Role of Leaders and Managers in Operations Management

This document discusses the roles of leaders and managers in operations management, including the comparison of their roles, evaluation of their functions in different situations, and the application of leadership theories. It also explores the key approaches of operations management and the importance of operations management in achieving organizational goals. Additionally, it evaluates the factors of the business environment that impact decision making and operational management by leaders and managers.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Compare different roles of leaders and managers.............................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
P2 Evaluate different type of roles of a leader and functions of manager in handling different
situations.................................................................................................................................2
P3 Apply situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency theories of leadership in
organisational context.............................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
P4 Role of manager and leader in handling key approaches of operations management......4
P5 Determine Values and importance of operations management in achieving organisational
goal.........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................6
P6 Evaluate the factors of business environment which impact upon decision making and
operational management within an organisation by leaders and managers...........................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is a type of business management which includes the designing
and controlling the production process within a company (Ebrahimi and et. al., 2020). In simple
words it is concerned with the management of main operational activity of a business.
Management in operations of manufacturing companies are handled with their production
department and it involve the activities related to manufacturing the product like planning,
designing, labelling and packaging the product. British steel Tinplate is a British manufacturer
company which was founded in 1885 which was located in Pemberton, Carmarthen shire, West
Wales. The following company deals in manufacturing steel cans for soft drinks and liquor
drinks. The following report covers comparison of role and characteristics of leaders and
managers, role of leader and manager in different situations, explanation of different types of
leadership theories and models, role of leader and manager in managing operational activities of
an organisation, importance of organisational operations in achieving organisational goal and the
factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and decision-
making by leaders and managers.
TASK 1
P1 Compare different roles of leaders and managers.
Leaders- Leader is a person who leads a group and makes other influenced by their
quality and behavior and help the team to complete the task on time. It is the art of influencing a
group of people to achieve a common goal
Managers- Manager is a person who handles manpower in an organization and orders
them to complete the assigned task on time. It is an art of motivating a group of individuals and
getting things done by others to achieve organizational goal (Peltonen and et. al., 2019).
Role of leaders-
 The main role of leader is to inspire and motivate the workforce to complete the task on
time.
 Leaders are the representative of employees. Hence, workers convey their message to
their leader and leader pass that message to management team. Leaders show correct and easy directions to their teammates so that their teammates
efficiency is fully utilize in completing task.
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Role of managers-
 The main role of manager is to recruit and hire talented and skilled workforce which help
the company to attain more effective workers.
 Providing training to new comers is also the role of manager to enhance their(employees)
existing skills and develop new skills to perform particular job.
 Manager plays an important role in managing manpower within the company bt
providing required resources at appropriate time to employees.
Comparison between leaders and managers
Basis of difference Leaders Managers
Working style Leaders work with their team
to achieve a common goal
Managers order their team to
get the things done to achieve
a common organizational
goal.
Responsibility Leader’s main responsibility
is to inspire their team.
Manager’s main function is to
develop plans of organization.
Decision making attitude Leaders take decision which
is beneficial for their
teammates.
Managers take decisions
which are beneficial for
organization.
nature Leaders help their followers
to found easy way to
complete the task.
Managers just want to get
thing done on time whether
by easy methods or by tough
methods.
TASK 2
P2 Evaluate different type of roles of a leader and functions of manager in handling different
situations
There are different types of situations and conditions which occur within an organisation
on daily basis. Each situation has various ways to get solved. Managers and leaders play distinct
roles in handling various type of situation and some situations which is handled by manager and
leaders in their ways are explained below-
Situation 1 - Launching new product- This is the situation where company launch new product
to gain more customers (Schultz and et. al., 2020). The company British steel tinplate introduce a
new product called Ecotop. This is the type of cans which is having 2 buttons; one is for
releasing pressure which is presented inside a can and another for drinking aperture.
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Role of a leader in launching new product for British steel Tinplate-
Leaders take the suggestion from their teammates while launching a new product, that
how and at what time they (teammates) are reliable to launch the product. Leaders always
appreciate their teammates and provide credit to their teammates in the successful launching of
new product.
Role of a manager in launching new product in British steel Tinplate-
While launching a new product managers decide the time and place of launching the
product and order their team members to launch the new product at the selected time and place
which is decided by manager. All appreciation and credits for launching new product
successfully goes to manager to handle the team and work properly.
Situation 2- Adoption of new technology- Using new and updated technology results in more
productivity with good quality of products. British steel tinplate is a manufacturing company.
Hence, using appropriate technology is compulsory for them to produce good quality of steel
cans.
Role of Leader in adopting new technology-
Leaders always adopt those machines and equipments which is suggested by their
workers because workers have to operate those machines and work with new technology(Dezi
and et. al., 2019). Secondly, leaders help their workers to let them understand the features of new
technology and leaders also tries to adopt those machines only which help the worker to save
their energy and efficiency which can be utilize at another productive activity.
Role of Manager in adopting new technology-
Managers always adopt those machines at organisation which results in increasing overall
productivity. After adopting new technology, managers order their workforce to understand the
features and start doing work on new machines as much as possible. New technology is adopted
by manager’s choice after analysing marketing situations.
P3 Apply situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency theories of leadership in
organisational context
Situational leadership- It is that leadership theory which consist of changing leadership
style according to situations and workforce needs and desires. It further describes that leadership
style should not depend on the skill of leader but it must be depend on ability of leader to make
adjustments on the basis of different situations occur within an organisation. This leadership
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model helps the leader to make good relationship with their teammates by changing leadership
style according to team mate's requirements. In context of British steel tinplate, their leaders
adopt different leadership styles at different situation like in case of discordination between
teammates, their leaders adopt participative leadership style where the teammates have to work
with each other and create good coordination. In case of quick decision making at some working
areas, the same leader adopt autocratic leadership style. Hence, the leaders of British steel
tinplate change their attitude and style according to situation.
Systems leadership- This model describe a set of skills and capabilities of a leader which
is required to influence and motivate the workforce which further help in increasing overall
productivity of an organisation (Wu, 2019). In this model it is suggested that leader must create
the condition or situation where workers work with their full potential. This model focuses more
on leadership skills which is essential to achieve organisational goal. In context of British steel
Tinplate, this model is helpful in those areas where quick decision is required. System leadership
also helps their leaders to increase their efficiency in creating situations according to their skills.
Here, leaders are not required to change their skills but they are required to create a positive
work environment which further helps to achieve organisational goal. In case of conflict between
teammates, their leader tries to solve their queries with their skills of handling issues.
Contingency leadership- This theory of leadership states that it is possible that the skill
and leadership style of a leader is efficient in one situation but the same skill and style might be
inefficient in another situation. This theory further states that there are many factors which cause
a great impact upon leadership style. In context of British steel tinplate, there are many factors
which impact upon leadership styles such as handling customer complaints, making a good
coordination between management team and the workforce and many others. This theory helps
the leaders to understand that in which situation they are required to show their actual skills and
abilities and in which situation they are required to change their skills (Chang and et. al., 2019).
This theory further helps the leader to identify which situation gives positive impact and which
situation results in negative impact upon their existing leadership style.
TASK 3
P4 Role of manager and leader in handling key approaches of operations management
Few key approaches to operations management are explained below-
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Total quality management- This is a management approach which aims at long term
success through customer satisfaction. In this approach each and every member of an
organisation participates in improving overall quality in their work, product, process and culture.
There are many elements of total quality management like integrated system, total employment
involvement, process-centred and many others. In context of British steel Tinplate, their leaders
play an important role in focusing creating a good culture at workplace so more efforts will be
put by their workers in completing the daily tasks. On the other hand, a manager focuses on
system and process to get improved so more productivity will be reached (Terwiesch, 2019).
Lean production- It is an approach to cut down the waste whether in the form of product
or in efforts. In simple words, Lean production help in identifying productive and non-productive
activities within an organisation and further helps in eliminating non-productive activities from
the firm. In context of British steel tinplate, their leaders observe and record all efforts put by
their workers in their different tasks. Leaders allot workers who have appropriate skill to perform
task on required place which help in saving time and money which is spend on untrained
workers. On the other hand, managers more focus on that equipment which produces more units
in minimum time. This also helps in reducing time which is spending on outdated machines.
P5 Determine Values and importance of operations management in achieving organisational
goal
Few importance of operations management is explained below-
Optimum utilization of resources- Operational management plays an important role in
managing the resources properly(Stathopoulos and et. al., 2019). In context of British steel
tinplate, their operational activities are handled properly that they use only that amount of raw
material which is actually required at manufacturing area. They did not allow any employee to
waste a single meter of steel in this organisation while manufacturing steel cans.
Achieving customer satisfaction- Operational management helps in producing better
quality of products which further help in attracting more customers and attain profit. In context
of British steel tinplate, their operational manager commonly focus on product quality. Their
workers produce best quality of steel cans with lighter weight which help them to gain more
customers satisfaction and hence, it helps in achieving organisational goal after satisfying
customer needs and wants.
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Capacity management- Operational management is important to increase the capacity of
managers within an organisation(Chen and et. al., 2020). By handling operational activity,
managers and leaders increases their skills of showing direction to workforce, motivating people
and many others. Development of managerial capacity helps in achieving organisational goal
because an effective manager always manage their team perfectly which further help in
achieving objectives on time
The value of operational management is very high because it plays an important role in
improving quality of product, making good reputation of company, making appropriate
environment to work and many others. Operations management helps in managing all those
activities which consist with main operational areas of a company (Olsen and Tomlin, 2020). In
context of British steel tinplate, their operational management help them to become popular
company in producing steel cans. They focus on marketing research and find out many reasons
to use steel cans rather than aluminium cans. They focus on quality of their steel cans to make it
lighter and easy to trash after use. Operational management like managing the raw material,
testing the product and many others help them to achieve their business goal after making those
cans which satisfy the population of UK.
TASK 4
P6 Evaluate the factors of business environment which impact upon decision making and
operational management within an organisation by leaders and managers
Few factors of business environment that impact upon operational management are
explained below-
CSR- It is a responsibility of every company to contribute a small part of their earning to
their society and environment to make better life standards and better environment to
live(Peltonen and et. al., 2019). In context to British steel Tinplate, they started a campaign that
is ‘Save-a-Can’ campaign because steel is returned to steel industry for use in new steel
production because steel is a recyclable element. This campaign helps the company to gain
reputation by not polluting environment. This CSR activity of the company results in gaining the
trust of their employees and also helps the company to save the cost by retaining used steel cans
and use them for further production.
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Ethics- It is the human behaviour and morals which is required at workplace to complete
a task. In context of British steel tinplate, their ethics plays an important role in their success
(Schultz and et. al., 2020). Each and every employee is fully dedicated in their assigned fields.
Their employees have a positive behaviour and attitude which further help in making good
coordination within many departments. Ethics plays an important role in making effective
operations management. An ethical behaviour of employees helps to gain more efficiency and
dedication of workers to get the things done on time with minimum cost. Ethics of British steel
tinplate impact upon the decision making of their manager and leaders. Their ethics helps in
creating positive culture of their organisation. Hence, taking any decision which impacts
negative on organisational culture directly results in getting toward loss.
Conclusion
From the above information it is concluded that leaders and managers have different
views and ideas to perform their job. They both act differently in various situations which occur
in organisation. There are few leadership theories which help in knowing that which leadership
style is appropriately used in which type of situations. These theories also help in knowing the
ability and skills of leaders in different situations. Leaders and managers have different opinions
that handle each approach of operations management. It is also concluded that operations
management plays an important role in achieving organisational goal. CSR, ethics and many
others are the factors which impact operational management and decision making process by
leaders and managers.
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References
Books and Journals
Chang, Y.T. and et. al., 2019. The impact of internal audit attributes on the effectiveness of
internal control over operations and compliance. Journal of Contemporary Accounting
& Economics. 15(1). pp.1-19.
Chen, J.M. and et. al., 2020. Decision-making in cruise operations management: A double-hurdle
approach. Research in Transportation Business & Management. 37. p.100524.
Dezi, L. and et. al., 2019. The knowledge management of micro-firms in the crowd: Key
challenges for successful operations. Production Planning & Control. 30(10-12).
pp.1005-1018.
Ebrahimi, B. and et. al., 2020. Ecological capability assessment of watershed hydrological units
to prioritize watershed management executive operations using Fuzzy_TOPSIS
approach. Geographical Planning of Space. 10(36). pp.123-146.
Olsen, T.L. and Tomlin, B., 2020. Industry 4.0: Opportunities and challenges for operations
management. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. 22(1). pp.113-122.
Peltonen, L.M. and et. al., 2019. Information needs in day‐to‐day operations management in
hospital units: A cross‐sectional national survey. Journal of nursing
management. 27(2). pp.233-244.
Schultz, R.A. and et. al., 2020. Characterization of Historical Methane Occurrence Frequencies
from US Underground Natural Gas Storage Facilities with Implications for Risk
Management, Operations, and Regulatory Policy. Risk Analysis. 40(3). pp.588-607.
Stathopoulos, A. and et. al., 2019. Supply, demand, operations, and management of crowd-
shipping services: A review and empirical evidence. Transportation Research Part C:
Emerging Technologies. 103. pp.83-103.
Terwiesch, C., 2019. OM Forum—Empirical research in operations management: From field
studies to analyzing digital exhaust. Manufacturing & Service Operations
Management. 21(4). pp.713-722.
Wu, S.J., 2019. Assessing the individual and synergistic effects of quality management practices
on operations performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance
Management.
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