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Executive Summary Essay

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Executive Summary

In this report, film was used as a learning resource to analyze selected organizational behaviour models found in today’s workplace. As film is one of the more engaging mediums, this allows for abstract theories to be presented visually and in a dramatic manner. The film Apollo 13 was selected to showcase such models including the communication process model, types of decision making models, and the five-stage model of team development. Apollo 13 chronicles the events of the 1971 lunar mission involving three astronauts; Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. After a successful launch, a critical error occurs and the team of astronauts must work together with Mission Control to ensure their survival on their …show more content…

The movie ends with Jim Lovell, who is lost in thought, staring into the sky and saying, “I look up at the moon and wonder: ‘When will we be going back, and who will that be.’”

From an organizational context, conflict can be defined as: “The perception, in an interdependent relationship of incompatible wishes, goals, attitudes, emotions or behaviors” (Bulmash, Nelson, Quick, Sniderman, 2007, chap. 11). Traditionally, conflict can be a; combat or fighting, hostility between members of work, a struggle, or even a difference in opinion. The sources of conflict become apparent when a mishap on the spacecraft interferes with the teams mission. The first source of conflict is the obvious; the explosion causes damage to the spacecraft making it impossible to complete their mission. The next source of conflict results in the below freezing temperatures and high carbon monoxide levels within the small LEM. This is a conflict that must be solved before taking any further action. Not only are they faced with this challenge, but low power levels forces them to shut down the module and loose communication with Mission Control once they on route to circle around the moon. Probably the most important conflict that takes place deals with teamwork. Jack gets the finger pointed at him in an accusation that the explosion was the result of him neglecting to monitor the gauges. When conflict occurs within a team, objectives usually begin to fall apart,

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