Jerry Maguire
11/14/2017
Ethics
Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire is the dramatic, sports comedy based on the true story of sports agent Leigh
Steinberg. After a stress induced nervous breakdown a feeling of remorse, Jerry writes a mission
statement about the dishonesty of the sports management business and what he believes could help the
business operate more successfully. Upper management of Jerry’s employer, Sports Management
International (SMI), did not find Jerry’s memo as inspiring as his coworkers did. Faced with recent
unemployment, Jerry contacts all his previous clients to convince them to hire him as a private sports
agent. Jerry is left with only one client, Arizona Cardinal’s wide receiver Rod Tidwell. Rod and Jerry
continuously argue with each other, constantly butting heads and often throwing harsh criticism at each
other. After the final Monday night game of the season, Rod proves how much heart he has in the game
and Jerry and Rod embrace each other showing the media and other athletes present how their strictly
business relationship progressed to a close personal one; one of the original issues Jerry had with the
sports management business. At the end of the movie, Rod appears on a sports show where he is presented
with an $11.2 million contract that Jerry had secured, which allowed Rod to finish his pro football career
in Arizona. The visibly emotional Rod Tidwell proceeds to thank everyone including a warm gratitude
to Jerry. Through the extra effort spent on creating a personal relationship with the client to produce a
more successful career path, Jerry was able to obtain more clients who respect the work Mr. Maguire
committed to Rod.
Jerry Maguire is a contemporary example of how purchasing and materials management theories
can be seen in many different business sectors and purchasing, and materials management concepts can
be applied to different situations. A common assumption of purchasing and materials management is that
a product is represented as food, ingredients or other raw material supplies. In the case of Jerry Maguire,
the materials managed were the clients and their skills offered to the professional teams. Each individual
player can be considered a “raw material” and the finished product is the complete sports team that plays
each week. In the sports management business, purchasing management is buying (or selling the players).
The sports teams, such as the Arizona Cardinals, were purchasing a contract that stated they essentially
owned the skills and services of Rod Tidwell for the remainder of his professional career. As a sports
representative or sports agent, Jerry Maguire’s responsibilities were to sell the skills of Rod Tidwell to
potential buyers.
During the movie, it was apparent that the sports agents and owners of the sports teams were
using a purchasing process. Each supplier, or in this case, each sports agent, provided the buyer with all
