Essentials of Organizational Behavior
Organizational behavior is a study that has something to do with the way how people or groups of people inside an organization interact (Dalton, 2000). The different groups of people and how they interact is the bread and butter of this field of study. There are several principles and variables that affect how people interact in an environment. Most of these principles have psychological and sociological roots (Fill, 2003). Organizational behavior is often confused with other fields of study like Human Resource Management, and Organizational and Industrial Psychology. While there may be similarities and links between these fields of study, it’s the theories and principles that make each of these fields of study unique (Ducker, 1980).
This paper will focus on the different concepts and principles that we could find on the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. Some of the principles that will be covered are motivation, decision-making process and formal & informal organizations.
Movie Summary
The Devil Wears Prada revolved around the personal and professional life of Andrea (Anne Hathaway) and some other people in her life like her boss Miranda, her mentor Nigel and her partner, Nate. The movie showed how Andrea problematically endured handling two types of responsibilities at the same time. A large part of the movie however, focused on what was happening inside the company where she worked. That company was one of the top companies in the fashion industry. That placed a lot of pressure on Andrea’s shoulders. It was very evident because Andrea’s performance sucked during her first days.
Andrea was a recent Journalism graduate and it was a part of her dream to land on a good job as soon as she finishes her course at Northwestern University. Fortunately, she was able to grab an opportunity that entitles her a chance to pick whatever type of job she wants. However, there was a condition. She could only be given the chance to pick after a year of service in the editor in chief of the company’s office as its junior personal assistant.
She unhesitatingly grabbed the opportunity. There she experienced being delegated to the weirdest tasks—tasks that were not even related to any part or sub-discipline of journalism. She endured everything, thinking that her boss is kind enough to give her the consideration that she deserved. Her personal life inevitably got affected because of the urgency of her junior personal assistant-tasks and the amount of time they demand from her.
Trust and Loyalty
Trust and loyalty are both common things in an organization. An organization with members who do not trust or/and are not loyal to each other could never work things out in an efficient way. Trust and loyalty are two of the most important things that could not be missing from the social structure formed in an organization. Relating it to the movie, the viewers could see how Andrea trusted the company and the whole system, thanks to the flowery and flattering words of her boss, Miranda. Loyalty usually comes right after trust (Taylor, 1999). It could be said that a member of an organization could remain loyal to the organization and its bylaws as long as he trusts it and the people within it (Weber, 1986). In the movie, the viewers could speculate that the reason why Andrea’s view of the company started to change is her boss, Miranda’s actions. She was hosting bad politics inside the company and uses such as a reason for her not to be kicked and replaced by another member of an organization better than her.
Trust has three characteristics: ability, benevolence and integrity. Some sociology and organizational behavior experts say that instead of these three, the three characteristics of trust should be Competence, compassion and character (Mayer, n.d.). The bottom line is trust and all of its three characteristics should be present so that an organization, especially large ones, could quickly adapt to changes and challenges that threatens its integrity (Zald, 2006).
Motivation
The principle of motivation also played a significant role in the film. Viewers could see how Andrea was motivated to fill the vacant junior personal assistant position. She as flattered by Miranda, her boss’ reasons as to why she chose to hire her over other applicants even though she was just a fresh graduate. That was how she got motivated to stay and fulfill the rather hard responsibilities that her boss delegated to her. She was even ordered to acquire the entire Harry Potter Series manuscript for her boss’ children by whatever means necessary. She was still motivated to finish her one-year contract even though she knew that her job was already affecting her relationship with Nate and other aspects of her personal life. It was her needs and interests that kept her motivated. She definitely wanted to have the chance to pick for that journalism position. Moreover, we cannot neglect the fact that she has her own needs (needs for food, shelter, clothing, etc.) to fill and so she has to remain employed while trying to reach her self-actualization goals (Caves, 2007).
The Decision-Making Process
Every organization has its own process of decision-making. The Runway organization where Andrea worked for definitely has its own way of making and relaying decisions from the upper management down to its employees too. The normal process of organizational decision-making most likely includes the following (Child, 1981):
1. Setting organizational goals
2. Establishing performance criteria
3. Classifying and defining the problem
4. Developing criteria for a successful solution
5. Generating alternatives
6. Comparing alternatives to criteria
7. Choosing an alternative
8. Implementing Decisions
9. Monitoring the decision and getting feedbacks
A classic example of an organizations decision made in the film was the upper management’s decision to replace Miranda, the current editor-in-chief of the fashion magazine with a new one, someone who has greater expertise. There is a great chance that the Runway magazine management took the recommended process of making an organization decision before they were able to come up with the decision to replace their current editor-in-chief. Of course, Miranda had to do something or she will soon lose her precious job. In the end, she did not lose her job because of some unethical thing she did. She lost her loyal and motivated junior personal assistant because of the unethicality of her recent decisions.
Conclusion
The movie was great and I would really love to recommend it to my friends. The setting was complex. It revolved around the professional and personal life of Andrea. Some common truths and principles of an organization were also seen in the movie. I believe this is what made this movie complex. Since Andrea was a member of an organization with somewhat problematic people, she had to face a lot of dilemmas.
Works Cited
Caves, J. Uncertainly in organizational structure and performance. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2007.
Child, J. Organizational Developments. New York: Oxford University Press. 1981.
Dalton, D. A critical review of orgaizational development and performance. Academy of Management Review. 2000.
Dave, A. Uncertainties in an organization. Oxford University Press. 1970.
Ducker, P. Management Tasks, Responsibilites, Processe and Practices. New York: Harper and Row. 1980.
Fill, A. Types of organization and how they develop. Greenwich: JAI. 2003.
Mayer, R. Balance of Trust. N.d.
Taylor, W. Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper. 1999.
Weber, N. Social and Economic Organizations Theory. Oxford University Press. 1986.
Wilson, E. Sociology in organizations. Harvard University Press. 1980.
Zald. N. Social Movement Organizations. 2006.
