Please pick a movie and analyze – from the perspective of an Organizational Behavior Specialist – the behaviors and personalities of the characters depicted in a film of your choice. You need not critique the film in terms for value as a work of art or as entertainment. Rather, you should think carefully about the personalities, behaviors, and leadership attitudes of the characters portrayed in the film. Apply the Organizational Behavior theories from class and readings that to understand, interpret, and exemplify an individual’s leadership behavior. This assignment is comprehensive so please apply any and all concepts encountered in this course (from the book, lecture, or HBS exercises) that help explain the character’s personality, beliefs, and behavior within the relative organizational milieu. Assignment 1. Watch the film with an eye towards the characters’ personalities, behaviors, feelings, and interactions with others. a. How do they behave? Why do they behave the way they do? b. How do they interpret situations? Does this differ from how the other characters respond? c. What it is it about their past relationships that may influence their behavior and personality now? 2. Select a MAJOR character whose personality you would like to more intimately describe and interpret using at least 3 different behavior theories/constructs. 3. Identify one example for each behavior / intelligence theory/construct that illustrates how the character’s personality, beliefs, or behavior manifests that construct. The example that you choose can be a large part of the film or can be as small as one line of dialogue that exemplifies the theory or construct. In either case, the concept and the parts of the movie must be described in sufficient detail so that I know what you are talking about. Paper Organization and Grade Breakdown Paragraph #1 – Introduction/Thesis statement • Brief summary of movie and description of your character’s role in the movie • Thesis statement about the three theories/constructs you will use to explain your character’s personality/behavior/beliefs Paragraph #2 – Theory/Construct #1 • Example from movie of how your character manifests leadership archetypes o Briefly describe the relevant scene or example that illustrates your character’s personality, beliefs, or behavior (You may assume that I have seen the film). • Specific concept/construct (e.g., authoritative) o Describe in detail the overarching personality theory and specific concept/construct that you believe is a relevant characterization of the example you’ve just described. o The idea is to show me that you have a good understanding of the theory/concept and specific principles by describing the theory/process in your own words. An occasional quote from your text or another source is fine, but for the most part, you should be conveying your knowledge without the aid of others’ words – using your text or your lecture notes as resources is fine. • Your analysis/interpretation of behavior within the organizational behavior theory o Elaborate on how the selected scene illustrates the principle you have identified. o Where possible, make reference to how your scene maps onto specific research findings (for example, describe how the scene is similar to or different from relevant experiments you’ve read or heard about). It’s very important that you do more than simply say something like “this scene illustrates transformative leadership." You must be specific on precisely how and in what form the scene illustrates this process. It’s also ok to write about how a scene might fail to follow predictions derived from the particular principle or theory. Paragraph #3 – Theory/Construct #2 Paragraph #4 – Theory/Construct #3 Paragraph #5 – Brief Conclusion o Conclusion paragraph ties the paper together effectively by reviewing the three theories that you used to explain your character’s personality MLS format
