12 Angry Men: Organizational Behavior Essay examples

In 1957, the producers H. Fonda, G. Justin and R. Rose collaborated with the director S. Lumet to create the film, 12 Angry Men. In this paper, I will provide an analysis of the small group communication displayed by the main characters in the motion picture. I will discuss group communications, group development, group membership, group diversity, and group leadership. These topics will be dissected in order to properly examine the characters’ behavior.

The jurors are transformed by the process of deliberating. Eleven men voted guilty because of their prejudices, fears, laziness and insecurities, but they are eventually persuaded by reason to give up these limiting beliefs, to see the potential in the facts, and to find justice. The critical turning points in the jury votes occur, not when there is passion and anger, but when there is reasoned discussion, as the rational Juror 8 triumphs over the prejudices of his fellow jurors. The facts of the case do not change, but the jurors come to see the facts differently, and change by the process they go through. Despite the hostility and tension created in this process, the twelve men end up reconciled, and justice is done.

“Political Activity is alive and well in organisations. Critically discuss this statement. What factors result in Organisational Politics and what is the role of such behaviour on other people at work?”

The film “Twelve Angry Men” directed by Sidney Lumet illustrates many social psychological principles. The tense, gripping storyline that takes place in the 1950s features a group of jurors who must decide unanimously whether a young man is guilty or innocent in the murder of his father. At the beginning, eleven of the twelve jurors voted guilty. Gradually, through some heated discussion, the jurors are swayed to a not-guilty verdict. Upon examination, the film highlights social psychology theories in areas of conformity and group influence.

Twelve Angry Men is a courtroom drama that was brought to the big screens in 1957. The storyline follows twelve men selected for jury duty, who are trying to reach a verdict on a young man’s trial following the murder of his father. Throughout the debates and voting, the men all reveal their personalities and motives behind their opinions. Because of all the differences of the men, their communication skills lack in some ways and are excellent in others. The three small group communication variables that I found portrayed throughout the movie were prejudice, past experience and preoccupation.

In the 1957 classic 12 Angry Men, group dynamics are portrayed through a jury deliberation. Group dynamics is concerned with the structure and functioning of groups as well as the different types of roles each character plays. In the film, twelve men are brought together in a room to decide whether a boy is guilty of killing his father. The personality conflicts, the joint effort and the functioning of several minds together to search for the truth are just a few characteristics of group dynamics at work. The whole spectrum of humanity is represented in this movie, from the bigotry of Juror No.10 to the coldly analytical No.4. Whether they brought good or bad qualities to the jury room, they all affected the outcome.

Juror number 8 just vote for the first time “not guilty” as the juror 1 (the president of the assembly) ask “what do we do now” he answered “I guess we talk”. That can be a collaborative management as he wants to explain why he voted that. But the juror 3 gets mad because he is the only one who voted no. He talk to him in an aggressive way, and do not seem to respect his position, because he wants to be right; Juror 3 is more competitive because he has a firm stand and he knows what he wants “he stabbed his own father, 12 inches in the chest, they proved that...”. On the same scene, jurors 11 are asking him question on why he disagree. They are more on the collaborative than juror 3 because they do try to understand his position even if they

The movie is about 12 men on a jury who have to decide unanimously if a defendant is guilty or not for first degree murder. The issues that arise in the movie relate closely to organizational behavior. Much of the concepts we learned in class about the power of group decision making, factors that go into making decisions as a group, and how certain people deal with problems in coming up with a decision are present in the movie. Group decisions have its benefits, as well as potential drawbacks. It is important to understand this because someone’s life can depend on this decision.

12 Angry Men is a film that plays on show many features of Organizational Behavior. The jurors of 12 men are locked in a room to deciding the future boy who is being accused of murdering his father; the movies show the four stages of Bruce Tuckman’s Group Development Model of Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. With this model, the movie also show difficulties and cohesiveness that the 12 different men experience as they must come together to make a single decision. While attempting to make this decision, they show several examples of influential behavior being highlighted throughout the film, as each member of the Jury experience using reason, assertiveness, coalition building, higher values and bargaining tools.

The A-Team was forced to disband because from the very first tasking, there was conflict between the group members. The group never actually came together to complete their first tasking of defining roles. The arguments between the group members got so bad that one of their team members walked out for the group and threatened to quit the program.

By choosing aggression over cooperation, they put themselves at an automatic disadvantage within the group, as aggression led to a lack of credibility among those who demonstrated it. The group did not share a common goal, which also led to poor performance. Some team members had alternative motives, such as man number 3 who was showing aggression towards teen boys because of the poor experience he had with his own teenager and man number 7 who wanted to get in and out of the discussion as quickly as possible because he had baseball tickets for that night. The bigotry and grudge against teenage boys prevented men numbers 3 and 10 from being constructive team members and probably should have disqualified them from serving on that jury in the first place.

Organizational Behavior Management (OBM) is a vital part of the success of a company. The employee’s thoughts and actions even considering culture are thoroughly analyzed. This idea allows managers to improve not only individual behavior but also group dynamic performances/interactions and workers safety. This theory is considered as a science of the behavior of each employee. The history of OBM started in the 1900’s, with the strong influence of Skinner and Watson. Scientific Behavior began in the workplace, following the applications of behavioral principles to instructional design. Frederick Taylor, another innovative manager was a huge supporter of the scientific method being presented and utilized. Three main areas of OBM application include: Performance Management, Behavioral Systems Analysis, and Behavior-Based Safety. Inside of each area, there are key points to consider. Some would be leadership, decision making, team building, motivation, and job satisfaction. In short, OBM is the study that reviews how organizational structures are an aftermath within companies.

When placed in a group with different personalities, you have to find a way to work and communicate effectively as a team; of course you’ll find yourself stuck at times because of certain barriers such as the lack of communication between members. However, group members have to find the ability to work together as a team. In the film “12 Angry Men,” we see a group of jurors who have to decide whether the defendant has committed the crime or is presumed innocent throughout a capital murder trial. As the audience, we witness how challenging it was for the jury to deliberate on a verdict and come to a true consensus because of the different personality role, and negotiation strategies. Specifically, I found six jurors

There are many internal and external forces that can affect an organization. Internally an organization sets up its own culture. It creates its own internal structure, mission, and fiscal policies. These internal forces are created to engage the external forces that include, but aren't limited to, an organization competition, the economy, and the demands of the customers. The way that these forces are handled speaks to the effectiveness of an organization.

In this essay I will be an analysis of group communication using the movie 12 Angry Men.The movie 12 Angry men is a movie about a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt. They go through many different problems during the deliberation.