Management and Operations: Roles, Approaches, and Efficiency Improvement at John Lewis

This report explores the roles and functions of managers and leaders in the context of John Lewis, as well as the key approaches to operations management. It also discusses how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies to successfully meet business objectives at John Lewis. The report highlights the application of operations management and decision making by leaders and managers, and concludes with the importance of operation management in achieving organizational goals.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
Define and compare the roles of manager and leaders..........................................................3
Explain the roles and functions of leader & manager, Critically analysis leadership theory.3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
The key approaches to Operations Management...................................................................7
How leaders and managers can improve efficiencies to successfully meet business objectives
at John Lewis..........................................................................................................................8
Application of operations management and decision making by leaders and managers at John
Lewis .....................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are major part of business on the basis of which organisation
is able to achieve goals as well as objective sin proper manner (Cote, 2017). Main aim of this
report is to understand important of operational management within business. John Lewis, a
multinational firm headquartered in U.K. The firm deals in retail and is known as high end
department stores. It has many subsidiaries such as Waitrose Limited, John Lewis Properties plc
etc. This report comprises of comparison between characteristics and role of leaders as well as
managers, approaches of operation management, importance of operation management and
theories of leadership.
Task 1
Define and compare the roles of manager and leaders.
Leader-
It refers to a person who take a stand for encouraging, motivating, inspiring others for
moving with him (Chahal, 2020.). A leader has the ability to convince other people. Leaders of
John Lewis have an excellent level of knowledge and skills which make them to manage all the
activities of company. Their leaders help in maintaining a good relationship between higher
authorities and workers. Which create a healthy environment inside the selected firm.
Manager-
It refers to a person who is responsible for managing an organisation functions such as
planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. In context of company their managers
make plan and then organised their plan in organisation. They assigned roles and responsibilities
to their employees and monitoring their work. Managers of John Lewis timely takes corrective
action for successfully achieving goal of organisation.
Explain the roles and functions of leader & manager, Critically analysis leadership theory.
Role of leaders-
 Inspire and motivate- leaders of John Lewis play an important role in the organisation.
They influence and guide their employees to participate in a common effort. Their
leaders use effective and motivational technique for enhancing the efficiency of their
labour. Leaders provide timely information related to job performance to their workers.

 Effective time management- In relevance of John Lewis their leaders are effectively
manage time of organisation. Time management role of leaders increase their efficiency
towards work and empowering its team members (Ladkin, 2020).
Role of managers-
 Organizing- In relevance of selected firm their managers play an important role of
organising all activities of organisation. They organised their team and materials
according to their organisation plan. Managers also assigned work and authorities to their
employee for successfully achievement of goal of organisation.
 Leading- Rather than making plans and organizing, managers of John Lewis also
motivate, guide, and encourage their employees for achieving goal of organisation.
Functions of leaders-
 Setting goals- In context of company their leaders sets goals and motivate their
employees towards it. Setting of goals help them in preforming creative functions for the
achievement of goal (Mackey, 2019).
 Initiating action- Leader of John Lewis are not depending upon others, for taking
decisions and judgements for the betterment of their employees. They make new ideas
and decisions for development of knowledge and skills of their team members.
 Directions and motivations- In context to John Lewis, their leaders provide direction to
their employees related to work. And motivates them to do work with their full efficiency
for the achievement of organisation goals.
 Link between management and workers- Leader of selected firm works as a link
between management and employees of organisation. They help in describing
management plan and policies to their workers. And present employees interest in front
of management.
Functions of managers- Manager of selected firm perform five important functions which are
discuss below.
 Planning- According to this function of managers they plan an exact map of how to
achieve a particular goal (Qin, 2019)
 Organizing- After making the plan, manager assigned material and responsibility
according to its plan and focus on achievement of goal.

 Staffing- Manager of selected firm is work with its human resource department to
accomplished goal of organisation. This is an important function of manger, because in it
he selects right talent for organisation. It also works for providing training and
development programs for their employees.
 Directing- Manager of John Lewis company helps in motivating and encouraging their
employees towards the achievement of organisation objectives.
 Controlling- It is the most important function perform by managers in an organisation.
They need to continuously check work performance of their employees. They compare
actual work performance of their employees with actual goal of organisation. And take
corrective action if required.
Theories and approaches of leadership- Success of an organisation is depending on the
theories and approaches of leadership. In context of selected firm, its long term survival is
depending on achieving competitive benefits. That is only possible through effective leadership
approach and style. Selecting the best leadership style help an organisation in successfully
achieve its goal and face completion in the market. In relevance of John Lewis, they use different
types of leadership theories for managing the operational activities, which are discuss below:
Situational leadership theory: It refers to a leadership style in which style is selected on
the basis on different circumstances face by organisation. Situational leadership theory says that
leadership in depends on situation and claims that any one style is best. Situational leaders are
defined by their flexibility. In context of company their leaders always cross-ponding their
leadership in a respective situation. Leaders of John Lewis select this style for resolving conflicts
and achieving organisation goal. This theory of leadership is depending on the maturity of their
employees. In context of company four styles of situational theory are used by their leaders.
 Telling- In context of selected firm their leaders use this style for supervising and
guiding their employees or team members. This style is mostly used when the team is at
its growth stage. When a new person enters in selected firm training are providing for
making him better understanding of organisation.
 Selling- Leaders of chosen company use this style for motivating their employees
towards their work and task allotted to them. They provide social and emotional support
to their employees for enhancing their efficiency and productivity. Which help them in
successfully achieving company goal (Dais, 2017)

 Delegating- According to this leadership style leader are not concerned and interfere in
the task allotted to its employees. because it can be assumed that their employees have
high level of skills and experiences and they efficiently perform their job.
 Participating- In context of John Lewis this style is used when its team members have
lack of motivation for completing a task. This style of leadership providing instructions
and guidance to their employees. Which make them to easily perform their task.
Strength- In context of company this leadership style maintains a healthy relationship between
employees and leaders. That creates a good environment in organisation, which increase the
efficiency and productivity of their employees.
Weakness- This theory is based on skills of leaders, if decisions taken by leader are not effective
it adversarial effect the organisation. Another weakness of this theory is that it is based on
immediate needs (Rawat, 2019).
Contingency leadership theory- According to this leadership theory the success of a
leader is not only depends on his ability. This theory state that effective leadership is based on
these three factors: situation, traits and behaviour. In context of company their leader’s behaviour
is change according to the situation. And their leadership style is acceptable in all situations.
Strength- In context of John Lewis this theory helps leader to enhance their leadership style.
Another strength of this theory is that it provides structure and goal to the relevance company.
Weakness- Main weakness of this theory is that it is a complex theory. It seems to be very
simple but leaders face difficulties when they practically applying it in organisation
Behavioural leadership theory- This type of theory is based on behaviour of leaders
rather than traits. It helps relevance company in understanding the personal traits of its leaders.
Traits of leaders increase their efficiency and their productivity which makes them in achieving
organisation goal.
Strength- This theory supports the ideas that leadership traits can be learned through
development and experiences
Weakness- In context of company their leaders have lack of knowledge on how behaviour
theory is used in various culture faced by organisation. Behaviour of leader is work in a situation
doesn't means that it is suitable in another situation also.

Task 2
The key approaches to Operations Management.
Six sigma
Six sigma is defining as process of evaluating every steps of an activity using various
tools and techniques. This process helps to improve the efficiencies of the firm by continuously
measuring the quality and ensuring performance of work quantitatively. The main aim of six
sigma process is ensuring operation betterment and using measurement supported strategy in the
organisation. In context to John Lewis, the role of leader and manger plays in implementing six
sigma are highlighted below:
Role of leader: Leader is someone who motivates and encourages his team, he has ability to
influence or convince others. In context to John Lewis, leaders have a fabulous level of
knowledge and ability which make them to manage all the activities of the firm. The leadership
team at the firm leads the overall efforts and takes responsibility of selecting as well as
approving the projects and evaluating each steps of process involved.
Role of manager: The role of manager in an organisation is managing all the function of
management such as planning, organising, staffing, directing and controlling. In respect to John
Lewis, manager performs all the management function of the firm, manager creates and develop
an environment that sets the platform for employee’s success (Reis, 2019)
Lean Management:
Lean management is defining as process where responsibility and leadership are shared
equally, lean management facilitates continuous improvement and ensure contribution of each
and every employee in the process. In respect to john Lewis, role of leader and manager plays in
effective utilisation of lean management are highlighted below:
Role of leader: In context to company, leader ensures that employees are motivated and
their efforts are valued, lean leaders ensures the workers performance in lean production system.
Role of manager: In context to John Lewis, lean manager plays an important role in
optimising the product or services process, he properly defines product and services involved.

How leaders and managers can improve efficiencies to successfully meet business objectives at
John Lewis.
In context to John Lewis, to improve efficiencies of business leaders and manager are using
various methods of operation management like waste reduction, efficient inventory management,
cost reduction, resource management etc.
 Leaders and mangers of the firm uses techniques like volume reduction, recovery and
reuse to reduce the wastage and improve the efficiency.
 For efficient inventory management leaders and manager at the firm ensures that the right
product is at the accurate place at the accurate time and keep a proper record of stocked
commodity.
 Leaders and manager at the company uses various techniques to reduce cost like
budgetary control, standard costing, cost benefit analysis and value analysis.
 Resource management is defining as process of optimum utilisation of resources,
techniques like resource allocation, resource levelling and forecasting is used be the
leader and manager of John Lewis, to increase the efficiency of business (Jabbour,
2020).
Application of operations management and decision making by leaders and managers at John
Lewis
Mangers helps the organisation to achieve goals and objectives of the firm, manager
manages all the functions of the organisation with the aim of achieving all the pre-determined
plans, whereas main aim of leader is motivating the work force and encouraging them to achieve
their goals. In context to John Lewis, various application of operation management and decision
making are highlighted below:
 One of the most important application of operation management used by leader and
manager at the firm is Kaizen, Kaizen is define as continuous efforts by all workers of
the firm to ensure the overall improvement of system. John Lewis uses this application to
improve their performance efficiently and effectively.
 The manager and leader at the firm ensure the smooth flow of goods and services, supply
chain management help to increase consumer value and ensure competitive benefit at
the marketplace.

 In context to John Lewis, Logistic is properly managed by the manager of the firm, all
the decision related to the logistics are taken by the manger, logistic management is an
element of supply chain management that is used to meet customer need through proper
allocation of goods and services.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that operation management plays an
important role in smooth functioning of operation in an organisation. In addition to this,
operation management helps in achieving organisational goals and objectives, the assessment
also showcases the various roles and functions of manager and leader in an organisation, also
there are various theories of leadership which are highlighted. Key approaches to operation
management such as six sigmas’, lean management helps in increasing effectiveness and
efficiency of the firm. Above report also highlights the evaluation of how leader and managers
can improve efficiencies through waste reduction, efficient inventory management, cost
reduction etc. also critical evaluation of application of operation management and decision
making by leaders and manager using various applications tools like kizen, supply chain and
logistics are explained in the above report. Operation management helps in improving the overall
per formation and quality of the firm.

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
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RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie, Volume 18(2), pp. 104-129.
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building the bridge through exemplar case studies.
Jobbour, 2020. Sustainability implications for operations management. building the bridge
through exemplar case studies.
Ladkin, 2020. Why are there so many different theories of leadership?. In Rethinking Leadership.
Edward Elgar Publishing..
Mackey, 2019. Leaders and followers behaving badly: A meta‐analytic examination of curvilinear
relationships between destructive leadership and followers’ workplace behaviors.
Personnel Psychology, Volume 72(1), pp. 3-47.
Qin, 2019. Applying big data analytics to monitor tourist flow for the scenic area operation
management. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society.
Rawat, 2019. Impact assessment of electric vehicle charging/discharging strategies on the
operation management of grid accessible and remote microgrids. International Journal
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Reis, J. a. e. a., 2019. Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. XXIV IJCIEOM,
Volume 1(1), pp. IX-296.