Comprehensive Report on M&S Management and Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the management and operations of Marks and Spencer (M&S). It begins with an introduction to M&S, highlighting its history and evolution from a 'penny bazaar' to a global retail giant. The report then delves into the differences between managers and leaders, comparing their roles and responsibilities within the organization. It explores various management theories, including classical and behavioral theories, and leadership theories such as transformational, transactional, and action-centered approaches, illustrating how M&S integrates these principles. The report examines the functions of managers and leaders in planning, organizing, directing, staffing, coordinating, and controlling, with specific examples of how M&S implements these practices. Furthermore, it discusses the application of situational leadership, MBO model, and contingency theory within M&S, emphasizing how these models contribute to effective leadership and management across the company's diverse operations. The report concludes by highlighting the situational approach as the most suitable for M&S, enabling leaders to adapt to various challenges and foster leadership qualities within the organization.

2018
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................4
LO1 ..............................................................................................................................................................5
P1.............................................................................................................................................................5
M1 ..........................................................................................................................................................6
LO2..............................................................................................................................................................9
P2.............................................................................................................................................................9
P3 ..........................................................................................................................................................10
M2 .........................................................................................................................................................11
D1 .........................................................................................................................................................12
LO 3............................................................................................................................................................13
P4 ..........................................................................................................................................................13
P5...........................................................................................................................................................15
M3.........................................................................................................................................................16
LO4 ............................................................................................................................................................17
P6 ..........................................................................................................................................................17
M4 .........................................................................................................................................................17
D2 .........................................................................................................................................................18

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................19
Reference ..................................................................................................................................................20

Introduction
The business operations of a company are dependent upon the management and leadership as
existent in the company and the level of dedication and expertise of the workforce also. How the
employees will perform is also determined by the leaders who lead them. Development and
manufacture of high quality products are ensured this way which in turn brings increased
profitability to the company itself. Various management styles and leadership approaches are
applied in various companies to enable them perform best. The workplace environment that the
company provides its workforce with is also important in establishing a workplace culture where
the company executives would perform (Suddaby, 2010).
The following assignment is prepared on the company Marks and Spencer (M&S) which, with
more than 450 stores across around 30 countries worldwide stands as the oldest company of
Britain retailing in food, clothing, home wares, gift items etc. The company started off as a
‘penny bazaar’ where everything cost only a penny. The founder Michael Marks was joined by
Tom Spencer in 1894 and the company got the name of Marks and Spencer. In 1926, M&S got
the status of a PLC and operated accordingly. It was not only until 1931 that food departments
were made a part of it. However, the company actually ran on family values as long as the
leadership was running within the family. Around late 90’s the leadership changed into a more
distributive form and from that need Luc Vandevelde, Stuart Rose and others were employed.
As for management style, a consultative style has been followed in M&S where the leader
consults with everyone concerned before coming to a final decision. For the purpose of
successful business operation, M&S management and leaders often implement a mixture of
management and leadership style. For this, sometimes consultative style of management and
democratic style of leadership are combined and implemented. Laissez-faire or the medium
status is also often put to use where the managing director also acts as the marketing director and
vice versa. The managers placed on the higher scale of hierarchy often adapt autocratic
leadership and thus guide the employees. All of these are very minutely monitored by the
shareholders as they hold the right to put democratic votes on the particular specimen of what the
managers, autocratic or medium, are planning to do (Larson, 2013).

LO1
P1
The saying goes that managers do things right but the leaders are into doing the right thing.
Within an organisation managers are responsible for designing working process and managing
them accordingly so that the prior set goals and objectives of the company can be achieved. They
formulate new policies and strategies to enable the staffs perform their duties. They are also
involved in performance appraisal. The leaders are not into planning rather they are involved in
getting the work done by the employees in proper manner so that the objectives are met. Thus
they increase the productivity of the organisation to maintain profitability (Briggs, 2012).
The difference between the managers and the leaders are presented in the tabular form
Comparison factor Manger Leader
Meaning Responsibility of managing Responsibility of leading
Vision Attaining prior set visions Creating visions an
communicating them
Strategy Competencies and behaviours
copied
Bringing uniqueness to
working
Power Directive Instructive
Focus Structures main focus Stakeholders are main focus
Risks Controlling and minimising Accepting and converting to
challenge
Effectiveness Directs employees to follow Works along with employees
and increases credibility
For M&S the mangers partake in monitoring the employee performance and the leaders, with the
cooperation of the stakeholders make the employees work in the directional of objective
achievement. When innovations are needed to tackle a challenge, the M&S follows an action
centred leadership style. Both managers and leaders are attentive towards building successful
human relations so that they build a cooperative and trustworthy relationship with the employees
and the customers as well.

The Section Manager at Marks and Spencer manages the various departments and put their retail
talent to test. They are practically in the responsibility of managing the company turnover which
often sums up to millions of pounds. These managers are often in charge of teams of as many as
25 people whom they not only lead, but coach and inspire also. The innovation and maintenance
of quality of products are sometimes given to them also. Food, Clothing and Home, Visual
Merchandising, finance and Operations etc are commonly managed by Section Managers. As for
the Store Managers or Commercial Mangers, ensuring great customer service and innovative
product quality are under their vigilance. Chalking out a business strategy is also among the
responsibilities of the M&S managers. M&S currently launched interactive shopping experience
facility for their virtual customers. Commercial managers look after that. Commercial visions
and business management abilities are two basic criteria that must be present in the M&S
managers.
M1
Classical theories of management: Scientific & Administrative
Frederick Taylor proposed the scientific theory with the aim to maximise the level of efficiency
with which the employees perform. This theory is about improving the economic efficiency so
that the productivity increases. There are four basic principles of the same. These are:
Developing standard method for job performance
Workers’ selection as per their skills
Effective work planning for eliminating interruptions
Giving employees incentives in addition to wages as a token for encouragement (Fleming, 2014)
On the other hand, administrative management theory, proposed by Fayol is based on 14
principles and aims at developing efficiency by management training etc. The principles are:
Division of work

Authority and Responsibility
Discipline
Unity of command
Unity of direction
Subordinate of individual interest
Remuneration
Degree of centralisation
Scalar chain
Order
Equity
Stability of tenure of personnel
Initiative and
Esprit de corps (Spicer, 2014)
For the management in Marks and Spencer, the leaders and managers combine the basic
principles of scientific and administrative approaches for implementation. During recruitment of
managers or other executives, the management puts high emphasis on the skills and experience
of the applicants. Once they are selected with the company, the responsibilities are differentiated
and the remuneration is decided accordingly. All managers at Marks and Spencer work for a
certain tenure.
Behavioural theory
It highlights the fact that the teams and workplace offering growth and development is more
preferred. Besides financial factors, social factors (relationship, attitudes etc) also affect

performance. As for M&S, the management focuses on the employee behaviours and
motivational factors. Conflict situations are mitigated at the company and with the
implementation of higher group dynamics, the M&S management ensures higher productivity.
Leadership theories: Transformational, Transactional and Action-centred
Transformational leaders possess the ability to change an individual and place himself as a model
whom the followers look up to. Individualised consideration, intellectual stimulation,
inspirational motivation and idealised influence are the four basic elements of this style.
Transactional leaders are believers in reward and punishment policy and motivate the employees
accordingly without giving much thought to innovations. This way the organisation’s and the
leader’s interests both are served.
Action-centred leaders follow six steps namely planning, initiating, controlling, supporting,
informing and evaluating to achieve a task and manage both individuals and teams. As
mentioned earlier M&S applies a combination of such theories in their management. No leader at
M&S is completely transformational or transactional. The leaders are trained in such ways that
they possess the ability to influence the workforce and motivate them to work towards the
organisational goal achievement. At the same time the leaders are never harsh on the staffs for
failure to achieve the targets but repeated failures call for warnings. Sometimes the leaders
analyse the reasons of failure and then assess the employee for identifying areas of improvement.
at (Phillips, 2012).

LO2
P2
The role of leaders and the function of managers in the operation of M&S are as follows:
Planning
The managers of M&S set goals to achieve increased profitability by increasing demand of the
products among customers and earn more revenues. The leaders communicate these goals among
the staffs and focus their effort in the accomplishment of those and increase efficiency (Lawrence,
2012).
Organising
M&S managers identify the available resources and organise them for effective utilisation. The
leaders delegate these resources among the employees and motivate them to perform accordingly
so that organisational objectives are achieved and positive results are obtained.
Directing
The managers at M&S, after planning and organising resources, direct the tasks for the
employees to perform. After the leaders get access to that, they identify employees with similar
abilities and form teams and direct them about the accomplishment of the tasks (Locke, 2011).
Staffing

The M&S managers recruit employees and give jobs according to their abilities and skills
present. The leaders actually allocate the tasks and motivate them in all possible ways such as
listening to complaints, solving issues etc (Vogel, 2012).
Coordinating
The managers at M&S coordinate inter- departmental functions and ensure that best quality
products are produced for delivering to the customers. The leaders are responsible for
implementing such coordinating practices among the employees and achieve the goals.
Controlling
The managers formulate the policies and the leaders implement them. Then again the whole
process is controlled by managers and supervised. Leaders check for the level of accomplishment
of given tasks and mangers see whether they match the objectives.
P3
The M&S implements the various theories and models in accomplishing the organisational target
of increasing the customer base by meeting their demands and satisfying them.
Situational leadership, as proposed by Blanchard and Hersey, concentrates on leader-follower
relationship and allows the leaders to change his styles according to the situation. Diagnose,
adapt, communicate and advance are the leadership competencies here. It is helpful in M&S for
adverse situations and challenges are likely to occur at any point of time and following this style,
the leaders can opt for other tools in operation, change in team management etc (Vinkenburg,
2011). Also, the leaders are able to stay committed to employees and their dynamics. Such
leaders can determine the maturity level in their employees. M&S employees are highly
experienced, skilled and mature.

The MBO model is used by the system leadership approach followers. Here the employees are
believed to perform more efficiently when allowed to express views in decision making process.
The leaders this way become highly successful in motivating them. M&S leaders particularly
apply this when they are faced with change propositions. Asking employees’ opinion makes
them feel important and thus new ideas are also developed. Also, by taking into account the
opinions of the employees, the leaders can understand the attitude of them towards the problem
or change situation and assess their decision making abilities.
The contingency theory of Fiedler calls for the ability of a leader to control a situation along with
the styles he follows and actually indicates towards the personality trait of a leader. Marks and
Spencer has a number of outlets all around the world and new branches are coming up also. For
all these outlets as well as the online shopping facilities, the company requires a huge number of
employees also. Hence the leaders choose this style from time to time so that the staffs are
managed appropriately in all branches of all countries (Hoel, 2010).
M2
Situational approach is the strongest and the most appropriate one for being applied to the M&S
workplace. It enables the leaders to develop leadership qualities in them in better levels as by the
application of this, the leaders get to know other styles and approaches and are enabled to apply
all of them as the situation calls for. Another point is its prescriptive characteristic by which
leaders achieve more effectiveness and efficiency. Leaders’ flexibility is imposed upon them as it
is undoubtedly a fact that irrespective of a leader’s position in the spectrum of leaders none can
be all-in-one. But it is also problematic as the focus is fixed on immediate situations and thus
long term objectives often take backseats. The managers following this may miss the future
picture and fail to plan accordingly. This might prove to be fatal for M&S (Angus-Leppan, 2010).
Transformational style allows the users to assess the situation at hand and inspire the employees
to achieve optimal performance. The energy level of leaders is carried down the hierarchy. It
enables the leader to look at the big picture but on the downside often they fail to cope with the

detail orientation. Such leaders are at the risk of giving emotion much importance instead of
logical reasoning and thus hinder the company growth (Clarke, 2013).
The contingency leadership approach allows the incorporation of flexibility in the leadership and
management style within M&S. For giving employees similar importance they also get
influenced by the organisational culture and work more dedicatedly. It also contradicts to the
concept that leaders are born and incorporates leadership qualities in everyone and makes them
potential leaders. But this possesses some weaknesses also. The approach is by nature reactive
instead of proactive and also quite complex while put to use.
D1
Marks and Spencer has become such a brand name over the years that its management and
leadership has immense responsibility on them in order to manage the employees and the
company reputation as well. The organisational culture is completely customer oriented. The
style of management and the leadership is important in this regard that they are the pioneers who
are involved in the decision making process. They include the employees of all levels of
hierarchy in the decision making process also and thus implements a combination of various
styles and approaches. For example, democratic style and situational style are often teamed up in
the performance of a particular work (Jogulu, 2010).
The organisational structure of M&S armed with its experienced managers and leaders and their
management styles direct the company to progress in the directional of organisational objective
achievement of increasing the sales and satisfying the customer needs and demands. The leaders
motivate the employees to work with more effort to achieve targets which in turn add to the
company’s profitability only as the productivity is increased.
Tanith Dodge, the ex HR Manager at Marks and Spencer (currently working with Value Retail
and at Marks and Spencer, she was replaced by David Guise in 2016), correctly pointed out that
the style of an individual as a leader affects the style of the team he works with and eventually