1.

Synopsis of the movie

The Devil Wears Prada is based on the internationally best-selling novel by Lauren
Weisberger, who worked as an assistant at Vogue. The director David Frankel and
Meryl Streep plays as Miranda Streep as an accomplished and demanding woman
who has built an empire on hard work and the pursuit of excellence. Her expectations
of Andy and Emily are high but she judges herself harshly as well.

Andy Sachs is a graduate of north western University where she edited the school
literary magazine. She has high hopes for a journalism career in New York City but
knows that the competition is fierce. Andy goes to an interview for a job as assistant
to Miranda Priestly, editor of Runway Magazine and the most powerful woman in the
world of fashion. It is a position that a million young women in New York would kill
for.

Andy does not know a thing about high fashion and when she enters the luxury
offices, she finds herself in a strange new world populated by super slim fashion
divas and women obsessed with accessories. Miranda's chief assistant Emily loves
her job and finds it laughable that Andy thinks she has a chance of getting the
position. So she is stunned when the new girl is hired on the basis of her brains and
commitment to the work ethic.

The pressure to keep Miranda happy is incredible, and Andy soon finds she working
until late in the night; she is at her boss and get for the coffee and food and making a
lot of deliveries. Her boyfriend Nate finds it hard to accept Andy commitment to her
new job, especially when she gets a trendy new wardrobe and actually enjoys her
new look.

When her Midwestern father visits, he was surprised to see her working so hard. He
reminds her that she could have attended Stanford Law School and here she is
working as a mere assistant. On the evening he is in town, Andy is trying desperately
to get Miranda home from Miami during a hurricane in the area. The true test of her
creativity comes when her boss orders her to obtain a copy of the latest unreleased
Harry Potter novel for her twin daughters. She has to rely on the help of Christian
Thompson, a wheeler dealer who has a crush on her, to pull off this difficult
assignment.

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The story, however, unfolds to the realization by Andy that it is not what she wanted
after she witnesses the cruelty, selfishness, and politics of the industry and the
people who pull the strings. She quits, the journey, at the end, reduces to the self-
realization of the main character but it is the journey itself that is worth recounting as
it is the source of all the learning and self-realization.

2. Groups and teams

Firstly, team building and groups are both an art and a science. Employees and
executives believe lack of alignment within a team impacts the outcome of a task or
project. Imagine how much more Andy and Emily could have accomplished with
more intentional leadership from Miranda. Emily and Andy form as a team, fabulous
machine that is Runway Magazine. Miranda Priestly is a ridiculously demanding
leader requiring perfection of her every steps.

Andy and Emily are assistants and create a system to partner and work together to
execute against Miranda high expectations. Miranda does nothing to strengthen this
working relationship. In fact, her attitude and behaviour encourage competition,
isolation and fear.

In the film, Miranda ， Emily, Andy is a small team. Miranda is a professional,

devoted, and arrogant boss who is strict to her subordinate, and Andy is hard worker
who strive to make work done with high motivation. Miranda chooses Andy for she
believes that Andy is special and worthy. In building a team and formal group, it is
important for superior to praise subordinates. Leaders can win respect in the eyes
from subordinates with praising them more often, and subordinates will increase self-
esteem and confidence when they get appreciation from boss.

Miranda shows approval and assigns important task gradually. It is very important of
communication between supervisory communication and the purpose of the
communication is to work more effectively. Subordinate must do a good job and the
things that leaders require.

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3. Organizational structure and design
The first organizational structure from this movie is job specialization and
departmentalization. Taking Nigel as an example, the job specialization can be
viewed from the viewpoint of expertise in selecting a very skilled team that knows
exactly what is expected of them as well as recognizes the. Nigel is a pro in the
fashion industry with his showcased fashion sense through his dressing and the
comments and suggestions he gives throughout the movie. Then, he has been put in
charge of keep an eye on the fashion outlook at Runway.

The second is chain of command. It is all about the subordinates knowing who their
boss is, and in this movie that the Dragon Lady, as Miranda Priestly was popularly
called by the media. The opening sequence of the movie demonstrates the level of
her that everybody holds as the rush to set everything right, from the clean-up of
desks to their own fashionable outlooks. Miranda is a perfectionist who does not like
lousy and useless employees.

This also combines another organizational design factor into itself which is the span
of control. Clearly, Miranda’s span of control is upon all of the employees, which is in
accordance with the modern take on the span of the control that is specified by no
great number of employees but it covers the control of the whole organization.

4. Power, influence and politics.

The first organizational power that I saw in this movie is the formal power which is the
coercive power. This is the power of dictators such as Miranda. The use of threats
characterises coercive power. The fear of losing their job is the biggest threat for
Runway’s employees. Employees only want to survive.

The second is legitimate power. Most people believe Miranda can make any
demands just because she is famous. As a leader of Runway she has legitimate
power. However, this power is not only form her position even when she would lose
that position she has a group of people who would obey her.

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The last is reward power. Miranda can decide who gets promoted, or who joins her to
celebrations. For example, the famous Paris week was taken away from Emily and
given to Andy. However, employees are not rewarded for their compliance. Nigel
explains to Andy, ‘’ don’t be surprised Miranda does not give you a kiss on the
forehead and a golden star on your homework’’. Later on, he is one of the most loyal
employees, did not receive a promised promotion because of Miranda self-interest.

5. Conclusion
To conclude, The Devil Wears Prada is the describe of the ideal woman of the
modern age who possesses organizational control as well as strong interpersonal
qualities form the management point of view, the themes of leadership, management
style, power and organizational structure were analysed as displayed in the film.
However, the movie offers some lessons of the life that often times prove to be
useful.

6. Reference
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/commerce/the-devil-wears-prada-commerce-
essay.php
https://www.academia.edu/25713346/Taylorism_and_Neoclassical_Organization_Th
eory_An_evaluation_about_organizational_structure_of_Runway_Magazine_in_the_l
ight_of_The_Devil_Wears_Prada_
https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2019/11/11/the-leadership-of-miranda-priestly-in-the-
devil-wears-prada/
https://www.supersummary.com/the-devil-wears-prada/summary/