Operations Management: Case Study Analysis

This assignment requires students to analyze the influence of leadership styles on operations management by comparing the production systems of Fiat and Toyota. It draws upon relevant academic literature, including a review of qualitative case study trends in operations management, to guide the analysis. Students will consider strategic management, performance measurement, and the impact of different leadership approaches on organizational success.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Role and characteristics of leaders and managers..................................................................1
P2 Applying role of manager and leader in different situational contexts..................................4
P3 Different theories and models................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role that played by managers or leaders....7
P5 Significance and value of operational management in attaining business objectives............8
P6 Influence of factors on operational management and decision making by leaders or
managers.....................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Operational management is a field where administration concerned with designing or
managing the process of manufacturing and redesigning innovative goods or services. In fact,
primarily it is concerned with regulation of overall production system by conversing input into
output and raw materials in finished goods for final consumption (Akkerman, Farahani and
Grunow, 2010.). Basically, major objective of production department is to manufacture, manage
quality and creates service. Marks and Spencer is a multinational retailer organization by having
its headquartered in city of Westminster, London and it is famous for its qualitative clothing
products, household goods or various luxury items. This assignment is segmented into two equal
section for highlighting the eminent role played by managers and leaders of referred association
in their development. Along with this, it also shows the way head of an enterprise deal in
different situational context by using numerous of appropriate theories or approaches.
Additionally, significance of operational management in attaining organisational goals or
objectives is also outlined in this project.
TASK 1
P1 Role and characteristics of leaders and managers
Leaders and managers both the term are totally different from each other in terms of their
roles and responsibilities towards goal attainment of an enterprise. Marks and Spencer is a very
large organization by having its branches or subsidiaries across international borders by
satisfying the needs or demands of domestic as well as foreign clients (Alderton and Saieva,
2013). They are engaging in manufacturing impressive clothes, luxurious products and
qualitative household items which requires high level of manpower in order to accomplish all
these activities in an efficient manner. Thus, higher authorities of selected firm classifies the
entire association in various department such as; operational, marketing, finance, human resource
and so on for appropriate working of an enterprise. Therefore, various leaders and managers are
appointed by board of directors for managing entire staff in efficient manner. Basically, both of
them are perform different roles and responsibilities as per their designation.
Leaders are the head of a specific team in order to attain their group goals or targets by
assisting their unit members towards common objectives. Their main objective is to encourage
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their group staff towards personal or professional targets and understand the power of
togetherness. Hence, essential roles of leaders is described as under:- Necessity at every level:- Leaders are very much indispensable at every level of an
organization to lead a team or group of members in order to proper functioning of an
association or particular department. They are responsible to handle small unit for
maintaining the environment of an enterprise (Baldwin, Allen and Ridgway, 2010). Representative of team:- According to this role leaders are liable for representing views
or opinions of their subordinates in front of higher authority. In fact, head of a team
involve in a decision making process on behalf of their entire group. Philosopher and guide:- Leaders always try to maintain a healthy relations with their
juniors and act as a friend by guiding in a best way so that they can resolve their issues. Encourage towards group objectives:- One of the major role which is played by leaders
is that they are also liable for motivating group members towards personal or
occupational goals.
 Increase the confidence level:- Build their confidence by boosting their morale with the
help of various training programmes or events.
All these above roles are played by a successful or skilled leaders and few important
characteristics of successful leaders is stated as follows:- Potentiality of resolving problems:- If an individual is leading a team either formal or
informal they have to face every type of issues or barriers because future is uncertain.
Thus, an effective leaders must know how to deal with various problematic
circumstances and skills of resolving issues (Barratt, Choi and Li, 2011). Risk taker:- Successful head must have ability to face every type of risk which is
encountered by them while managing a team.
 Politeness:- Warm nature of leaders is essential while interacting with their group
members for creating a mutual understanding between them.
On contrary to this managers are always professional head which is hired or appointed by
higher authority of an organization for managing entire association or assigned department.
Thus, essential roles and responsibilities of managers are highlighted below:-
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 Management of overall association:- First and foremost obligation of managers from
every department is that they are responsible to control or manage entire organization for
proper functioning. Along with this maintain the surrounding of an association. Organizing managerial activities:- Secondly, they are liable for planning, coordinating,
formulation of various business operations for smooth running of a firm (Chiarini and
Vagnoni, 2015). Job distribution:- Marks and Spencer is a very large enterprise by having numerous of
employees working under this due to which it is not easy to allot work and requires
managerial power. Thus, managing department of an organization is responsible for
assigning job to their staff members as per their specialisation.
 Allocation of resources:- For producing creative items, raw materials are very much
essential which is allocate by managers of a company. They distribute it in an efficient
manner as per requirement of particular department.
(Source:- Difference Between Leaders and Managers, 2017)
Consequently, it is not easy to accomplish all these above roles and duty which requires
managerial quality or characteristics which is described below:-
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Illustration 1: Difference Between Leaders and Managers

 Tolerance power:- Most important skills which is required to managers is that the must
have high level of patience to deal with various difficult situations. Capability of reducing risk:- Marks and Spencer expanded across international borders
and affecting by various internal or external factors which requires managerial skills for
dealing with business issues (David, 2011).
 Managerial skills:- Management department is full of complexities which require skills
for handing business activities.
P2 Applying role of manager and leader in different situational contexts
Managers and leaders both of them plays a very crucial role in Marks and Spencer by
performing their roles or responsibilities in an appropriate manner. Their main objective is to
manage all the managerial or business activities in an efficient manner by considering relevant
facts or figures. In fact, they are responsible for handling entire association with the help of
various tools or techniques and assist subordinates towards their assigned job role in order to
achieve company goals.
Marks and Spencer expanded across international market which requires lots of
manpower or managerial skills for maintaining the coordination between every branch of an
organization. In fact, they are also dealing with numerous of complex situations due to
emergence of several competitors. However, various complicated situations are occurred at
workplace in which mangers and leaders are responsible to manage as well as control issues by
playing eminent role (Galindo and Batta, 2013). Thus, various business circumstances and roles
of leaders or managers are highlighted as follows:- Decisional process:- Leaders and managers act as a indispensable part while decision
making process they are representing a specific team or department. Hence, it is
essential for them to get involve in judgement process in order to highlight the issues,
opinions or thoughts of their subordinates in front of the board of directors. In fact, it is
not take an effective decision because it requires necessary data or information by
considering interest or rights of supervisors as well as employees. Thus, leaders and
managers supports higher authority during judgement process by expressing the demand
of specific department or group for smooth functioning of an association. Risky situations:- Business is full of risk due to fluctuation in various essential factors
such as; taste or preferences of consumers, employees demand, political norms or rules,
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legal acts and so on. Hence, it is essential for leaders to be prepare for dealing with
various types of business risk accordingly. Problem solver:- Marks and Spencer is a very large firm as well as expanded across
number of geographical region due to which they are facing numerous of business
problems that requires assistant or guidance of managers or skilled leader in order to
resolve it in a minimum time period (Heizer, 2016). Conflicting situations:- Conflicts may arise at anytime without any alarm or signal
because every member have their own thoughts or opinions on specific topic which
resulted in conflicts . In fact, Marks and Spencer is having number of employees
performing at their workplace which are having distinct thoughts, life styles,
backgrounds, culture, tradition and so on. Thus, these factors sometime become a reason
for contentions between staff members which requires guidance of managers or leaders
to resolve it by clearing all the hidden points. Time management:- Managing a time is not an easy task because it requires managerial
skill to provide accurate time to a specific task by considering significant factors.
 Training and development:- An organization conduct training sessions for enhancing
the talent or skills of individuals performing at workplace in which managing team or
head department plays a vital role by organizing it in an appropriate manner.
Hence, it has been analysed that managers and leaders both of them are very crucial for
success or development of an enterprise by acting appropriately as per circumstances.
P3 Different theories and models
Leadership is word which signifies the capability or skills of a person of leading a team
and trying to maintain the relations between group members by creating a mutual understanding
between them (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013). Board of directors of Marks and
Spencer appoint leaders by considering their quality, learning, potentiality, knowledge and
various things which differentiate them from others. Thus, various theories are coined by various
scholars or theorist for understanding the leadership term in more deeper sense. Therefore,
several other approaches or models of leadership are described as follows:-
 Situational leadership:- This theory is proposed by Paul Heresy and Ken Blanchard
during performing on management of organisational behaviour. In fact, this approach is
initially coined as “Life cycle theory of leadership” but in almost mid of 1970s it was
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gain renamed as “situational leadership model”. According to this framework, there is no
single best or appropriate style is available for leading a team (O'Fallon and Rutherford,
2011). Basically, it categorized this type as per task behaviour and relationship which
leaders offers to their followers. Hence, it has been understood that head of a team needs
to act as per situation or circumstances and take decisions by considering essential facts
or figures. It means behaviour of leaders are changes due to alteration in situations and
need to act accordingly. Along with this, it also says that this leadership is fully rely on
performance of a person and overall group presentation.
(Source:- Steindl, 2017) System:- As per this approach leaders have to concerned with organizational norms,
values, policies, strategies, rules and regulation which is designed by higher authority of
an organization (Peng and Lai, 2012). It is also known as a system approach in which
leaders have to act in a disciplinary manner by following necessary policies.
 Contingency leadership:- In this model, scholar says that leaders have to make their
judgement by considering micro and macro components because all of them are
interrelated with each other. In fact, contingency model is just like situational due to
similarity in way of handling a team. It means they are also think that none of approach is
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Illustration 2: Situational Leadership

appropriate or best for managing a group or to lead an association. Hence, leaders follow
contingency approach may use their own way or method to deal with numerous of
circumstances (Song and Parola, 2015).
TASK 2
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role that played by managers or leaders
Management of operational department is an effective process or method that need
skilled or talented managers in order to control it in an appropriate manner. However, producing
department of Marks and Spencer requires effective leadership quality for managing overall
activities in an efficient manner with the use of appropriate frameworks. Hence, number of key
approaches of operational management are highlighted as follows:- Dynamic approach:- As per this framework, managers of Marks and Spencer trying to
minimize their number of issues or barriers in one go by adopting appropriate tools or
techniques. Thus, it has been understood that this model is very much useful and suitable
in accomplishing assigned task in a defined time period. System approach:- According to this model an organization need to follow necessary
rules and regulation which is designed by higher authority of a company. Major objective
of this assignment is to create an environment free from any discrimination or inequality
by implementing strict norms on every employees. Just in time:- Employees are assigned by some task or job role by defining suitable time
period. It means every individuals performing at workplace need to accomplish their
allotted work in a given time frame (Subramanian and Ramanathan, 2012). In fact, it is
consider as a inventory strategy whose main objective is to decreasing the inventory cost.
Apart from this, it also known as a pull approach which was introduced in around mid of
1960s and 1970s for minimizing the production duration. Total quality management:- First and foremost objective of this approach is to maintain
the product quality of an association by proposing numerous of ideas and techniques in
order to enhance the working quality as well as services.
 Six sigma:- It is a cluster of tools or techniques for enhancing procedure of operational
department which was coined by Bill Smith and Mikel J Harry in almost 1986.
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P5 Significance and value of operational management in attaining business objectives
Production or manufacturing department is also known as operational management in
which managers are going to create or design various unique products for satisfying the needs of
various customers (Yang, Hong and Modi, 2011). Along with this , they are also trying to make
goods as per consumers demand or choice for attaining organizational goals in a minimum
duration. Basically, it has been analysed that operational department is also indispensable for
success or development of a company due to their roles or obligation. Apart from this, number of
reasons are available which proves that operational management is significant for attaining goals
or objectives of Marks and Spencer are described below:- Conversion of input into output:- One of the major element which shows that
operational department is very much signifiant in attaining company goals is that it helps
in transferring raw materials into finished goods in order to create final products. Thus,
an organization may run their business when they get succeeded in fulfilling choice or
preferences of desired customers. Maximisation in income:- Operational administration incorporates limiting costs
engaged with assembling process through different methodologies. Lessening in cost
prompts more benefits thus, this administration is likewise useful in expanding
gainfulness of this organization which is a definitive target of each business firm. Proper usage of resources:- As per this element an enterprise can use appropriate asset
for designing their products such as; land and building, plan or machinery, labours, raw
materials etc. Reducing wastages:- Every association needs to accomplish economies to scale from
creation unit. This is connected with producing greatest conceivable yields from given
assets (Zurich, 2017). In M&S, operational administration is in charge of limiting
squanders related with assembling by diminishing expenses and time utilization. This
aides in greater productivity of this organization.
 Satisfaction of customers:- It is vital for this association to accomplish higher level of
purchaser fulfilment to accomplish upper hands. This is additionally important to
produce client faithfulness and assume that aides in pulling in new purchasers and
holding existing ones for long time. Operations administration assumes exceptionally
essential part in upgrading nature of items and administrations outline it according to
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requirements and inclinations of clients. This outcomes in more fulfilled shoppers and
makes faithful (Difference Between Leaders and Managers, 2017).
P6 Influence of factors on operational management and decision making by leaders or managers
Internal and external factors plays a very eminent role in attaining set objectives or goals
in a minimum duration by directing corrective path towards success. Business surrounding
incorporates outside and inward surroundings related with operations of company. These
components influences basic leadership in operational administration. It is required to consider
these variables so as to make solid and successful methodologies for business. These parts are
following-
Internal elements:- These components are connected with inward administration of
organization and it specifically influences exercises of basic leadership. It comprise following
segments:- Clients:- They are most persuasive factors as far as basic leadership. They are the general
population for whom items and administrations are created. It is required to recognize
their necessities and inclinations before taking choices with respect to plan of items. This
will help in producing more fulfilment from them. Workers:- They are most essential piece of this association. Workers are the individual
who for all intents and purposes actualizes procedures and approaches to accomplish
business destinations. Level of their execution influences profitability of general firm so
it is required to consider them in basic leadership process. This will help in spurring
representatives to work considerably harder for accomplishing targets. Authoritative structure:- It incorporates division of assignments into different useful
units. Diverse divisions performs distinctive capacities according to their aptitude and
abilities (Steindl, 2017). Nature of structure may influence basic leadership in operational
administration in this way, it is required to consider these variables to maintain a strategic
distance from obstructions related with these divisions.
 Shareholders :- These are the gatherings from whom organization purchases crude
material for creation. Their conduct influences basic leadership process. Thus, if
shareholders are not ready for offering material on time then it could impact fabricating
process severely
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CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been summarised that operational management is not an
easy task because it requires lots of manpower with guidance of talented leaders or managers in
order to resolve instant issues. This assignment is covers essential roles or responsibilities of
managers and leaders in Marks and Spencer while performing business activities. Along with
this, it also throw some lights on number of theories or useful models of leadership use by head
of referred association to perform their assigned task in an efficient manner. Hence, main
objective of report is to addressed the significance of operational department and obligation of
leaders while performing various function to attaining set objectives or goals.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akkerman, R., Farahani, P. and Grunow, M., 2010. Quality, safety and sustainability in food
distribution: a review of quantitative operations management approaches and
challenges. Or Spectrum. 32(4). pp.863-904.
Alderton, P. and Saieva, G., 2013. Port management and operations. Taylor & Francis.
Baldwin, J.S., Allen, P.M. and Ridgway, K., 2010. An evolutionary complex systems decision-
support tool for the management of operations. International Journal of Operations &
Production Management. 30(7). pp.700-720.
Barratt, M., Choi, T.Y. and Li, M., 2011. Qualitative case studies in operations management:
Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of Operations
Management. 29(4). pp.329-342.
Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2015. World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with
Toyota production system from a strategic management, management accounting,
operations management and performance measurement dimension. International
Journal of Production Research. 53(2). pp.590-606.
David, F.R., 2011. Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Peaeson/Prentice Hall.
Galindo, G. and Batta, R., 2013. Review of recent developments in OR/MS research in disaster
operations management. European Journal of Operational Research. 230(2). pp.201-
211.
Heizer, J., 2016. Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Krajewski, L.J., Ritzman, L.P. and Malhotra, M.K., 2013. Operations management: processes
and supply chains (Vol. 1). New York, NY: Pearson.
O'Fallon, M.J. and Rutherford, D.G. Eds., 2011. Hotel management and operations. John Wiley
& Sons.
Peng, D.X. and Lai, F., 2012. Using partial least squares in operations management research: A
practical guideline and summary of past research. Journal of Operations Management.
30(6). pp.467-480.
Song, D.W. and Parola, F., 2015. Strategising port logistics management and operations for
value creation in global supply chains.
Subramanian, N. and Ramanathan, R., 2012. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy
Process in operations management. International Journal of Production Economics.
138(2). pp.215-241.
Yang, M.G.M., Hong, P. and Modi, S.B., 2011. Impact of lean manufacturing and environmental
management on business performance: An empirical study of manufacturing firms.
International Journal of Production Economics. 129(2). pp.251-261.
Zurich, L.B., 2017. Service Operations and Management.
Online
Difference Between Leaders and Managers, 2017. [Online]. Available
through<https://www.lollydaskal.com/leadership/differencebetweenleaderandmanager/
>.
Steindl, 2017. [Online]. Available through<https://www.catalysts.cc/the-catalysts-way/9-4-
situational-leadership/>.
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