Leadership and Management in Business: A Comparative Analysis of Kingfisher plc and Amazon

This project explores the distinct roles of leaders and managers within the context of two prominent organizations: Kingfisher plc and Amazon. It delves into the differences between leadership and management, examining their respective characteristics and responsibilities. The project further analyzes various leadership theories, including situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency theory, and applies them to the chosen organizations. It also investigates the impact of internal and external factors on operational management and decision-making processes within both companies. By comparing and contrasting the leadership and management styles of Kingfisher plc and Amazon, this project provides valuable insights into the complexities of leadership and management in contemporary business environments.

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BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS

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Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Company description:......................................................................................................................4
LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager..............................5
Using examples from your organisation define and compare the different roles and
characteristics of a leader and a manager [P1]............................................................................5
LO2 Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in given contexts...........................9
Using examples from your chosen organization, examine examples of how the role of a leader
and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts [P2].................................9
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency [P3]................................................................................................11
LO3 Demonstrate an appreciation of the role leaders and managers play in the operations
function of Amazon.......................................................................................................................13
Explain the key approaches to operations management [P4]....................................................13
Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving Amazons business
objectives [P5]...........................................................................................................................14
LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between leadership and management in a
contemporary business environment.............................................................................................16
Using examples from your chosen organisation assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational management and decision-making by leaders and
managers [P6]............................................................................................................................16
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................18
References:....................................................................................................................................19

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Introduction:
In business context role of a manager is very important and in this project the role and
responsibility of the manager and leader will be discussed. In different journals and theories the
concept of the leader is not defined rather it can be said that cannot be defined by anyone
properly. According to few opinions, the leader is the by birth characteristic. In this project the
role of a leader and manager will be described in comparison and also the responsibilities and
different activities will be critically analyzed in this project. In addition, a different theory of the
leadership will be described to understand the concept of the leadership. Role of the leader and
manager in the operation of an organization will also be placed for better understanding. In last
part, the factors which can hamper the decision-making process and operation management will
be described in a significant way.

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Company description:
The Kingfisher plc is the big branded retail store in the London and operated since 1982.
Headquarter of the Kingfisher plc is situated in the London and near about 1200 stores are in the
name of the company all over the world basically Asia and Europe. This company has been
ranked as the third position in the third largest commercial property developer. The Kingfisher
plc is also in London stock exchange and FTSE 100 INDEX (Kingfisher.com, 2017).

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LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager.
Using examples from your organisation define and compare the different roles and
characteristics of a leader and a manager [P1].
Definition of management
Management is a department that is present in every branch of every field. In every hierarchy
somewhere or the other, the presence of management can be found. The role of managers or a
certain group of people who forms the management is to assure smooth flow of any department
they are aligned with. Management can be of many types and can be classified into many
categories. Managers are given the task to lead, manage, and come up with new and creative
ideas for their department (Burke, 2017). Managers plan and outline the guidelines for new
strategies, make goals and these goals can be short term as well as long-term. They also keep an
eye on these plans and goals as to how they have been achieved a marketing role can include a
huge number of tasks and responsibilities.
Definition of leader
Management and leadership are nearly synonymous. But there is a slight difference to it.
Leadership is slightly more inclined towards dictatorship in terms of how they are applied in real
life. Leadership is in simple terms is to influence someone and in rare cases forcefully to
complete a predestined goal or target. The concept of leadership directly draws its roots from
contingency theory (Northouse, 2015). Every mission task or target will be accomplished in the
way that has been decided by the leaders of the concerned organization. Management is slightly
different than leadership as it implements few tits and bits of democracy in its core principals.
Roles and characteristics of the manager
The roles and characteristics of a manager will be discussed and described in the context of an
organization. Let us consider the famous firm Kingfisher Plc. The managerial roles have been
divided into various branches and a single manager is allocated for every single department. The
managerial structure in any firm forms a hierarchy which includes different levels of managers.
Kingfisher Plc as the firm has divided their managerial roles in a number of branches namely

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starting from the bottom is the FLM’s or Front Line Manager. If any employee in an
organization faces a problem or wants to suggest anything then the first point of contact will be
the Front Line Manager (Kingfisher.com, 2017). Front Line Managers are the one who interacts
most frequently with the employees and has the first point of experience as to what exactly is
going on and what are the shortcomings and strengths of any particular department. Synonymous
with the job role of an FLM there is another managerial post as well known as the operational
manager. The job role is nearly same. Moving upwards in the hierarchy there is the middle
manager and at the top there the chief level manager. These were the general levels of
classification in any given firm now there could be other managers as well on the basis of their
job role, such as marketing managers, human resource manager etc. The selection of the
managers is done very evidently and keeping in mind what are the challenges and job roles does
a certain manager could have (Rouech et al., 2014). Generally speaking, the manager could have
job roles that are widely spread among the organization. But there is a general mode of operation
of every department. Every department’s manager has to create new action plans and strategies
so that it can affect the department and the organization as a whole positively. The managers
have to keep an eye on the status of the market and look out of any necessary changes has to be
made in the service provided by the organization (Ahearne et al., 2014).
What Kingfisher does is, they devise a marketing strategy every now and then according to the
marketing needs of the organization. A market survey is carried out regarding the various
competition there is and the data collected is briefly studied as to what are the other strategies
applied by the competition to prosper in the particular field. The organization devise basic
strategies on top of that collected data and apply them to the markets. The job does not stop here
the strategies are carefully monitored as to how effective is it working and if any necessary
changes have to be made (Child, 2015). In the past year starting from 2005, the company has
changed their plans a lot but the core principal of the marketing strategies has been constant. And
in practical practices, they have seen success.
The manager in Kingfisher works on a certain outlined guides which are explained as follows.
The manager in any allocated team should be able to understand the emotion of the employees,
the manager has to communicate effectively to the employees so the organization can eliminate
the chances of inner conflict. Managers in Kingfisher are not confined to a single department the

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work is cross branched and every manager has to keep an insight about the other departments
such as the engineering department, the brand, the department related to quality (Kingfisher.com,
2017). Not only inside the company but a manager also has to keep an eye as to what other local
marketing teams are up to. Being dynamic and adaptable to any possible situation is a must
requirement of the job role.
Roles and characteristics of a leader
As the definition of a leader suggests in the starting of the document, Kingfisher believes that
the definition should be changed and they have properly deviated from the conventional idea of
leadership and nearly merged leadership and managerial tasks to complement each other in a
positive way. The role of a leader is also same as the manager in the organization. The leader has
to communicate effectively to the employees so the organization can eliminate the chances of
internal complication.
Comparison of the roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers in Kingfisher plc
As discussed above the organization Kingfisher has tried to interrelate the job roles and functions
of a leader and manager. To outline the conventional definition of manager and leader, let’s
discuss how Kingfisher applies the definition of a manager, Managers plan and outline the
guidelines for new strategies, make goals and these goals can be short term as well as long-term.
They also keep an eye on these plans and goals as to how they have been achieved a marketing
role can include a huge number of tasks and responsibilities (Lee, 2017). A leader on the other
hand what are the benefits of employees, how will the employees get trained. These are the job
roles of a leader.
Let’s take a look at the journey of a new employee in the firm Kingfisher and where and exactly
do the roles of managers and leaders come in. Since the time when new employees are absorbed
into the company to the day, their training starts the employees are under the supervision of
leaders. As leader can shape the vision of the company and what the organization is expecting
from them to do inside the minds of the new employees (Miner, 2015). The leaders do it in such
a way as to make the communication is made very simple and the employees are able to
understand it very clearly. After the training phase, the managers come into the picture when the

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employees give production and are tangible assets to the company. Managers basically look out
for the betterment of the tangible resources of a company in simple terms.
Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership using
examples from your chosen organisation.
Several leadership theories are there among them few theories which have been practiced are the
transactional theory, transformational theory, behavioural theory, democratic leadership and
many more. McCleskey (2014), stated that activities of the managers and all such theories can be
connected in the organizational perspective. Not only are those, the role of the managers not
restricted in only motivating the employees. In all these theories the responsibilities of a leader
cannot be defined it can be realized. In the opinion of De Board (2014), the role of the managers
are basically become confined to training the employees to get the benefit. In the situational
leadership, the managers or leader can change their decision according to the situation or
condition of the organization. In other hand, leaders need to facilitate different soft skills
activities to improve the employees and this technique has been described in transformational
leadership.

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LO2 Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in given
contexts
Using examples from your chosen organization, examine examples of how the role of
a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts [P2].
Different types of organizational situations and thus related roles of leaders and functions of
managers are explained below,
The scenario of the
Firm
The Structure of
the organisation
Managerial Roles Leadership Roles
Stability scene in the
Kingfisher Plc
In the organisation
when there the
percentage of
change measured in
a stipulated amount
of time is very less
or ignorable. Such
scenarios are
referred as stable
conditions or stable
situation in the
organisation
Managers in such case
do a proper study of
the scene and check
out the current applied
managerial plan and
keep a lookout as to
what other firms are
doing and whether or
not any change is
required in the current
applied plans
(Kingfisher.com,
2017).
Leaders in such
scenarios work as
the supporter to
the managers,
they try to
communicate the
devised plans and
visions of the
company to the
employees in a
very effective
manner. The
leaders also help
the manager in
their job roles as
well. Which
include keeping
an eye on the
competition
devising new

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plans and
scenarios.
The slow-to-moderate
changing situation in
Kingfisher plc
In the organisation
when there the
percentage of
change measured in
a stipulated amount
of time is very
limited but more
than ignorable. Such
scenarios are
referred to as slow
or moderate
conditions in the
organisation
In such conditions, the
managers go ahead
and look out to the
plans that were
already there and try
to make some changes
in the currently
deployed plan or
market strategy. The
keep an eye and make
changes so the
devised strategy will
help the organisation
in long run.
Leaders in such
situations take the
role of a
conductor to
conduct the
actions that have
to be taken to
devise these
changes in the
strategies and
marketing plans
and structure.
The fast-changing
situation in Kingfisher
plc
In the organisation
when there the
percentage of
change measured in
a stipulated amount
of time is very fast
or rapid. Such
scenarios are
referred as fast
chaining situation in
the organisation
(Kingfisher.com,
2017).
In the previous
scenarios as seen if
the situation is stable
then there are no
changes made to the
existing plan because
that means the current
plan is functioning. If
the conditions are
slowly or moderately
changing the plans are
made to change. But
the core strategy
The roles of a
leader in this
particular case
changes and are
completely
identical to the
managers. They
are in the position
of a dynamic
change. Their
roles are changed
keeping in mind
the dynamic

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remains the same in
such cases. But in
cases where the
changes very fast and
the condition is not
stable at all then
managers task is to
change the complete
plane and devise a
new market strategy
for the company to
prosper.
changes that are
happening around
the market
(Kingfisher.com,
2017). Few
Important pointers
are kept in mind
such as the quality
of the production,
the productivity of
the organisation
and etc.
Table 1: Organizational situations in Kingfisher plc and of leaders and functions of managers
(Source: Kingfisher.com, 2017)
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency [P3]
Situational leadership in particular directly affects the separate skills and specialties of the
employees. This kind of leadership skills directly influences each individual employee of the
company to be shaped in such a way that it will help in the long run for the benefit of the
organization. Situational leadership can help the Kingfisher’s employees to adapt to changes, and
the managers who will utilize the principal of situational leadership will be more accustomed to
changes and will be able to work more efficiently in dynamic scenarios, the idea of situational
leadership stands up on four main points (iosrjournals.org, 2017).
1. Selling or Coaching
2. Participating or Supporting
3. Telling or Directing

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4. Delegating
These four principals combined make what situational leadership what it is. This form of
leadership is adaptable to changes and also gives employees a chance to put forward their
thoughts as well. This is for the betterment of the organization.
Now coming towards contingency theory or contingency form of leadership, this is the most
used structure for leadership in the majority of the organizations. It has few major factors as well
o which it depends on. The main idea is of favorability. Whatever the leader or the manager will
think is the final working on any project or proposed plan. It does not allow the employees to
work in a situation where there is an availability of creative freedom. Contingency form of
Leadership is slightly more inclined towards dictatorship in terms of how they are applied in real
life. The main aim of this principle in simple terms is to influence someone and in rare cases
forcefully to complete a predestined goal or target (Kingfisher.com, 2017). And the goal or target
is completely decided by the leader or manager. The concept of leadership directly draws its
roots from contingency theory. Every mission task or target will be accomplished in the way that
has been decided by the leaders of the concerned organization. And in some rare cases, this will
be harmful for any given organization and Kingfisher in particular.
Now what Kingfisher has used as the principal of leadership is the combination of both the
theories. The organization gives its employees a far chance to express their views and devise
plans in such a manner that is very stable in the long run. There have been very rare conditions
where the company has seen any rapid changes or the need to change the marketing plans that
are applied to the market at any point in time (iosrjournals.org, 2017). By using this form of
leadership structure they have made sure that the employees are working freely and at the same
time a stronghold is maintained among the leaders so they can inspire the employees to make
sure that the target set by them is completed in the stipulated amount of time.
And modern organization should follow the same structure for their betterment.

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LO3 Demonstrate an appreciation of the role leaders and managers play in
the operations function of Amazon.
Explain the key approaches to operations management [P4]
Amazon as an origination is one of the leading organization in e-commerce sections. It is an
online market or platform which enables people from all over the world to get access to products
from all over the world. Now a very important factor in the mode of operation of their working is
their management. The management in Amazon is one of the best in the sector. Amazon applies
the “7 P Marketing Mix” in their management. And the spotlight is always on the Product Mix,
as an online competitor the managers at Amazon have to deal with much more than the offline
competitors. The sole reason is that Amazon as an organization deals with a plethora of products
and they have to keep an eye on the online as well as offline markets of the sector. The
marketing strategies they device is very dynamic in nature and can handle change very well. To
create such strategies it requires effort and handwork.
Explain the role of Amazons leaders and managers with regards to its operations
management
As explained above Amazon has a very dynamic and strong plan to keep its market hold
constant. The leaders and management have devised a “10 Strategic Decision Area’s”, that they
follow which are namely,
1. Design of Goods and Services
2. Quality Management
3. Process and Capacity Design
4. Location strategy
5. Layout Design and strategy
6. Job Design and Human Resource
7. Supply Chain Management
8. Inventory Management
9. Scheduling
10. Maintenance
Amazon managers in a press conference held in 2016, stated that “These 10 Strategic Decision
Area’s are the main pillars of Amazon and what it is today and we applied the structure and

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principals to Amazon’s root and every branch and sub-branch that exists in the company”,
(Amazon.co.uk, 2018)
Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving Amazons
business objectives [P5]
As explained above Amazon’s managers follow the above ten key points. Amazon as an
organization is huge not only with respect to its market hold but also in the branches they have.
Not only online shopping but the company deals with various e-commerce sectors such as
selling, buying and an online platform where business owners also interact directly with the
sellers. That makes the job of the managers in the company very complicated and also to keep in
mind that it directly deals with logistics as well.
The proper maintenance of the time and scheduling of the multiple processes are only achieved
by the fixed objectives of the management at Amazon. The managerial aspect is very
complicated because in most of the sectors such as Kingfisher as discussed above a single
strategy is good enough for a long time period. But in online sectors in which Amazon is a big
player, here the dynamic nature of the business is much more profound than other sectors. The
managers at Amazon devise their strategies in such a way so that it can adapt to the market
changes at all costs and at any given point of time the devised strategy is at par with the
competition. Practically the changes in the online market are so high and the competition is
increasing every second (Amazon.co.uk, 2018). Each second a website is opening and with good
strategies, to keep up with it the strategy of the managers at Amazon are always based in such a
way that it not only handles the already existing competition but it is well equipped to compete
with the future competitors and is future proof in every aspect.
Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon Amazons;
I. operational management and
The operation managers follow the 10 Strategic Decision Areas to keep the business in place.
One point in the Ten Decisions is Scheduling, it implies to the proper time management of the
company. According to the statistical data from 2015 to 2016, only a mere 6 percent delivery has
been late by an hour. The deviation from the promised delivery time is only about an hour in that

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time. The officials at Amazon give credit to Scheduling (One of the 10 Strategic Decision Areas)
for their achievement.
II. Decision-making by its leaders and managers.
Not only the above management but the leaders and managers at Amazon all follow the same
Strategic Decisions Made by the company. Amazon is the third-largest information technology
company by revenue and Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon says that the only reason behind the
huge revenue is that we follow the 10 Strategic Decision Areas religiously (Amazon.co.uk,
2018). And it is followed in every branch of the organization no matter what.

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LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between leadership
and management in a contemporary business environment.
Using examples from your chosen organisation assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational management and decision-making by
leaders and managers [P6].
There are several factors that affected the business in a different way. Such factors can be
divided into two degrees one is external and another is internal. In Amazon Company there are
different external and internal factors that hamper the operation management and decision
making.
Operation management:
Internal factors:
Conflict situation: operation of the Amazon Company is very much flexible and well organized
but it can be affected if conflict situation occurred within the organization. The operation has
been done by the compact effort of every employee but if conflict situation occurred then it is not
possible to organize the operation properly.
Lack of proper strategy: lack of proper strategy can hamper the operation of the Amazon in an
immense manner. Operation d\of the v is completely circulated according to the strategy and if it
fails then it can hinder the regular growth of the organization as well as operation (Heizer, 2016).
Proper training: handling operation is not a job for the unskilled staffs. Proper training is
needed to conduct the whole process. Lack of proper and effective training can hamper the
operation management in a large manner on Amazon.
Technological scarcity: though Amazon is highly technological advanced organization still they
need to do a lot in this field to be top in the online delivering sector. Technological scarcity can
hinder the pace of the operation on Amazon.
External:

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Legal factor: legal factor can affect the operation management. If the government increases the
tax rate or labor rate it can directly hamper the operation in a negative way. Besides this several
international regulations can also restrict the business of the Amazon.
Buying power of the consumer: if consumer’s buying power collapsed due to economic
disturbance then it will affect the operation of the Amazon. If people are not ready to but the
products then definitely value of the operation will decrease.
Environmental factors: Amazon needs to maintain the environmental issue and then need to
protect the environment. Operation department has the huge responsibility to manage the
wastage of the company properly unless the Amazon will be affected by several environmental
laws.
Decision making by leaders and manager:
Internal:
Proper leadership: Amazon needs to choose their leader and manager in a wise manner because
a leader or manager can motivate the employees and increase the company’s growth. Fails in
guiding and leading the team can hamper the decision-making process.
Effective training: Amazon needs to facilitate the effective training to become executes the
decision they will take in future. If employees can not able to understand the company’s need or
leaders direction then it will lead towards the breakdown of the decision-making process (Zhang
et al., 2014).
External:
Competitors: in oligopoly market competition level is very much high and Amazon have
different competitors. In such situation, managers and leaders need to take the decision properly
and strategically to get the benefit. Competitor’s adequacy can affect the decision making.
Current trends and demand: trend in the market changes in a while and all the companies need
to adjust to this changes. Similarly, Amazon also needs to satisfy their customer by
compromising such trends. This fluctuation in the demand forces the authority to make a change
in their decision every time.

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Conclusion:
From the above description, it can be concluded that role of a leader and manager in an
organization is unavoidable. Leaders are the only person who can manage the employees in a
significant manner. Not only that building team and guiding the employees are also done by the
leaders and managers to get the success. Besides this all the departments of an organization like
operation, decision making are also influenced by the leaders and managers. Different
responsibilities have been maintained by the leaders and managers. In this paper, the role of the
managers and leaders have been described in a significant way. In addition different role of the
manager and leader in the operation of the organization is also described. Beside this different
factors that can affect the operation management and decision making are also described for
better understanding.

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