Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom conspire to produce a Broadway flop in order to scam investors out of money. They intentionally choose the worst play, director, and actor to guarantee failure. However, their flop becomes a surprising hit. They violated ethical standards of honesty, loyalty, and integrity through deception, fraud, and misuse of investor funds. To resolve the issues, they need to reimburse investors, apologize sincerely, and change how they conduct business in the future.

1. The Producers
BUS330-001Ethics:ManagerialDecisionMaking
Summer2014
Chris Batsche
Monica Hannan
Christian Mabry
Rachelle Thomas
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063462/

2. FACTS~ “THE PRODUCERS”
• The directors first movie.
• The Producers was the first movie for Mel Brooks
• Brooks also worked on two real-life Broadway musical flops
• Movie is banned in Germany
• Brooks wanted original title of movie to be “Springtime for Hitler”, but
the studio didn’t approve
• The movie takes place in New York
• DISHONESTY is the cornerstone of the movie
• Was remade
• In 2001 as a Broadway musical
• Won 2001 Tony Award for Best Musical
• Again in 2005 as a musical film
• Starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Uma Thurman and many
others

3. ~MOVIE SUMMARY~
A film set in the late 1960’s that brings together a struggling theatrical
producer and an accountant. Max the theatrical producer was once
considered the top producer on Broadway; now living in his office,
wearing a cardboard belt, and scrounging money from wealthy old
ladies just to get by. Leo, his accountant comes over to check on Max’s
books, and tries to talk Max into producing a big hit to recoup all of his
losses, Max believes it is too late for that. Jokingly Leo offers up that if
Max were to produce a flop, he could legally keep all the money from
the investors….
They come together and decide that they want to produce the next
Broadway big…. FLOP! They conspire to pick the worst play, worst
director, and worst actor, to guarantee a giant flop…, but in the end in
becomes a HIT!
www.theguardian.com

4. *CAST *
Zero Mostel as... Max
Bialystock (the Producer)
Director based Max on a REAL
broadway producer
Gene Wilder as... Leo Bloom
(the Accountant)
Wrote half of his own monologue for
the courtroom scene
Dick Shawn as... 'L.S.D.' - Lorenzo
St. DuBois (the “worst actor”)
Kenneth Mars as... Franz
Liebkind (author of the “worst
playwright”)
Lee Meredith
as... Ulla
(Max’s
assistant)

5. Ethical Theories
(movie related)
Honesty Loyalty Sexism

6. ETHICAL THEORY #1: HONESTY
● Both the main characters Max and Leo were dishonest.
Examples
1. Leo
a. Altered Max’s books
b. Selling false ownership of production
2. Max
a. Asking Leo to alter his numbers
b. Selling false ownership of production
● They both lied to multiple people in the process of the fraud
classic-movie-
night.com

7. RESOLUTION #1: HONESTY
Resolution 1: Max and Leo should not have lied.
● Come clean and confess
● Money should be repaid to the debtors immediately
● Accountability
● Regain trust
www.shaanig.com
www.ign.com

8. ETHICAL THEORY #2: LOYALTY
● Bialystock and Bloom had an obligation of loyalty to their investors.
○ When the investors trusted them with their money they expected
them to use it responsibly.
● They violated this trust by selling false shares of the show and
attempting to create a “flop.”

9. ● Reimbursement to investors
● Sincere apology
● Regain trust by following through and acting different in the future.
RESOLUTION #2: LOYALTY

10. Sexism
There was a significant amount of female exploitation in The Producers.
● The way in which Bialystock collected money from his “investors” was
by flirting, dating, and “fooling around” with “little old ladies” and then
taking their money.
● If the roles were reversed; Bialystock being a female and selling
herself for money, this would be considered prostitution and no longer
be viewed as a humoristic aspect of the plot.
http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/to-make-or-remake-the-producers-
part-1/

11. Sexism continued...
Another instance of sexism in The Producers was the sexual harassment
that Ulla experienced as Max’s new assistant.
● There was a language barrier which caused a major communication
gap and the only phrase that Max used with her was “work”. Ulla
would instantly turn on music, strip down into skimpy clothing and
dance around the office as the men enjoyed the entertainment.
● According to The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, It
would be difficult to determine if Ulla’s situation is considered sexual
harassment because Bialystock never straight-forwardly asked for
sexual favors or threatened her job based on her sex and actions.
Based on the language barrier, the interpretation of what Ulla
considered her dancing to be, her job title, and contract legalities,
there would have to be a more indepth analysis of whether or not her
treatment in the workplace is considered to be sexual harassment.
● None the less, hiring her as an assistant and having her do tasks
which are not typical assistant duties is considered unethical.
especially since he is taking advantage of the language barrier.

12. RESOLUTION #3:
The resolution of the issue of sexism in the movie is as follows:
● The “investors” are to be given their money back and Mr. Bialystock
needs to fully explain what their money was actually going towards
and the truth behind his scheme.
● Unfortunately, you cannot not “undo” treating somebody a certain
way, but Bialystock has the opportunity to be honest.
● Ulla is to be spoken to and explained that she is being wronged in her
job title as his “assistant”. They are to pay her what she legally
deserves and release her from the position.

13. Ethical
Theories
(non-movie related)
CHEATING
(IN SPORTS)
INTEGRITY HUMANITY

14. OTHER ETHICAL THEORY #1: CHEATING IN SPORTS
● Cheating is defined by Merriam Webster Dictionary as:
: to break a rule or law usually to gain an advantage at something
: to take something from (someone) by lying or breaking a rule
: to prevent (someone) from having something that he or she deserves or was expecting to get
● Sports have been corrupted by scandals throughout history, from teams and coaches
cheating and fixing matches to athletes taking the competition too far or using
performance enhancing drugs. To become a professional athlete takes drive,
dedication and a strong will to succeed. Some of the same traits that go into making a
great athlete are the same traits that can make them take it too far. Athletes are taking
performance enhancing drugs at an all time level, and going to any extent to remain
competitive in their respective sports. Despite the various sports rules and drug testing,
athletes are finding new and better ways to get around the rules, allowing it to continue.
● The research regarding cheating in sports, came from prior knowledge, and the article titled “Ethics in Sports”,
article written by Jones & Bartlett Learning. ( http://samples.jbpub.com/9780763743840/43844_CH01_Thornton.pdf)

15. MLB
● Pete Rose- betting
on baseball
● Barry Bonds, Alex
Rodriguez, many
others, using
STEROIDS to gain
advantage
● Pitchers doctoring
baseball to throw off
the hitter
NBA
● “losing” on purpose,
in order to gain a
better position in the
upcoming draft
● Referees fixing the
games, and betting
on the games
NCAA
● College athletes
getting paid to play
● Colleges making up
classes for the
athletes, so they
can get easy “A”,
and continue
playing
● Reggie Bush
receiving money
and gifts from
agents while still in
school
NFL
● Players taking
performance
enhancing drugs
● Offensive linemen
greasing up their
arms, so other team
couldn't grab ahold
of them
● “Spygate”- where
teams were
recording other
teams practices
● Colts “adding crowd
noise” to the
stadium, to gain
advantage
Other
● Lance Armstrong-
doping scandal
● Mike Tyson- biting
the ear of Evander
Holyfield
● Marion Jones-
performance
enhancing drugs
● Rosie Ruiz- used
motorized vehicle to
help win Boston
Marathon
www.totalprosports.com
blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com
www.sportsrubbish.com
espn.go.com
Occurrences of Cheating in Sports

16. Following in the theme with Max and Leo, and trying to produce the biggest flop to
gain an financial advantage, A new age way of cheating in sports is now to “flop”, to
gain an advantage and get calls, last year ESPN’s sportscenter program put together
10 of their favorite flops, take a look...

17. OTHER ETHICAL THEORY #2: INTEGRITY
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods,
measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes.
● Though similar to honesty, integrity deals with a person’s behavior
and actions.
● Integrity is doing the right thing when nobody is watching.

18. Example of poor integrity in business
Kenneth Lay-Enron
● Was mainly responsible for the scandal that led to the collapse of
Enron.
● To this day is identified with corporate abuse and accounting fraud.
● The investigation of the scandal resulted in Congress passing the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act to improve corporate accountability.

19. ETHICAL THEORY #3: HUMANITY
● Child labor laws in foreign countries
● Affects 168 million children
○ Largest in Asia and the Pacific
○ Growing in Sub Saharan Africa
● Children subject to work long hours, bad work environments,
and unfair pay
● International Labor Organization

20. RESOLUTIONS RELATED TO COST/LEGALITIES
Per the first Ethical conflict resolution:
Cost Wise, in order to pay back all of the investors, not only will a lawyer
and accountant need to be hired, but Leo and Bialystock will have to find a
way to get back all of the money that they so carelessly spent. Max and
Leo are legally at fault for committing fraud and need to face the
repercussions.
Ways to handle the fraud legally:
● Process - Trial and verdict
● Fines
● Damages
Example: Enron filed bankruptcy and were tried at the court level for their
wrong doing. New precedents formulated such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
followed with new regulations.
The same process will need to be carried out involving the other two ethical
issues. Since Max and Leo were the only two involved in their company,
we can assume they have no one higher to go to for help or advice and that
more likely than not, Max never implemented an ethical code.

21. Final Recommendation
For Max and Leo, a final resolution for all of their ethical issues is
going to be a tough one to find. Since they have already spent
all of their money, they probably don’t have enough to
reimburse their investors. The two of them can do their best to
sell back or return everything that they used their unethically-
earned money to be able to repay everyone who is at a loss.
Also, they should turn around all of the revenue from the show
back to the investors.
After financially attempting to make everything right, they need to
start to gain back trust from people. Sincere apologies are in
order. Leo and Max should immediately begin to change how
they run their business (after they get out of jail) and build
their integrity back.

22. Discussion Questions

23. Outside Resources
● "About the ILO." About the ILO. International Labour Organization, n.d.
Web. 24 July 2014. <http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--
en/index.htm>.
● "Enron Scandal." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 July 2014. Web.
23 July 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enron_scandal>.
● "Sexual Harassment." Sexual Harassment. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July
2014.http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm
● "The Producers (1968) : Classic Movie Hub (CMH)." Classic Movie Hub.
N.p., n.d. Web. 19 July 2014. <http://www.classicmoviehub.com/film/the-
producers-1968/>.

24. Outside Resources
"5 Most Publicized Ethics Violations By CEOs." Forbes Magazine. N.p.,
5 Feb. 2013. Web. 26 July 2014.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Finvestopedia%2F2
013%2F02%2F05%2F5-most-publicized-ethics-violations-by-
ceos%2F>.
"Integrity vs. honesty-what's the Difference?" Nouns. N.p., n.d. Web. 26
July 2014.
<http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/41001/integrity-vs-
honesty-whats-the-difference>.