Management and Operations: Roles, Characteristics, and Theories

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Activity 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Background of the chosen organisation......................................................................................3
Define and compare various roles & characteristics of a leader as well as manager..................3
Role of leader and function of manager in respective situations................................................5
Theories and Models of Leadership............................................................................................6
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................7
Approaches to operations management......................................................................................7
Importance and value of operations management to attain organisational objective.................7
Relationship between management and leadership in business environment.............................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is defined as a practice to develop the highest level of efficiency
possible in a company. In addition to this, it is associated with transforming raw material into
products & services which maximise profit in an effective manner. The important role of
managers is to manage all operations and activities in a proper manner as it assist in meeting
with targets in a timely manner (Gholizadeh 2019). For the present report, Innocent drinks is
taken into consideration. The company makes juices and smoothies that is sold through coffee
shops, supermarkets and other outlets as well. The company was founded in the year 1998 and its
head office is located in London, UK. The report is divided into two activities, the first activity
will cover roles of leaders and managers along with a comparison among them. In addition to
this, there will be discussion about different leadership theories and approaches as well. The 2nd
activity consist of operational management approaches and significance of operations
management in attaining business objectives. Later, the report will elaborated factors that
influence on decision-making and operational management by leaders & managers.
Activity 1
Background of the chosen organisation
Innocent drinks make juices, smoothies, kid's drink and many more. At present, it is a
market leaders with 450 employees, 80% share of UK cake and an ownership of coca cola. The
mission of the company is to offer quality and fresh drink in market so that it can gain the
position of market leader (Bianchi, 2018). The company was established by three cambridge
university graduates named as Jon Wright, Richard Reed and Adam Balon. The target market of
company is adults and parents who want a healthy lifestyle.
The company started business from entrepreneurial structure and after the few years, it
adopt hierarchical structure and the reason of changing is to satisfy the requirements. The entity
believe that hierarchical structure assist in separating different departments to attain
specialisation. This structure help company to share responsibility and implement activities in a
systematic manner.
Define and compare various roles & characteristics of a leader as well as manager.
Managers are the one who takes responsibility to control and administer all the
employees prevailing on the company. On the other hand, leaders guides and motivates

employees to attain and meet with the targets in a timely and effective manner. The role of
leaders and characteristics of manager is given below:
Role of Leaders
Vision Setting: It is analysed that leaders set the vision by undertaking all the activities,
values and objectives of company. In addition to this, it is analysed that performing such role by
leaders in an effective manner will assist company to achieve their vision and gain growth as
well.
Decision maker: Another role of leader is to take best decision by analysing situations arise at
workplace (Hassi, 2018). It is analysed that leader with effective communication skills is able to
represent their decision in a proper manner to the staff members.
Role of Manager:
Resource Allocation: One of the major role perform by managers is to allocate the
resource in such a way that help company to maximise its value and enhance its performance
level as well. The manager of Innocent drinks focuses on using the resource in a maximum
manner and for this they put the right people on right place.
Monitoring: Another role of manager's is to check and monitor all activities perform by
employees as it help in making comparison among actual performance and expected
performance. This help managers of Innocent drinks to improve their performance level and
achieve desired goals timely.
Characteristics of a leader:
Self control: It is important for a leader to have the capabilities to differentiate between
what is beneficial or accepted and what is not. It is determine that self control make an individual
motivated and encourage towards their objectives and vision.
Communication: It is significant for a leader to have an effective communication skills
as they provide instruction of guidelines to staff members to attain tasks, objectives and vision as
well.
Characteristics of a manager:
Time management: An effective manager is one who has the ability to manage all
activities and implement them on time period. It help company to meet with their targets and
gain success at marketplace.