Twelve O Clock High

* 1)  Who was the “customer” of the 918th battalion?

* The US Army Air Forces.

* 2)  How was it organized to serve this customer? Was it centralized/decentralized?

* It was centralized; Coronel Keith Davenport was taking all the decisions.

* 3)  Davenport did not want to “chop off heads” when something was wrong. How did he 
penalize wrong behavior?

* He was supportive with his crew and told them to don’t worry about a thing.

* 4)  What was symbolic about Gregory Peck’s first encounter with the guard hut? What is a 
corollary to the “guard hut” for a business today in your opinion?

* General Frank Savage was very strict, and severe with the guard, he want him to be more professional with his job.

* I believe that a boss has to be respected. In order to be respected you have to show yourself as a tough man. If your workers don’t take the boss seriously, they never will respect him.

* 5)  General Pritchard was adamant that the atmosphere in the 918th not spread to other 
groups. Why?

* General Pritchard wanted all groups to work on their own, the 918th should not influence other groups.

* 6)  Earlier on in the movie, it was mentioned that the bombers were getting demoralized as 
they were not seeing any results of their work. How do you solve for this in any work 
group?

* I would say that even if they don’t see the results yet, they have to keep working hard, it takes time. It’s almost impossible to get the results instantly.

*

* 7)  Frank Savage was especially upset with Ben Gately. Early on in the movie, when he called 
him into his office under MP arrest, what one thing had he expected Gately to do for 
Davenport?

* Savage expected from Gately to take the lead of the group, he was qualified to do it, but in stead to take the lead, Gately run out of the base to get drunk.

* 8)  Why can “over-identification” with your “employees” be a bad thing? Is...