LINCOLN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Texas College of Management and IT

Sifal, Kathmandu

Assignment of

“ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR”

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Rupesh Bhattarai Kanchan Khuju

TCMIT Mayo, 6th sem

Introduction

Organizational Behavior is the field of study which investigates the impact that individuals,
group and structures have on behavior within the organization. We are born in an
organization, we live, we work and most probably we will die in an organization. Yet most of
us do not understand how people function, behave and interact between each other within
these organizations. We also do not understand if people shape an organization or an
organization shapes people. Different people work differently in different situations.
Organizational behavior helps to understand and predict behavior of the people and helps to
improve relations between management and employees.

Synopsis of “The pursuit to Happyness”

I watched the movie “The pursuit to happyness” not for entertainment but as my
assessment of organizational behavior (OB) to identify the concepts that are discuss in OB.
The story of the film “The pursuit to happiness” was inspired by the real story of Chris
Gardner. It is based on Gardner's nearly one-year struggle being homeless. The unusual
spelling of the film's title comes from a mural that Gardner sees on the wall outside the
daycare facility his son attended. The movie is set in San Francisco in 1981. The lead Role of
Chris Gardner was played by famous film star Will Smith. Other important characters are
Thandie Newton and Jaden Smith. Director of the film was Gabriele Muccino and this film
was released in 2006.

In 1981, a salesman in San Francisco Chris gardener invested his entire life savings in Osteo
National Bone density scanner an apparatus with a slightly clearer image than x-ray machine
but twice as expensive as an x-ray machine. Chris’s daily routine was to make sales call and
visit multiple hospitals to sell the scanners to the doctors. However, this investment was
proven to be a big failure as most of the doctors regarded that machine as an unnecessary
luxury. Consequently, he hadn’t sold any scanners for quite a while. What was intended to
improve his standard of living did quite the opposite. Chris faced severe monetary issues that
not only burden him but also his wife, Linda. The family was at the ease of the disaster. They
were falling behind on rent and couldn’t pay the taxes.

One day, Chris stumbled across a stockbroker who seems to be living the life that he
desperately wanted. That’s the day when Chris decided that he also wanted to become a
stockbroker. He then went on to enroll in the broker trainee program of Dean Witter
Reynolds. The program only took 20 people every six months and only one person got the
job. Chris knew it was not going to be easy to stand out in the crowd but he had no choice but
to fight for it. One month after the submission of the application form, Chris hadn’t received
any news from the firm. Luckily, he met Jay Twistle, the lead manager and partner for Dean
Witter Reynolds on his way to sell his scanner. He didn’t let the opportunities slip away. He
successfully impress the manager by solving a Rubik’s cube. His new relationship with the
manager earned him a spot as an intern stockbroker. Things began looking good for Chris but
it’s far away from that. His wife had have enough, and decided to leave him.
 To make matters worse, Chris got suspended in jail because he was unable to pay the parking
tickets. The thing is, he will be having an interview in the following day. Fortunately, Chris
did make it on time but in his shabby clothes. Despite his appearance, he impressed the
interviewers and landed a six month unpaid internship. He would be amongst 20 interns
competing for a paid position as a stockbroker. But that also implied that he had to survive
and take care of his son for six months straight without any wages except if he could sell
some scanners which he did. At the same time, he had to study for the stock broker license
exam and make sales calls to reach out for potential clients for the firm. When he thought he
was stable, he found out that he had lost $600 when the government took the last bit of
money in his bank account for taxes. On top of that, one of its scanners has malfunctioned.
His entire month of living expenses depends on it. It was catastrophic.

That is not the end. He was evicted from their apartment. He and his son, unfortunately
became homeless. At one point, they were forced to stay in a bathroom at the train station.
Every day, Chris had to scramble from work to the glide memorial United Methodist Church,
where shelters were being offered for the homeless. He must leave work early everyday so
that he is there by 5:00 in the evening along with his son so that he may be assured of a place
to sleep. The day has finally come. Chris sat for the stockbroker license exam. On that day,
he has done everything he could to prepare for that exam. What he could do next was to wait
and see what will happen. Life was so difficult that he had to donate plasma for money. He
then use this money to buy a new light bulb to fix his scanner. With the scanner lit up, he
knew there was still hope. Subsequently, he successfully sold that scanner and earned
himself $250. This enabled them to survive one more month and even stay in a hotel for one
night. As he concluded his last day of internship, he was summoned to a meeting with the
heads of Dean Witter. Chris thought that he was about to be told the job will not be his. But
to his surprise, they told him that he has been an excellent trainee and next day will be his
first day as an official stockbroker. After going through six months of struggle, he finally got
the job. Most people would crumble and give up in the situation of Chris but the resilience,
persistence and determination demonstrated by Chris eventually lead to his success.

This is a classic rags- to- riches story. What makes it more inspiring is that it is based on a
true story. The epilogue uncovers that Gardner proceeded to form his own multimillion-dollar
brokerage firm.

Concepts of OB in Movie

Movies just not only provide an entertainment, sometimes it is also provide some beautiful
concepts and ideas. In the same way in my project movie “The Pursuit to Happyness” also
have very beautiful and great concepts and ideas that I like to discuss here.

There are two main characters in this movie, Chris Gardner (Will Smith) and Christopher
(Jaden Smith). Since Christopher is portrayed as a five year old boy, his character does not
give any huge contribution towards the development of the movie. Whereas, Chris Gardner is
depicted as a real portrait of American man who really believes in the myth of material
success and it is reflected through his way of thinking, attitude, and his action along the
movie. Almost all parts of this movie describe about Chris Gardner’s struggle in pursuing his
real and true happiness.

Individual Aspects along with scenes

1. Conscientiousness
In the film of the pursuit of happiness, the main character is hardworking and dependable. As
we can see in the scene when he had to go through internship program at a brokerage firm
which did not provide salary and at night he has to sell his devices in order to provide better
life for his son. Other people spend nine hours to finish their work whereas he had to use six
hours to finish it.

2. Openness to experience
The main character in the film of pursuit of happiness is willing to learn new thing and enjoy
new experience. In the scene of interview part, he answers that he wants to learn the business
as a stockbroker and already started leaning on his own when the interviewer asks him. He
also mentioned that “if I don’t know the answer, I will tell you that I don’t know”. But he
promised that he knows how to find the answer and he will find the answer.

3. Extroversion
In the film of the pursuit of happiness, the main character is talkative and sociable. In the
football scene, Chris Gardner is trying to introduce about their company product to Mr.
Ribbon but his suggestion had rejected by Mr. Ribbon. After the football game finished,
Chris took initiatives to talk to a lot of different people in order to for him to get more
chances to success in future. He also got a lot of business card from them there which will
helps him in his work.

Emotions and moods

1. Agreeableness
The main character in the film of pursuit of happiness has characteristic of helpfulness. We
can see in the scene when his manager keeps sending him out to get coffee. Although he
misses precious time to make client calls, he does not complain and does as he is told.

2. Neuroticism
The main character is low in neuroticism. Despite of him losing everything, including his
wife, he continues to honor his commitment as a loving and caring father, using the affection
and trust his son has placed in him as an impetus to overcome the obstacles he faces.
Organizational Aspects with scene

1. Discrimination
In this movie, discrimination happens in the workplace where Chris Gardner is having his
internship. Chris Gardner is a black American while his manager, Allan Prakash is a white
American. Chris Gardner would be the one who being instructed every time Allan Prakash
needs someone to do him a favor.

2. Stress
Gardner always faces stress especially psychological harassment in work place. In the movie,
his officer during internship, Allan Prakash often instructs Gardner to buy him coffee and
doughnuts while Gardner is busying studying for the exam and making calls to find for
potential clients. From these two scenes, Chris Gardner was asked by Allan Prakash to fulfill
what he needed because he was the only black American who worked in that internship
program. These somehow illustrated the sense of discrimination towards black people.

Conclusion:

The main themes of this film is survival, determination, and never giving up on your dreams.
One of the fundamental themes in the film is determination. Determination is that you can
accomplish anything you need if you invest sufficient effort and do not surrender even when
times are hard.

The most intriguing part about the movie is when Chris Gardner talks to his son about dreams
and quotes:

Don’t ever let someone tell you, you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream,
you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you can’t
do it. You want something, go get it. Period.