I returned home on Friday and it has taken a little time to find the materials
I mentioned to you re. "Groupthink". Here they are.
"A Major Malfunction . . .A pedagogical documentary about organizational
politics, ethics, and decision-making" By Dr. Mark Maier. This is a
comprehensive three-part video program and instructional module that is much
less pedantic than its title implies. It includes interviews with the NASA
accountant and Thiokol engineer who were most active in trying to raise
awareness about the booster seal problem. Dr. Maier has moved on but the
program is still available from:
The State University of New York at Binghamton
School of Education & Human Development
Binghamton, New York 13902-6000
Tel: 607-777-2841
You will find Diane Vaughan's ("The Challenger Launch Decision") revisionist
approach to not be all that different from Maier's work.
"Groupthink in Government, A Study of Small Groups and Policy Failure" by
Paul 'T Hart is the book I mentioned that I had not read yet. It looks like
it extends Janis' thinking and uses as its chief examples the Iran-Contra
Affair, the Vietnam quagmire and the Watergate mess--a refreshing break from
the usual Groupthink "suspects" already analyzed to death: the Cuban Missile
Crisis and Challenger accident. The address is:
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4319
Finally, I believe I mentioned the "GroupThink Index" developed by Dr. Rollin
Glaser. It is a personal inventory and includes scoring and interpretive
materials. It is available from a catalog:
The HRD Quarterly
2002 Renaissance Boulevard, Suite 100
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406
Tel: 800-633-4533
If I remember correctly, you were already aware of the training film produced
by CRM Films and Dr. Vaughan's new book.
I hope this information is of use to you.
Tom Heinzer
Aerospace Research Group
Tel: 817-488-9161 Fax: 817-421-5418