Leadership and Management in Operations: A Case Study of Brakes Group

This report explores the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers within the context of operations management, using Brakes Group as a case study. It examines different leadership theories and approaches, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, and analyzes their strengths and weaknesses in various work environments. The report also delves into the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives, evaluating how leaders and managers can improve operational efficiencies. Finally, it assesses factors within the business environment that impact operational management and decision-making, analyzing their effects on the wider business environment and community.

Unit 4- Management and Operations
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
LO1.............................................................................................................................................................4
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.......................4
M1 Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by effectively
applying a range of theories and concepts...............................................................................................5
LO2.............................................................................................................................................................7
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts..................................................................................................................................7
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership, and contingency.....................................................................................................................9
M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the
work environment..................................................................................................................................11
D1. Critically analyze and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts.................................................................................................................................................12
LO3...........................................................................................................................................................13
P4. Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play
...............................................................................................................................................................13
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives......15
M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management to
successfully meet business objectives....................................................................................................16
LO4...........................................................................................................................................................17
P6. Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers.............................................................................................17
M4. Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider community.........18
D2. Critically evaluate the application of operations management and factors that impact on the wider
business environment............................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................20
References.................................................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
This unit introduces different roles and characteristics of the managers and the leaders that help
the organization in achieving the targets. The difference in the working of the leaders and
managers are discussed in detail in this unit. It gives a better understanding of the roles and
functions of leaders and managers in different situations that arise in the company with the help
of different theories and the approach models. The operations management in an organization is
discussed along with the key approaches that are used are discussed in detail. The effect on the
working and decision-making of the operational management is assessed along with the factors
that affect them due to the role and functions of leaders and managers. The organization has
taken for better understanding this unit is Brakes Group which is a food and distribution
company for the catering industry and operates through more than 20 different distribution
centers in the UK.
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LO1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
The different roles and characteristics of leader and managers come under different basic
concepts of the management.
Leaders:-The leaders lead and motivate the individuals who work for achieving targets of the
organization. In a big organization like Brakes Group responsibility of the leaders is more as
they are the ones who help in motivating and guiding different groups of the people and thus
helping in eliminating the pressure of the work that builds due to the workload.
Managers:-The managers assign the work to the employees and works towards accomplishing
the objectives of the organization. The managers first assign the work and then make sure that
the work is completed within the given time. It is the work of the management to assign work
and get the work done in any condition.
The roles and characteristics of the managers are similar with few differences only and both of
them work hard to accomplish the goals of the organization. The comparison of the roles and
characteristics of the leaders and managers is done below:-
Managers Leaders
Major work is planning and implementing
the work.
Leaders help in organizing and influencing to
get the work done.
Managers focus on getting the work done Leaders motivate employees to work for
accomplishing the targets.
Managers focus on giving directions to the
group to get the work done.
Leaders help in providing directions to the
employees so that they do not face problems in
getting the work done.
Managers have to be great leaders along
with great management skills.
Leaders are motivators and they possess the
ability to influence people to work harder to
accomplish the goals and objectives.
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M1 Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by
effectively applying a range of theories and concepts.
The leaders’ roles as well as managers’ functions are very important in the management process
to accomplish the goals of Brakes Group. The managers and leaders help in providing guidance
to the employees for achieving various objectives of the goals. The managers are the important
personnel that are involved in the business activities. The role of leadership depends on the
various traits and skills that the leaders need to possess in their personality for providing great
leadership (Rahim, 2017). The leadership theories include trait, behavioural, and contingency
and the important points that are necessary for leaders are shown in the table below:-
Trait Theory Behavioural Theory Contingency Theory
It relies on the efficacy It relies on the behaviour of
employees
Relies on the task nature as
well as the leader personality
that varies from one another.
It emphasizes the quality of
the personnel
It emphasizes on getting the
work done using different
styles like laissez-faire and
being democratic
It emphasizes that there is no
systematized way to get the
work done.
It is task oriented. It is people-oriented Depends on the leader
personality and nature of the
task.
The functions of the managers include the planning, organizing, coordinating as well as
controlling. Planning function helps the organization in listing all the actions that are required
to complete the task and helps in performing all the activities for achieving objectives.
Organizing function of managers helps in organizing different techniques and tools to get the
work done by the employees. This function of management helps in achieving the target in a
proper managerial way. Coordinating function helps in coordinating the team members for
doing the work that is allotted to them and the coordination can be done via the help of various
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skills of communication for proper implementation of work. Controlling is important for getting
the work done with the help of proper strategy formulation and also keeping an eye and
monitoring the work that is allotted to different members of the team.
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LO2
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
In the management process of the Brakes Group, they apply various strategies and efforts to get
the work done in time. The functions of management help in formulating strategies along with
diverse styles of leadership, which together assist in increasing the effectiveness in implementing
the strategies in various situations in context to the Brakes Group.
Leadership approaches-
Situational approach-According to the situation that prevails in the organization this theory can
be applied. The situations can be affected both by internal and external factors and all the
situations are considered and accordingly, the policies and strategies are changed to get efficacy
in the work done.
Relationship-oriented approach-According to relationship-oriented approach in the Brakes
Group, the task series is focused along with the sequence of the task and get everything
systematized and the standards of the firm are maintained.
The various situations faced by the Brakes Group can be sorted out with the help of the different
theories of management that are discussed below:
Contemporary theory-For raising the aspiration of the employees this theory is used by the
Brakes Group leaders for letting them know what they can do and what they are doing. This
theory helps in achieving the goals of the organization.
Management by Objectives-It is a theory which helps the management team of the Brakes
Group to get the productive work done in a cool way and achieve the target step by step. Only
that work is assigned by the managers to their employees who can be done by them in time.
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Classical management theory-With this theory, Brakes Group management can get the work
done in the situations that arise and can be handled with the physical and economic needs. The
management can provide incentives as well as extra-hour pays which motivate the employees in
achieving the goals.
Behavioural theory-Specific behaviour and skills of the leaders are studied in this theory which
helps in leadership and are the best determinants of their success as a leader.
Contingency theory-This theory depends on the nature of the task as well as the situation. All
the issues related to the changes in the situation in a company can be dealt with the practice of
this theory.
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P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership, and contingency.
Situational leadership-
The managers, as well as the leaders, apply different styles and theories for effectively getting
the work done and situational leadership. In the Brakes Group, this theory can be applied when
there are problems among different departments of the company. For example, if the
management and marketing departments have problems among them, then the leaders have to
interact and communicate with both the teams and resolve the problems at the initial stage itself
so that the problem does not rise and the working is not hampered nor the profit of the
organization is hampered.
Task approach-Various methods of working are discussed as well as the employees are guided
and this helps them work according to the given process.
System leadership-
In this type of collaborative leadership theory, it helps in cooperating and endeavoring various
variations. This type of leadership facilitates the operations management and provides
effectiveness and efficiency that is provided and is kept in mind for this type of system
leadership. The organizations' management and operations are benefitted with the system
leadership.
Task approach- This particular task helps in working in the organization effectively and
efficiently.
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Contingency leadership-
In this type of leadership, the situations, as well as the leaders' personality, are considered. It
emphasizes more on the theory that the success of leaders totally depend on the effectiveness of
the given pattern that the situation demands from the leaders (Girard and Girard, 2015).
Matching the leadership styles effectively with the situation that is there in the organization and
handling the situation accordingly is the main objective of this type of the theory.
Task approach- The personality of the leaders in handling certain situations at work are
considered in this approach. This approach emphasizes the way the leaders handle the situation
that arises in the company with their skills and personality.
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M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations
within the work environment.
The different approaches to a situation that is there in the work environment are as follows:-
In case of Systems approach-In, this type of approach a particular system is followed by the
leaders and the whole work is done with the help of that system and keeping in mind the system
of the work. Strengths-The leaders formulate the strategies on their own and they make the
employees cooperate to implement them, so there is no chance of manipulation. Weaknesses-
Employees are not given importance and they do not have any knowledge regarding the
strategies or the changes that take place in the company and this approach may create differences
between the employees (Klenke, 2016).
In case of Situational approach-This approach clearly relies on the relationship between the
followers and the leaders and works according to the situation. Strengths-In this approach the
leaders and managers adjust their work accordingly and emphasizes on impacting the groups in
the organization. Weaknesses- In this particular approach there is communication neglect
within the groups which is a big disadvantage for this type of approach.
In case of Contingency approach-This task completely depends on the personality of the
leader. Strengths-The leadership skills along with the personality of the leaders are emphasized
for this particular approach and it helps in all the difficult situations that arise in the workplace.
The weaknesses-the weakness of this approach is that sometimes things cannot be done with the
help of personality, it is important to keep in mind the system as well as the situations to get the
work done.
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D1. Critically analyze and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in
given contexts.
In this fast-paced work environment, it has become important that the leaders should be effective
and efficient enough to handle the groups. There are various leadership theories like trait,
behavioural and contingency which are used by the management team of the organizations
(Shockley-Zalabak, 2014). These different theories help the leaders select the ways to deal with
the group. The leaders consist of various qualities such as confidence, knowledge, leadership,
honesty, integrity, accountability, etc. In the food industry that supplies to different caterers, the
management has become very important which involves the perfect leadership. It has become
very important for managers to get the work done from the staff in time as there is a lot of
wastage that can occur if the required target is not accomplished within the given time (Yang, et.
al., 2014). The managers need to formulate strategies to increase the production and the
managers of any organization try to obtain specific ends. The situational approach in leadership
has encouraged the leaders and managers to deal the staff and help in making different
workgroups in the organization.
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LO3
P4. Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play
Operations Management-It is a vital part of the organization and it is concerned with the
controlling and designing different process of production with the help of the managers and
leaders skills. The operations management emphasizes on getting the work done efficiently and
effectively. It also helps in redesigning the business operations. The different operations
department that the Operations Management handles for the Brakes Group are as follows:
 Distribution and Control System.
 HR operations System
 Capacity Management System
 Supply Chain System
The operations management key approaches and the role played by the leaders and managers are
as follows:-The supply chain system of the Brakes Group employs a greater number than any
other department of the operations management. The Brakes Group provides excellent
opportunity to work for the interested and confident personnel (Cohen and Olsen, 2015). The
Six Sigma approach, total quality management approach, Just-In-Time inventory approach are
important and taken into consideration by the operations management of the Brakes Group. The
operations department also handles the equality in employment department which helps in
providing equal benefits to all the employees who work in the Brakes Group.
Six Sigma Approach:-In this methodology, the main focus is on the team efforts. The role of
the leaders and managers is to analyse and focus on the scope of the project and make the team
work on the goals effectively and efficiently.
Total quality management approach:-It is a complete process that deals with bringing
efficiency in the production work keeping the quality on top of other things. The role of leaders
and functions of managers is that they need to apply all the strategies like KAIZEN to bring out
the quality from the input that is given and maintain quality.
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Just-In-Time Inventory approach:- In this particular approach the order for the things is given
only when there is a need and it helps in eliminating the waste related to the inventory as only
the needed products are ordered. The leaders evaluate the employee performance in regular time
periods and help in keeping the inventory tracked and the functions of managers is that they help
in directing the production department what work they need to do and how to keep the inventory
in control on regular basis.
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P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
The operations management involves the tasks that are similar to the management and the main
objective of the operations manager is the customer service for the Operations Management of
the Brakes Group irrespective of all the strategies and management the satisfaction of the
customers is very important and this is the main purpose of the whole organization (Caillier,
2014). The objective of Brakes Group is to assure the quality is managed and all the operations
done are effective and the overall company gets benefit out of it. The company's strategic
decisions are managed by the operations management and all the strategic decisions are made by
the managers, therefore the processes are managed by the operations managers. The distribution
and control system of the company is accountable for handling and controlling the production
process. The importance of operations management in achieving business objectives can also be
understood as it helps in inventory management which is done via capacity management and
discount department stores (Anheier, 2014). The operations management also helps in
scheduling tasks in accordance with the skills and capability of the employees. The importance
of operations management can be listed as below:-
 Helps in managing inventory.
 Helps in management of the capacity.
 Helps in task scheduling according to the employee skills
 Helps in Distribution and Control
 Helps in Controlling and Designing production.
 Helps and operates Discount Department Store.
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M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational
management to successfully meet business objectives.
The leaders and managers of the Brakes Group can improve the effectiveness of operational
management for meeting the business goals successfully with the help of the transformational
leadership as well as the role of corporate governance in achieving ethical business.
 Leaders and Managers frame the incentive programs for their employees.
 Leaders and managers help in clearing the lay-offs of the lower level employees.
 They help in reducing the hierarchical positions in the organizational structure.
 Leaders and managers encourage their employees and get the best output from them
which increase the overall productivity.
The leaders and the managers are the personnel who are behind the success of the organization
and improve operational management efficiencies and level of productivity (Bottomley, et. al.,
2016). It is the duty of the leaders to inspire the employees and get them work harder and
achieve the target within time. Only the leaders and managers are the person who can provide
the benefits to the employees in the monetary terms which helps in motivating them. They adopt
various strategies for increasing the supply of the products to the caterers in proper time.
Therefore, different approaches and styles of leadership help the managers and leaders achieve
organization objectives.
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LO4
P6. Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers.
There are various factors of the business environment that affects the decision making by
managers and leaders and operational management. It is very important to maintain the
sustainability, values, and ethics in the organization for providing better relationships with
customers and satisfying them (Dalton, 2017).
The low-quality products and services of the organization discourage customers; therefore, this
is the main factor that impacts the decision making of the leaders a lot. This is the factor that can
lead to heavy losses and the factors that lead to lower quality products maybe unfair rewards
given to the employees or it can be due to unskilled employees being recruited or many due to
bad relations between the employees and the managers. These are all the factors that give rise to
low-quality products which hamper the operational management and decision-making that
employees may not benefit from but they have to take these decisions just to save the company
from collapsing or running into losses (Nicholson, 2015).
Highly-motivated and high-moral employees in the organization. In this case, also the
decision making is impacted and is basically customer and employee oriented as the tasks are
done by the skilled employees and the employees, in this case, are proud of the feeling that
retrenchment will not be there and this, therefore, impacts the decisions.
The problem-solving skills are very important for the leaders and managers and they can sort out
the problems if any arises because of disagreement between the employees and managers. The
corruption should not be practiced with the organization and whole work should be carried out
with good communication and rectifying the identified problems.
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M4. Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider
community.
The factors discussed above like low-quality products and services, highly-motivated and high-
moral employees, problem-solving skills, which are detailed above affects business
environment. The image of the business gets affected and is a major thing for the stakeholders
like consumers who rely on the image of the products. The Sustainability is very important for
the Brakes Group and the process of sustainability should be adopted for enhancing the customer
base (Zhu, et. al., 2015). The problem-solving skills and highly motivated employees of the
Brakes Group help in increasing the productivity level and create healthy business environment.
The Brakes Group policies should be revised and if there are any issues with the sustainability of
the business the organization should try to change the policies which they can change. The
Ethics are very important to be maintained in the working environment of the business. Ethics
are the attitudes which are required to safeguard transparency in the organization. It is important
to follow the ethics of the business to ensure the improvement in the image and brand of the
organization. The Value of the organization helps in preserving the ideas for advertising the
products of the Brakes Group. The value allows and offers satisfaction to the customers and
their needs (Parsons, et. al., 2014).
The low-quality products and services hamper the production and are due to the unskilled labor
or problems between the higher level management team. This creates an unhealthy business
environment and it should be dealt with applying various strategies to the management and
operations team.
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D2. Critically evaluate the application of operations management and factors that impact
on the wider business environment.
The applications of the operations management that are discussed above are the capacity
management as well as inventory process, scheduling of the project and the distribution system
and control system. The factors impacting the wider business environment on these applications
have both negative as well as positive effects (Wild, 2017). With the help of the review of the
various policies, the efficiency of the work can be assured. Also, the capacity management of
the Brakes Group helps in providing knowledge of the activities that were carried out and needs
to be carried out in future. The inventory process of Brakes Group has a wider impact on the
business environment which keeps control of the stock and inventory processes are managed. It
is a very long process. Scheduling of the project helps in scheduling the whole process and
dividing the work among the personnel (Miner, 2015). The work is divided according to the
skills and proficiency of the employees and accordingly, the tasks are provided. The distribution
and control system of the Brakes Group helps in manufacturing as well as the production process
and it assures the effective and efficient results. Though it is a time-consuming process with the
help of this process the efficiency is maintained along with the smooth running of Brakes Group.
.
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Conclusion
To conclude, the management and the leadership are two very important aspects of an
organization. They both differ in their workings and have different characteristics. This report
was prepared and concludes that the decision making helps the managers and leaders of an
organization to formulate strategies and then implement them in the best way to get the best
output with the help of the great leadership theories and various functions of the managers that
enable them to maintain the quality of the work. To obtain aims and objectives, various models
and theories of leadership are used by the management of the Brakes Group. This report also
focuses on the different traits and styles of the leadership that is used by the operations
management to eliminate the wastages of time, cost and achieving and improving the
performance of the organization.
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