I've read a long time ago an article about why managers should appreciate the devs., and there was analogy drawn to the 7 samurais movie: that a company can't really offer much to an engineer, and that the engineer chooses to help the company -- like the samurais helped the villagers.
I thought that was on joelonsoftware.com, or codinghorror.com; but the search did not bring any result. Does it ring a bell to anyone? Anyone?
It's from Joel's book "Smart and Gets Things Done". Section is entitled "Treat Them Like Samurai".
A quote:
The village is your team. The samurai are the programmers who, you hope, will come solve your problems, bringing their talent and expertise in exchange for, maybe, a bowl of rice. You may be poor and hopeless, but you sure as heck know how to show some respect for the samurai who is going to save your behind.
Nothing about Samurai, but another 3 articles from Joel that relate to management/developer relations.