organization culture within Runway magazine company in the film “The Devil Wears Prada

organization culture within Runway magazine company in the film “The Devil Wears Prada

            As it is the case with almost any group, institutions usually have and function under many distinct cultures. Within the cultures transpires the prospective for creativeness, diversity, coordination, exploration, and achievement.  Built-in those underlying forces, however, is also the possibility for unethical and unhealthy practices, which eventually effects not only the institution but the employees working within the institution as well.  Caustic managed institutions can also realize success within a deleterious atmosphere.  Indeed, some institutions thrive under these strategies to remain competitive in a certain industry.  An imaginary example of such institutions which thrives under the above dynamics can be found in the film “The Devil Wears Prada.”  This essay aims at scrutinizing the organization culture within Runway magazine company in the film.

The management style as seen in Runway best fits a contingency tactic. Scott (2012) outlines that the principle of the contingency theory is determined by the “nature of the environment to which the organization relates” (R. Scott, 2012), the fashion industry as seen in our case scenario is very dependent on the environment, which is changing. This implies that Runway as an organization is continually changing as well in order to respond to the trends in this industry. An example of this is when Miranda (the over-powering boss) makes some last-minute adjustments such as postponing meetings or altering promotions in considerations to some external factors. Additionally, these changes are very important for most organizations, especially in the fashion industry. Runway makes use of teamwork to be able to get new and fresh business ideas -Miranda allows her team members to make suggestions when developing new outfits for Runway-cover.

Runway basically has a resilient organizational culture. This is evident in the employee’s arrangement to the institutional values, norms and beliefs. According to Deal and Kennedy (2014) a top performing organization is the with a strong culture, and identified that values, rites and rituals, stories, myths and informal communication play a part within this particular culture type.

Basically, a strong culture highly contribute in organization management by spelling out the general terms on how employees will have to behave while helping then feel better about what they do, which most definitely is portrayed within the movie. An example of a ritual and routine within this institution is when Miranda gets at Runway early in the morning, the “morning-routine” can be openly observed. All is organized in a fashionable manner before her arrival, and when she arrives, employees highly avoid her at any cost: a girl excuses her inside the elevator and even apologizes, employees in the passage turn back when they are about to face her, etc. Interacting with Miranda obliges some rituals; the most fascinating one is that she should never be asked anything. Another example is when Andy (the new girl) wants to deliver a book to Miranda; Emily (current employee) enlightens her about the stern book-ritual as she has had to complete the task several times for Miranda.

Stories and myths about the behaviors of people within organizations help people within to know what they are supposed to do in order to succeed and what is valued within the culture of the organization (Deal &Kennedy, 2014). At first, Andy becomes the “story” of the company as she messes with her job and fits in poorly with her gossipy, fashion-conscious co-workers, especially Miranda’s senior assistant Emily. However, she is rescued by the art director, Nigel, who offers her some designer clothes; she slowly comes to understand her responsibilities and starts dressing more stylishly to depict her effort and commitment to this position. Andy also hears from Emily on her first day about the previous workers that had her position only lasting a couple weeks. Paris fashion week is another event that is highly talked about throughout the organization, “Paris is fabulous. It’s the best thing that could ever happen to a person” said Emily. Miranda also admits how she “lives” towards this week during the whole year. These stories show how much Runway values the fashion week in Paris and how it has become an iconic event that is known and communicated throughout the company.

Edgar Schein (2012) describes culture on three distinct levels: (1) artifacts and creations, (2) values and norms (3) basic assumptions, with artifacts and creations being the most visible level of culture, consisting of the physical and social environment created by organizational members (E. Schein, 2015). Being a high end fashion magazine, Runway’s employees are well dressed in high-priced designer clothing… “I refuse to be sick. I’m wearing Valentino, for crying out loud” Said Emily. Schein explains that artifacts help new members to correctly perceive, think and feel in relation to a particular organization.

When Andy shows up on her first day of work at Runway, she is surprised to see workers in high heeled shoes and designer clothing, as she is dressed in more of a casual/practical outfit that was laughed at by most employees. As Andy struggles to fit in with her co-workers she asks Nigel for his help with a new wardrobe. He searches through rails and rails of designer clothing throwing it onto her arms “you need some Chanel”. The entire organization is based around fashion, designers and trends, so when Andy feels she is not a match for Runway, she tries to fit in with the company’s artifacts, values and norms and basic assumptions of the culture that Runway has. Other than fashion, the eating habits of the staff are portrayed as a norm and assumption.

Andy asks Nigel about the eating habits of the staff, “so none of the girls here eat anything?” Nigel replied “Not since two became the new four and zero became the new two” Andy shocked at his response replied “well, I’m a six…” Bluntly Nigel said “Which is the new fourteen”. The value of being skinny within the organization obviously had an impact on Andy as Nigel responds to a question she asked “you bet your size 6 ass” obviously implying that she was overweight, Andy whispers back gleefully “size 4” which they then both high-five each other. This shows that Andy is trying to feel a part of the organization by the employee’s value of being skinny, and the norm that it is in the fashion industry.

Powerful cultures give full power to a few who govern everything. According to Charles Handy, this permits them to come up with fast decisions which don’t require much rules or bureaucracy (C. Handy, 2013). Runway is certainly a power culture based organization, Miranda relishes entire power, which actually enables here to make hasty decisions. She makes the whole organization run for her by regularly advancing deadlines. Within the movie, Doug, who is an employee at Runway explained “she is famous for being unpredictable” because her position allows her to be unpredictable.” However, other than Miranda having a defining role in the company at the top, the organization lacks role culture.

A role culture defines organization structure highly, where everybody has his/her own role, which is usually found at hierarchical bureaucracies (C. Handy, 2013). At Runway, employees are not depicted to have clearly defined roles, especially Andy, she acts as Miranda’s secretary, but she also appears making science-project for Miranda’s children, she is the one send to pick up orders, buys food for Miranda and organizes the unpublished Harry Potter book for Miranda’s children. The role that Andy plays within the company is one of many like most of the employees, which the same cannot be said for Miranda.

Out of the discussion, it is clear that institutions are complex out of their different cultures. Within these institutions there exist a multitude of behaviors and processes.  To be able to properly comprehend and grow within any institution, careful attention must be made to both the positives and the negatives within the institution.  One must identify behaviors, adjust to them, and create schemes for survival as Andy did in “The Devil Wears Prada.”  So doing, self-confidence can be nurtured, teamwork embraced, and healthier relationships among peers and superiors made possible.

References

Handy, C. (2013). Understanding the changing organization. London: Institute of Management

Foundation.

Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2012). Fundamentals of organizational communication (9th ed.). Boston:

Allyn & Bacon.

Scott, W.R. (2012). Organizations: Rational, Natural, and Open Systems. Englewood Cliffs NJ:

Prentice Hall Inc.