Importance of Teamwork in Thai Cave Rescue

Running Head: PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT
PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT2
A. Justifying the importance of teamwork in the given scenario
During June and July in 2018 twelve members of the Thai soccer team along with
their coach was trapped in Tham Luang Nang Non in Thailand (thesun.co.uk, 2019). With
heavy rainfall and flooding in the caves, they got trapped inside the cave without any chances
of survival. However, the rescue became a massive operation and very soon became a
worldwide public interest. This rescue mission became a global effort and more than 10000
people joined in the operation. There were almost 100 divers, several rescue workers and
there were representatives from over 100 government agencies (bbc.com, 2018). This rescue
operation now stands as a mark of dedication and teamwork to achieve a single goal. This
rescue was also joined by 900 police officers and almost 2000 soldiers (bbc.com, 2018). This
was a very complicated scenario where the lives of 13 young men were at risk. As a result,
the planning for the rescue operation became very much crucial. It became a matter for the
whole world to unite and save the lives of the innocents. The very first task of the job was to
locate them inside the cave and what made the matter worse is that heavy rainfall flooded the
caves and strong wind gushes made the rescue even more difficult.
Team building theory based on Maslow Hierarchy of Needs proposed by Abraham
Maslow and represented in the form of triangle states that the bottom starts with the basic
amenities the next step looks after safety and security, the next step is esteem and the top
authorities are the one controlling an operation (Druskat and Albuquerque, 2018). In this
case, the divers and Navy SEAL are the top authorities followed by the police officers and
the last is the civil volunteer and the rescuers. This rescue mission became a benchmark of
what can be achieved if there is a sense of cooperation among each of the members of the
team (Jonas, 2016). Primarily the operation needed experienced divers who could pass
through the narrow passages covered with muddy water and at least locate them. However,
two British divers John Volanthen and Richard Stanton found them alive almost 4 kilometres
inside from the entrance of the cave (gq.com, 2018). Then comes the main part of teamwork
as everyone collaborated and initiated the plan for the rescue. Several options came up where
primarily it was decided to teach the victims with basic diving skills which needed the effort
of the experienced divers along with other members. There were also plans to search for any
other exits of the caves or even drill out a new path. The rescue operational area was divided
into groups for the Thai Navy SEALS, other soldiers and police officers and civilian rescuers.
There were numerous volunteers who were working to handle the amount of media attention,
giving space and privacy to the families and relatives of the football team. The task also

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involved pumping out more than millions of litres of water from the cave to help the divers in
going in the caves and providing food and drinking water for the victims which address the
first need of Maslow's hierarchy triangle (Loy et al. 2019). All the rescuers and the soldiers
started working in groups so that they can constantly check the conditions inside while
making the rescue operation. This was supported by the fact amount of oxygen in the air was
very low inside the caves. The Thai military had to constantly supply with diving cylinders
inside the cave. Therefore it is very evident that this gigantic rescue operation would not be
possible without the effort of all the police, military, divers and civic volunteers working as a
bonded team.
B. Explaining what made the international teamwork effective
The theory on teamwork that will help to explain the success of international
teamwork in the rescue operation is the Belbin's Team Role Model theory. As per the
Belbin’s Team Role Model, there are nine roles which are categorised into three different
groups. Each role was categorised with the interpersonal strengths and typical behaviour of
the members (Lynch, Lynch and Clemens, 2018). The three different groups are for the given
scenario are as follows:
Action Oriented Role:
Shapers- These are mainly the people who challenge the groups to perform better. In
the case of the rescue operation, many experienced divers came to the spot so that they can
encourage the volunteers to carry out the rescue operation.
Implementers- They are basically the people who get the job done. Two British divers
were the first person to locate the trapped victims and check on their conditions.
Completely finishers- They are the ones who see the operation throughout and makes
decisions as per it. There were several options on how to start the evacuation process starting
from drilling new exits or training the players some basic diving skills (Ruch et al. 2018).
Then they were the ones who started by pumping out a billion litres of water to make the
rescue operation easier.
People-oriented roles: