Operational Management and Leadership Analysis

The assignment provided is an analysis of operational management and leadership in organizations. It examines the management structure and roles of leadership and management in achieving organizational tasks. The report also discusses the impact of leadership theories on performance and provides improvement strategies for enhancing benefits. Additionally, it evaluates key approaches for operational management and considers the effects of various factors on these activities.

UNIT - 4 MO

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Overview and management structure of M&S Ltd............................................................1
2. Roles and responsibilities of manager and leader..............................................................2
3. Management theories and differences between managerial functions and roles of leaders2
4. Role of leaders and managerial functions in different situations.......................................3
5. Management and leadership theories for sustaining growth and performance..................4
6. Evaluation of weakness and strength of various leadership and management theories:....5
7. Impact of leaders and managers on performance of M&S Ltd and strategies for future
improvement...........................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
1. Operational management approaches implemented by M&S Ltd.....................................6
2. Role of managers and leaders in operation management...................................................7
3. Role of operational management approaches in achieving organisational goals...............7
4. Effectiveness of managers and leaders in improving efficiency of operation management7
5. Effect of external factors on operations management of organisation...............................8
6. Evaluation of operational management system of M&S Ltd for managing factors which
affects business.......................................................................................................................8
7. Recommendations for improving operation management system.....................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is defined as the organisational function to ensure regular and
hinder free production and delivery of goods and services by management of all business
resources. Leadership and management are vital strategies for the successful accomplishment of
all business operations (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014). Report will analyse the management
structure of Marks & Spencer (M&S Ltd) which is a well-known multinational organisation in
retail sector. The report will analyse role of manager and leader by using case example of M&S
Ltd.
It will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various management and leadership
theories for sustainable growth of M&S Ltd. The report will explain operational management of
organisation and the role of managers and leaders in effective management of operational
activities of M&S Ltd. It will emphasize on the key approaches and principles of operation
management and strategies for their improvement. Further, report will also discuss the impact of
external factors on operational decisions of leaders and managers of M&S Ltd. The report will
explore operational management applications for managing business related factors and will
suggest future improvement strategies for Marks & Spencer.
TASK 1
1. Overview and management structure of M&S Ltd.
M&S Ltd is one of the leading retailers that has it’s headquarter in UK. The organisation
is a multinational venture that deals in food items, home products and clothing. It was found in
the year 1884 and currently, organisation acquires approximately 1035 stores in United Kingdom
and 428 stores at international level (M & S, 2018). One of the key factors for such extreme
growth and success of organisation is its exclusive and skilled management structure. The
management structure of M&S Ltd ensures that goals are achieved by appropriately using its
resources. Effective planning, arrangement, supervision, communication and problem solving
attitude are the crucial tools for effective management structure.
M&S Ltd follows vertical management structure due to large size of organisation. In
vertical management structure, managers are at higher level and all other staff members are at
lower end. This structure ensures that all functional departments of M&S Ltd such as store,
production, quality management and finance as well as customer service perform well and
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achieve their respective goals. The vertical management structure of M&S Ltd has following
levels: Top management level: It consists of CEO and presidents of M&S Ltd who are
responsible for decision-making, strategies and long term goals of the entire organisation. Middle level: Authorities at this level implement the plans of top level management.
They provide guidelines about the execution process about how M&S Ltd will promote
or achieve its sales targets.
 Supervisor level: This level of management structure includes supervisors who assign
duties to staff members of M&S Ltd. They directly interact with the employees and
customers of organisation (Jeston, 2014).
M&S Ltd is operating worldwide and thus, it requires vertical management structure so
that each department and area of the organisation will function well.
2. Roles and responsibilities of manager and leader
Leader is defined as an individual who leads or guides the organisation so that it will
have clear perspective of its goals and methods. On the other hand, manager is defined as the
authority who is responsible for management of organisational resources for achieving goals of
organisation. Leaders of M&S Ltd create vision for organisation like for instance, organisation
has vision to establish itself as the most powerful retailer across the world. Contrary to the
leaders, managers create goals. For example: M&S Ltd can have goal that by the end of year,
they have to increase their profits by 300 percent.
The leaders of organisation tend to maintain uniqueness of organisation. On the other
hand, for effectively managing resources, managers are always ready to adopt changing
marketing trends. For instance: leader of M&S Ltd aims at keeping unique brand value all over
the world but managers can follow their competitors for framing marketing strategies (Bolman
and Deal, 2017). Leaders keep their focus on long term vision whereas, the managers of M&S
Ltd plan strategies in accordance with short term targets by managing resources and
technologies.
3. Management theories and differences between managerial functions and roles of leaders
In order to achieve the business objectives, M&S Ltd uses following management
theories like:
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Contingency theory: According to this theory, managers make decision on the basis of situation.
The leaders of M&S Ltd make their vision by observing market trends and their expertise
whereas, managers can change decisions on the basis of internal as well as external resources of
organisation.
Chaos theory: This theory explains that changes are not controllable in organisational
perspective. Changes may be desirable or undesirable but organisation has to adopt them.
Leaders of M&S Ltd bring innovative changes such as online retailing and digital transformation
to sustain the growth whereas, managers organize available resources which can be used to
execute innovative ideas given by leaders. Coordination between both; leaders and managers is
required for the success of organisation.
System theory of management: As per this management theory, nature of system significantly
affects the performance of employees. The leaders try to motivate and inspire employees so that
they will feel comfortable (Bolden, 2016). On the other hand, managers of M&S Ltd control staff
members so that organisation provides quality services on time.
4. Role of leaders and managerial functions in different situations
The roles and functions of leaders and managers can be illustrated by following situations
within organisation:
 With increasing competition, leaders of M&S Ltd find ways such as customer loyalty
programs or global expansion which can differentiate M&S Ltd from others. When
leaders propose these innovations then managers make strategies so that human resources
and technologies can be used for expanding globally. For bringing innovation into
functionality, manager makes researches and assigns duties to subordinates as well as
regularly monitor their performance.
 In situations when M&S Ltd plans to close its physical stores due to increasing trend of
digital transformation, leaders of organisation just explore that why this step is required
and what impact it will have on the future decisions. On the other hand, in such situation,
it is the functional area of manager to accomplish steps so that employees of M&S Ltd
can get idea about how stores will be closed and when closing procedure will be
executed.
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5. Management and leadership theories for sustaining growth and performance
M&S Ltd can use following management and leadership theories to sustain its
development and growth for long term.
Contingency leadership theory:
According to this theory managers and leaders of M&S Ltd must not follow fix pattern
for making decisions rather they must make decisions by considering internal and external
factors of business otherwise organisation may fail to lead its competitors.
Situational leadership:
According to this theory leaders must adopt leadership strategy as per the demand of
situation and nature of their followers. For instance some employees of M&S Ltd can be
encouraged by inspiration whereas some requires strict punishments. Similarly, there are
situations where leaders require ensuring participative style but during risk management leaders
require adopting autocratic leadership approach.
System leadership:
To enhance the productivity of organisation, leaders of M&S Ltd must transform their
system according to the social and market advancements. Such leaders effectively implement
changes in system and thus facilitate the more success.
Transformational leadership:
For enhancing the quality and growth M&S Ltd can use this leadership style. Under
transformational style managers and leaders interact with other staff members of organisation so
that better understanding of requirements and process can be identified. This style encourages
emotional connectivity with process improvement (Ghasabeh, Soosay and Reaiche, 2015).
Transactional leadership theory:
With this leadership theory M&S Ltd assures that all functions are performed as per
requirement. Managers and leaders includes rewards and punishments for monitoring the
performance of individuals.
Trait theory:
For maintaining the growth M&S Ltd must ensure that effective leadership is an integral
part of the organisation. To analyse the leadership skills the traits or qualities of individuals are
compared with successful leader. This analysis will provide an idea to organisation regarding
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possible capabilities of individual and thus management will be able to effectively use its
resources.
Theory of constraints:
According to this theory in order to maintain the success M&S Ltd must identify the
constraints or barriers which could affect the growth. For instance the poor quality of service can
decrease the growth rate thus organisation must always have strategies to maintain the quality
and to remove all causes which can cause defects.
6. Evaluation of weakness and strength of various leadership and management theories:
Every management theory has its pros and cons thus M&S Ltd must consider the
different aspects of each theory. Contingency theory is very effective in providing competitive
advantage as with this M&S Ltd will be able to monitor the market trend. However, the regular
alteration in policies can bring negative impact in efficiency. Thus, in such cases M&S Ltd can
use the combination of transactional and transformational theory.
M&S Ltd can use transactional leadership so that they can be encouraged by rewards and
appreciation. But as this approach also involves punishments so employees may get discouraged
and it can lead to poor performance. To resolve this aspect when it is integrated with
transformational leadership then the emotional connectivity and interaction with leaders will
make employees to use punishment as encouraging tool for improving performance. This
integration can also avoid the weakness of contingency theory (Ellis and Abbott, 2015). When
leaders will have interaction will employees then, M&S Ltd can bring innovations effectively
without altering the organisational structure.
7. Impact of leaders and managers on performance of M&S Ltd and strategies for future
improvement
The contribution and effect of leaders and managers in improving the performance of
organisation is vital. Management and leadership aspects provide guidance and path for defining
goals and objectives of organisation as well as methods for achieving them. Leaders motivates
the human resources that they have ability to achieve success and they are an integral part of
organisation. Without participation of management it can be difficult for the employees to work
together as a team and to use other resources in productive approach. To extract more benefits
from leadership and management aspect M&S Ltd can enhance the emotional connectivity of
employees with leaders (Leader vs Manager: Traits, Qualities and Characteristics, 2016). They
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must be convinced that management decisions and policies are not only for benefits of
organisation but also for all employees. To develop leadership skills M&S Ltd must identify the
skills and traits of every individual so that organisation can always grow under effective
leadership.
TASK 2
1. Operational management approaches implemented by M&S Ltd
Operation management is defined as the method to plan and supervise the manufacturing
and production services. It ensures that all aspects of operational activities such as production,
quality, delivery and distribution are accomplished properly. For improving the performance and
output of the business activities it is essential for M&S Ltd to implement operational
management approaches. For accurate management of operations organisation uses following
approaches:
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system: For effectively managing the records of
operational activities, stock and stakeholders M&S Ltd use ERP system. It not only increases
efficiency but also reduces processing time and cost.
Lean production: Under this approach M&S Ltd aims at eliminating or reducing the operational
activities which do not contribute any value to the productivity of organisation (Uhl and
Gollenia, 2016). With lean production M&S Ltd tries to focus on controlling transport, over
production, waiting time and defects. Thus, this approach is helpful in reducing operational cost
of M&S Ltd.
Six sigma: M&S Ltd strictly ensure that for achieving results defects must be minimised. With
this approach organisation try to provide services with minimum deviations in their quality in
standard form. The regular monitoring on variations in quality assist M&S Ltd to provide high
quality services.
Total quality management (TQM): Customer satisfaction and retention is the key factor for
success of M&S Ltd. For achieving it organisation provides high quality services by improving
its decisions, process and participation of employees. TQM of M&S Ltd focuses on concepts like
effective communication system, continuous improvement methods, and making consumer
centric decisions.
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2. Role of managers and leaders in operation management
Operational managers and leaders are vital for ensuring the continuity of business
operations of M&S Ltd. Operational managers monitor and assure that all financial and other
assets or organisation are available are used with their highest efficiencies in performing various
operations. They maintain communication with human resources so that each individual has
clear perspective about organisational goals and their duties.
The major task of these leaders and manager is to assure that M&S Ltd provide quality
services to customers and consumers do not face any inconvenience while dealing with the
organisation. They are also responsible for framing estimation of resources, decisions related to
production and processes to maintain the discipline and organisational culture within M&S Ltd
so that only professional and skilled human resources represents M&S Ltd. Operational
managers are also involved in promotional and advertisement activities of M&S Ltd for
achieving the long term objectives (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015).
3. Role of operational management approaches in achieving organisational goals
Operation management approaches and methods are essential for M&S Ltd to achieve its
goals. In the absence of these methods it will become impossible for M&S Ltd to handle such
huge operational region and customer segment. The ERP system allows organisation to handle
huge data with feature of data privacy and security. The privacy is the matter of great concern for
customers in today's digital scenario. Thus, without ERP organisation may not be able to provide
secure and advance features of purchasing such as on click shopping and digital payments. For
elimination of defects and unnecessary wastage of resources M&S Ltd use lean production and
six sigma techniques. These are crucial for reducing operational costs and thus increasing
benefits. M&S Ltd cannot sustain its growth without support of customers thus TQM aspect
ensure the high quality standards for organisation. The lack of quality standards can affect the
customer loyalty towards organisation.
4. Effectiveness of managers and leaders in improving efficiency of operation management
In order to improve the efficiency of operations in M&S Ltd, managers and leaders can
play an important role. Managers assure that all required resources are available for timely
execution of business activities. These leaders motivate and encourage employees of M&S Ltd to
use their skills effectively so that functions are performed without error or quality degradation.
The regular monitoring of status and effectiveness of these operational activities can be ideal
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method to improve the efficiencies of operations. Managers can also use rewards, appreciation
and communication tools for establishing emotional connectivity with employees. These
methods directly contributes to the improvement in performance of employees as well as
organisation. To enhance the productivity of operations managers must take feedbacks from
employees regarding methods and processes. It will help M&S Ltd to implement the best
possible method and strategy for quality services (The Role of an Operations Manager, 2018).
5. Effect of external factors on operations management of organisation
The external business factors defines the execution mode of operational activities of
business. M&S Ltd must use the advanced technologies in production and advertisements for
gaining competitive advantage. This approach is possible only when organisation regularly
monitor the competitors and market trends because these factors are important in strategy
formation. Organisation must follow the legal factors into consideration as different economies
have different political and legal implications. M&S Ltd must follow these regulations for
performing its operational activities in order to avoid legal conflicts. The conflict or
misinterpretation of operational processes can lead to negative impression on customers as well
as on suppliers and distributors. The operations of organisation are carried out by keeping the
interest of its investors, suppliers, dealers as well as employees of organisation.
6. Evaluation of operational management system of M&S Ltd for managing factors which affects
business
The appropriate implementation of operational management approaches is very helpful in
managing the factors which affects the business outputs. The business activities which are
performed under controlled and secure mechanisms creates strong impact on quality and thus
have ability to attract more consumers and investors. With effective operation management
system M&S Ltd can analyse the advanced marketing trends and can adopt those techniques into
operations. It will allow organisation to achieve its objectives with innovations. The regular
monitoring of operations for management will increase the accuracy and productivity of services
(Ross, 2017). M&S Ltd can also retain the skilled set of human resources by ensuring that all
necessary services required for successful organisation are available within organisation.
Operational management enables organisation to use effective marketing policies for developing
higher brand value.
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7. Recommendations for improving operation management system
M&S Ltd must ensure regular improvement in its operation management system. It will
guide organisation to perform tasks with greater accuracy and thus M&S Ltd will be able to
sustain its profits for long term. For easy execution of activities organisation must use feedbacks
and innovations as effective tool to enhance the quality. The regular interaction with employees
and consumers can help organisation to develop products and services as per the market trends
and their requirements (Reynolds, 2017). Organisation must integrate advance technology in
operations only after providing proper training to its employees otherwise employees may not be
able to extract the maximum benefits from the advancements. The regular analysis of barriers
which can cause errors in operational activities can help M&S Ltd to eliminate those barriers and
to achieve its organisational goals on time.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that operational management and leadership are
important aspects for defining the success of organisation. The report has explained the
management structure and roles of leadership and management in achieving organisational tasks.
It has emphasised on impact of leadership theories on performance of organisation and the
improvement strategies for enhancing the benefits of leadership. The report has evaluated the key
approaches for operational management and the impact of various factors on these activities.
Thus, report has concluded that operational management is an integral part of the organisation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bolden, R., 2016. Leadership, management and organisational development. In Gower handbook
of leadership and management development (pp. 143-158). Routledge.
Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
Carroll, A. and Buchholtz, A., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder
management. Nelson Education.
Ellis, P. and Abbott, J., 2015. Exploring the differences between leaders and managers. Journal
of Renal Nursing. 7(2). pp.96-97.
Ghasabeh, M.S., Soosay, C. and Reaiche, C., 2015. The emerging role of transformational
leadership. The Journal of Developing Areas. 49(6). pp.459-467.
Jeston, J., 2014. Business process management. Routledge.
Reynolds, M., 2017. Organizing reflection. Routledge.
Rosemann, M. and vom Brocke, J., 2015. The six core elements of business process
management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122). Springer,
Berlin, Heidelberg.
Ross, J.E., 2017. Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Uhl, A. and Gollenia, L.A. eds., 2016. Business transformation management methodology.
Routledge.
Online
Leader vs Manager: Traits, Qualities and Characteristics. 2016. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://toughnickel.com/business/Leader-vs-Manager>.
M & S. 2018. [Online] Accessed through <https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/home>.
The Role of an Operations Manager. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://smallbusiness.chron.com/role-operations-manager-14234.html>.
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