Organizational Structure and Culture: The Devil Wears Prada and Up In the Air

“The Devil Wears Prada” is a movie about a naïve, yet smart young woman named Andrea Sachs, and her journey to becoming a journalist. Andrea, also known as Andy, graduated from Northwestern University and interviewed for a job at Runway, a major fashion magazine in New York City. Being a simple young woman, Andy wasn’t necessarily up to speed with the fashion industry, but ended up landing the job. Miranda Priestly, editor in chief at Runway hired Andy because she was “different” from any of her previous assistants. If Andy worked as an assistant to Miranda for at least a year, she was under the impression that she could easily be hired as a journalist in the future. The only problem was

2395 years ago Plato said, “Anyone who has common sense will remember that the bewilderments of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light” (The Allegory of the Cave). Ever since, whether it be 2023 years ago or 9 years ago, Plato’s wise words still ring true. Enter Iron Age Greece, the Trojan war has finally come to an end and the victorious are more than ready to return home to their families with fame and fortune. Ready to see his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, the meritorious warrior Odysseus, the protagonist of Homer’s The Odyssey, sets out for Ithaca. Yet, his victorious adventure goes awry on his journey home and he must conquer 20 years of the gods’ wrath, vicious creatures, oddly hospitable hosts, and conniving suitors before he can finally have his peace. Flash forward and enter modern-day New York City, the home of Andrea “Andy” Sachs, Northwestern graduate, aspiring journalist, and a girl in much need of some fashion advice. Until, she gets a job at the most prestigious, couture magazine in New York, Runway. With the job comes Miranda Priestly, the Editor in Chief of Runway, and the creator of the impossible tasks and crazy requests, that require unwavering dedication from Andy. But, before she can achieve her dream, her life turns upside down and backwards, in the sinfully funny movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Although these two stories seem different, at the heart of both lies a

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to structure and culture within an organization since industries and situations can vary. Furthermore, if an organization wants to improve its effectiveness and performance, their organizational culture needs to be strong and provide a strategic competitive advantage when it comes to its beliefs, and values. Organizations can differentiate itself from one another by those that do not have structure and culture. It is important to know that employees in all organizations want to work in an environment of trust and respect where they

After carefully analyzing the industry situation, it is important to take a look at the internal structure mechanism of the company as to how it affected the firm’s current success.

Movies often depict a glimpse into the inner workings of organizations which are complex and fascinating entities that consist of a group of people, who work together. Analyzing how the characters, as individuals and groups, interact with one another allows for an understanding of “how people think, feel and act” within an organization, also referred to as the study of organizational behaviour. The movie The Devil Wears Prada, set at Runway fashion magazine in New York City, is the story of Andrea "Andy" Sachs, an aspiring journalist who gets the job that “a million girls would kill for”. She is hired as the second assistant to Miranda Priestly, the powerful and ruthless executive of the magazine. The job is her stepping stone into the

Rita in’ Educating Rita’ mirrors the same growth and change as Andrea in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. It is a 2006 film in times where individuals are controlled by the capitalist world and times where pleasing your boss was the only ambition. Andrea is easily manipulated to suit her social context and expectations of her boss. This is shown through the change in her values overtime highlighting her new appreciation for fashion which is negatively affecting her relationships with her friends.

The Devil Wears Prada is a film about Andrea Sachs (Anne Hathaway), an intelligent college graduate who dreams of becoming a journalist. She recently moved from Chicago to New York in order to fulfil her career dream with her boyfriend, Nate (Adrian Grenier) who works as a chef. This film is about Andrea’s many unplanned adventures experienced when she lands a job at the most famous fashion magazine: Runway. Runway is a publication company, the business is part of the micro environment and only top quality resources are used.

Character synopsis: Andrea ‘Andy’ Sachs (Anne Hathaway): She graduated from North Western University to become Journalist , Andy was only able to get a job as an junior personal assistant to Miranda Priestly who was the Editor in Chief of Runway magazine to gain work experience. Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep): Miranda is the Editor in Chief at Runway Magazine, a top magazine influencing the fashion industry, she is highly strung and treats her employees with little respect, and has no concept of them having a personal life, she is an Autocratic Leader who rules by using fear with vicious verbal attacks without raising her voice, and emotional blackmail. Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt): She is Miranda’s senior personal assistant who hired two

Leading: Lyons has “employed a compassionate and understanding management style” (Nickels, 2016, p. 211), she performed successfully the leading role: “guiding and motivating employees to work effectively” and “explaining routines” (p. 187) by giving them the direction of design style, telling her team that “they should always consider how the brand appears to everyone who came into contact with it” (p. 211).

“Devil Wears Prada” is a story of a protagonist, Andrea Sachs and her occupational journey of trying to balance her profession and her social life. Andrea or known as Andy, has graduated and is hoping for a job as a journalist. Despite her dreams of becoming a journalist she receives a job at a fashion magazine known as Runway magazine as an assistant for Miranda Priestly. Throughout the movie, Andy had to balance her social life and her career pursuit where Miranda had given her many problematic tasks that Andy had to complete. In the workplace, there will be a wide variety of instances where you will work hard to complete a task, without receiving any recognition. Three instances where Andy completed a difficult task

A smart but naive college graduate Andrea has a big dream to become a journalist. Looking for a job she finds herself in the office of Miranda Priestley, ruthless and cynical editor-in-chief of the high fashion magazine the Runway. Hundreds of girls would kill for that job but Andrea finds it all bizarre – people running around trying to please a woman who picks belts for dresses. However, smart and determined to keep this job she tries to fit into this organization where people are evaluated based on their shoes.

Her strategic approach, innovative mind and keenness toward risk-taking define her leadership style. Ginni Rometty has said, “I learned to always take on things I’d never done before” (Hymowitz, 2011). She admits to having an ever-present internal critic who judges everything she thinks and does. She quite enjoys this process of objective analysis and believes “growth and comfort do not coexist” (Hymowitz, 2011). Rometty has a magnetic personality and has always been comfortable engaging people and forging lasting relationships. This strength helped her to be at the top of her game in a career she has spent largely courting big name clients.

For instance, Miranda became a Consultative leader by asking co-worker and Art director of the firm, Nigel, whether the dress wasn’t too similar to another designers and to choose which jacket would go with the outfit picked for the fashion run through. However we see Miranda being softer on Nigel throughout the film. This could be something to do with the position Nigel is in. He is already a man of knowledge and experience, and therefore should be treated differently to others. His experience means Miranda trusts him with more responsibilities.

The Devil Wears Prada was released on June 30, 2006 in the United States and has since then climbed to worldwide fame. Based on Laura Weisberger’s novel of the same name, the film stars Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly, a high-powered head editor for a fashion magazine, and Anne Hathaway as Andy Sachs, Priestly’s newly graduated co-assistant. The film spans the course of eight months as Andy not only becomes accustomed to her new job in the fashion industry, but also becomes accustomed to the movie’s portrayal of the cutthroat professional world. Due to the heavy emphasis on the fashion aspects of the story, as the film progresses, Andy finds herself being transformed physically through her hair, clothing, and makeup by the world around her. This change in looks signals to the audience that Andy no longer has to fight to survive in the professional world, but has learned to thrive in it and manipulate it to her own gain. In The Devil Wear Prada, the film uses Andy’s physical transformations throughout the story in order to brings to light the need for and the validity of professional attire.

The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film based on Lauren Weisberger’s 2003 novel of the same name. It is a tale that revolves around Andrea Sachs who is an aspiring journalist fresh out of Northwestern University but yet lands a job that “a million girl would die for” as in the second assistant to an editor in chief of Runway Magazine, Miranda Priestly. Andrea (Andy) decides that she would put up with Miranda’s bizzare and humiliating treatment for a year in hopes of getting a job as a reporter or writer in The New Yorker. Despite her ridicule shallowness of fashion sense, Andy manages to learn a lot about being responsible for her job and begins to dress more stylishly to show her effort and commitment to the position. However so, through out this movie, we could see