Rambo's Organizational Breakdown

 Rambo a returning Special Forces
veteran is exposed to the realities
of post war United States, the
movie is set in 1982, in small
town called Hope Washington
Source : Author Obtained from Rambo
Movie
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 Themovie begins with John J
Rambo, searching for one of his
combat buddies named Delmare
Berry,

 Upon locating his house Rambo
Source : Author Obtained from Rambo
finds out that Delmare berry had
Movie
died the previous year from cancer
as a side effect of “agent orange”
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 Despite being saddened by the news
and realizing he was the only
surviving member of his platoon,
Rambo continues on and come across
the small town of “Hope” with its
badly managed sheriff’s department
and the deputies.

 The Sheriffs uses extensive force in
Source : Author Obtained from The White
House Commission on Remembrance, trying to subdue Rambo to comply
Website
with the false arrest on the charges of
“Resisting Arrest and Vagrancy”
(Database, 2010).

 All Rambo wanted as he asked
Sheriff Will Teasle (Brian
Dennehy) while being spotted
and escorted out of the town was
“something to eat” (Kotcheff,
1982).

 Butthe authoritarian type Sheriff
would not hear of it, instead
gives his story on how “ Town of
Hope Hope is a small town, and
it would be boring for Rambo.
 Additionally how he as the
sheriff is paid to keep it that
Source : Author Obtained from Rambo First
Blood Movie 1982.

way”, furthermore he indicates
that “Drifters” as Rambo are
unwanted by telling him to go to
a dinner 30 miles away to eat
something (Kotcheff, 1982).
Blood Movie 1982.

 Teasle arrest Rambo for not
complying with him and
returning to town.
 Then at the sheriff’s department
an old school sergeant sheriff
named Art Galt (Jack Starrett)in
trying to assert his own
Blood Movie, 1982 authority use excessive force
against Rambo in trying to get
the “paperwork
done”(Kotcheff, 1982).

Blood Movie, 1982

 Subsequently Rambo who was once a POW (Prisoner of War) in
Vietnam and was suffering from PTSD, due to ongoing
harassment from Galt and the other deputies through verbal
threats, to physical abuse reach a climax and escape from
captivity as Deputy Mitch said “ Like a Ghost” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 After Rambo’s escape from the
sheriff’s department what follows is
a tug war between the sheriff’s
department trying to restrain Rambo
and Rambo using all his expertise as
a CQC (Close Quarters Combat)
specialist and a Jungle warfare
specialist to escape the perusing
Source : Author Obtained from
Rambo First Blood Movie, 1982
sheriffs who are by now using
excessive force which include
firearms (Kotcheff, 1982).

• What started as a hurting, lost and
lonely human trying to find some
food on his journey ended as a
millions of dollars worth property
damage, numerous casualties and the
Source : Author ‘s Personal Collection loss of a life.
• Giving a great theme to observe the
effects of Organizational
management gone wrong due to lack
of communication, leadership
failures and pyramid based
hierarchical system (Hesselbein &
Source : Sri Lanka Special Task force Cohen, 1999).
Official Website

 Defined as “the formal framework by which job
tasks are divided and grouped and
coordinated” (Caplow, 1964).

 Rambo comes from a very tight knit
organizational background with Colonel
Trautman as the CEO, however this
organization empowers an individual to act and
do whatever it takes to get the job done, which
Rambo did very well.

 “In Vietnam his job was to dispose of enemy
personnel. To kill! Period! Win by attrition. Well
Source : Author Obtained from Rambo was the best” (Kotcheff, 1982).
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982.

“If one of my deputies... gets out of
line with a prisoner then the prisoner
comes to me with it. And if I find out
it's like he says I kick the deputy's
ass! ME! The LAW!” (Kotcheff,
1982).

Source : Author Obtained from Rambo First Blood
Movie 1982.

 As Blanchard stated the sheriff’s department was full of “Quakers”
quaking to the top (Blanchard, 2007).

 Everyone was given a chance to correct problem before it went out
of hand, but except for Mitch (David Caruso) who questioned the
methods of handling the issue everyone else just obeyed to do
things right (Williams, 1999).

 Will Teasle, himself was also insecure of his
leadership, and was paranoid, also he believed
that the LAW was him (Kotcheff, 1982).

 As the leader of the sheriff’s department, he
didn’t report to anyone but everyone else
reported to him which was a very Transactional
Form of leadership MBE ( Manage by exception),
Manage by Contingent reward (Northhouse,
2010).

 Has the ancient pyramid based hierarchy than the
Wheel of fortune typed organization chart where
everyone is interdependent and the CEO has the
least power as it is delegated (Hesselbein &
Cohen, 1999).

Colonel Trautman Rambo
Ortega,
Barry

Krakauer
Baker Team
Leader

Messner, Jurgensen
N Coletta

Source : designed by Author From the Information Obtained from Rambo First Blood Movie 1982.

In combat all are equally relied all inputs are valid, and all decisions are made
together , as each carry a different specialty and all need to be united to
accomplish a Task or Mission (Robinson, 2004).

Will Teasle

Sgt. Arthur Gault

Deputy Mitch Deputy Ward Deputy Lester Deputy Kern

Source : designed by Author From the Information Obtained from Rambo First Blood Movie 1982.

Source : Author Obtained from Sri
Lanka Army Official Site

 Organizational culture according Joanne Martin is “ how things are done
around here” in other words the way which the officers are arranged, jokes
they say, how much personal items are involved, and in simple the work
atmosphere (Martin, 2002).

 Rambo’s organizational culture involved jungle, and camaraderie as he was
part of the special forces during Vietnam, also this culture also involved
being able withstand what any other person would call pain in any form
(Moore & Csrnko, 2007).

 Same times It involved lots of trust and dependability
as a member of Rambo’s organization trust,
dependability, survival is the baseline, as if you
cannot depend of your team mate, or trust your team
mate in a foreign jungle, along to finish a mission
(Task) a life can be at risk (Robinson, 2004).

 “An expert in guerrilla warfare, with a man who's the
Source : Authors Personal best, with guns, with knives, with his bare hands. A
Collection, PSD Training man who's been trained to ignore pain, ignore
weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would
make a Billy goat puke” (Database, 2010).

 “FOR YOU! For me civilian life is nothing! In the field
we had a code of honor, you watch my back, I watch
yours. Back here there's nothing!” (Database, 2010).

 As stated by Edward Maguire, the
organizational culture of a Police force
can be seen as a place Where the
chiefs rely on a rigid system of
centralized internal control.

 In many cases not receiving support
from their reporting authorities as the
political power, a police chief is
compelled to walk a thin line between
internal and external control (Maguire,
2003).

 Organization cultural flow moves
through lots of Bureaucracy, everything
is paperwork as Maguire quotes
“Bureaucratic centralization of
command and control” (Maguire,
2003).

 Since it is not military like Rambo’s the sheriff’s
department is linked with a civilian type life and a
small level of militaristic mannerisms such as
reporting to authority, use of authority which as in
the case of the movie makes for bad leadership
methods as too much directive support, or more
task orientation (Northhouse, 2010) (Maguire,
2003).

 “You think this kid just waltzed into town,
Source : Author Obtained from
announced he was a Medal of Honor winner, and
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982. then I just leaned on him for the hell of it? I tried to
do him a favor; I treated him like he was one of my
neighbor's kids. I did my job, Dave; I booked him
for vagrancy and resisting arrest” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 As the sheriff Will has big responsibility for
the community and human links therefore
one can argue that he followed Problem
analysis segment of Organization change, to
keep “drifters out” (Poole, 2000).

 However e omitted to do Knowledge
exploration where one identifies problems
and alternative methods to solve it (Poole,
2000).
Source : Obtained from Rambo
First Blood Movie 1982.
 Furthermore he didn’t involve his teams with
2 way communication on the decisions he
was to take with regards to the problem
which laid ahead “Capturing Rambo” (Poole,
2000).

 Rambo was also given an
Organizational challenge, what
he was used to doing as a soldier
he could not exercise as a
civilian, despite being unjust he
according to law was called to
submit to will (Morrell, 1972).

 However, once in the jungle he
was back in his organization and
acted and did what he was
Source : Author Obtained from Rambo First Blood
Movie 1982.
trained in to the best, keeping the
enemy at bay (Morrell, 1972).

 “In town you're the law, out here
it's me” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Will was self motivated for the wrong reasons, hence
he couldn’t motivate others they were not motivated
to do the task because it was the right thing, but it
was a “blood Hunt”, to avenger Arthur Gault’s death
which Rambo had nothing to do.

 “Why don't you go out there and take a look at what's
left of my men? You'll see how motivated I am”
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 Gault fell from the Helicopter in trying to assert his
authority to the pilot who warned him that the
chopper will be unstable if he went down further
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 If you don't fly this thing right, I swear to god I'm
going to kill you (Kotcheff, 1982).

Source : Author From Obtained from Rambo First Blood Movie 1982.

 Colonel Trautman was the only one that was able to motivate another, that
other was Rambo; he motivated him to surrender himself and do the right
thing. He was able to do it after he used active listening and letting Rambo get
his emotions which were attached to the problem out.

 Rambo’s problem for the outburst was the horrors he faced became too much
and without a release he exploded with will’s actions.

 “His friends dying in front of
him and the way he was
treated upon his return”.
 “I'm tryin' to pull him off, you know, my friend that's all over
me! I've got blood and everything and I'm tryin' to hold him
together! I'm puttin'... the guy's ' insides keep coming out!
And nobody would help! Nobody would help! He's saying,
sayin' "I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" He keeps
calling my name! "I wanna go home, Johnny! I wanna drive
my Chevy!" I said "With what? I can't find your ' legs! I can't
find your legs!" (Kotcheff, 1982).

 “It wasn't my war! You asked me, I didn't ask you! And I did
Source : Author Obtained from The White what I had to do to win! But somebody wouldn't let us win!
House Commission on Remembrance,
And I come back to the world and I see all those maggots at
Website
the airport, protesting me, spitting. Calling me baby killer
and all kinds of vile crap! Who are they to protest me? Who
are they? Unless they've been me and been there and know
what the hell they're yelling about!” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Communication being a big part of any
organization and it’s success Lack of
communication was the biggest problem was
what caused the whole problem (Sidle, 2005).
 Will didn’t communicate with Rambo from the
beginning as he assumed a lot about Rambo
and took action such as assuming he was just
like “Another Drifter, and he was trouble”
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 “Rambo: Is there a law against me getting
something to eat here? Teasle: Yeah,
Source : Author From Obtained from me.Rambo: Why you pushing me? Teasle:
[haughty] what’d you say? Rambo: I said why
you pushing me, I didn't do anything”
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 Failed to communicate with his teams in
getting the given task by doing the right
thing.

 He didn’t listen to Mitch when he asked to
talk to will after seeing Rambo’s scares
(Kotcheff, 1982).
Source : Author From Obtained from
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982.  He didn’t talk to Rambo but just ordered
him around and bullied Rambo, even after
finding out Rambo was a soldier “ O harry
here is a soldier” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 He didn’t even listen to his Boss or the
sheriff when he was asked not to shoot nor
gave a reason (Kotcheff, 1982).

 No one cared or communicated properly with
Rambo until colonel Trutman arrived and he
contacted Rambo. Nevertheless when they
tried the sheriff’s teams were not
communicating but were more ordering Rambo
to surrender (Kotcheff, 1982).

 The helicopter Pilot didn’t communicate to the
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982. teams on the ground about the accident
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 National Guard Leader didn’t use
communication in defusing the situation with
Rambo instead he also used excess force such
as RPG (Rocket propelled Grenade) in trying to
kill Rambo which made him more mad
(Kotcheff, 1982).

 Throughout the movie we see that the sheriff’s
department despite trained being exposed to
an autonomic routine based work environment
had lost the ability to be creative.

 In subduing Rambo there were many ways
creativity could have been used, first be
friendly on the first encounter, listen to him
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982. and provide his basic physiological need
based on Maslow and Hutchinson “Food”,
“water” (Maslow, 1943).

 Then during the second phase of the problem,
treating Rambo as a soldier “with respect”
would have defused all the situations to come
as that was the problem Rambo was facing
Lack of respect for what he did in Nam
(Goldstein, 1970).

 Rambo called to do what he was trained to do
and done many years before 1982, used
creativity in subduing his pursuers.

 He didn’t want to kill any one despite having
ample opportunity hence he use the tact of
fleeing and usage of none lethal weapons as
the “rock” he threw at the helicopter, self
made traps which will take out the enemies
legs, and also the spear which he made out of
his combat knife (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Also he used distractions a lot, one occasion is
when he was after Will in the town he blew the
Gas station up to divert attention to the
direction he wanted, also blowing up
transformers to distract Will (Database, 2010).

 Stress Explained by Dr. Hans Selye to be “A
response our bodies let out when stressors or
demands are made on us” (Bickerstaff, 2008).

 In the movie Rambo First Blood the stressors
varied but were ample, Rambo had to face a
new kind of challenge, which civilian based
combat where he knew he couldn’t kill
Source : Authors Private collection everything and anything like Vietnam “Did
whatever I could to get the Job done” (Kotcheff,
1982).

 Furthermore Rambo’s basic needs were not
met which was food, shelter, also he was tired
as Colonel Trautman explained to will this
added to the stress (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Being exposed to the brutalities in
Vietnam as a POW and in the Jail when
similarities reoccurred triggered a
PTSD attack ( Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder) which led to him fleeing the
threatened area (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Will and his team exposed to a
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982. situation they never were exposed as
bad boys of Village with not
understanding of the world around, the
nature of Rambo escaping and winning
the battle added to the stress.

 The colonel however, never seemed stressed
despite in many ocations as the time when
Rambo was in the cave had doubt he never
let it get to him.
• “It's good to hear your voice Johnny; it's been a
long time. Look John, you've done some
Rambo First Blood Movie 1982. damage here, they don't want any more
trouble. That's why I've come. I want to come in
there and fly you the hell out. Just you and me.
We'll work this thing out together. Is that fair
enough?” (Kotcheff, 1982).
 At all times he was calm and stern when
dealing with the situation.
• “I don't think you understand. I didn't come to
rescue Rambo from you. I came here to rescue
you from him” (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Due to Lack of communication and Hierarchical Based
leadership, what was a simple problem of a out of Towner in a
town became a Blood bath, We as leader everyday when we
fail to use the process in influencing a person or a group to
obtain their goals as a leader (Northhouse, 2010), fail we
“Draw the First Blood” on our followers and everybody around
us (Kotcheff, 1982).

 Leadership is the empowerment of other and not the rule of
one, as explained by Blanchard “teaching others to soar like
eagles while killing the quacking ducks (Blanchard, 2007).

While leaders do the right thing, Manager do things “ Right” .

1. Bickerstaff, L. (2008). Stress. New south Wales: ReadhowYouwant
Publications.
2. Blanchard, K. (2007). Leading at a Higher level. Upper Saddle
River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
3. Caplow, T. (1964). Principles of organization. New York: Harcourt,
Brace & World.
4. Database, M. (2010). First Blood. Retrieved August 31, 2010, from
International Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083944/
5. Goldstein, W. (1970). The Lessons of the Vietnam War. Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists , 41-49.
6. Hesselbein, F., & Cohen, P. M. (1999). Leader to Leader. New
York: Drucker Foundation.
7. Kotcheff, T. (Director). (1982). First Blood [Motion Picture].

 Maguire, E. R. (2003). Organizational structure in American police
agencies. Albany: New York State University Press.
 Martin, J. (2002). Organizational culture: Mapping the terrain.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
 Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological
Review , 50,370-396.
 Moore, R., & Csrnko, T. R. (2007). The Green Berets: The Amazing
Story of the U.S. Army's Elite Special Forces Unit. New York:
Skyhorse Publishing.
 Morrell, D. (1972). First Blood. New York: Warner Books Group.
 Northhouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership Theory and Practice.
Thousand Oaks: Sage.

 Poole, M. S. (2000). Organizational change and innovation
processes: theory and methods for research. New York: Oxford
University Press.
 Robinson, L. (2004). Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the
Special Forces. New York: Public Affairs Publications.
 Sidle, C. (2005). The leadership wheel: five steps for achieving
individual and organizational Greatness. New York: Pilgrave
Macmillan.
 Williams, K. (1999). Introducing management: a development
guide. Burlington: Butterworth Heinemann.

Rambo's Organizational Breakdown

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Rambo's Organizational Breakdown