Bill Lumbergh's Use Of Hierarchical Language

The use of hierarchical language or “vocabulary that designates status,” is prominently used by Bill Lumbergh when addressing employees like Peter. (Wood, 2015, p.241). Lumbergh’s need to flaunt his power, paired with his large ego is demonstrated in the way he communicates. Adapting his tone of voice to sound uninterested and unimpressed is one technique Bill uses to intimidate his subordinates. Throughout the film, Bill consistently resorts to selective listening which involves focusing on particular parts of the conversation and ignoring others. Bill also uses nonverbal cues such as slurping his coffee and playing with his suspenders, to convey that he is bored with the conversation and that he has more important things to do. Similarly, Peter’s secondary boss, Dom,

He continuously stands over his employees, even using physical touch, such as a harsh pat on the back, to demonstrate his authority. Both of these examples resemble “power over” which Wood describes as, “the ability to help or harm others; emphasizing and building the status of the person wielding influence” (2015, p.224). Within Initech, power over is usually given to the manager, or superior. This is evidenced by the power Lumburgh has over his employees. Consequently, this is also demonstrated by Peter once he is promoted later in the film. When Peter becomes the new leader in the workplace and in his friend group, he utilizes his influence by convincing them to carry out their scheme against Initech.
When comparing real-live research studies of workplace communication to the movie, Office Space, it is clear the movie demonstrates a broken communication system. According to the study by Keyton, “knowing which communication behaviors employees use routinely and effectively could be of benefit when supervisors promote employees to take on additional communication tasks, as communication requirements of new job roles may be different” (2015, p.153). Comparatively, characters like