Comparison of Roles and Characteristics of a Manager and a Leader in Amazon

UNIT 4 ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION
Management can be defined as a body who attempts to control a group or a set of
organization in order to attain the set goals. On the other hand, leadership can be defined as an
ability of an individual to motivate and influence individuals in an organization to contribute
towards its goals and success. The present report is based on Amazon, an American MNC
operating within the technological sector and focusing on ecommerce, artificial intelligence,
cloud computing, etc. Accordingly, the discussion will be based on comparison of roles
performed by leader and manager, their application within different contexts of organization,
application of theories and models of leadership, approaches to operations management and the
role played by a manager and leader and value & importance of operations management towards
achieving business objectives. Also, the business environmental factors will be discussed
through PEST analysis that could have an impact over operational management & decisions
made by managers and leaders.
MAIN BODY
Definition and comparison of roles & characteristics of a manager and a leader
Definition
Manager: They are someone who works through and with other people in terms of establishing
coordination in the work performed by different individuals within the organization in an attempt
to achieve the higher organizational goals. The different duties and jobs performed by them are
aiming for higher profitability & greater performance. They operate at different levels within the
organization which facilitates management of tasks performed by different departments (Sahban,
2019).
Leader: They are inculcated with an ability to influence their team members to get their support
and aid towards the achievement of common goals. They create a way for people to make sure
that they contribute something extraordinary for the organizational goals.
Roles and characteristics of a manager and leader
Manager Leader
Manager works in organized and formal
manner.
Leader works in both formal and informal
way.

They performed the task of setting goals and
objectives for the whole organization (Tudor
Car, Kyaw and Atun, 2018).
They focus on and communicate the goals
and objectives set by managers.
They communicate the policies framed by
them to the leaders.
Communicate policies to the employees and
influence them to work upon it.
Provision of direction to their department. Provision of direction to their assigned team.
They primarily focuses on goals and
objectives of an organization.
Their primary focus is over the workforce.
They perform the main function as planning. They perform the role of providing inspiration
to their team to work in desired manner.
Examination of examples of leader’s role and manager’s function to be applied in different
organizational context
Planning: Within Amazon, the manager performs the function of planning and setting goals for
the whole organization in an attempt to enhance sales and revenues of the business. For instance,
managers plan the whole process of supply chain management which includes product
warehousing, pricing, inventory management and delivery times for each item ordered. For the
smoother supply chain, management attempts to ensure that these elements are optimized well.
The role of leader is to communicate these plans and policies to achieve the same to the
employees to ensure the accomplishment of organizational plans made by management.
Organizing: Management aims to ensure that the resources of the company (Amazon) should be
utilized in best and optimum way to ensure efficiency in the achievement of organizational goals.
The role performed by leader is of efficient allocation of resources along with the provision of
motivation to employees to utilize the available resources in the best possible manner for better
outcome. For instance, due to inability to hire people who are having great connectivity with
target audience, then the leader attempts to motivate them through offering better incentives.
Directing: Managers provide direction for what tasks are required to be performed while the
leaders attempts to direct their subordinates in terms of how the assigned tasks could be
accomplished in effective manner (Gümüş and et.al., 2020). Within Amazon, when employees
are not able to perform their assigned tasks on time, then leaders plunge in to provide direction
for better accomplishments.
Controlling: At the time when sales of the company fells, then management attempts to set
target for individual salesforce along with controlling their actions to ensure the achievement of

desired results within Amazon. On the other hand, the leader performs the role of controlling by
giving set of directions on how could the assigned targets could be achieved by motivating
salesforce through financial and non-financial incentives. A controlling leader generally takes
everything on them rather than trusting on their employees.
Theories and models of approach of leadership
Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence and direct the followers of the
company for accomplishing the goals and objectives of the company. Th role of the leader is
very important in the company as they have yo take various important decisions and also guide
the employees for the achievement of the organizational objectives.
Situational leadership theory: Situational leadership style means adapting the respective
management style in every unique situation or in any specific task in order to meet the needs of
the team members. With the application of this theory, the managers can adapt their working
environment easily and direct the employees in performing the required task for the achievement
of the organizational objectives(Thompson, and Glasø, 2018). Many times it is observed that
managers don't adopt itself with the changes in the environment but in order to become a
successful manager if the very important to have desired skill and should adapt itself with the
changing situations which can help in their development. With the help of this model , Amazon
considers the competency of their employees. It also understands the challenges that is faced by
the employees while performing the task and helps to provide t the direction that is required by
the employees in performing the assigned task effectively. This theory is used in case of
emergency situations where quick decisions are to be taken by the leaders.
System leadership theory: This theory is developed by Dr. Ian MacDonald who is a
organizational behavior expert. This theory enable the managers to create the situation through
which the employees can boost their productivity and with the help of their skill and
knowledge(Hasibuan, and et.al, 2020). The situation arise where there has to me made changes
in the organizational stricture due to various change on the environment then in that situation in
order to adapt the changes in the organizational structure the leaders of the Amazon company
uses this theory and creates a condition where in order to achieve the objectives of the company,
the employees are encouraged to enhance their productivity.