. Is your company hooked up with a frequent flyer program?

Literary Work & Author
Steppenwolf
Hermann Hesse
Plot
Hary Haller's notebook showcases the schism between bourgeois and rebellious tastes. Much talk of music.
Business Lesson
Gentle tunes in the workplace can ease job dissatisfaction and increase productivity.

Literary Work & Author
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ken Kesey
Plot
Metaphorical battle between Big Nurse (Authority) and an asylum inmate (the individual). Authority wins.
Business Lesson
Employee sedition: scourge or bonanza?

Literary Work & Author
I Robot
Isaac Asimov
Plot
Often whimsical speculation on the role robot can play in our physical and emotional lives.
Business Lesson
Machines are only as good as the stupidest person who works with them.

Literary Work & Author
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Plot
An extended air-clearing between spouses George and Martha reveals the sham and drudgery of their lives.
Business Lesson
As a manager, it is your role to temper interemployee squabbles judiciously.

Literary Work & Author
Surfacing
Margaret Atwood
Plot
Metaphor-rich exploration of female and Canadian national autonomy and identity.
Business Lesson
Free trade may bring your firm unexpected bonuses.

Literary Work & Author
The Andy Warhol Diaries
Andy Warhol, edited by Pat Hackett
Plot
A fun-packed decade of drugs, sex, fame, painting, and Concorde- lag. Includes classic Bianca's panties-sniffing scene.
Business Lesson
It's only good art if it's good business.

Literary Work & Author
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
Beatrix Potter
Plot
Brash Nutkin cheeks-off sage Old Brown Owl once too often; tail is cut off.
Business Lesson
Highlights the need for a mentor in today's rough-and-tumble corporate world.

Literary Work & Author
Actually (Sheet music)
Pet Shop Boys
Plot
catchy lyrics and danceable techno-music by avant-garde British Europopstrels.
Business Lesson
Identifying with youthful employees is one way of developing healthy management relations.

Literary Work & Author
Rice Krispies (box)
The Kellogg Cereal Company of Battle Creek, Michigan
Plot
Elfin funsters Snap, Crackle, and Pop dance about the rim of cereal bowl. Bonus recipe for Rice Krispie Treats.
Business Lesson
An executive must truly like the product or services the company produces before he or she can become 100 percent effective.

Note:Article used here without permission. Copyright owned by New Republic.

back