12 Angry Men

In the movie 12 Angry Men there are many characters with different personalities. 12 Angry Men is a movie about 12 angry men on a jury deciding the fate of a young boy for allegedly stabbing his father to death. The character traits of the people in the movie correlate in many ways to the subject of Organizational Behavior. Some character traits that these actors had were diversity, ability, and leadership.

It is important to note that all 12 jurors had different types of jobs. For example, one juror was a stockbroker while a different juror had a career in advertising. These differences meant that diversity would play a key role in deciding the fate of this young boy.

External factors were also at their disadvantage with the extreme heat in the room and the fan that wasn't working.

By taking risks and communicating, Davis was able to manage the conflict; he didn't respond when he was attacked verbally even almost physically, he acted very smart in order to stay in control of the situation.

When the jury took its first vote as to whether the boy is guilty or not, there were about 3 men who raised their hands voting guilty with full conviction. The next 8 men that voted guilty just followed suit of what everybody else did. This meant that the vote was 11-1 in favor of the death sentence. One of the main reasons the 8 jurors voted guilty was because they were used to group thinking. Every member of the jury sincerely believed that this child was guilty. The defendant had a weak alibi; a knife was found on the scene of the crime; several witnesses saw the kids running away or heard the screaming or even saw the killing. So it was normal for everyone that they should consider the kid guilty and everyone that would go against this verdict would make a fool out of himself. Still, Mr. Davis, juror #8, decides to counter the strong group thing and go against the obvious prof that the jury had on the killing. He decided to share his belief, ask question, get everyone around the table involved with the discussion, although Davis had many strong people confronting him he didn't discourage himself and he stayed confident. The key to his success of shifting everyone's opinion was the fact that he was exchanging a lot of information with others.

It is very interesting to examine how the jurors at different points of the film used different persuasion techniques. At the outset, Juror #8 is the only member of the party to vote not guilty, and he immediately begins to feel pressure from the outstanding majority. The majority tells #8 that "he's mixed up" and that "we need to convince you why you are wrong. They also separate him from the group in order to make him feel more alone and vulnerable; "you are the only one". Later in the film, after several jurors have decided to vote not guilty, the majority calls them the "ladies" and "do-gooders". Interestingly enough, when the tide has turned significantly and Juror #3 is the last man remaining that has voted guilty, Juror #8 turns the tables uses this approach to coerce this last man. He also notes, "you are all alone" in order to make him feel extremely vulnerable. Silence is another technique that is employed by the jurors as a power of persuasion. The jurors listen quietly when Juror #3 goes on his final rant about voting guilty; this further separates the connection between #3 and the other jurors.

Leadership responsibilities are also a major focal point in the film. Originally, Juror #1 takes the leadership reigns as the foreman of the group. He organizes them and states the goals clearly. But after the jurors are seated