Organizational Development

Is organization development limited to war movies or can examples of it be found in other films as well? If so, cite several movies and explain. If not, explain why you think organization development's depiction is limited to war films.

Organizational development is manifest in any film where there are hierarchies of power and different personalities wrangling for organizational support. Of course, this can be seen in war films where privates resist the advice of their commanding officers, or troops engage in personal arguments about the nature of their mission, and then come together to win the final battle. But even in high school films there is organizational development, often to the detriment of individual development and expression. In films like Mean Girls, the introduction of a 'new girl' temporarily destabilizes the hierarchy of the ruling 'queens' of the high school. There is then a kind of negotiation of new power roles as the popular girls incorporate her into their power structure, even while she as an individual chafes at the constraints of their control. There is also friction and a struggle for control between the teachers and the 'mean girls' of the title.

Films that depict business organizations also show organizational development. In Wall Street, working with Gordon Gecko changes the character of the young and less corrupt traders who are influenced by his greed and his dictatorial yet charismatic style of management. The film depicts how the character of the leader of a business organization can corrupt all of the members of the organization from the top down.

Finally, one must remember that wars originate from political decisions. Many films, particularly during the crisis of Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s portray the corrupt nature of organizational development in politics. In the Candidate, Robert Redford's candidate changes from a renegade outsider figure to an insider because of the insidious nature of the electoral process and media organization. His campaign's organization shifts from an open, grass-roots organization to a highly oiled, and predictable political machine, almost without the candidate's realization.