Impact of Business Environment on Operations Management

This assignment delves into the importance of understanding the business environment and its influence on operations management. It highlights the differences between leadership and management, and how situational leadership can be applied to manage factors impacting the wider business environment. The analysis concludes with a recommendation for future improvements based on the findings.

Management and
Operation

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation is very essential part of every business. It includes all the activities
like planning, organising and supervising in the reference of production, manufacturing or the
provision of services. Operation management ensures that their business is successful in
converting raw materials and labour into goods and services in an cost-effective and efficient
manner ( Handschin and Petroianu, 2012) .
Marks and Spencer is British multinational retailer whose headquarter is situated in the
city of Westminster, London. The company deals in the clothing, home products and luxury
product. The respective company was founded by Michael marks and Thomas Spencer.
This report inform about the roles and functions carried out by leader and manager which
assist the organization in the improvement of product and services. It explains the behaviour of
leader and manager in different situations to make employees work done in efficient manner.
Theories of management and different style of leadership are explained in reference of operation
management.
TASK 1
1. Introduction to the organisation you have chosen and its management structure
Marks and Spencer is a retailer of the London which deals in cloths and home product. It
founded by the two friends Michael marks and Thomas Spencer. The organisation main aim is to
provide the qualitative product to the customer. The organisation has 979 stores across UK in
which 615 sells only sell food products. M&S follows a flat organisational structure in which
there is no management between administration and front line workers (XU and et. al., 2012).
Organisation follows flat management structure for the effective working and problem solving
practices.
2 Manager and leader and compare their roles and characteristics
Manager is the person who performs multiple activities in the organisation which is
planning,organising, directing, staffing and controlling. They have different skills from others by
the use of which they are able to make work with employees. The organisation give manager
authority to recruit and terminate any employee in the arrangement. There are different mangers
at every level of organisation such as top level managers, functional mangers, project manager,
general manager and so on (Kato, 2014).

Supervisor have different duties and responsibilities on the basis of post they are
holding. Top manager is responsible to check whether organisation objectives are achieved
project manger is responsible for the fulfilment of the project on time.
Roles of manager in the arrangement are as follows -
 Planning : Manager of M&S plan the operations and the functions which manger have
to be completed by the followers in order to achieve organisation goals. They plan the
funds which are allocated to various department of an organisation so that work can be
performed effectively without any problem (Khlat and et. al., 2016).
 Resource allocation : Manager of M&S perform the responsibility of the resource
allocator in which they provide the funds, staff and the resources to various different
department of the undertaking. Expenses and the time spend on the particular project is
decided by the manger ( Bealkowski, 2015).
Characteristic which manager contain in his personality are as follows -
 Patience : Effective manager is able to show patience in the front of team members,client
and vendors. Manager require patience at every level of organisation so that they are able
to make work done with employees (Park and Jho, 2012).
 Honest: There are lot of features which manager should acquire in them in which
honesty is above all that. Manager of M&S should have this characteristic that they
accept their mistake and try to improve it.
Leader : A leader is the person who gives direction to his followers through which they
are able to achieve organisation desired goals. He formulates vision on the basis of which they
assign the duties to the subordinates. Along with making strategy for achieving goal they
perform multiple activities to reach at the objective (Nakayama and Buck,2012). They are
responsible to motivate their followers, building teams,innovation and developing coordination
among various employees of the organisation. He or she is require at every level of the business
because they motivates the whole team to work harder for the fulfilment of organisation goal.
Roles of leaders in the undertaking are described briefly below -
 Direction : The leader can direct the employees by communicating them the polices and
plans of top management for which they have to give their contribution towards
organisation goal (Torkildsen, 2012). Different mangers of different level in M&S are
guided by leaders towards organisation vision.

 Motivates : M&S leaders motivate their employees by satisfying their individual goal
with organisation goal. It is not essential that followers are encouraged by the help of
money it can also be done through saying positive words.
 Align people : M&S leaders assign the duties to the followers on the basis of their ability
and knowledge. They furnish work to their subordinates and assures that their tasks aligns
with the corporate goals formulated by the company.
Characteristic which leader should contain in his personality are given below -
 Passionate : Leader should passionate about his work otherwise he or she not able to
motivate other people of the team (Botton, Cavallett and Marmeggi, 2013). M&S leader
should always excited about the new work and for that they have to present new ideas
and methods.
 Visionary : A leader should have the clear vision through which they are able to enrol l
the team on the right path (Higgins and et. al., 2014). He or she should know where they
are and where they want to go so that correct direction to the employees should be given.
If the leader of M&S is not have proper vision than they are not able to direct their
employees towards business goal.
 Communication skills : The leader should have good communication skills so that they
are able to inform their team about the route through which they are able to achieve
business objective (Thaler, Priest and Fuchs, 2016). Leader of M&S inform the team
about the path which they have to undergo so that they will prepare their mind according
to that.
Comparison between leader and manager
Basis Leader Manager
Aim Leader aim is the growth and
development of the
organisation.
Manager aim is achieving the
assigned target.
Conflict Leader always uses conflict as
a asset for the organisation
benefit.
Mangers avoid conflicts
because they think that
business goal can be achieved
by the mutual cooperation.

Change Leaders always adopted
changes for the development
of the organisation
Manger does not adopt the
changes in the organisation,
they follow the alteration
which leader makes for the
growth.
Subordinate The person who work under
leader is known as follower.
The person who work under
manager is known as
employee.
3 Managerial functions and leadership roles by effectively applying a range of management
theories and concepts
Manager and leader play a most important role in an organisation for applying
management theories and concept properly. There are some some specific function and role are
determine below -
 Organising: These are the working practices in which manager and leader provide their
effective contribution to organising task and activities in effective manner. Through this,
they both are allocate roles and responsibility to employees in effective manner.
 Monitoring – In an organisation, manager and leader play a most important role in order
to monitoring working attributes of an individual. All these aspects assist in managing
changes for further control practices.
 Controlling: Manager and leader both are planing to controlled operational approaches
in better manner. They both are formulate specific strategies to getting desired results
properly.
4 Roles of a leader and functions of a manager apply in those situations.
Leader and managers are the two person who handle different post on the basis of which
they behave. Both the individual have different nature on the ground of which they react in the
various condition of the undertaking. Their personality may be different but the objective is same
which is organisational goal.
Conflicts : Disputes are an indispensable part of an organisation. (Woo and Lee, 2011).
Manger have the strong belief that organisation goal can be achieved with the help of mutual

coordination and cooperation between the team. Manager of respective company always avoid
the dispute through their continuous effort. Leaders of consider conflict as a opportunity which is
necessary for carry out business activities effectively. They truly believe that if there is tension in
the employees than they able to perform more dedicatedly and passionately because it will
ultimately strengthen their relationship.
Risk taking : Success is achieved only by moving on the path of Failure. Leaders are
always ready to try some new things without making a thought what happen if they fail. There
are many person who are successful in their life have definitely also faced failure in their initial
stage of their work. They always make efforts to avoid the risk. Managers always avoid the
problems rather than facing it (Lind, 2013). Manager of M&S always resist from taking the risk
which is involved in the new methods where as leader always initiated the risk by finding new
techniques of the work.
Innovation : Innovation is the technique which make business to survive for a longer
period and compete with the rival firms (Drucker, 2012). Due to this product comes back from
the declining stage toward growth and maturity stage. Innovation can be brought in the form of
incremental advances in the technology and the process. Managers never take initiative for
innovation and creativity in the organisation because their activity is limited to the work which is
assigned to them.

(Source- Leadership and Management, 2014)
Control : It is the important element of the business. Control is the process which take
place in the organisation for assigning, evaluating and regulating resources for the
accomplishment of organisational goal (Angles, 2012). It should be implemented in the business
so that deviation can be known on time and for that effective measures should be avoided.
According to manager of M&S control is very necessary part if they want to get high
performance out of subordinates leading to achievement of targets. Where as leader trust their
employees that they perform effectively the work which assigned to them.
5 Different management and leadership theories to support growth and sustainable performance.
Efficient leader is a individual who adopt different leadership style according to the
situation prevailing in the market (Zhang and Chen, 2014) . Normally leaders adopt one or two
leadership style in the business. But the prospering leaders always adopt a mixture of the
leadership style to make their business successful. They adopt the precise style at the right time
to get maximum benefit.
Illustration 1: Leadership and Management

Situational leadership: This is a leadership style in which leader or the manager make
changes in their style according to the persistent situation in the business environment . In this
leadership leader have to make changes in their the style according to follower . It bring
alteration in the organisation structure on the basis on the situation prevailing in the market
which will leads to availing better performance based outcomes. The operations team of M&S
can be affected by this type of leadership as the leader changes his style every time on the basis
of different situations. The company have to make modification in their business with the
alteration in the style. Increase in the cost issue of the institution can be handled by the help of
this leadership method (Steinberg,2011).
(Source- Situational leadership, 2018)
System leadership : The leader adopt this style on the ground of vision and mission of
the enterprise (Ellis and et. al., 2015). New methods are follow on the basis of system of
arrangement not the system is modified according to the new ideas and techniques. This
leadership approach attempts to create a system where all the resources in an organisation
productively and create to corporate goals.
Illustration 2: Situational leadership

Contingency leadership : Alteration should be made in the organisation on the basis of
the conditions to achieve success and to sustain for longer period of time. In the business there
are certain situations which occur randomly, at that time correct decision can save business and
able to earn profit. There are certain situations which occur suddenly and to cope with that
business have to make changes through adopting strategy. M&S have to make changes in their
policy according to the uncertain situation which arises due to external environment in which
they work(Parisio and Glielmo, 2013)
6 Strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches.
Great leaders are those who never rely on single leadership style, they have variety of
style which they adopt according to the situation. There are various leadership style which
business adopt on the ground of conditions but here only three are explained briefly:
Situational leadership :
 Strength : It is practical ,easy to understand and can be applied in different context such
as family or work.
 Weakness : These style is a problem for the employees because they are less flexible to
adapt various situations which are occurred in the business.
System leadership :
 Strength : With the help of same strategies and policy business able to achieve its
desired goal.
 Weakness : There are some new strategies and technique which cannot be applied in the
organisation by the little modification. To take benefit of this there is a requirement of
full modification in the organisation structure which is difficult to implement (Reim,
Parida and Sjödin, 2016).
Contingency leadership :
 Strength : It help the business to adopt the new methods which are prevailing in the
society to increase their market share (O’Donnell and et. al., 2013).
 Weakness : The leader make changes in the organisation suddenly according to
prevailing situations at that time business not able to analyse the positive and negative
outcome of that step (Karangelos and Wehenkel, 2016.).

7 Conclude on how managers and leaders make impacts on the organisation and make
recommendations for future improvements.
Manager and leader both are the key elements of Mark and Spencer who assist in
managing specific activities of firm. For them it is required to analysing each and every situation
properly so that they can manage them in effective manner. They both needs to working through
strategic planning practices that assist them to managing business activities properly for future
business approaches. It can be apply in formal or informal activities in order to achieve desired
target. Manager of an organisation works for a business goal for its development, monitors,
control and implementation approaches where as leader sustain with them by playing effective
role in different situations.
TASK 2
1 Introduce operation management of your organization and explain the key approaches adopted
by the organisation.
Operation management is present in every organisation whether that is established on
small scale or large scale (Susskind, Camacho and Schenk, 2012). Operations management in
context of Marks & Spencer assures that production processes are carried out in a smooth
manner along with maintaining optimum efficiency. There are different key approaches of
operation management are determine below as -
Six sigma methodology : Six sigma is a disciplined, statistical data which aim is to
eliminate defect in the product and services. It removes wastage in the inventory, transportation,
over processing (Pinkerton,2011). There are many companies which are adopting six sigma for
doing their business. It a methodology which organisation used in their operations in order to
improve the performance by the help of team. In the M&S managers apply this theory in order to
reduce the wastes and enhance production.
Total quality management methodology : The main aim of this approach is
continuously improving the quality of the products and services offered by the business. The
alteration in the product and services should be done on the basis of needs and demands of the
customer. Modification in the quality of the product make business able to achieve long term
success because it delivers satisfaction to the customer.

Just in time methodology : This is a method which say that business have to order the
material from the supplier only when there is a need of production. This approach is adopted in
the business in order to reduce the cost of handling inventory and useless wastage of material in
the undertaking(Chen and Jiang, 2011).
2 Identify the roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in successful management of the
operation of your organization.
Operation management practices in an organisation aid tin determining surety that
production processes are carried out in a smooth way. It includes the role of the leader and
manger which help business to make effective strategies. The main work of the operation
management is to increase the productivity of the business by using less resources.
Six sigma methodology :
 The role of managers in this that they plan such type of strategy which minimizes the
inappropriate utilisation of the resources. The role of leader in the six sigma is to
motivate for the team work for the betterment of the business.
Total quality management methodology :
 The role of manager in the organisation is adopting new policies, strategies and effective
communication for the continuous improvement in the production process (Lechner and
Steffenini, DR Gaming Tech, 2012). The role of leader of the concerned business is to
motivate the individual to work effectively without resisting change so that business able
to improve its quality of the product.
Just in time methodology :
 The role of manager is to direct the production department that inventory should be bring
in control in the organisation in order to improve the production. The role of leader is to
keep the track in which time employees produce the required commodity and at what
quantity.
3 Explain the importance and value of the key approaches to operations management in
achieving organizational objectives successfully.
Operation management is a tool through which marks and Spencer control their business
activities (O’Donnell and et. al., 2013). The aim of operation department is to provide effective
product with the less resources. When operations department managed all work and functions
properly than business able to achieve success otherwise business have to face many

consequences. The operation manger and its team of Marks and Spencer focuses on JIT and
TQM approaches so that efficient supply chain could be developed. Importance of operation
management in the achieving business goal are as follows :
 Improve productivity : It is undertaken in the business to improve its overall
productivity. It focuses on the available resources through which organisation able to
achieve business goal (Niknam,Meymand and Mojarrad,2011). With the undertaking of
Just-in-time approach to operations management business is able to reduce its costs and
simultaneously enhance its profit level.
 Optimum utilization of the resources : Effective utilisation of resources bring long
term profit in the organisation. They will be able to use this resources for satisfying future
needs. Through proper utilisation of the resources business able to make profit which
help them in their upcoming future. By the help of TQM organisation can produced
quality based product.
 Dynamic process : Operation management is a continuous process which is used in the
organisation for the maintaining of use of resource like labour, available of raw material
and many other things (Karangelos and Wehenkel, 2016.). It will support M&S in
managing their daily activities and provide product according to customer's demand.
4 Evaluate how managers and leaders could be effective in improving operational efficiencies to
successfully meet business objectives
Manager and leaders are the two important key aspect of Mark and Spencer who play a
most important role in order to managing business activities in a effective manner. There major
working aspects are determine below as -
Focus on customers – Leader and manager of Mark & Spencer pay their maximum
attention towards customers requirement and need in order to providing quality service to them
effectively. For this they both implement numerous strategies through strategic planning
practices.
Audit – In Mark & Spencer, manager continuous conducts auditing practices for
managing accounting approaches properly as well as managing business capital and funds in
appropriate manner.

5 impact of external business environment factors on operational management decisions by
leaders and managers.
Marks and Spencer offer values, ethics ,innovation and quality in order to satisfy their
customers. There are various factors which impact upon the operational management and
decision-making are as follows-
Government policies : The existing legal environment creates a big problem for every
kind of enterprise whether large or medium (Susskind, Camacho and Schenk, 2012). Continuous
changes in the government policies force business to do modification in their business structure.
This kind of alteration creates problem for the operation department as they have to adopt it in
their business whenever government applied new policies. It creates problem for the leader and
manger in making any decision because they have to check that what government have rules and
regulation regarding that.
Social responsibility : In today's time businesses take their social responsibilities
seriously because according to them it the way through which they are able to attract more
customers. There are large number of customers in the society which attract to the organisation
who have fulfil their responsibilities. Several times it has been seen that business ignore the
benefit of the society and harm the nature (Wang and Cullinane, 2015). This type of activity
should give benefit to the business for the shorter period of time but in long term period it
damage the reputation of the undertaking and decrease the sales. This kind of situations can be
handled by the help of managers and leaders.
Technology : Today society is changing continuously, Business and its authority have to
adopt new technology in order to survive for a longer period of time. Sometimes businesses have
to make changes in their technology because their competitor is changing and to compete with
them enterprise should adopt it whether from their own will or by pressure. Manager and leader
are required adopt new technology in the business so that they bring innovation and creativity.
Undertaking should make alteration on time to time so that business be able to save them from
declining stage (Hammill and Tanner,2011).
6 Include critical evaluation of the application of operations management to manage the factors
that impact on the wider business environment
Business environment is flexible in nature it involves two factors internal as well as
external. Explanation of these are as follows:-

Internal factors: These kind of factors determines aspects of internal environment that
influence decision making power of firm. These factors can be customers, employees, investors
and so on(Kale, 2013). These kind of factor assist in determining internal strength and
weaknesses of firm in terms of grabbing desired opportunities. For firm it is required to analyze
factors of weaknesses in order to reducing its negative effects. The internal and existing factors
of organization assist in maximizing business profitability and growth. Apart from this it also
effect business environment and wider community because retail sector is large sector in
business environment.
External factors – External environmental factors has major influence in decision
making approaches of a firm. For this manager and leader needs to make strategic planning
practices that assist them to managing negative impact of these factors on business operations.
7 Conclude and suggest recommendations for future improvements to be taken by the
organisation.
For a business organisation it is required to having a predetermined gaols and objectives
that assist in attain desired growth. In this procedure manager and leader of firm provides their
effective contribution for attaining business objectives. Manager and leader of an organisation
are the key member who work in planning, monitoring, controlling and implementing several
business ideas. For them it is required to analyse impacts of different factors upon business
decision making as well as operational practices. All these activities helps in managing business
functional and operational approaches for future business benefits.
CONCLUSION
The main aim of operation management is to convert input into output effectively so that
organisation profit is maximized. Operation management is needed in the organisation to satisfy
the need of the customer with the help of physical product and services. From the above
conclusion, it is known that various theories of management and different style of leadership
help the businesses organisation in achieving their desired goal. There are several roles which are
performed by manager like planning or resource allocation in proper manner whereas leader
have to remain patient and motivate employees to put efforts in correct direction.

Online Referencing
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Situational leadership, 2018. [online] Available through<https://www.project-management-
skills.com/situational-leadership-model.html>.
Leadership and Management, 2014. [online] Available
through<https://maliwanblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/28/leadership-and-management/
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