Tesco Operational Management Strategies

The report discusses the role of operational managers in Tesco, focusing on contingency leadership and effective decision making. It also explores various approaches such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, and Lean Production to improve product quality. The report is based on a review of relevant literature and patents related to operations management.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction of the organisation..............................................................................................1
2.Role of a leader and a manager, highlighting leadership and management.............................1
3.The different roles of management and leadership in application to different organisational
situations, supported by theories and concepts...........................................................................3
4.Strength and weakness of different approach of leadership.....................................................5
5.Conclusion and Recommendations..........................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
1.Operations of Tesco.................................................................................................................6
2. Roles and Responsibilities of managers in key operational functions of Tesco.....................7
3. Key elements and approaches to operational mangement......................................................7
4.Evaluation of impact of external business environment factors that affect decision making.. 8
5. Improvement operational efficiency to meet business objectives...........................................9
6. Conclusion of the present task................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management and Operations are concerned with essential aspects of an organisation.
Management refers to art of getting the work done through others and includes controlling and
administering of business activities. Whereas operation management refers to managing and
controlling all the operations and activities of business. A leader and manager plays an important
role in improving the performance of an organisation. HR intern also pays a great role in an
organisation as they have to update the record of employee every time with the new joining.
Moreover they help in organising and coordinating of HR policies.
Under this study, Tesco, a multinational food retailing company has been taken. It deals
in number of product segments like clothing, furnitures, financial services and so on. Mr. Dave
Lewis is the CEO of Tesco. The study is conducted to understand the various contributions
made by a leader and a manager to improve the performance of the organisation. The main aim
behind this report is to explore, plan and develop all aspects of managing operations in an
organisation (Adebanjo, Laosirihongthong and Samaranayake, 2016). The study will cover
various approaches and theories of leadership which will help in improving the overall efficiency
of an organisation.
TASK 1
1. Introduction of the organisation.
In the present study, Tesco, a multinational food retailing company has been taken.The
company was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919, and is headquartered in Welwyn Garden City,
UK. The company was named Tesco in 1924, and it first shop was opened in 1931. By the year
1939, Tesco has opened 100 shops all over the country. In the year 1990 the company has
operated successfully in almost around 11 countries. Though a impact was seen in the year 2013
but now the company is successfully having its operation and has grown 2500 shops around the
world. This public limited company deals in food and non-food products and has extended its
services by providing hardware services, mobile, insurance and finance services. It is ranked as
the second biggest retailer in terms of revenue and profit earned.
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Above mentioned structure is followed by Tesco which are having a store manager in the
department. Further classified into Food trading manager which is looking after the fresh food
and ambient food. There is one another department in which manager is looking after electrical
sector and clothing sector. And lastly there is a personal manager who is looking overall for the
company.
2.Role of a leader and a manager, highlighting leadership and management.
In the modern world it is very necessary for every organisation, to have a manager and a
leader who are responsible for better functioning of organisation. Both of them helps an
organisation to establish good reputation in the market and building strong relationships with the
employees.
According to Peter Drucker, A leader is a person which has so many followers and
acccording to John Maxwell, A leader is a one who has the ability to influence others. A leader is
a person who is responsible to influence and motivate employees in order to successful
accomplishments of organisational goals. Leaders creates a vision of what they see as possible
and they inspire and motivate their employees to turn vision into reality. They activate people to
do something bigger and work for it together as they know that high functioning teams can
attain a lot more by working together than working individually (Wilke, Majumdar and
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Ochieng, 2014). They are the risk takers as they are keen to learn learn new and innovative thing
everyday, and they may fail sometimes but never loose their confidence as they know failure is a
path to success. A leader in Tesco will be responsible to motivate individuals in such a way that
they perform best of their ability and will also be responsible to handle risk which is affecting in
the functioning of an organisation.
According to George R, manager has the potential of getting things done from the others.
A manager is an individual who is responsible for controlling all the business activities and is in-
charge of an organisation. They are the one who focus on measuring, setting and achieving goals
of the company and do every possible thing to reach or exceed their objective. They seek to
avoid or control risk by not facing the problem, as they are scared that risk might occur (Choi,
Wallace and Wang, 2018). A manager in Tesco will be responsible to plan and control all the
functions effectively in the business such that the company can achieve huge amount of profits
and can stay competitive in the market.
Leadership and management performs an essential function in success of any
organisation. Leadership is defined as the potential to influence and motivate individuals and
drive the group efforts towards towards accomplishment of goals to attain smooth success in
business. And Management is the sum total of handling all the functions performed in an
organisation i.e.,planning, staffing, organising, directing and controlling. It is the act of
managing all activities of an organisation which will enhance the strategy by effective
coordination for achieving the objective. Various differences are there in both which are
mentioned below:
Leadership Management
 Leadership is concerned with a skill of
motivating others. Here the leader of
Tesco is always motivating the
employees to work for the organisation.
 It focuses on planning, organizing,
directing and controlling. Leaders of
Tesco always make a proper plan for
the employees and then help them to
direct and control.
 Management is an art of systematically
organizing and coordinating things in
an efficient way. The manager of Tesco
is always concerned about achieving of
the company's target as a whole.
 It focusses on inspiring, motivating and
building relationships. Managers of
Tesco not always delegate their task on
other employees rather they tries to
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 It is followed in order to encourage
change in the working culture. Leaders
encouraged the employees to work in
changing environment which helps
them complete their task timely.
 Leader influence other individuals to
do a task. By proper motivation and
knowledge leaders of tesco can get
their work done by the other
employees.
build effective relationship in order to
get support of the employees in hard
times.
 It is followed in order to bring stability
in performance of an organisation.
 Manger give orders to employees to
perform a task. Task are only delegated
by the managers of Tesco according to
the capabilities of the employees.
Some of the similarities between leaders and managers are :
 Managers and leaders both works with people and are surrounded by the people in order
to get work done. This means that both the managers and leaders of Tesco works with
full team in order to attain success.
 A organisation is incomplete without managers and leaders which means they both plays
a important role in formation of an organisation structure.
 Managers and leaders of Tesco are so goal oriented. There main motive is achieving the
goals by indulging the employees in their work.
Various functions performed by a leader and manager are:
 Planning: It refers to the process of thinking in advance what is to be done, how it is to
be done, and who will do it. This function in the organisation is responsible for predicting
future regarding mission and what all resources can be used. Tesco can plan to maximize
its sales by attracting wide number of customers. The major responsibility here is to make
effective decisions for the sake of organisation. Organizing: It refers to develop and maintain relationship with people, work and
resources in order to achieve common goals. This function allows synchronisation of
human activities in organisational processes. There is effective coordination between
authority and responsibility (Davidson and Olsen, 2014). Tesco is offering products to
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varied number of customers and is trying to maintain coordination among customers and
products. Leading: It refers to the process of influencing, motivating and encouraging employees
to perform best of their capability which will help in achieving organisational goals.
Tesco is leading its employees by superiors spending time with subordinates by giving
them proper motivation and guidance, will help in improving the productivity of
organisation. Controlling: It refers to the make comparison between actual performance and planned
performance of employees. This function focuses on reviewing and monitoring the
performance of employees and accordingly actions are taken in order to improve
performance of an organisation. In Tesco, performance is the foremost mechanism for
controlling the operations of business.
 Coordinating: It refers to involving different individuals to work together such that
organisational objective can be attained fast. Managers of tesco can motivate their
employees to work together in a way that both organisational and individuals goals can
be achieved fast (Renz, 2016).
3.The different roles of management and leadership in application to different organisational
situations, supported by theories and concepts
A leader is the one who is responsible for influencing and motivating the employees
where as a manager is the one who manages all the activities and help in decision making of an
organisation. Both manager and leader plays a different role according to the different situation.
Various situation that focus on effectiveness of Tesco are as follows:
 Fast dynamic situation: It refers to a situation where changes are taking rapidly
according to the market environment. This situation basically occur because of
availability of different competitors in the market. During the fast dynamic situation it
become difficult for a manager to work according to changing environment and for leader
also in satisfying the demand of employees. In this context, Leaders of Tesco didn't have
time to consult to other employees present (Heizer, 2016). So there will be autocratic
decision. Manager of Tesco must assign different task to all the employees and also allot
different shifts to them.
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 Slow situation: It refers to the situation which effects due to the demand of market.
Changes normally take place according to taste preference of the customers. For example
at the time of changing of supply chain. Change in the chain occurs when there is a need
with the technology. So here the manager and leader of Tesco has enough time to discuss
the situation with employees. So here the decision taken is democratic. Together by
discussing with employees, they take decision in favour of Tesco.
The management theories applied in different situation are as follows:
 Scientific management theory: This theory states tat manager should always simplify
the work of employees in order to increase overall productivity. The manager of Tesco
need to identify the situations so it become easy for employees to perform the task.
 System management theory: the success of any organisation depend on the elements
like interdependence and interrelation between various operations of an organisation.
Here the manager of Tesco is to change the pattern of their working according to the
changes.
Leadership theories applied in different situation:
 System theory: Here in this approach leader chose a systematic approach. It enable the
leader of Tesco to create the condition where people of all level work according to their
potential (Yabuki, 2014).
 Situation theory: This theory is applied by leader at the time when company want to
change the style of their decision making. If leader is experienced they take autocratic
decision where he situation is fast (Prashar, 2015). When the situation is low, leader of
Tesco consult other members in taking the decision.
 Contingency theory: This theory is totally focus on variable which are related to the
environment . If the situation of Tesco company changes the leader is required to change
the style and perform decision according to the same (Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and
Schönberger, 2017).
James Scouller's three level of leadership is explained below;
Such type of leadership has two levels. One is inner and the another one is outer level. Inner
level comprises of Personnel. In this level personnel is developed through understanding, growth
and development of individuals. In outer level, in private there is one to one interaction between
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the employees. And in public, overall task is set which will help in achieving the goal of an
organisation.
4.Strength and weakness of different approach of leadership
 Contingency leadership
Strength Weaknesses
It is the most beneficial approach of leadership
as it make a change according to change in
policies
The nature of this appraoch is reactive not
proactive and is also very complex in nature.
 System leadership
Strength Weaknesses
This approach involve good framework in
interpretation of realities and development.
team in also involved in this approach so it
become easy for one to identify the leader.
This approach is lengthy and complicated and
also involve risk as compared to other.
 Situational leadership
Strength weaknesses
It involves the motivation as this style is
associated with employees in taking the
decision.
this approch always focus on curent scenerio
which means it only express short term
strategies.
Conclusion of the above task.
From the above task, it can be concluded that both leader and manager play different role
while performing the changes in organisation. It varies according to different situations changes,
operations decisions are also required to changed according to the situation, strength and
weakness of approaches as well as style examines leadership and managing style. It is
recommended that leaders and manger should work together while making any decisions in
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respect to changes in organisation (Piper, 2016). Through this, employees get motivated as well
as gets directions to achieve objective.
5.Conclusion and Recommendations.
From the above task, it has been analysed that both managers and leaders play an
important part in the development and success of any organisation. Their role in Tesco varies
according to the prevailing situations by the use of different leadership styles they can build an
effective work environment where the employees have satisfaction in working. For effective
performance of leaders and managers, major recommendations are mentioned as below:
 The need to be inspirational, innovative and creative, ready to adapt change with a long-
term vision of achievement.
 The company can motivate its employees by introduction of various remuneration plans,
compensation, etc.
 Involvement of leaders and managers in a task will help in the effective decision-making
in Tesco.
TASK 2
1.Operations of Tesco.
To increase the long term efficiency and effectiveness is an important part of every
organisation because without it business cannot survive. Tesco, a multinational company also
have to perform some operations in order to sustain in the competitive market. The job of the
operation department is to carry out manufacturing, financing, production, purchasing,etc. Key
operations performed by Tesco are: Production: It refers to the process of covering raw materials into goods and services. IN
Tesco it plays an important role as it helps in converting raw materials into finished
goods which will be done by extensive market to evaluate the success of a product
(Karlsson, 2016).
 Manufacturing : It refers to making of goods which to be sold to customers. In Tesco
manufacturing activities also includes product development, supply chains,customer
service, etc and systematic elimination of waste will be done.
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 Financing : It refers to the process of money management and includes activities like
investing, borrowing, lending, saving, etc. under this operation, Tesco makes sure that all
finances have been effectively utilised to the fullest extent. Marketing: It refers to all activities which are performed to promote buyind and selling
of a product. Tesco developed its marketing by focussing on real-world stories, by a
campaign namely “ Tesco food love stories”.
 Human resource: This department plays a key role in managing all the employees of an
organisation in such a way that both organisational goals and individual goals can be
accomplished fast.
2. Roles and Responsibilities of managers in key operational functions of Tesco.
Various roles and responsibilities of managers in Tesco are: Strategy Implementation: It refers to planning tactics in such a way that could help to
optimise the resources (Lee and Tang, 2017). The major role of manager in strategy
formulation is to think a plan in such a way that competitive edge could be gained in the
market. Designing the product: it is a crucial role of manager to develop a product in such a way
that it can attract the customers as in the modern day customers are more focussed
towards the quality of products.
 Forecasting need: The manager will be responsible to analyse the market environment so
that what customer wants can be identified.
3. Key elements and approaches to operational mangement.
Operation management plays an important role in managing and controlling a firm. For
smooth functioning of an organisation the approaches mentioned below will be used: Total Quality Management : It refers to an approach which has desire to improve the
performance in order to meet the expectations of customers. In this approach all members
participate in improving the services, process and culture of the work environment. The
managers of Tesco can use this approach in order to improve the efficiency of
organisation. By generating feedback from customers and with the help of stakeholders
the company can easily know where improvements are required in the products or
services offered. This technique can be applied in every department of the organisation as
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it ensures the extent to which employees are concerned for the attainment of
organisational goals. Six-Sigma: It refers to a method which helps in improving the quality of product or
service by eliminating errors and defects and reduction the cost. This approach is mostly
adopted by manufacturing companies though as it is a very useful approach. Six sigma
approach works properly only when quality engineers and other managers are supported
by senior executives. Training is very essential for effective working of this approach.
Managers of Tesco can use this approach as it helps in approaching customers by doing
surveys easily, so that company can get knowledge about the quality of products. All the
workers of the organisation can also communicate about the errors and defects such that
ways of elimination could be focused. Managers should focus on people by providing
them proper training and motivation on regular basis such that maximum amount of
profits.
 Lean Production: It refers to an approach of management which focuses on minimizing
the waste and maximising the profits. This approach helps in reducing the operating cost
and improving the quality of product. The managers of Tesco can use this approach to
identify the value of customer position (Lewis and Slack, 2014). By this conduct the
company will get to know what amount a customer can pay for a product. This approach
uses pull system which means everything will be made according to the market demand
which will help the company to peruse the perfection by knowing the cause of quality
issues.
From the above mentioned approaches, the best suited approach for Tesco will be Total Quality
Management (TQM) as this approach is very simple to follow and aims to maintain the quality
standards. This approach will also help in maintaining the productivity and ensuring the stability
in tesco. Here the role of leader will be to focus on the quality of products and will be
responsible for supply chain . And the responsibility of manager will include setting goals,
allocation of resources and effective communication (Natarajan and Swaminathan, 2014)
4.Evaluation of impact of external business environment factors that affect decision making.
For evaluation of external business environment PESTEL Analysis will be conducted. It
refers to a framework which will be used to analyse and monitor the factors present in the
external environment. The factors are mentioned below:
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Political environment: The political factors are concerned with the government of the country.
These factors intervenes in the functioning of an organisation. These factors are critical for the
operations of Tesco because this platform varies country by country. When these factors occurs
it becomes difficult for managers and leaders to take decisions regarding business. Economic factors: it refers to the factors that impact the economy and includes wages,
interest rate, tax rate , policies, etc. Tesco is directly concerned with the economic factors
since they impact the buying behaviour of customers. These factors affects decision
making of leaders and managers as they cannot take decision without considering
economic factors. Social Factors: It refers to those factors which are present in the society. No organisation
should harm the society while conduct of any business (Narasimhan, 2014). In tesco,
managers and leaders will be required to generate the demographic details of the
customers such that decisions can be easily made. Technological factors: It refers to those innovations in the equipments and machinery
that are being used in an organization to promote business. This factor affects decision
making of a leader and manager as technology changes everyday. Environmental Factors: It refers to the known characteristics of the environments that
impact the growth, survival and operations of the business.. In context of Tesco, The
company is trying to provide some hydrophobic materials to the packaging of the
products which will help the reusing the bags and optimum utilization of resources.
 Legal factors: It refers to all those restrictions or rules and regulations which a company
should follow in order to trade successfully. These factors are affecting the decision
making of leader and manager because it becomes difficult for them to manage with the
legal environment.
5. Improvement operational efficiency to meet business objectives.
In the modern world it can be seen that operation management is very important for an
organisation to work efficiently. Tesco can use the innovative approach which will help in
attaining customer interest. To improve the operational efficiency tesco can use Total Quality
management approach which will help in maintaining the quality of products,such that customers
can be attracted. One main benefit of using TQM, is that this overall will help in ensuring the
stability of company and also enhances the probability.
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6. Conclusion of the present task.
From the above task it can be concluded that operation of an organisation justifies the
working of the organisation so they must be performed. This task has justified various
approaches and factors which will help leaders and managers in analysing and improving the
performance of an organisation.
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CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been analysed that operation management plays an important
part in success of every organisation. In order to perform certain functions managers and leaders
contribute a major part in development of an organisation. This study has defined certain theories
situational leadership, system leadership and contingency leadership will help the leaders and
managers of Tesco to perform effectively in organisation context. Further in this report we have
also discussed about the role played by operational manager in regards to effective decision
making. Various approaches like TQM, six sigma and Lean production are also discussed in
context of Tesco, to improve quality of product which is manufactured. These approaches focus
on improving the performance of an organisation.
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