In the film, The Last Castle, I found many aspects and theories that involve organizational communication throughout the movie. The film is about a US prison where the prisoners have formally served in the military and have committed crimes while serving their time. The movie shows how the prisoners come together when a former well-respected general is sent there to overpower the man that runs the facility. The first theory and probably the most noted theory is the Adaptive Structuration Theory of Marshall Scott Poole. Poole's theory states, "Members in groups are creating the group as they act within it… A lot of times people in groups build up structures or arrangements that are very uncomfortable for them, but they don't realize that
This step is when the prisoners come together and defeat Col. Winters and they all have a part in it and are all excited to do it.
The final stage of the phase model is the integration, where the group focuses on tension-free solidarity rather than task and members reward each other for effort. The very end of the movie when they form a formation and salute General Irwin is an example of this stage. The next aspect is the Information Systems Approach to Organizations of Karl Weick in chapter 18. Weick studies the common process of organizing instead of the static structure of the organization. He claims that information is the common raw material that all organizations process or that communication an organization receives is equivocal. Equivocal means that a given message has more than one interpretation. In the movie, all the inmates bring something to the table. They work together to bring down Col. Winters by organizing a plan to eliminate his abused power. This concept relates to the Symbolic Convergence Theory in chapter 3 of Ernest Bormann, that they all share a common fantasy which brings them together to form their organization. Another theory that could relate to this concept is the Uncertainty Reduction Theory of Charles Berger in chapter 10. Berger states that the increase of predictability is our primary concern when meeting new people. So, they must be able to predict the behavior of Col.