Running head: ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM

Application paper on Organizational Behavior in Apollo 13 Film

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM Introduction This paper offers insight into various aspects of Organizational Behavior that are noticeable in the Apollo 13 film. A number of characteristics have been found in various members of organizations which relate to their positions, roles, goals, authority, communication, attitudes and relationships. The main emphasis will be placed on six areas of OB seen in the film pertaining to the incidents in film namely motivation concepts, group/team dynamics, communication, leadership, power and politics, conflict and negotiation. We will go through each area of Organizational Behavior in detail followed by a summary.

Organization Behavior topics in the film Conflict and Negotiation Conflict is a process that involve people disagreeing which begins when one party perceives another party has or is about to negatively affect something the first party cares about (Robbins et. al, 2011). A common way that parties deal with conflict is via negotiation.

Negotiation is a process whereby two or more parties work toward an agreement. Managing conflict and engaging in effective negotiation are both key for effective organizational behavior within organizations as well as daily life. Jim Lovell (as Commander), Ken Mattingly (as Command Module Pilot) and Fred Haise (as Lunar Module Pilot) were selected for the Apollo 13 mission to moon. Just two days before the mission launch, it was decided to remove Ken from the flight because of the risk he might be infected after being exposed to measles based on the blood work performed by the medical team. Jim Lovell, commander of Apollo 13, argues to keep Ken Mattingly, who is one of the most conscientious, hardworking of all the astronauts and they can read each others moves as a team.

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM The medical team thinks that the risk is too high for Ken to be sent on this mission as there is a great chance for him to get sick in space. So Jim was forced to Scrub Mattingly and go Swiggert. Jack Swiggert is the backup command module pilot who Jim thinks may not be a

good fit as has been out of the loop for weeks and supports his argument by asking When Swiggert was last time in simulation chamber. Jim and his superiors have a strong

organizational conflict in this scenario where a decision has to be made based on the advice from the medical team which also has the NASA management support as they dont want to take risk. During the negotiation process, Jim has been presented two options by the NASA management: he can either choose to replace Ken with Swiggert and continue with his mission on the Apollo 13, or he can cancel the mission and his team will be used for the next mission. Jim uses the accommodating approach for conflict resolution here in which The person gives in to what the other side wants, even if it means giving up ones personal goals (Talya et. al, 2010) and decides to go with Swiggert as he thinks that the mission success is more important than one team member. Leadership Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. Jim as the leader of the Apollo 13 mission with a small team of just three members in an extremely tense work environment where things may change second by second showed a strong leadership in all the situations. The team was divided when Ken was replaced with Swiggert as Haise was very close to Ken and they have questions if Swiggert can perform the job efficiently as he was new to the team. Divisions within the team will lead to conflicts and thats what happened in the Apollo 13 mission. The Apollo 13 mission ran into issues when the space control mission asked Give oxygen tanks a stir and Swiggert performed this task which led to

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM explosion in the spacecraft leading to loss of all oxygen within about three hours, along with loss of
water, electrical power, and use of the propulsion system. Fred had already had a bad perception towards Swiggert from the beginning of mission and this provided him with an opportunity to blame Swiggert. This is when Jim jumped in as a leader and used conflict resolution skills and told that I would have done the same if I was closer to the oxygen stir switch.

Jim is a very experienced leader who can manage conflicts using different styles and techniques to address the problem. This leadership feature made him flexible and successful because he can identify the situation he is in and change his method of resolving conflicts which is important for the success of the mission. Group/Team Dynamics A group is a collection of individuals who interact with each other such that one persons actions have an impact on the others. A team is a cohesive coalition of people working together to achieve mutual goals. Vince Lombardi expressed The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

In the case of Apollo 13, all members can be treated as one big group as mentioned in the film The astronaut is only the most visible member of a very large team, and all of us down to the guy sweeping the floor are honored to be part of it. Its the best part of each one of us, the belief that anything is possible. This big group can be divided into two as Mission Control and Astronauts. Mission Control comprises of multiple teams namely Booster, RETRO, FIDO, Guidance, Surgeon, EECOM, GNC, TELMU, Control, Procedures, FAO, INCO, Network, Recovery, CAPCOM and Launch Control. Each team has expertise in a particular area and responsible for the accomplishment of the goal assigned to them which in turn is important for the accomplishment of the whole mission. Mission Control and Astronauts have been in

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM constant contact and working towards a common goal of bringing them safely back home after multiple system failures on the spacecraft.

For example, the group and team behavior is noticed when crew at Mission Control decided that a manual burn is needed to get the astronauts back on track for their re-entry. Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swiggert executed the manual burn task as a team which requires high coordination between them for the accomplishment of goal. The Manual Burn incident shows that three team members have different skills as they control different systems. Jim controlled the angle of the spacecraft looking out of the window by visualizing their target in space. Haise is responsible for the direction and Swiggert is in charge of time keeping. In this scenario, this team can be considered as a cross-functional team. Cross-Functional teams refers to a team made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level but from different work areas, who come together to complete a task (Robbins et. al, 2011). Power and Politics Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others to get what you want. In Apollo 13 mission, power is possessed by Gene Kranz who is the flight director for NASAs Mission Control Unit. He is responsible for leading mission control team on ground to successfully find a way to bring the astronauts back home safely. Gene Kranz and his team have the following issues, i.e., to determine the safest part of the ship to use for the astronauts return, to come up with a way to save power on the spaceship and provide the astronauts with a feasible re-entry procedure. Kranzs formal power as a leader originates from his position within the organizations structure and hierarchy. He listens attentively to all the information and opinions provided by the specialists which enable him to make the best informed decision possible where time is

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM limited and very uncertain environment. Kranz has Legitimate Power based on his position and exerts it by telling his subordinates that We never lost an American in space. We are sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch. FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!!!. Kranz has Expert Power as result of his skills, expertise and knowledge and he exerts it in the film when his team members argue about his decision of using Len module for bringing astronauts back by saying We are not losing those men. I dont care what anything was designed to do. I care about what it can do. Kranz also shows his strong leadership skills by controlling emotions of his team members when everything was going wrong on the spaceship and everyone was worried by telling Quiet down people. Lets stay cool, people. Lets work the problem. Dont make the problem worse by guessing what is wrong. Communication Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. At NASA, success depends on strong communication. Communication played a major role in the film as astronauts and ground mission control was in constant touch which is vital for the success of the mission. The communication process model is visible in the film and its in the form of Oral Communication. Astronauts send the message to control room by saying Houston, We have a problem when they have any issues on the spacecraft and the other side sends the conformation that they received the message by saying ROGER THAT. Communication played a vital role in bringing the astronauts home as that is the medium in which the instructions were sent to astronauts about the various task on the spacecraft have to be performed.

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM Motivation Concepts Motivation is one of the forces that lead to performance. Motivation is defined as the desire to achieve a goal or a certain performance level, leading to goal-directed behavior. Team members at NASAs Apollo 13 mission were highly motivated and work towards accomplishing their goal. As seen from the film, they were working long hours for the success of mission and coming up with innovative ideas like one team dumps actual items they have to work with in the spacecraft to correct oxygen levels on a table and come up with a filter. The management also motivates them by appreciating when something like this is done with You, sir, are a steely-eyed missile man and Great job guys. Employees are not afraid to express their ideas which are required for success of any mission and it is visible in film when one employee says From my chair here, this is the only option. Superiors also take into account all the ideas provided by employees before making a decision which also motivates employees to do a better job. Management also provided all the resources required by employees like when they have to find the ways to save power in the film, Gene told Get every engineer who designed every part right now. Get them out of bed. Summary Based on the various Organizational Behavior characteristics seen in the film, the members of the Apollo13 mission have strong relationships. NASA has very well defined hierarchy system and employees are highly motivated towards achieving their goals even in highly tense environment. Astronauts and control room staff are trained well to control their emotions and stress levels. The whole mission staff can work as one group when required like the one in the case of ill-fated Apollo 13 mission and also as independent teams based on their team functions.

ORGANIZTAIONAL BEHAVIOR IN APOLLO 13 FILM References

1. Judge, T., & Robbins, S (2011). Organizational Behavior (14th edition). Princeton, NJ: Pearson. 2. Talya Bauer, Berrin Erdogan (2010).Organizational Behavior (version 1.1). Flat World Knowledge, Inc. Retrieved from: http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/p1625 3. Apollo 13(1995). directed by Ron Howard 4. Vince Lombardi. Retrieved October 28, 2011, from http://www.vincelombardi.com/quotes.html