Vera Wang’s Theory of Business Leadership and Management

Vera Wang Introduction Vera Wang is a former figure skater born on June 27, 1949 in New York City (LipskyKarasz, 2011). After completing her high school education, she decided to enroll to college, but this was very challenging. Balancing her studies and skating was a tough choice she had to make.

She thereby decided to give up skating and pursued her career in fashion which was her dream.

Her first fashion job was with Vogue where she was an assistant director to Polly Mellen, the Vogue fashion director. It is at this time when Wang put more effort to learn more about the fashion industry. At the age of 23, Wang was selected to be the editor of fashion at Vogue, and thereafter the director of design with Ralph Lauren which dealt with accessories.

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After two years of hard work, she was settled to marry her long-time sweetheart Arthur Becker, an executive at a golf company. Her persevered hard work as well as frustrations from the limited options she had (the previous options from the dresses she got did not support her exclusive taste) encouraged her and she decided to design her wedding dress. This is what later inspired her to open her own business, Vera Wang Bridal House Limited on Madison Avenue, New York (Encyclopedia.com, 2012). With a little help from her father, Wang decided to move along and opened her own bridal boutique which offered couture gowns. After honing her skills in fashion, she launched her own collection of stylish bridal wear (Rubenstein, 2005).

Challenges faced by Vera Wang Though Wang is well known for her outstanding bridal gowns, she also ventures in sportswear (figure skating costumes). Wang is facing the biggest challenge in creating costumes for the Winter Olympics (Wexler, 2011). She said that US skate outfits were created in a way that differed from her way, and this has mounted some pressure on her work.

The other challenge faced by Wang is her venture into midmarket retail. When creating collections for a mass market, there is an obvious concern; the collections can undermine one’s reputation especially with affluent customers. She needed cash to expand her business which had rapidly grown but she lacked resources. It is evident that designers need “flowing” cash in order to bring in new ideas. This frustration made Wang to reach out to Khol’s in order to sustain her business (Fabsugar, 2007).

The third challenge that Wang faced when running her business was producing fewer styles in large quantities. This made her to adjust her way of thinking as well as her operation

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strategy in order to offer the best designs. This challenge was triggered when she decided to explore new territories with the need to expand her business (Fabsugar, 2007). New people in a new territory have new and totally different expectations.

Vera Wang Leadership Style Wang is an outstanding lady who empowers her workers and shares significant information with them. This means that her leadership style is democratic; where the manager as well as the workers can make contributions to decisions. She is so much concerned with her employees and believes that they are trying to earn a living just like her. She initiates structure as she runs as well as expands her business. Empowering workers is important because they are able to take responsibility of their outcomes. It also cut costs and workers are able to improve in their quality. Employee empowerment contributes to effective leadership simply because the workers are motivated, thereby committing themselves to the business.

As the top manager of her business, Wang possesses legitimate reward as well as coercive powers. She also has expert power which has been generated from her years of experience. Since she has respect for her employees and vice versa, there is a tremendous amount of referent power which is generated.

Wang has been fighting celebrity culture in terms of brand identity. What has made her adapt to cultural difference is her ability to keep her name hot by providing the best designs and providing value at the price point (Cutter, 2007). By establishing cultural as well as fashion trends, she has been able to penetrate the global market. Her creativity has interconnected with the preference of people around the world.

Wang’s theory of business leadership and management

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Wang’s leadership style explains her theory. She engages her workers in decision making process, which gives her time to deal with other issues that need immediate attention. Her concern with her employees makes her excel in terms of managing her business. While at the office, she engages herself with the task of calming the clients who are dissatisfied. She also dedicates some time to handle business negotiations as well as her personal matters. Her employees have gained a sense of ownership because they are part and parcel in making decisions.

As stated in Wang’s leadership style, she has certain powers that enable her to manage her business pretty well. The most important power that she possesses is expert power which enables her to diversify her business even with new line of products. Some of these products include fine jewelry, fragrances, eyewear, handbags, and shoes just to mention a few (Vera Wang Bridal House, 2003). Wang motivates her employees by providing them with competitive pay, work schedules that are flexible, paid training as well as with health plan that comprise of dental, health and life insurance. Wang has been able to penetrate many cultures, especially France with her rich fabrics that have luxurious details (Callaway, 2012). Her dresses skirt the application of modern touches and instead use the traditional styles; they usually celebrate a woman’s body. Any bride can find almost everything within her business empire. This has made Wang to be the most famous wedding dress designer in the fashion industry.

Vera Wang’s Impact to the World Wang’s talent and success has made her to become an outstanding icon in the fashion industry. According to a 2009 report by People Magazine, she was considered to contest for “Dancing with the Stars”. Much of her emphasis is based on providing the best services to customers by providing the best and outstanding designs in the fashion industry. Her interest in

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promoting personal relationships especially with her employees has made her prosper in this industry. Wang believes that her success has been made possible by her commitment and the presence of business relationships. Her diverse and unique products have enabled customers feel appreciated. Customers feel as if Wang existed to provide the best for them. Following the agreement with Khol’s Department Stores, she has been able to offer affordable products especially on Wang Sportswear, accessories as well as linens just to mention a few. Wang has been able to maintain the consistency of her vision in a careful manner. She states that all her products express her design language (Wexler, 2011). Wang’s success from the cover of Vogue to the Olympics has made her style to be embraced by many influential along with fashionable women. She earned accolade when she decide to design ice-skating outfits for Nancy Kerrigan.

This was a dream come true in view of the fact that her aspirations to join the Olympic team had been dashed.

Among Wang’s wedding dresses, there are a number of celebrities who have had the opportunity to wear them. This shows how her work is much appreciated globally. Some of these celebrities include Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Simpsons, Sharon Stone, Uma Thurman, and Mariah Carey, just to mention a few. After outfitting Nancy Kwan for the Olympic competitions, Wang was very proud of her contribution.

Vera Wang’s collections start from a price of $6,000, with others costing up to $12,000 or even more. Her average range of dresses starts from $2,000 to about $7,000. These prices are certainly expensive but are within the range of middle-class brides. However, if a customer gets lucky, she can benefit from the 75% discount from stock overruns. Most of her wedding dresses can be found at her Flagship Bridal Salon, Saks Fifth Avenue, and other departmental stores like Neiman Marcus (Callaway, 2012).

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Callaway, N. (2012). Who is Vera Wang? A profile of wedding dress designer Vera Wang.

Retrieved May 22, 2012 from http://weddings.about.com/od/styleandattire/a/VeraWang.htm Cutter, K. (2007). Personal style: Vera Wang. Harper's Bazaar, (3546), 79-82.

Fabsugar (2007). The challenges for Vera & her Kohl's collaboration. Retrieved May 22, 2012 from http://www.fabsugar.com/Challenges-Vera-Her-Kohls-Collaboration-325504 Lipsky-Karasz, E. (2011). Vera Wang: Made of honor. Harper's Bazaar, (3592), 210-213.

Rubenstein, H. (2005). At home with Vera Wang. Instyle, 12(13), 468-475.

Vera Wang Bridal House (2003). Vera Wang Bridal House Ltd: Leading American businesses.

Retrieved May 22, 2012 from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Vera_Wang.aspx Wexler, S. Z. (2011). Inside the files of the super stylish. Instyle, 18(11), 221-230.