Management and Leadership Concepts on Operations Management

Management and Leadership Concepts on
Operations Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
Meaning of the Leaders and managers............................................................................................3
Roles of Leaders and Managers.......................................................................................................5
Theories of the Leadership..............................................................................................................8
Key Approaches to Operational Management.................................................................................9
Three Functions of the Operational Management.........................................................................11
Impact of Environment on Operational Management and Decision Making of the Leaders and
Managers:.......................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Leadership skills are used in a company so that the followers can be managed accordingly.
There are some differences in the manager and leadership approaches. In this report role of leaders
in operating the trade activities is described (Kotter, 2008). The study is based on Next PLC, it is
retail company and is operating its business activities in the filed of the clothing and footwear. It has
to manage all the organisational fictions properly. In this report role of leaders, managers and
theories of the mentorship is described. The purpose of the report is to find out and address all those
elements which can influence the operational management and leadership.
Meaning of the Leaders and managers
Leaders are the pillars of the company and they help themselves and they make other do and
perform the right things. They set the directions, determines the vision and set the strategies to
achieve the targets. They set the directions for the followers and provide the guidance to all so that
the workings can be done properly. So it can be said that leaders handles the different things in
different situations. Thus the leaders set the vision for the followers and motivate the employees in
attaining their objectives (Neck and Manz, 2010). The goals can be achieved by using the strategies
in a same directions. Leaders provides the directions to the followers and inspire them in obtaining
the ultimate goals. It is a process in which the workers are inspired to attain the goals. The people
are leaded towards the goals and missions of the organisation. Employees are guided in a decent
manner so that the targets can be achieved. Leadership is an action in which the people are
motivated to achieve their objectives.
Managers are the persons who manage the functions of the business and mange the
employees in such manner that the goals can be attained in a perfect manner. They have very sound
mind set and strategic approach. The managers set the objectives and determines the most suitable
ways in which the tasks can be performed (Lovelock, Wirtz and Chew, 2009). They divide the work
in the manageable manner and then assign these tasks to the employees of the company. The
managers make a team and communication is managed among the team members in such manner
that the goals can be attained. So they give the instructions and give orders to follow those. They
measure the targets and motivate other people so that they can feel and get the instructions from
their seniors and start to complete the tasks at time. Thus, the managers are different from the
leaders. As per Victor Lip-man “Excellent mangers come in all shapes and sizes. They can be loud
extroverted and introverted.” they do not get familiar with the other employees and workers so they
keep themselves different than other employees.
Comparison of the Roles of the Managers and Leaders:
Role of the leaders are described as under:

 Develop the strategy: The leaders are having very vital role in Next PLC as they formulate
the plans and strategies and work by following it. He must understand the policies of the
company and the styles of the working of the entity. By this he will be able to formulate
most suitable strategies in such manner that the goals can be achieved by a mutual working
of the followers (Liao, H. and et.al., 2009).
 Communicate a Vision: The most important role of the leaders is to set the vision and to
communicate it with all other working members. By this all the employees will get to know
about their targets and will perform the activities accordingly.
 Serve the team: it is another major role of the team leaders they serve the team and takes
acre of the employees and members in a team. So they nerve the teams in a most suitable
manner.
 Motivate the members: The motivation is very important for fulfilling the objectives and the
needs of the employees and this can be done by a good leader. If he is perfect and is having
all the essential qualities then all the tasks can be completed in a accurate way (Johnston and
Clark, 2008).
On the other hand manager are having some different roles in the business, which are
distinct form the leaders these are described as under:
 Planning: it is the most important role of the mangers in a business, they make the plans to
achieve the goals and then assign the powers to the employees to work according to the
planning.
 Organizing: it the prime duty of the mangers to organize the functions in such manner that
no issue can take place in the employees and they will be able to perform the tasks in a
perfect manner.
 Staffing: it is the another major role of the manager. He is liable for recruiting, selecting,
training and developing the employees (Zack, McKeen and Singh, 2009).
 Directing: The managers are liable to give the directions to the workers so that they can
work properly and can manage the operations.
Thus, in the above mentioned way the roles of the leaders are described there is difference in
the role of the managers and leaders.
Difference in the characters of the mangers and leaders:
Managers Leaders
Managers have the employees. Leaders have the followers.