Leadership and Management Development Program at John Lewis and Partners

Module Leader: Sonja Newman
Lecturers: Sonja Newman & Kevin Flinn
LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT
DEVELOPMENT
Coursework 1 & 2

Leadership and Management Development
Contents
Coursework 1.............................................................................................................................2
Introduction............................................................................................................................2
Leadership and Management Development Program............................................................3
Analysis..................................................................................................................................5
Recommendations..................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
Coursework 2.............................................................................................................................9
Introduction............................................................................................................................9
Program description..............................................................................................................11
Program evaluation...............................................................................................................14
Conclusion............................................................................................................................15
References................................................................................................................................17
1

Leadership and Management Development
Coursework 1
Introduction
This report analyses the leadership and management development program of John
Lewis and Partners. It is one of the United Kingdom’s largest employee-owned organization
founded by John Spedan Lewis about a century ago with the idea of having a better form of
business in the era of industrialization. The main principle that the organization followed was
to provide satisfying employment to its partners, share responsibilities through co-ownership
and sharing risks and returns out of it. It is a trust-owned organization comprising of 83,900
partners. It also acquired the Waitrose stores chain in and partners in 1937. There are about
50 John Lewis Partners shops and 344 Waitrose and partners shop spread across the United
Kingdom along with their e-commerce websites. The company’s aim is to maximize profits
by increasing operational efficiency. Their aim to impart excellent quality of services and
increasing brand loyalty by imparting customers with personalized services. As per the
annual report of 2019, the organization reported £117.4million of annual profit and yielded a
3% partnership bonus. Under the employee ownership business structure, the employees have
their own shares in the company and their perks and records are directly related to the
performance delivered by them for the company. Thus, the company has succeeded in
implementing and excellent employee engagement program.
2

Leadership and Management Development
Leadership and Management Development Program
Leadership is the most crucial aspect that the organization needs to have in order to
implement changes and establish a harmonious work culture. In a dynamic business,
environment leader is expected to plan the change, train the workers and implement the
change so that there is a smooth adaption of change and it works for the organization’s
prosperity. Leadership helps the organization in maintaining its long-term competitiveness
and meet expectations of its stakeholders. An efficient leadership includes involving workers
in decision making, showcasing efficient communication skills, and create an organizational
environment that promotes innovation and learning (Somunoğlu, 2014). Leadership is a
very creative activity and requires high level of interpersonal communication skills in the
person performing it. For a person who acts as a leader, it is essential to have a sense of
purpose and capability to influence opinion of others in an organization. A leader is expected
to showcase great deal of skills and updated knowledge as the followers admire and them and
look up to them in difficult situation. Leadership and management are two different aspects.
A manager is responsible for planning, organizing and controlling affairs of an organization
while a leader imparts vision and sets values, beliefs and motivates the people to work
towards achievement of organizational objectives (Thorpe, 2016).
The prominence of having a good leader requires an organization to produce good
leaders as they are required in chaotic times for resolving complex situations. Thus, it
becomes the responsibility of the human resource department to affect a strong leadership
development program in the organization from time to time. There is an ongoing debate upon
whether people are born leaders or are developed over time. Although some people are born
with excellent leadership skills, still there are people who emerge as a leader with experience
and immense zeal to work towards a certain cause. Every leader needs self-motivation,
3