Ethical Issues In Mean Girls

In the 2004 film Mean Girls, Cady Heron walks into her first day at a new high school without introductions or proper instructions on how to be a regular American teen — needless to say she is completely lost. Comparatively, if Cady was a newly hired employee and was not given the proper orientation she would encounter an array of problems including difficulty adjusting to the new environment. Fortunately, new members of an organization are given training and are expected to be familiarized with their work environments through orientation. One of the first instances of ‘rule-breaking’ identified in the film can be seen when Cady mistakenly tries to leave class to go to the washroom without her mandatory lavatory pass. In order for cases of

Cady’s behaviour worked in a way that demonstrated Fayol’s five elements of a successful organization. The first element looks at the technicalities of production, manufacturing and adaptation. Cady’s quest to dethrone Regina was a production that required her to manufacture a way to attain her goal. In order to attain that goal she has to search for resources that she could optimize, these resources became the other Plastics. Security is the second element, for Cady, it was imperative that she protected her position in The Plastics hierarchy, while also protecting Karen and Gretchen. Cady’s three-way phone call helped her build a position above Regina from Gretchen’s perspective. The last element that Cady showcased was managerial. As she began to effectively breakdown Regina’s assets — her minions and her boyfriend — Cady began to gain control and slowly moved towards being the new commander. To protect the efficiency and effectiveness of her plan, Cady had to quickly replace any part of the process that posed a threat to her new organization. This is evident when she starts singing acapella during the talent show to save The Plastics from embarrassment. While Cady’s actions might have been unintentional at the time, it helped further her towards her objective —

Conflict is the “natural and inevitable outcome of the close interaction of people who may have diverse opinions and values, pursue different objectives, and have differential access to information and resources within the organization” (Daft, Armstrong 2015). Conflict exists between the members of the Plastics group, specifically between Gretchen and Regina. After the talent show where Gretchen suggests that Cady has a crush on Kevin from the Matheletes, she refers to it as being ‘fetch’ — a slang word she coined herself. Harshly, Regina rebukes her by telling her to stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen. The following day Gretchen compares her friendship with Regina to the murderous relationship between Caesar and Brutus in class. Cady refers to this moment by noting that “Gretchen Wieners had cracked” (Waters,