Comparison of Roles and Characteristics of a Leader and a Manager

Management and
Operation
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager...................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2 How role of a leader and function of manager apply in different situations.....................5
P3 Different theories and models of approach including systems, situational and contingency
leadership................................................................................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4 Key approaches to operations management and the role of managers and leaders..........8
P5 Importance and value of operations management..........................................................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P6 Factors that impact operations management and the process of decision making within the
organisation..........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Management can be defined as the process of planning, organising, motivating,
controlling various resources including finances, operations, human resources within an
organisation in order to achieve goals and objectives (Manzini and et al., 2018). Whereas
Operations within an organisation can help in transforming the raw materials into desired goods
or services that are of value to the customers and fulfil their wants and needs. Operations
management can be referred to as an area that is concerned with processes like designing and
controlling of production during the production of goods and services. This report is based on
Tesco, which is a multinational British groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered
in England, United Kingdom. The company is third-largest retailer when measured by gross
revenues in the world. It analyses the differences as well as similarities between a leader and
manager based on their roles and responsibilities by applying various approaches of leadership
and also explains the importance of operations management.
MAIN BODY
LO 1
P1 Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
A leader within an organisation can be defined as a person who influence a group of
people, usually his/her team members in order to achieve certain goals and objectives. The
various roles and characteristics of a leader are explained below -
Roles
A team leader plays different roles in an organisation to ensure that all the tasks are
completed and presented on time without any delay. The different roles of a leader are -
 Supervisor – A leader within Tesco plays the role of a supervisor where he/she
evaluates, monitors as well as controls the various activities and ensure that they are
carried out in an effective as well as efficient way (White, 2016). He also tracks the
performance and overall productivity of his team members to remain informed of how
the team is progressing overall.
 Inspire and motivate – The leader inspires and motivates his subordinates to ensure that
they work with a lot of zeal and confidence instead of being lousy and showing
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disinterest. Effective communication can act as a key to overcome this situation
(Positive Leadership: Roles Of The Leader, 2020).
Characteristics
 Communication – A good leader has excellent communication skills both written as well
as verbal. He/ she also has good listening skills and all of these skills help in motivating
and inspiring the team members in some or the other way (Espa and et. al., 2016).
 Confidence – A good team leader is also very confident of what he speaks and makes
decisions regarding. This characteristic make him/her stand out from the rest of the crowd
and thus inspire others.
Manager
A manager is a person who has the responsibility of managing the employees within an
organisation and performs activities like planning, scheduling, evaluating, monitoring etc. to
achieve goals and objectives.
Roles
 Figurehead – A manager has several social, legal responsibilities and thus, is expected to
act as a source of inspiration to other employees so that they look up to him.
 Spokesperson – Managers are people who represent the organisation and thus act as
spokesperson in front of clients and in the market. As a spokesperson, the manager
transmits information to people outside the organisation about its goals and objectives.
Characteristics
 Result oriented – A effective manager is always result oriented and works effortlessly
towards achieving goals and objectives (Jabbari-Sabet, Moghaddas-Tafreshi and
Mirhoseini, 2016). He is self motivated and also encourages his team members to put in
their best efforts.
 Feedback – A good manager provides feedback to his team members from time to time
about their performance which helps them in improving the way in which they work and
get things done.
Comparison between the role of leader and manager
Basis Leader Manager
Role – Inspire and
motivate
A leader inspires and motivates
his team members by constantly
A manager on the other hand
motivates and inspires his team
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