David Frankel’s 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada features many examples of the concepts found in the realm of business management. In my paper, I will note and expound upon some of them.
Beginning with the general concept of management, and more specifically Miranda’s style of management. I must note that, despite her constant harshness, and even cruelty, qualities that lead to the top two out of ten mistakes a manager can make, Miranda is an undeniably capable and effective manager. In fact, one could say that her harshness acts like a sort of crucible to purge from Andy anything within her that is inconsistent with the culture of Runway, and commands respect from, as well as motivates, the rest of her employees. Additionally, Miranda clearly
…show more content…
goals. Throughout the film, but especially in the first half, Miranda assigns Andy a variety of menial tasks, including fetching her coffee, lunch, fifteen skirts, and a copy of the unpublished Harry Potter book for both of her daughters. Each of these tasks are nothing more than a goal that must be achieved, but are they S.M.A.R.T.? Taking the last task in the list above, acquiring two copies of the unpublished Harry Potter book for Miranda’s daughters before they board a train, it is clear that this goal is Specific. It is Measurable, as there are only two basic outcomes: attain and deliver the books, or fail to do so. While the goal is formidable, it is still technically Attainable. Though Realistic, I must add the caveat that it is only so for Andy specifically, as she had a connection to Christian Thompson. Had almost anyone else been given the same assignment, they would have certainly failed. Lastly, the goal is Timely, as it requires something to be done that could not be done with any convenience at any time past its …show more content…
I would argue that a sustainable competitive advantage is present in two forms: The Book and Miranda. The Book, as it contains the fashions to be displayed within the pages of Runway, the fruits of the collective labors of the magazine’s unique group of artists in other words, serves as a valuable, non-substitutable resource. Miranda’s cold personality drives her to care about getting the job done above anything else. Additionally, Miranda has the loyalty of numerous models and designers who would follow her were she to seek employment at a different publication. Hence, Runway has at least two valuable, non-substitutable resources which form a sustainable competitive
This book is important to business students because it shows that even the most seasoned executive runs into unexpected challenges and can find themselves in uncharted territory. Jim Barton’s experiences and lessons can be lessons for anyone. Any employee, whether they are support staff or a top executive, should always maintain an open mind and be ready to learn from a situation or the people around them at any time.
“Devil Got My Woman” by Skip James has a very slow speed and beat. This song also sounds sad not only in the music but also in the lyrics because it is about a woman who didn’t treat him right and he never should have loved her in the first place. Skip James’ voice was very rustic and he wailed some of the lyrics, giving the song a soulful tone. The instruments of this song seem to be acoustic guitars, which didn’t overpower the singer and his lyrics that appeared to be the main focus of the song.
Compare and contrast the relationship of the detective to his or her community in Devil in a Blue Dress and Corollary In Walter Mosley’s “devil in a blue dress”, there is a clear cut distinction between the white and black man, this distinction is portrayed as something that is somewhat negative and looks at the situation from the eyes of a black man named Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins and how he is changed from a simple day to day laborer into an effective detective.
Badaracco, J. . Defining moments, when managers must choose between right and right. Harvard Business Press, print.
In this level, we are switching from individual behavior to group behavior. A group is define as two or more individual, interacting and interdependent who are initially coming together to achieve particular objectives (Stephen P.Robbins, Timothy A.Judge, 2014). There are two types of group which are formal group and informal group (Stephen P.Robbins, Timothy A.Judge, 2014). Group can bring a lot of advantages to all the group members. For instance, work as a group is able to generate positive synergy through coordinated effort that allows organization to increase performance.
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., Erodogan, B., & Short, J. (2013). Principles of management. (2nd ed.).
Goldratt takes a very practical example of today’s world, an Engineer with an MBA degree, Mr. Alex Rogo, as his protagonist and his struggle to get a loss making company to a profit making one along with his family in the back-ground, obviously an important one, to explain the drudgeries of a manufacturing engineer’s life. Goldratt explains several management skills to be inherited in any professional’s life with ease, in this thought provoking novel based management textbook. The ideas expressed in this book, although difficult to be digested normally, are easily conceptualized in the form of a novel, which any professional can easily relate to.
Wren. (2005). The History of Management Thought (5th ed.). Danvers, MA: Wiley & Sons. (Original work published 1976)
As already said, Sarah is a high-need achiever and they have a strong desire to assume personal responsibility, are enthusiastic about finding a solution to a problem. Here Sarah is trying to understand her employees’ needs and she demonstrated the trait of responsibility according to Herzberg’s two-factor theory. She should increase her opportunities to increase the interaction with her employees and understand their needs. She should get continuous feedback from her employees by the way of biweekly or monthly one on one meetings, and address their concerns, escalate them as
Miranda expects her staff to drop what they are doing to cater for her personal needs, she has no boundaries and often makes her staff work before and after hours, for example Andy and Emily staying at work until 10pm every night to collect the book and then having to deliver it with her laundry; this type of behaviour can hamper work productivity and could result in less profit. Miranda is an autocratic leader who’s staff fear her despite not raising her voice once, she fires staff without warning and often gives unveiled threats which can lead to staff quitting or being fired this job inconsistency will lead to less productivity as there is constantly a new flow of employees having to learn new
Robbins, S.P., DeCenzo, D.A., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Stephen P. Robbins and David A.Decenzo, Fundamentals of management: essential concepts and applications (USA: pearson prentice hall, 2003), PP.13-14.
Effective leaders are usually exceptional motivators and great coaches as well. This will help employees to get involved in their work and excited about working for their particular organization. Miranda however, was very contrary in her style when it comes to coaching. She was absolutely not interested in coaching or even assisting her employees with doing their job. She required them to anticipate her needs instead. While she herself was not motivational, she did possess the power to enable Andrea and others to attend the aforementioned fashion week in Paris which was motivation enough itself
McHugh, J. M., McHugh, S. M., & Nickels, W. G. (1999). Understanding business. (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Managerial decisions are an important component in achieving the objectives of the organization. The success or failure of a business depend upon the decisions made by managers (Jurina, 2011). Today’s increasing complexity in the world of business brought forth greater challenges for both the firm and its managers. The rapid rate of technological and digital advance as well as greater focus product innovation and processes that influence marketing and sales techniques have contributed to the increasing complexity in the business environment.