In Goldfinger 007's persuasive and collaborative style triumphs over his adversary's hire-and-fire-at-will approach, says Rhymer Rigby.

The director's cut This was 007's third outing - and arguably his best.Here Bond is pitted against Goldfinger, a man obsessed by the Midasmetal, and one who is prepared to stop at nothing to augment hisholdings.

In this case, Goldfinger's wheeze is to set off a dirty bomb in FortKnox, in order to render the US gold reserves untouchable for half acentury - vastly inflating the value of his own stockpile. But Bond hasother ideas and, in a stylish and rather politically incorrect romp, heoutwits Goldfinger, kills his mute Korean manservant, Oddjob, andseduces his personal pilot, Ms Pussy Galore.

The HR director's cut In this market-led thriller, both Bond and hisadversary showcase very different styles of management. Goldfinger, atraditional CEO, demands absolute loyalty and hires and fires atwill.

Bond, with no such power base, has to adopt a more persuasive andcollaborative approach. What is most interesting is how thesecontrasting styles work with different employees, specifically Pussy andOddjob. Ultimately Goldfinger is a neat little riff on every hard-nosedmanager's favourite bedtime read, Machiavelli's The Prince. For while itmight be better to be respected than liked, it is better still to beboth. Especially by Ms Galore.

HR star Bond, James Bond. He demonstrates that a manager who aims tosatisfy all his stakeholders with multiple bottom lines is more likelyto achieve positive outcomes than one who concentrates solely on thefinancials.

Yet it's worth pointing out that Goldfinger is by no means all bad. Thiswas the very early and rather sexist Bond, a chap who put the 'man' intomanagement. And, while Goldfinger may have been on the wrong side of thelaw, he was on the right side of diversity. Considering this was the1960s, his having a team of female pilots and employing a member of thedisabled minority (Oddjob) in such a key role can only be applauded.

Key learning Like so many businessmen, Goldfinger sees himself asrunning a 'product' business - in this case one centred on the metalsmarkets.

As far as he is concerned, his strategy is simply to use plutonium toboost the value of his gold. But he fails to realise that every businessis a people business. Bond knows better and sets out to win hearts andminds. He triumphs by persuading Pussy to switch nerve gas for aharmless substitute. Moreover, ultimately he wins not only her heart andmind, but much else besides - showing that he is every inch HerMajesty's secret people manager.