Operations Management & Supply Chain Analysis

This assignment delves into the operations management practices and supply chain strategies employed by Associated British Foods (ABF), a prominent UK-based food manufacturing conglomerate. Students are required to analyze various aspects of ABF's operations, including production processes, logistics networks, inventory management, and quality control systems. The analysis should highlight key operational challenges faced by ABF and propose potential solutions to enhance its efficiency and competitiveness in the global food market.

Management and Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
a) Characteristics and roles of manager and leader.....................................................................1
b) Situational application.............................................................................................................3
c) Theories and models of leadership..........................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
a) Approaches to operations management...................................................................................7
b) Value of operations in achieving business objectives.............................................................8
c) Business environment factors affecting operations.................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Business operations consist of functions and activities that result in production of a
service and product. Depending on type of industry, organisations classify their operations.
Leaders and managers portray their responsibility in designing, planning and managing all
business processes effectively. Entire environment i.e. internal and external gets affected by
characteristics and actions of these two important personalities. Associated British Foods (ABF)
PLC is a British company belonging to food processing industry. Functioning from about a
century, ABF is well known for its products like baker’s yeast and emulsifiers. A major reason in
successful functioning of the company is effective leadership and management.
In this report, various characteristics and roles of a leader and a manager are described
with supportive information on different leadership approaches. The operations management
function of ABF is also demonstrated in the following assessment. No leader or manager can
handle business activities unless and until they understand importance of managing different
operations. This importance and value of operations management is explained in this report.
Lastly, a critical analysis is given regarding factors of business environment that will affect
various operations of ABF plc.
TASK 1
a) Characteristics and roles of manager and leader
The existence of leaders and managers is significant for business organisations because
they help in giving direction and flow to different activities that together produce huge profits.
Following comparative table depicts characteristics of leader and manager (Ryan, 2016).
Manager Leader
A little bossy in their nature, managers tend to
be instructors and commanders.
Leaders do not give orders but take a polite
approach which involves functioning with
togetherness.
The aim of a manager is to produce best result
no matter what circumstance arise.
These people are people oriented. They create
an understanding towards workforce that
automatically produces great outcomes.
People with managerial attributes have Such people portray authoritative delegation
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responsible delegation. which intends to develop the team and
organisation.
ABF plc. has managers that hold people
accountable for their incorrect steps and
mistakes.
The leader of ABF shows respective person the
reason behind commitment of mistake.
Managers tend to imitate and copy leaders and
inspirational personalities.
Leaders display originality with innovation.
They become an inspirational exam.
According to above described characteristics, managers and leaders have different roles
at their respective position. It is not necessary that current manager cannot be a leader.
Extraordinary personality traits help managers to become leading authorities of particular
organisations (Ratcliffe, 2013). Managers have controlling nature. This attribute helps them in
meeting client expectations effectively but often organisational dynamics are quite disturbed.
The reason behind this disruption is due to work pressure and increased stress levels of
employees. Leaders on the other hand, portray the role of a motivator. They also focus on
customer demands and expectations but also make strategies that help in creating motivation
amongst workers (Higuchi, 2016).
ABF’s manager’s role is that of a planner and scheduler. Additionally, these are
responsible for sub sectional governance in the company. On the contrary, leaders are
representatives of ABF plc. They are the philosophers, guide and integrator of organisation.
Company can flourish only when leaders and managers work together with collaborative efforts.
Differentiation (M1)
The role of a leader and function of a manager are two different aspects. Leaders have
different set of attitudes and behaviours while managers portray different behaviours. According
to classical theories of organisation, managers functioned with at most strictness and control over
their subordinates. They have a tendency to command the other members of team which gives a
unidirectional flow to their behaviour. Although this theory gives manager a power of authority
but efficiency of staff members decreases (Lei, Xiaoxue and Li, 2014). Leaders are the people
who work for the people and then the profits. Their behavioural element is concern towards
people and process that are involved in the functioning of the company. Moreover, ABF
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company can visualise a measurable change when transformational leaders are given the power
to rule and govern various business activities.
Unlike managers, leaders are like motivators and inspirers. They concentrate on making
workspace a comfortable place while managers try to extract every bit of employees’ skills and
talents at workplace. This major difference helps in understanding and differentiating the role of
leader from function of manager (Ratcliffe, 2013). It is not necessary that managers who
command and instruct employees are like dictators who do not think about human welfare. This
quality just depicts nature of managerial functions. Their planning and controlling functions
cannot be compromised when business objectives are to be met.
Leaders have long term visions and ideas which are to be transformed into reality.
Human relations management school has developed a theoretical approach of arranging and
managing business activities in such a way that both employee and customer satisfaction is
reached without affecting operational efficiency (Yabuki, 2016). Leaders have this approach and
will build ABF’s success path efficiently.
b) Situational application
ABF’s successful organisational structure has helped it to procure a position amongst top
50 multinational powerful businesses in the country. Efficient leaders help in development of
company. A good leader has innovative capabilities which help in transforming changes.
However, when a manager’s functions complement leader’s activities then business can reach
unbeatable heights. Manager or administrator plans daily business activities and performs the
function of assigning specific tasks to employees. Leaders can develop strategies without getting
troubled about implementation when manager has a sense of responsibility. For example: ABF
plans to market its emulsifiers to international food producers. This plan is proposed by leader of
the company (Gollenia, 2016). The function of manager is to make employees work in such a
manner that the objective set by leader is effectively met.
Manager has another important function that is staffing. Recruitment and selection of an
individual is a crucial process. Any sort of negligence in this function will result in wastage of
organisation’s resources. For instance: manager of ABF selects 30 new candidates for looking
after the production process. Over time, it was realised that out of 30 new recruits only 10 could
perform well and 5 of them left the job before completion of their probation period. Leaders
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evaluated this situation and received opinions and reviews of unsuccessful and successful
trainees. Instead of demotivating other employees and manager, leader took his role of an
inspirer and concluded that specific training must be provided to administrator (Gollenia, 2016).
This step reveals that leader’s role and function of manager must be beneficial for the company
otherwise deterioration will take place.
In addition to this example, it is realised that manager’s incorrect approach of
management led to wastage of resources that ABF has allocated for giving induction training.
c) Theories and models of leadership
Situational Leadership: Situational leadership is a model that states that no particular
leadership is best suited always. It means that ABF’s efficient functioning can be an outcome of
transformational leader in one situation and could be a result of autocratic leader in another
situation. These fluctuations or a shift from one style to another style is situational leadership.
Systems Leadership: The systems model of leadership is based on clear definition of
boundaries and aim which has to be implemented by leader in a particular system. In this type of
approach to leadership, ABF’s workforce has to make efforts in matching skills and requirements
of the path provider. For example, when leader wants to develop a sales strategy, then sales team
has to make efforts in meeting his requirements rather than getting instructions and commands
(Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and Jackson, 2015).
Contingency Leadership: Contingency is basically a predictive situation which may or
may not happen. When a person is able to map future circumstances and consequential
situations, then he/she is said to portray contingency leadership it is quite difficult to judge such
leaders unless and until a circumstance arise. For instance, when ABF’s board of directors have
to make decisions regarding certain products then, contingency leadership is required. The leader
must be able to make quick decision with sufficient cooperation so that company doesn’t face
any loss (Wong, Tseng and Tan, 2014).
Traits Theory of Leadership: Earlier theorists believed that leadership is a trait that has
to be inherited by ancestors. But with time, certain realisations were made that great leaders
shared certain traits which are necessary for proper governance. The traits theory is based on this
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principle. It helps in recognising some important traits and attributes which are essential in a
person who is perceived as a leader.
Strengths and weakness of approaches (M2)
Approach Strengths Weaknesses
Situational leadership This theoretical approach
helps followers to participate
and provide their ideas and
opinions in welfare of the
company. Situational
leadership helps in fighting
various non-favouring
conditions effectively.
Strength of this approach is
that followers or subordinates
feel confident about actions of
leaders which indirectly make
them capable of performing
their functions appropriately.
Situational approach requires
autocratic side of a leader to
be applied in some cases. This
style can lead to lose of
respect amongst supporters
because autocratic style
requires dictatorship and
people often become rude
when they experience more
power (Grønholdt and et. al.,
2015).
Contingency leadership Most valid and reliable
approach till date is
contingency theory of
leadership. ABF can
experience huge benefits when
leaders with this theoretical
approach are in power and
govern the company (Brocke
and Rosemann, 2014).
Additionally, helps in dealing
practically. This means that
perfection is not expected
The research and support from
literature side is not gathered
by this theory. Hence, clear
communication of various
actions a person with
contingent attitudes is not
available. Despite of easy
suggestion, this approach is
quite complex when
application is considered.
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from leaders; only effective
governance is estimated.
Systems leadership Managers and leaders both
experience promotion when
systems leadership is applied.
This theoretical approach
helps in developing mind set
of all individuals that reside in
proposed system. For
example, when ABF requires
transformational leader for its
marketing team, then a person
with innovative capabilities
and sense of togetherness will
be identified. This involves
certain tests and examination
that also helps in detecting
flaws which can be covered by
the leader later on.
Systems leadership often
permits followers and
supporters to question
organisational norms which
can be threatening. As a
matter of fact, the
effectiveness of this theory is
quite less.
Traits theory Clarity is provided with traits
theory. Analytical data is
collected with rigorous
research when adapting this
theoretical approach of
leadership. Hence,
organisation can rely on this
theory for selecting path
finders.
The techniques or methods for
development of leadership
traits are not specified in this
theory. Moreover, predictions
for future traits cannot be
accurately made according to
this approach.
Critical analysis (D1)
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The different theories and models of leadership approach are discussed earlier. The kind
of leadership that can suit ABF plc is a matter of thought. Considering situational leadership
theory, it requires a person to have complete set of qualities that can help in portraying different
styles in varying situations. Practically, such a behavioural attribute is quite difficult to be
inhibited. But organisation can provide training and development to candidates that have such
attitude and personality (Buckley, Burton and Mirza, 2016). However, contingency theory
leadership helps in judging a leader during emergency situation. It helps in making decisions
regarding selection of a person as future chief of the company. The reliability of this decision on
the basis of contingency theory is quite high and valid. Moreover, ABF can explore new
opportunities when contingency leadership is functioning in organisation.
Systems leadership is entirely different concept. The essence of this administration is lies
in clear cut decisions and actions (Lindberg, Voss and Blackmon, 2013). Responsibility lies
towards ABF and its employees. When company realises that it requires certain type of leader for
overcoming competition in specific areas then, systems leadership theory is applicable. Entire
company is considered as a system that will be governed with help of chosen authority. On the
contrary, traits theory of leadership provides a belief that leadership is something that a person is
born with or can exhibit when specific training is given. Associated British Foods can explore
individuals that have been serving in the organisation with excellent characteristics of an
administrator. It gives opportunity to deserving people rather than the ones who succeed current
leaders (Wong, 2013). Company’s brand recognition will improve when traits theory of
leadership is selected.
TASK 2
a) Approaches to operations management
There are different approaches to operations management
TQM (Total Quality Management): Food industry is a product based sector that requires
excellence in manufacturing without compromise in quality. TQM is an approach to managing
quality of commodity that is being manufactured by the company (Dale, 2015). ABF is an
organisation that develops emulsifiers, sugar, lactose and most popular baker’s yeasts. These
products are further used in producing food items and beverages by other companies. Hence,
ABF has to take appropriate steps and measures so that bad quality products are not
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manufactured. Leaders and managers have to adopt effective strategy in handling, controlling
and directing entire quality of product that is being manufactured. Leaders must gain
organisational support from top to bottom with efficient involvement of work force so that
improvements can be made until customer satisfaction is not attained (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Just-in-time Inventory: JIT that is Just-in-Time approach of business operations
management is a technique that is based on producing goods only when there is demand. The
aim behind approaching this technique is to increase efficiency of production and reducing
resource wastage. ABF can often face situations in which sudden decrease in client demands
leads to excessive inventory. This results in wastage of resources that were implied in production
of the commodities. In order to avoid such situations, operations are managed by JIT inventory
control (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014). When limited supply is given, the cost for producing and
managing excess products are reduced and workers can deploy their skills without being in
certain pressure.
Continuous improvement (Kaizen): Kaizen targets in gathering organisational
excellence. ABF’s leader can implement this operations management technique for meeting
customer expectations rapidly. This approach is based on continuous improvement of products
until desired quality is not attained. The concentration of this technique is based on improving
processing which is involved in product transformation (Conger, 2015) The leader that implies
Kaizen wants organisation to be innovative and perspiring towards positive vision.
b) Value of operations in achieving business objectives
Business objectives are established for giving directional flow to organisation and its
activities. Operations management is another name of managing and handling business processes
(Chang, 2016). The components of operations functions of Associated British Foods are control
and distribution systems, transformation systems, designing, scheduling and inventory
management systems. These elements have to function together so that final product that is
manufactured doesn’t get deteriorated or disqualified in eyes of customers. Hence, operations
management is very important.
Being a multifunctional department, business objectives are entirely dependent on
processing of operations. The raw materials that are gathered from suppliers, needs to be
transformed and designed according to organisational requirements (Balasubramanian and et. al.,
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2015). If operations management approaches are not applied then, this transformational process
will not take place and company will make repetitive products. Business objective of ABF is to
achieve strong and sustainable position in markets at international level. The essence of this
objective is to curb competition and gain a sustainable advantage. This can only be achieved
when operations are effectively handled and controlled (Albliwi, Antony and Lim, 2015). The
techniques and approaches that are discussed above can be implied for creating best in class
operations and produce products and commodities which will help in accomplishing set
objectives.
Value chain analysis helps in getting a perception about current situations of operations
management in the company. ABF can conduct value chain analysis and apply the framework in
improving its business operations. It also helps in evaluating product design and functions with
at most efficacy so that clients do not get a chance to detect flaws in final result. Success
becomes a part of reality when operations are managed and controlled (Rosemann and vom
Brocke, 2015). This also provides a substantial growth to company.
c) Business environment factors affecting operations
Business environment comprises of various elements that is government, employees,
stakeholders and shareholders, etc. Operations management is deeply impacted by factors that
are a part of business environment of ABF. These factors are described below:
1. Ecological factors: Natural calamities and disasters can occur at any point. Complete
supply chain gets affected when such ecological disturbances arise. Be it floods,
earthquake or tsunami, natural disasters can affect complete supply chain. ABF’s other
business operations are also hindered because of this factor. Owners and managers that
handle processes can develop a control plan that will reduce the impact of ecological
disturbances on the company.
2. Suppliers: Raw materials are gathered from suppliers and small scale producers.
Breweries and agricultural producers are a part of ABF’s suppliers. If their demands and
expectations are not met, then raw materials won’t be available for manufacturing
products. This will result in collapse of entire business. Such consequential conditions
cannot be experienced by ABF at a critical position in international market. This shows
that suppliers are greatest factor impacting of operations management.
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3. Government policies: Changes in political policies like Fiscal policy or trade ones create
a kind of change in planning of operations. Resource allocation is disturbed because of
these changes which results in difference in functioning (Mahadevan, 2015). The stable
operations of ABF are disturbed when government creates new or amends existing
legislations regarding business.
4. Competition: Markets are continuously changing. The reason behind these fluctuations is
increasing number of options for customers that means increasing number of competitors
and competition. ABF’s operational functions are impacted adversely when competition
is tough and company doesn’t hold a strong position. Moreover, any sort of innovative
strategy opted by rival company can also lead to changes in operations management
which in turn affects the components which are involved (Hill, Jones and Schilling,
2014).
Contribution of leaders and managers (M3)
The efficiency of operations management is completely in hands of leaders and
managers. They have to take decisions and measures in such a way that business objectives are
successfully met and accomplished without compromising international standards of
performance (Karlsson, 2016). Leaders are considered as the path finders and drivers of the
company. Hence, their actions and decisions can affect functioning of organisation deeply. This
proves that operations management efficiencies are also under control of a leader. ABF can
develop incompetent operations when innovation and creation are a part of business functions.
The role of leader lies in exhibiting innovative strategies and plans that will automatically
inculcate innovation amongst employees and functioning staff (Heizer and Barry, 2013).
Managers are appointed to plan, schedule and control different activities according to
needs and requirements of the company. When managers are efficient enough in performing their
functions and duties with efficacy, there won’t be a chance when company shall face any sort of
failure. Moreover, governing mechanism of operations is improved with good managers.
Inventory and quality is controlled and planned by managers. ABF invests large amounts of
resources in the form of raw material, human resource efforts and money (Our businesses, 2017).
Managers take care that these are under control and do not cross set limits. This in turn increases
efficiency of complete operations management. When leaders communicate objectives and
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targets of the company to employees correctly, then managers will be able to allocate appropriate
responsibilities to their subordinates. This entire chain gets aligned with business objectives and
at the end operations are implemented appropriately (Alexander, 2013).
Effects on wider community (M4)
The business environment factors that have been discussed before, affect wider
communities in this environment adversely (Wong, Tseng and Tan, 2014). Natural disasters are
never a fruitful scenario. They not only threaten human life but reduce speed of development and
growth. ABF plc aims to achieve sustainability with a competitive advantage in international
markets. This objective can only be achieved when plans are prepared to fight external and
internal disrupting factors. Ecological factors are the first and foremost uncontrollable factor that
affects all stakeholders and shareholders of ABF (About Us, 2017).
On the other hand, suppliers are the foundation of manufacturing units. They can help
ABF to reach untouchable heights or can lead to untransformed destruction of the company.
Hence, suppliers are also a significant factor that affect wider business environment. Considering
the case of ABF, it produces emulsifiers and preserving substances. These are ingredients for
manufacturing of various other items. If suppliers don’t provide raw material to company for
producing the desired product then client demands won’t be met (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe and
Jackson, 2015). Suppliers are just not limited to providing raw materials but they are also present
at distribution end. When manufactured commodity is not provided to purchasers then, ABF will
experience losses.
Government policies have less impact when compared to other two factors. Business
policies effect business organisations adversely rather than common people. Inflation and
recession can take place when certain barriers over economic decisions are not produced.
However, business activities of ABF are planned and organised by leaders in such a way that
major impact is not felt on its public and professional relations unless certain major reforms in
political environment are not experienced.
Critical evaluation (D2)
Business administration is also known as operations management. It is basically
organising various functions and processes in a sequential manner so that defined objectives and
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targets are met effectively. Leaders and managers take decisions over accomplishment of
operational objectives (Gollenia, 2016). The business functions of ABF plc include gathering
raw material, processing, and transformation, designing and packaging product, distribution and
inventory control. In order to keep an eye on all of these activities, certain techniques and
approaches have to be adopted by administrators. These can be total quality management, kaizen
or just in time inventory control. All of these operations are referred as operations management
techniques. Since, these functions are an integral part of company’s functioning; there cannot be
any compromise in investing resources for getting great operational efficiencies (Yabuki, 2016).
The factors of business environment that impact wider communities of ABF are to be
considered when arranging operational functions. Since, ecological factors cannot be controlled;
certain efforts can be made in managing business activities so that further disturbance to the
environment is not caused. Over utilisation of resources and unmanaged waste disposal are
certain aspects which lead to channelizing ecological factors (Lei, Xiaoxue and Li, 2014). Supply
chain and logistics is an important segment of operations management. Supplier is a significant
component of internal business environment of ABF. Their demands and expectations must be
fulfilled till tolerable limits so that production and manufacturing is not hindered. Moreover,
bargaining power of suppliers should also be in favour of the company so that raw material and
logistics are acquired at minimum costs.
Aforementioned importance of operations management and business environmental
factors is an essential part of efficient functioning of a company. When considering products,
ABF has to make its product development strategies in such a way that innovation is not
disrupted. The support and aid of effective leadership and management approach will help in
managing operations correctly and uniformly (Higuchi, 2016). This will result in meeting
business objectives without facing major failures.
CONCLUSION
From the knowledge gained about leadership and management, it can be inferred that the
role and characteristics of leaders and managers are quite different. Associated British Foods plc
has to consider given theoretical approaches to leadership when selecting or analysing a leader
that is currently functioning or can be chosen for future administrations. After understanding
basic roles of leaders and managers in a company, this report provides approaches to operations
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management. In these approaches, leaders and managers play a significant role for handling
business activities. This report helps in developing a value for operations management when
considering business organisations.
Entire environment that surrounds a company affects various functions in different ways.
It is important for ABF to analyse the factors residing in its business environment so that
operations are effectively managed and accomplished. In addition to this, the assessment consists
of informative description about applications of operations arrangement and the impact of
environmental factors on wider community.
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REFERENCES
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