Corporation S1:E4

Growth

This short documentary is the first part of the Corporation, a film series about the inner workings of the Steinberg supermarket chain. Through the eyes of President Sam Steinberg, the film depicts the company’s growth from a hand-cart and bicycle, then a horse-drawn delivery wagon, to an international, diversified corporation. “A company can't stand still," he says. “It must grow”.

Real Estate

This is the 2nd part of Corporation, a film series about the inner workings of the Steinberg supermarket chain. This installment looks at the corporation's impact on the environment – the way in which its growth can influence not only where and how people live and work, but also the shape of cities and suburbs. As the corporation's president, Sam Steinberg, reminisces about the company's early seat-of-the-pants expansion, while its executives discuss the logic behind new retail locations.

International Operations

The third part of the Corporation series looks at corporate influence on society and culture. The arrival of a major Canadian supermarket's French subsidiary, Supermarchés Montréal, in a town on the outskirts of Paris has a social and cultural impact: on the shopping and eating habits of the local population; on stall-holders in the traditional local market who see their customers drift away; on employees who must adjust to an unaccustomed work environment. President Sam Steinberg's first visit to the French stores provides a first-hand glimpse of the homogenizing effect of corporate technology on culture.

The Market

In his first small store, Sam Steinberg says, customers were like family – they'd pitch in to help at busy times. No more. This fifth part of the Corporation series, filmed in stores, at consumer meetings, and in corporate plants and offices, looks at how the corporation that grew from that first small store attempts to hold its own in the three-way tug-of-war with suppliers, competitors and consumers. One strategy in the struggle over price and profit is for the corporation to capture the supplier's share of profit by producing its own brands of foodstuffs and merchandise; another is to watch competitors' prices with an eagle eye and quickly match or beat them; a third is to attempt to mollify consumer groups by consultation and explanation of its policies and prices.

Motivation

The sixth part of the Corporation series looks at a key element of business success. For the entrepreneur, as Sam Steinberg reveals, the motive for building a business soon surpasses the practical one of making a living. It becomes a creative activity. But how to similarly motivate the corporation's 20,000 employees, from top executives to cashiers? Where jobs are interesting and challenging there is a sense of meaningful participation and identification. But for most the motive for work is simply to make a living. How can the corporation expect to get more from them than reasonable productivity?

After Mr. Sam

The final installment of Corporation documents a 3-day conference held in the corporation's lodge north of Montreal. There, faced with the stepping down of Sam Steinberg as president, ambitious top-level executives thrash out their differences on matters of corporation policy and objectives. But who will replace Mr. Sam, the man who built the business? Sprinkled with Sam Steinberg's reminiscences and reflections on business, full of insights into the workings of a large corporation and clashes of interest and character, the film presents an unusually close view of a struggle for position and power.