Leadership and Management in Operations Management: A Case Study of Marks and Spencer

This report explores the intricate relationship between leadership and management within the context of operations management. Using Marks and Spencer (M&S) as a case study, it delves into the distinct roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, examining how these roles manifest in different situational contexts. The report analyzes various leadership theories, including situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency theory, to understand how effective leadership and management contribute to achieving business objectives. It further investigates key approaches to operations management, such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, Lean Production, and Just In Time, highlighting the crucial role of leaders and managers in implementing these strategies. The report concludes by assessing the impact of external factors, such as global competition, technology, environmental concerns, and the growth of the service sector, on operational management and decision-making processes.

Marketing Management Operations
1

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager............4
P2: Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts............................................................................................................6
P3: Apply the different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency................................................................................................7
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................9
P4: Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play..................................................................................................................................................9
P5: Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.......................................................................................................................................10
P6: Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers........................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference List................................................................................................................................13
2

Introduction
An organization can be considered as a human community and the workforce its asset and that
customer is the moving force behind any business. In this context, the role of a manager is dual
carrying out the function of both a leader and a manager. The manager is person who wields
leadership skills and managerial acumen to guide, coordinate and supervise the work of the
employees in order to achieve the bigger business goals.
The chosen organization for this report is Marks and Spencer, UK. This report aims at
understanding the role and function of a manger and how different situational contexts in a
company demand the manger to adapt the skills and managerial attributes. It will analyse
theories to understand the concepts of operations management as both a function and a process,
under two broad heads – management and operations. This report attempts to understand how
effective management and leadership contribute in achieving business goals.
3

P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
A manager of an organization, at any level, plays the dual role of that of a leader and a manager
to contribute effectively to achieve the business goals. An effective manager is one who can lead
and manage in different situations that an organization undergoes. In terms of leadership he
guides, motivates and communicates with the workforce to ensure higher productivity with least
inputs. His managerial attributes comes to fore when he initiates and leads effective and efficient
processes and operations.
Role and Characteristics of a Leader and a Manager: Roles are specific actions, behaviours
or characteristics that a manager is expected to possess. An entry level the manager at M&S is
expected to know his techniques and processes the most efficiently. The manager’s skills as
effective communicator should come next and the knowledge of concepts can follow.
.
Figure 1: Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles
(Source: Kumar, 2015)
Henry Mintzberg chalks out 10 managerial roles grouped under 3 broad categories –
interpersonal, decisional and informational. According to him the role of a leader falls under the
broad head of interpersonal roles (Kumar, 2015). An entry level manager is expected to display
4

the characteristics of an efficient leader – to guide and be the bridge between employee and
higher management. It also overlaps with the broad head of playing the informational roles – that
is, of disseminating valuable information and being the spokesperson of higher authorities. The
skill set that an effective leader should have the ability to work well with other/ followers and
encourage a collaborative environment at work place.
The role of a manager falls in the other 3 broad heads of informational and decisional roles.
Here the manager is expected to be an efficient decision maker, ensuring that right and timely
decisions are being taken to keep up the productivity of the organisation. Under decisional roles
it is the responsibility of the manager to be able to identify and allocate proper resources, handle
disturbances that hamper production, negotiate with internal and external stakeholders and be an
entrepreneur within the organization.
Attributes Role of Leader Role of Manager
Orientation People oriented Task oriented
Focus Leading people to achieve Managing work
Approach Come up with creative solutions Come up with policies and
strategies
Personality Skills Efficient communication skills Problem solver
Outcomes Achievements Results
In M& S, a manager is expected to stress on effective process and operations as the company is
in the service sector. Evaluation of the possibility of the company’s / retail outlet’s success is
another responsibility of a manager here. At an entry level the manager is expected to encourage
and motivate a collaborative work culture to enhance productivity and build a diverse work
force, create and maintain the network of suppliers.
5

P2: Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
The leader and manager of an organisation control and command its followers or employees
depending on their” readiness” (a combining factor of competence and commitment) in various
situational contexts. These situations can be both external and internal.
An organisation can go through three situational scenarios:
Stable Situations – In this situation, the company is in a stable condition. All units are
functioning in perfect tandem. There is no change in the environment of business, either external
or internal. In this case, the leader will have to maintain the motivation of the team to keep up
productivity. In such a scenario, the manager will have to maintain and keep up the running
operations and current processes to yield the results. Network of suppliers will have to be
preserved. For example, the leader and manager of M&S supervising a profit making and
revenue generating retail outlet will not have to change his roles. This situation gives a leader to
train and develop the readiness of employees. This can be also a period of opportunity for a
manager to explore new network of vendors and innovate on his supply chain.
Slow to Moderate situation – In this scenario, the business is showing signs of a change, either
external or internal, or both. The management will adapt their styles as leaders and managers to
this changing situation and according to the readiness of the employees in a mid to long term
time period (McCleskey, 2014). For example, M&S wants to explore newer territories globally
to increase its footprint. This will require both external and internal changes to be implemented
over a period of time. The role of a leader will be to communicate this approaching change to the
employees and communicate the possible benefits, for both the individual employee and the
organization that will result because of this expansion. The manager will have to strategize new
policies to implement this change.
Fast Changing situation - here the management is required to take drastic measures in order to
address an immediate concern at hand, within a very short span of time. M&S is closing non
profit- making retail outlets in UK. This calls for effective leadership and managerial focus to
6

communicate this difficult information and make contingency plans to address employment
complaints and reprisal.
P3: Apply the different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency.
In business, leadership skills play important role in attaining business objectives and different
styles are adapted by managers in various situational context. Several theories have been
propounded, over time, to figure out what kind of leadership suits a particular business situation.
In 1969, Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey had come up with the theory of situational
leadership. This theory delineates that different effective styles are adopted and employed by an
efficient leader, in accordance with the level of competence and development of the employees
and on the situation at hand. The contributing factors that the leader should take into account in
determining his line of leadership are characteristics of the employees, their levels of competent
and commitment and importantly the specific nature of business objectives that need to be
achieved. The behavior of a leader in a particular situation is also important in determining the
success. Followers are also vital to the success of a particular leadership approach. Its lists
leadership styles under the four categories as Directing (or Telling
), Coaching (or selling), Supporting ( or participating), Delegating.
M& S UK, due to its long journey in the retail market had undergone different phases of
transformation in its business activities like adopting new technology, enhancing supply chain
management and marketing to achieve different goals. The company had seen varying situational
contexts due to its vastness as a retail chain and adapting situational leadership style was deemed
fit by CEO, Steve Rowe, to see it through these periods of change.
Systems Leadership: this is a reconciliation of the classical and human relations approaches that
considers total work organization, relationship between structure and behavior and range of
variables within an organization (Northouse, 2018). Its perspectives include both macro and
micro factors. Systems leadership style looks at a problem as a whole at not in parts. This theory
takes into account the patterns of macro level and how it impacts the micro (feelings of the
7

employees). It takes the organization to be an open system and accounts for the system that
determines the impact of technology on society.
Contingency Leadership: This rejects the idea of one best structure or optimum state for an
organization. It focuses on examining the situational variables. The success of this model is
dependent on purpose, culture, size technology and environment.
8

Task 2
P4: Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play.
Operations Management is a vital function in any business organization, especially in a retail
scenario. Effective management approaches are required to streamline the operations of a
company. Managers and leaders play the crucial role in evaluating, planning, setting goals and
developing the operations strategies.
Six Sigma – This is a set of tools or methodology that improves operational management by
doing away with errors, saving time and reducing cost. In a manufacturing unit “six sigma
quality” implies a quality that has fewer than seven defects per million products. Though it is
usually implemented by engineering and manufacturing businesses, products and service
industry have also adopted this method. The company implements this to eliminate errors in its
production of fashion items. This also helps it to maintain its world class quality (Jacobs et
al.,2014) However, the tool will succeed only with the support senior executives towards
managers.
Here the role of executive leadership plays a vital part. The managerial role is also important in
developing short term projects. A top down training is required for the success of “six sigma” in
operations management and productivity. Off late the company has faced problems as it had to
call back many fashion products.
Total Quality Management- M&S is known for its commitment towards maintaining high class
quality and in providing best customer experience. TQM is therefore important to the company.
Through implementation of TQM the management achieves long term customer loyalty and
satisfaction. To achieve the full benefits of TQM all parties within an organization should
participate to improve operations, service, products and culture in the working environment.
9

Here the managers are expected to motivate all the employees through involving them in
decision making processes and encouraging a collaborative working atmosphere. Managerial
roles will include putting strategies, policies and process that will attain long term goals in terms
of quality management across all functions.
Lean Production – This is a tool through which management systematically reduces wastage
while manufacturing but productivity is not hampered (Drohomeretski et al., 2014). The role of
operations manager here would be to put in place effective inventory systems and ensure a
structured supply chain management with well functioning network of suppliers (Krajewski et
al., 2015)
Just In Time: This is an inventory strategy organization’s use to increase productivity without
much wastage. Here, the manufacturing units take only goods that are required for the process.
This helps to curtail costs.
Managers play the role of forecasting accurate demand for the success of this method. Marks and
Spencer, UK adopts a hybrid approach known as “Empower to Improve”. This includes Lean,
Six Sigma Tools and design thinking.
P5: Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
The business process that involves planning, organizing, controlling and monitoring directing
supervising the manufacturing process and production is known as Operations Management
(Heizer, 2015) Operations Management does this by the proper use of resources and creating the
highest level of efficiency across all functions from inspiration to implementation. It oversees
the daily activities of the business functions.
It is an integral part of the company and helps in reducing inventory and production costs;
increase productivity; ensures superior quality.
Reduce Cost: An effective operation management system helps the organization to reduce its
inventory and production cost. It utilizes the use of resources to an optimum level by ensuring
10

minimum wastage while manufacturing products. A well functioning operations management
system will develop and maintain and systemized supply chain. It ensures that the network of
suppliers provides resources on a timely basis, so that production is on time, again reducing
production time, thereby reducing cost. It ensures that products match the quality parameters of
the company and thereby bring in customer satisfaction.
Increase Productivity: The effective operations management system in the company will have a
positive impact on the productivity of the company. Timely delivery of resources by the
systematized supply chain and vendor management will curtail time of production. OM also
focuses on the strategies and processes across all functions so that all participants are involved in
attaining the quality parameters.
Ensures superior quality:
The operations management of the company creates a collaborative atmosphere within the
business organization. It is the responsibility of the operations manager to develop a proper
plan/policy so that employees have a structured set of goals to attain in terms of quality.
P6: Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers.
There are several business environmental factors that directly create an impact on the business
operations. These factors also create an impact on the business decisions.
Major factors are as follows:
Global Competition: The competitive scenario prompts the operations department of the
company to reevaluate its processes and production and pricing strategies. The managers need to
take informed decision and predict accurate market trends. Purchasing power is changing across
the world (Hitt et al., 2014). So are trade policies and nature of communication. All these global
issues have an impact on operations.
Technology: has a huge impact on the operations of the company. Operations management is
undergoing an overhaul in how it uses modern technology to achieve quality parameters and
attain customer satisfaction. Rapid innovation in technology is affecting the company is terms of
11

accurate forecasting of fashion trends, faster responses to customers etc. managers have to decide
on the best effective tool to leverage the benefits of technology in the sector.
Environmental Impact: Companies dedicated to community welfare often has to take into
account the impact of environment on its manufacturing processes. Managers have to take
informed decisions which are within the corporate culture of the company.
Growth of Service Sector: With more and more demanding new services every day, the scope
of organization in the sector is expanding. While this is an opportunity, keeping up with the
trends and developing the operations and processes that meet quality, pricing and customer
satisfaction on all levels pose to be a challenge and impact operations.
Decision Making: Managers take several decisions like what resources are needed in what
amount. They decide on resource allocation and manufacturing processes and identifies the
workforce to carry out production. Personal traits of managers and the nature of the problem at
hand influences decision making. The important factors that affect decision making are:
Profitability – Operations managers need to keep this goal in mind while devising short term
plans pertaining to procuring and allocating resources, process of production within quality
parameters etc.
Brand Impact – Brand image is important to preserve for any manager at any level of a
company. Every decision that mangers make must be sent through the lens of quality, customer
satisfaction and other factors that directly affect brand loyalty.
Opportunity Cost – asking questions whether a plan would affect other profit making
opportunities of the business is an important factor for a manager to consider while taking
decisions and going ahead with strategies and plans.
Conclusion
Business in today’s world is undergoing deep changes in terms of customer expectations,
technology and environmental issues. Managers and leaders have to adapt to this dynamic
business environment. New and adaptive tools of management and leadership are being explored
by Marks and Spencer UK. In order to stay relevant in a fast growing and fast changing retail
scenario, the company is a taking a hybrid approach in terms of its operations. Its continuous
improvement model focuses on customer satisfaction and providing superior quality. A few set -
12

backs in the fashion section have prompted the managers to reshape their technological know-
how and adapt fresh leadership styles.
Reference List
Chen, H., Liu, S. and Oderanti, F., 2017. A Knowledge Network and Mobilisation Framework
for Lean Supply Chain Decisions in Agri-Food Industry. International Journal of Decision
Support System Technology (IJDSST) 9 (4).
Drohomeretski, E., Gouvea da Costa, S.E., Pinheiro de Lima, E. and Garbuio, P.A.D.R., 2014.
Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma: an analysis based on operations strategy. International
Journal of Production Research, 52(3), pp.804-824.
Drucker, P.F., 2017. What Makes an Effective Executive (Harvard Business Review Classics).
Harvard Business Review Press.
Heizer, J., 2016. Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Hitt, M.A., Xu, K. and Carnes, C.M., 2016. Resource based theory in operations management
research. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.77-94. Jacobs, F.R., Chase, R.B. and
Lummus, R.R., 2014. Operations and supply chain management (pp. 533-535). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Jay, H. and Barry, R., 2016. Operations Management. Pearson India.
Krajewski, L.J., Ritzman, L.P. and Malhotra, M.K., 2015. Operations management: processes
and supply chains. New York, EEUU: Prentice hall.
Kumar, P., 2015. An Analytical study on Mintzberg’s Framework: Managerial
Roles. International Journal of Research in Management & Business Studies (IJRMBS), 2,
pp.12-18.
McCleskey, J.A., 2014. Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership
development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), p.117.
Mintzberg, H., 2016. 10 The age of the management gurus. A History of Management Thought,
p.257.
Northouse, P.G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
13

Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R.E., Lowe, K.B. and Carsten, M.K., 2014. Followership theory: A review
and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp.83-104.
14