Management and Operations: A Study of Lush Retail Ltd.

This report analyzes the management and operations of Lush Retail Ltd., a British cosmetics retailer. It discusses the differences between management and leadership, evaluates different approaches to leadership and management, and provides recommendations for future improvements. The report also examines the key functions of operation management and the role of leaders in the organization.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PART 1........................................................................................................................................3
Introduction of organisation management structure....................................................................3
Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, highlighting the differences between
management and leadership.........................................................................................................4
Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts....................................................5
Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and
management to draw conclusions that support theories of leadership.........................................6
How managers and leaders have made an impact on the organisation and recommendations for
future improvements....................................................................................................................7
Part 2............................................................................................................................................7
Key operation of Lush.................................................................................................................7
Key function of operation management and role of leader.........................................................8
Impact of external business environment factors........................................................................9
Operational efficiencies are needs to improve for successfully meet business objectives using
appropriate management and leadership approach....................................................................10
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations refers to the administration of all the business activities for
creating high level of efficiency within an organisation. Also, the operation management are
concerned with all the converting material and the labour services and goods related to the
possible efficiency (Arthur and Kim, 2019). On the other hand, leadership management are
referring to all the activities which are need to undertake of achieving goals for the continuous
process such as directing, planning and controlling. The report based on Lush Retail ltd. which is
considered as British cosmetics retailer, that is head quartered in Dorset UK. Also, study explain
organisation structure of chosen firm with highlighting the differences leadership and
management. It will evaluate weakness and strength with the help of different approaches or
theory of leadership. Further, identifying different operational functions and approaches in order
to evaluated the internal and external impact of environmental factors which are affecting in
decision making by managers and leaders. Moreover, identifying operational efficiencies which
are help to meet the business objectives by using appropriate management and leadership
approaches.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
Introduction of organisation management structure
Lush Retail Ltd. one of the popular brand of UK as well as there are more than950 stores
globally. the products sold by the company are shampoo, soap, creams, moisturisers, lotions,
cosmetics for hair and face etc. It has been analysed that the firm uses more and more vegetarian
recipes for making the products which will not harm the skin of consumer. The operating stores
are 50 countries globally with the location of UK, Croatia, Australia and Canada (Baboli and
Mohamadian, 2018).
The organisational structure followed by the Lush retail ltd are Functional structures which
help to increases the skill in the employees. In this structure the business operates when people
have similar interest and knowledge which are used for team environment and help the company
for achieving goals and objectives. It helps to increase the productivity of the firm as well as
specialised skills are work efficiently for the employees rather than unfamiliar subjects.
Employees can develop their skill such ass when the person have more interest in markets he or
she can join the marketing department without any problem (Cruz and Marques, 2019). Also, it

helps to give the clarity that are creates for environment also high level of information are related
to human resource management and operation, marketing etc. It can also have contributed for
minimised the costs of operation as well as help to save the money.
Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, highlighting the differences between
management and leadership
Manager are responsible for all the process of getting activities which are completed by
efficiently with the help of setting and people in order to achieving goal of the firm by executing
management functions such as organising, planning, controlling and leading. the main role of the
manager is to perform managerial function in order to coordinate with others department (Engin,
2020). All the related information or the new project or goal are started by the managers and pass
the information which are related to top to bottom management. The quality of manager is to
physical health, mental ability for understanding and learning new task and make the judgement
accordingly.
A Leaders is a person who are directing, influencing and guiding by his or her behaviour
towards attainment of specific goals. Leader can work towards making better vision of the reality
in order to putting people first. Also, leaders are need to be empathetic for help to complete the
objective of the company. The quality of the good leader is prioritizing and self-aware about
personal development and it helps to focus on developing other people (Galli, 2019). The role of
leader is one of the most important role because it helps to provide compelling and clear
direction. Also, the leaders are ensuring about followers who are understand, work toward and
embrace for achieving those objectives. It also helps to provide momentums as well as help to
sharing the progress with achieving goal of the organisation.
Basis Management Leadership
Meaning Management are consist of controlling
the individual or group in order to
accomplishing the goal.
Leadership refers to the ability of an
individual who are motivating,
influencings and contributing for the
organisational success.
Vision It is managing short term objective for
goals.
Leaders are the one who make
vision for long term effect of the
company.
Motive The main motive is to execute the plan The motive of the leadership are to

efficiently and effectively. climb on the next level.
Followers Managers have the subordinates for
instructing the task to accomplish.
The leaders are the followers who
are leading them (Hitka and Mura,
2020).
Process This is reactive process It is the proactive process.
Communication Management are based on the written
communication.
Leadership are mainly based on the
oral and verbal communication
Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts.
The behavioural theory of leadership- This theory are related to success of the leader
which are based on the behaviour rather than natural attributes. In this theory leaders are faced
the different types of situations. In context to Lush it has been analysed that there is democratic
leadership style followed by the manager because in this style employee can give their opinion.
For example, if the new project opted by the company for making clothes in this situations the
admin department will take the suggestion regarding interest of the employees and how can they
complete new project. Employees will for the leaders for further process of leadership (Mill,
2018).
The classical theory of management- In this theory the employees are believe for
understanding the situation of the employees who are strongly motivated with the help of
physical needs such ass monetary incentives. Cited firms has using this management approach
because there are incorporate regular opportunities for the employees in order to rewarding by
their incentives and productivity. For example, T the time of peak seasons it is necessary to
motivate the employees in such a way by proving them initiative or additional amount so that
they can work accordingly.
The contingency theory of management- In this theory the manager faces the situation
with the employees while they were always late for work. At this time the manager given them
written notice so that they can understand the situation and come on time (Minei, Eatough and
Cohen-Charash, 2018). At this kind of situation there are some of the managers who have taken
strict action regarding them such as mark the half day. For example, Lush retail ltd are more

focus on this approach for maintaining good environment that helps to manage organisational
culture.
Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and
management to draw conclusions that support theories of leadership
Situational leadership- The main strength of this approach is to flexible approach to the
leadership is the relationship oriented type of leadership. Also, it helps to encourages
collaboration for employees. The weakness of this approach are cause confusion with an
organisation there are constantly change the approach for addressing each team or individual
needs. This approach is more focus on short-term business goal. It has been analysed that’s this
leadership style has more focus on different situation which are arises in the business because it
provides solution to the all problems (Ming and Yuejin, 2020). Also, the leader can improve their
communication skills which are increase in the diverse environment. With the help of this
leaderships it has been concluded that it can be easy to grasp also it is simple and straight
forward in order to putting more focus on the employees.
System leadership-
In this approach there are set of skill and capacity which are help the individual or
organisation by using catalyse or enable for support the process by system level change. Its helps
to combine collaborative approach which are coalition buildings the system insight for mobilise
the innovation also by across decentralised and large network. The strength of the leadership is
holistic view that can emphasise on the basis adaptive nature. It helps to increases adaptability to
environmental changes. This also help to ensure about effective communication which are help
the leader to understanding to the employees. The weakness system theory is suggesting all the
variable which have the same equality in order to extend the control and impact of the business
environment (Tu, Hsu and Yeh, 2020). Leaders are feel sometimes in order to become
insensitive towards their employees. It helps to focus on targeting the employees rather
encouragement and creativity. It has been concluded that’s there is organisation which should
help to seek knowledge for long-term vision of the company. Some of the leaders are aim for
ensuring about procedures strategies which are help to gains new height and growth of the
business.

How managers and leaders have made an impact on the organisation and recommendations for
future improvements.
Leaders and management are the set of the context which are help organisational members
in order to achieve goals of the organisation. There is leader which are inspire to the shared
vision for enlist others for common process and vision. Leadership has the direct cause that
effect leadership which are help to success of the organisation. Also, the leaders are help to
determining the culture, value, employee motivation and change tolerance. Further, manager
have the huge impact by developing future leader that are help to manage talent that are
developing the career plan which are coaching and mentoring employees (White, 2018). It has
been recommended that there is major impact on developing future leaders and managing talent
that are developing career plan. It has been recommended that the manager should be more
strategic so that it help the cited firm in order to motivate the employees so that they can increase
the productivity.
Part 2
Key operation of Lush
It can be defining as operation activities of a company that is involved in producing, selling
its product in the market in order to earn revenue. Moreover, it involves manufacturing, sales,
advertising and marketing activities. Lush retail is a British cosmetic that sell product such as
soaps, shampoo, shower gels, face mask and hair cosmetics. Along with this, while producing
goods it make use of natural raw materials and less of chemicals so that it do not react on
customer skin. The company only make use of vegetarian recipes in order to produce their
products it is almost vegan. Thus, using natural raw material has helped the organization in
attracting large customer as well as for building good brand image (Merigó and et.al., 2019).
Furthermore, for increasing their sales Lush has made use of both traditional and digital method
of marketing.
The company has advertise about their company products and services on various
digital channels in order to increase their sales. However, this strategy has helped the company
in increasing their brand image in the market. Along with this, it has also made used of low
pricing strategy for increasing their sales as it has helped the firm in attracting large customer
as well as in reducing their high competition. Furthermore, for marketing activities organization
has made use of digital marketing as it has contributed in success of organization by covering the

large area of market (Yiu and et.al., 2020). Along with this, it has also helped the firm in
identifying the key trends and customer taste and preference that has helped in making the
products according to their needs. In addition to this, it has also adopted for growth strategy by
opening physical store in many other countries as it has resulted in increasing the brand
image.
Key function of operation management and role of leader
Operation management is a branch that deals with managing operations and process within
the organization. It allows company to use resources more effectively so that organization can
accomplish their decided goals in limited frame of time. Along with this, the key function of
operation management are mentioned in details below:
 Finance: It play very important role in operation management as it ensure that
company has sufficient finance so that it can invest in other sector of organization
(Gupta and Gupta,2018). Moreover, it helps organization to carry out major function
such as creation of goods and service in order to satisfied customer needs. The role
operation manager is to manage the inflow and outflow of cash so that accurate
amount is calculated.
 Operation: The main function in operation management is to implement proper
planning, organizing, directing and controlling all activities of an organization that helps
in converting raw materials and human efforts into good quality of goods. Furthermore,
the role of operation manager is to analysis about external and internal environment in
order to identify the threats and opportunity as it will help in making appropriate
business plan. Along with this, another role of operation manager is to hire right
employees as well as to train them so that it can contributed in achieving the decided
goals.
 Strategy: It refers to planning tactics that will help organization in using the resources
effectively so that it can reduce a competitive edge (Ganesh and et.al.,2020). Along with
this, strategy will be made for functional units such as marketing, sales and utilization of
human resource as well as finance. Moreover, the role of manager while making the
strategy is to analyse the strengths and weakness of all functional units so that it can
implement right strategy. Along with this, it can communicate the roles and

responsibility to employees so that it can work hard. The main role of operation manger
is to increase the moral of the subordinates by conducting various activities.
 Supply chain configuration: The main motive of supply chain configuration is to
monitor and control all the activities conducted by the company. Moreover, supply chain
starts from supply of raw material till the production of the final goods and services as
well as to sell their customer final goods (Choi, Guo and Luo, 2020). The role of the
manager is to maintain good relation with suppliers and customer as they are key
resources of running the business. Along with this, the manger has to analyse about
the customer needs in order to satisfy their needs. Another important role is maintain
the coordination in all department so that product is made with right quality.
Impact of external business environment factors
External factor affect the business in both positive and negative way as well as impact on
overall performance of the firm. It not only affects organization but also impact on the decision
making of manager and leaders. However, for analysing external factor company can make
use of PESTLE strategic tool that will help in indentifying such factors.
 Political: This factor is consist of rules and regulation made by the government in order
to run the business in the market. Due to Covid state and central government of UK has
implemented new rules for the companies and citizens such as social distancing and
sanitizing. This has affect the growth of Lush as company has to invest more in
conducting this activities in order to attract large customer (Thakur, 2021). However,
work from home policy was also implemented for longer period of time. Thus, manager
of the organization has to make safety policy for the firm and to manage coordination
with the employees in order to run the business.
 Economical: This factor is consist of GDP rate and inflation rate that affects the
organization. Along with this, manger of the company has to analyse the GDP of the
country before commencing the business in new area as it helps in growth of the firm.
 Social: This factor is consist of market trends and taste and preference of the customer.
So manager of the organization has to evaluate the market trend so that it can satisfy the
needs of the customer in effective way (Turkyilmaz and et.al.,2019). Along with this,
manager has to make the product according to consumer demand so that it can enhance
sales of organization.

 Technological: This include advance technology that used by organization in order to
enhance their performance. Along with this, manager of the company have to make use
of tools and techniques so that it reduce the competition as well as smooth the
functioning of various unit (Sánchez-Cambronero and et.al , 2020). Along with this,
manager can make use of data analytical tool and performance tool in order evaluate
employee productivity in firm.
 Legal factor: It is consist of laws made by the government in order to maintain peace
in the society. Along with this, lush is following laws such as employment act, company
act, minimum wage in order to avoid intervention of government and not to follow in
any kind of law suits. However, the role of the manager is to identify any new laws that
has been implemented by the organization so that it does not create any kind of hindrance
in future (Tsangas and et.al.,2019).
 Environmental: The organization is following CSR policy in order to contributed
toward environment as well as to safeguard them form hazardous substance. Along with
this, manager of the organization has to conduct various such activities so that it can
attract large customer. Additionally, manager of the company role is to manage all these
activities as it helps in increasing the brand image of the firm in the market area.
Operational efficiencies are needs to improve for successfully meet business objectives using
appropriate management and leadership approach.
With the help of implementing modern techniques of the management which are intended
for improving management time, enhance the meeting quality as well as team leader that can
encourage high level of productivity from each of the team member. Also, it helps to boosting
the overall in order to efficiency of the organisation operations. With the help of autocratic
leadership, the operational efficiency can be increases in order to provide more guidance to the
employee. It is important to do more attention on employees so that it can help to do more
attention on completing important task first. There are some of the leader which are more
responsible in order to streamlining the workflow and subordinates as much as possible. Also,
leaders can have developed the team wide sense for more focusing on work as well. Along with
this, open communication with top level management level are help to maximising the workforce
capacity of the employees because at this kind of situation they are more focus on the
communication.

Recommendation
 It is to be suggested to organization to make use affiliated marketing in order to increase
their sales as well as to increase brand awareness in the market. Along with this, it is one
of the cost effective way to promote goods and services as it advertises product across
multiple channels (Berenguer and Shen, 2020). Moreover, it will allow the firm to target
traffic that companies really want such as Lush is making cosmetic product then it can
target women and teenagers. Thus, it will increase the sales of the firm as well as reduce
the competition.
 It is to be suggested to the organization to make use of advance technological tool such as
data analytical and performance management in order to evaluate their productivity while
working (Benjaafar and Hu, 2020). Thus, it will help the manager to conduct various
training programme for the employees in order to develop new skills. As it will help in
contributing in the success of the firm.
 Along with this, Lush should adopt democratic style of leadership for guiding their
employees. As it will allow the employees to come with the new idea to deal with threats
and risk. It will also have contributed in building healthy relation with the employees as
well as motivate them to work hard.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded that their management are help in the operations activities in order
to completing the task and achieving the goal. Also, there are all the functions of the
management are related to the planning, organising, staffing, controlling and directing.
Also, leadership play important role for the business organisation. The report discussed
role of leader and manager with its characteristics and examining the functions of
manager by applying different types of situational context. Further, there are different
theories and approaches are used by understanding the value of operations management
by achieving business objectives. Lastly, analysed the impacts of operational
management by manager and leaders.

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