Human Resource Management:

Bicentennial Man: Respect

Randell Chapman

Seton Hill University

SBU 372 45
 I remembered when the movie Bicentennial Man came out in theatres.  I am a big fan of

the work of Robin Williams.  I have enjoyed every movie he was in.  At one point, I even owned

the movie Bicentennial Man on DVD.  I was very excited to see the relationship of human

resource management in the movie.  Of course, in a world where DVD’s are now obsolete and

watching digital on stream services, I have gotten rid of the DVD.  So, I had to go looking for the

movie.  Since the passing of Robin Williams, I have noticed it has gotten extremely difficult

finding his movies on a streaming service where an additional charge is applied.  Luckily, a

family member came to the rescue.  I watched the movie.  I remembered lines, jokes,

characters, and plot themes.  I did not see or understand this movie being associated with

human resources management.  I had to look a little bit deeper to understand what I needed to

see and understand.  This movie does not relate in the normal business sense of human

resource management.  The beginning of this movie is about a worker (Andrew the robot) and

his employer (family that bought him) relationship toward an outcome of respect and

acceptance.

The movie starts with Andrew being delivered to the Martin family.  He is a robot who

serves the family by doing housekeeping and maintenance duties.  Andrew needs to follow

three program rules.  They are (1) A robot may not harm or allow a human to be harmed, (2)

must obey all orders given by a human being except where it conflicts with the first rule, and (3)

must protect its own existence as long as it does not conflict with the first and second rule. 

From the start, not everybody within the family likes having Andrew around.  The oldest child

tries to break Andrew by ordering him to jump out of a window.  Because of the oldest child

actions, the fathers states that Andrew needs to be treated better.  He is an employee of the

family, but he has the right to be safe.  Andrew cannot harm human beings; human beings

should not harm Andrew.  Andrew now has the rights like any other employee within any

company.  
 Shortly after, Andrew started to show a different side of himself.  He was displaying a

creative side no other robot was showing.  The father, Richard Martin, noticed something

special with Andrew.  On his own, Andrew started to show interest in understanding how

everything works.  Andrew continued to do his job, but his creative mind and thirst for

knowledge and understanding made him special.   

As an employer/ employee relationship, the dramatics changed at that point.  Andrew is

still an employee to the family.  But he is now regarded much more.  The employer (father) saw

that his employee (Andrew) was capable of much more.   Andrew succeeded in the job he was

originally hired for.  But he excelled in everything else.  As a result, the family treated him more

than hired help.  In Training, there was a side note by Bruce Tulgan.  He writes about what an

employee wants in a boss.  An employee would like to see their boss engage in the work the

employee is doing.  An employee would like the respect from the boss.  If that happens, the

employer would get the best out of the employee.  I feel this was the case in the relationship of

Andrew and the Martin family.  The Martin family treated Andrew with respect and love.  And in

return, Andrew cared about the family.  

The Martin family gave the freedom to Andrew to explore and understand society.  As

the family got older, Andrew became less and less of an employee.  But in fact, he is still an

employee.  Andrew wanted to have a life where he does not want to keep following orders if

given one.  Andrew wanted to be released from his contractual obligations.  I for one,

understand how Richard Martin felt when Andrew asked for his release.  I understand Richard

felt betrayed and hurt.  Richard gave his employee all the rights any employee wanted.  Richard

protected Andrew when Andrew needed repairs.  Richard treated Andrew like he was not just

an employee, but part of the family.   Andrew succeeded in much more than what he was

supposed to do.  In the end, Richard gave Andrew his release.  

 The relationship between employee and employer was almost perfect.   Both employee

(Andrew) and employer (Martin Family) showed a deep respect for each other.  Because of this,

a perfect workplace relationship happened.

References:

OLDFIELD, Y. (2014). Safe and Healthy Work: a Human Right. New Zealand Journal of Employment

Relations, 39(2), 73–105.

Tulgan, B. (2017). The Boss Factor. Training, 54(1), 9.

*Isn’t it funny in the movie when Andrew notices Galatea while she is playing Aretha Franklin

``Respect” in the marketplace*