Operational Management at Marks & Spencer

This assignment analyzes operational management practices within the context of Marks & Spencer. It delves into key principles such as business ethics, stakeholder considerations, cultural values, and sustainability. The analysis also examines factors influencing decision-making processes in operational management, including return on investment (ROI), resource availability, and brand reputation. The document emphasizes the importance of effective leadership and management in navigating these complexities to ensure optimal operational efficiency.

MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

INTRODUCTION
Management is the art of administering an organisation. It can be business, non-profit
firms or any government body. Operational management refers to as managing activities that are
operated in an organisation on daily basis. It includes setting strategies, formulating plans and
coordinating with employees so as to accomplish set objectives using available resources
(Heizer, 2016). Marks and Spencer is a worldwide known brand that deals in the business of
clothing, home products and luxury items. It was founded by Thomas and Michael Spencer in
the year 1884. It deals in business of such a wide variety of products, it has many operations that
needs to be managed. It is operational in all around the world with approx. 959 stores and having
employee strength of around 82,904 employees. This report deals with the role of managers and
leaders in managing operations. It also showcases the impact of internal and external
environment on operations of firm and their decision making process.
TASK 1
P1. Roles and characteristics of leader and manager
Leaders are the persons who lead their organisations using their visionary approach by
fulfilling the needs of employees, availing resources, allocating task and setting goals. Whereas
managers are the individuals who manages operations on the daily basis by leading a group of
people (Hill and Hill, 2012). Administering and controlling activities are their prime
responsibility. Management of operations becomes important in the firms like Marks and
Spencer where there are numerous activities being performed on daily basis. In managing
operations Role of a leader and manager becomes important. How efficiently they will manage
or lead depends on the characteristics they poses. Based on the studied all around the world some
of the role and characteristics of both are being compared. They have in all various management
functions such as:
 Planning: It is management's role to make plans for the future business of an
organisation citing the available resources of the firm.
 Organisation: Management has a role of organising resources so that it must be available
on time as per the requirement at the time of need.
 Controlling and directing: It is role of management to control and direct employees so
that can work in a proper path which is necessary for achieving objectives.
1

Roles of a leader and manager:
Leaders Managers
They make long term goals. They make short term goals.
They have a role of making decisions as per
the future objectives of the firm.
They have a role of making plans so as to
achieve business goals.
Leader have a role of providing facilities that
are required for smooth working of the firm.
Managers of Marks and Spencer has to manage
all the inventories at its stores so that
operations gets performed regularly.
Leaders are responsible for making essential
changes from time to time that is necessary for
future operations.
Managers are responsible for bringing stability
to the firm while ensuring that made changes
are adapted by all the employees
They have role of generating revenue and
arranging resources.
They have a role of effectively utilise these
resources so as to produce high quality goods.
Characteristic of leader and manager
Leader Manager
Leaders are having charismatic personality. They have characteristics like being controlled
handlers of program.
Leaders have flexible nature. Their nature is rational.
They are generally good motivators. They are generally excellent guides.
They are risk takers. They are risk avoiders.
M1. Role of leader and function of manager by applying theories and concept
There are numerous functions and roles of leader and manager that differs from the
situations they are facing. For understanding this there are several concept and theories that are
prevalent all around the world. These concepts and theories are as follows:
2

 Situational theory: This theory suggests that there are large number of situations that
arises in daily operations of the firm and managers or leaders have to make decisions
according to these situations (Griffin, 2013.).
 Trait theory: This theory focuses on the fact that not all leaders are born some learn
leadership quality in due course of their life time.
 Path goal theory: This theory highlights the fact that for achieving task and goals
obstacles needs to be eliminated so that company can move on the path of success.
 Transactional theory: This theory suggests that leader and managers make some kinds
of exchanges with their subordinates which help them in achieving desired productivity.
 Transformational theory: This theory suggests that leaders or managers sometimes
motivates employees using certain activities like giving rewards or praising them with
words.
D1. Critical analysis of different theories and approaches to leadership
In bigger firms like Marks and Spencer there are several responsibilities of leaders and
managers hence all the above mentioned theories and approaches are suited as per the
requirement of the workplace. These theories illustrates how manager and leaders switch their
roles as per the demand of the situation. According to Epstein and Buhovac, (2014) trait theory is
suitable for every kind of leader. On the other hand Dong and Tomlin, (2012) states that
situational theory is applicable for any kind of arisen situation. Whereas Conover, Symantec
Corporation, (2013) states that path goal theory helps to suggest the fact that leaders and
managers need to change their role as goals that needs to be achieved. He also states that
transformational and transactional theories are applicable in the situations where employee
motivations have degraded.
TASK 2
P2. Role of leader and function of manager in different organisational contexts
There are several situations that arises in daily operations according to which leaders and
managers takes different roles. According to Hersey and Blanchard some of the situations that
arises in a firm's operation are as follows:
 Conflicts: There are several conflicts that arises while company is operational. These
conflicts may have occurred due mismanagement of resources, improper planning or
3

clash of interests between two levels of organisation or in-between individuals (Jacobs,
Chase and Lummus, 2011). This is sometimes result of poor communication mechanism.
 HRM: It is important for the firm to manage its most basic resources that is their
labourers. In an organisation like Marks and Spencer where there are approx. 9 million
employers this becomes more important. At various stores and production units there are
several staffing needs that arises at several times which needs to be fulfilled.
 Globalisation: As world is transforming in global village so the competition is also
increasing which needs to efficiently tackled (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013).
 Employment: There is an increase in the unemployment around the world and hence
rules of employments are also changing. Employees are making demand of getting higher
salaries which is posing burden on the revenue of an organisation.
For overcoming these situations leaders and managers have certain roles.
Role of leader:
 Communicator: There is requirement for the leaders to be excellent communicators. The
skill of being motivator attaches with communicative skill. Sometimes for increasing the
productivity and efficiency of employee motivation is required (Berenguer, Richter and
Shen, 2014). For Marks and Spencer it is better to use modern mediums of
communication such as video conferencing or Emails to make their communication
efficient.
 Facilitative: There are several requirements of any work place which needs to be
addressed in order to ensure smooth working. There are certain demands of the
employees which also needs to be taken care of. For eg. Salary hike and facilities at
workplaces its role of leader to fulfil all these.
 Resolving Conflict: As stated above there are several conflicts that arises in operations
so leaders must take initiatives so as to eliminate this situation.
 Thinker: In thinking abilities leader must be visionary so that they can make effective
long term goals and formulate decisions to achieve these (Lo and et. al., 2014).
 Decision making: Leaders are the decision makers of any organisation. They need to
make decisions citing the long and short term goals. Involving other staffs also in the
decision making process can lead to creation of new innovative ideas but that depends on
leadership style leader follows.
4

Function of manger in these context are:
 Planning: Managers needs to make efficient planning so as to achieve targets with the
available resources. These plans are formulated as per the arisen situation.
 Team leader: They sometime acquires the role of group coordinator as per the demand
of the situation. They make environment that supports collaborative working which assist
in resolving conflicts among team mates.
 Staffing: This is a very prime requirement of any workplace without which any task
cannot be completed. Managers have a function of arranging these staffs.
 Organising: It is manager's role to organise the available resources in the correct order
so that resources are available to each functional unit at the required time.
P3. Different theories and approach models
In the current business environment there are several theories and approaches that are
applied in leadership. Management fundamental explains their need and why it is important to
understand. Some of the theories of leadership are as follows:
 Trait theory: Quality of leadership is understood as a trait. This theory suggests that
either leaders are inborn or have adopted these qualities by learning through life. Good
leaders around the world have traits like creativity, intelligence and are having sense of
responsibility while performing a role (Malov, Poundarikapuram and Sap, 2013).
 Contingency theory: This theory highlights the fact that leading a firm is not certainly
under any rigid rules and methods of learning (Turkulainen and et. al., 2015). It is rather
more flexible approach that varies with time as per it’s applicability in a situation. This
theory also shows light to the fact that individuals perform best when they are subjected
to be under pressure.
 Behaviour theory: This theory suggests about the behaviour of leaders by making
psychometric analysis. It also highlights the fact that for being a good leader one must
have strong personality with a well-developed ego having flavours of self-confidence.
 Transactional theory: This theory says that leaders make some kind of exchanges in the
form of appreciation or reward to the employees (Manssen and et. al., 2015). These
rewards are distributed according to the employee's performance. It motivates employees
for doing excellent works.
5

 System theory: It is an open system approach which describes the whole cycle where
inputs are in the form of raw material and taken from external environment and certain
processes are being performed on that so as to make quality products which is finally
delivered back to the environment. This approach of leadership is a systematic and
realistic.
 Transformational: It highlights the fact that leaders engage in dialogues so as to
motivate its workers which is necessary at the times when productivity of firm is showing
a decline.
 Situational theory: This theory suggests the fact that leaders needs to choose their style
of leadership as per the situations arisen (Newenham-Kahindi, 2011). Successful leaders
generally adapt themselves as per the requirement of the situation. Leaders should follow
various leadership style so as to tackle numerous situations. This theory is also known as
the Hersey Blanchard situational leadership theory. This theory draws out major views of
the contingency thinking. As the name suggests that there is no leadership style that is
best and leaders must adopt the roles as per the situation arised. Any leader can be
successful if they have the qualities such as setting goals, capacity to assume
responsibility, experience and education. Hersey blanchard suggests that not only
leadership style is important for being successful but the maturity of the people those who
are led is important. There leadership stem from four basic behaviour Telling, Selling,
delegating and Participating.
M2. Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
Every approach has its strength and weaknesses. And their usefulness depends on the
situation in which they have been applied
Situational theory
Strengths
 This theory is based on the research that is conducted on ground.
 It is a trusted approach which has been tested over the years.
 It explains the do's and dont's of leader.
 It also underlines the fact that leaders should be flexible.
Weaknesses:
 It does not give idea that how leaders have grown through subordinate levels.
6

 It is hard to say that by using this approach how conceptualisation of commitment is
done.
 It does not facilitate model that is supported on demographic characteristics.
System approach
Strengths:
 It helps in analysing the process and in reaching to final goals.
 It shows light on group identity.
Weaknesses:
 Outcomes are difficult to access using this approach.
 It undertakes irrational decision making process.
 Needs of smaller task is hard to be determined.
TASK 3
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role of leader and managers.
Operational management is helpful in performing tasks at cheaper cost and making
sustainable use of resource (Pettinger, 2013). Operations such as flow of information and
availing raw materials must be in a proper manner so that final goods are of top quality and as
per market demand.
There are various functions of a manager that depends on the departments of which they
are in charge. Some of them are as follows:
 Selecting appropriate resources: In order to maintain product standards Marks and
Spencer needs to select resources that are best suited for that product. Appropriate
selection of resources decreases the cost of processing.
 Appropriate processing mechanism: Marks and Spencer needs to select processing
mechanism that is best suited for final product. Mechanism includes using best
machineries and using standard operating procedures with the help of skilled labourers.
 Standard operating procedures: For generation of high quality of goods it is important
to follow standard operating procedures that are predefined by Marks and Spenser (Renz,
2016).
7

 Using quality check measures: TQM can be applied so as to check the standards of final
product. This is role of managers to implement it in the working process. TQM is applied
for measuring the quality of the products manufactured by the Marks and Spenser.
Role of manager and leader in this context:
 HRM: It is role of manager to resolve the issues related to human resource like their
salaries, work based problems etc. Selection, requirement and training of employee must
be done according to the requirements. In Marks and Spenser there are several units all
have there different kinds of staffing needs and hence they have to be addressed on
regular basis.
 Decision making: It is manager's role to make some kind of decisions so as to resolve
work related issues on regular basis. From top level to bottom there are managers that
takes decision about the day to day operations of the Marks and Spenser.
 Capacity management: It is a process of managing overall capacity of the firm i.e. their
productivity. It aims to make balance between capacity of the firm and its product
demand. While dealing with such a wide variety of product Mark and Spenser's manager
needs to improve the capacity of different project so that demand and supply chain is
maintained.
 Process design: It is undertaken in a manner to process activities so as to achieve firm's
target. Process design is made to understand the appropriateness of procedures and this is
done by having broad look at whole firm (Smith, Maull and CL Ng, 2014). In Marks and
Spenser various kinds of processes are used which helps in managing such a wide variety
of task.
 Transforming raw materials in to goods: It is manager's role to applied processes that
transforms raw materials into desired goods. Different kinds of raw materials are
available with Mark and Spenser and the company needs to implement effective strategic
planning about these so that it can be transformed into quality goods.
 Control and Distribution systems: It is managers and leaders role in managing
operations to set up system to control mechanism as well as set up system of distribution
that helps in managing demand and supply chain. It is important for the cited company to
set up proper distribution channels so that its product could reach to maximum possible
population.
8

 Cost management: It is manager's role to ensure the costing which is done on delivering
final goods, purchasing resources and its processing charges. In the era of competitive
pricing it is important for the firm to manage its costing so that profit margins can be
increased.
 Asset management: Marks and Spencer has large amount of asset which needs to take
care of properly. For ex. Infrastructure and other facilities at various workplaces needs to
be managed efficiently.
For this there are several theories of operation management that includes:
 Lean production: It has symmetric nature. It focuses towards waste minimization in
manufacturing system without compromising productivity. It considers the fact that
wastes are produced due to unevenness and over burden in work (Soelberg and
Steelseries, 2011). It takes only those things that adds value and limits things that does
not add value as value is for what consumers pays. While dealing with wide product
range this could be beneficial for the firm.
 SIX sigma: It is a collection of tool or techniques which is used for process enhancement.
It targets to improve output quality of process by identifying and removing reasons of
faults and minimizing flexibility in process and production. It uses quality management,
statistical, empirical methods in defined step sequence under the guidance of experts
(Khan and Ashta, 2013). Mark and Spenser uses six sigma model for enhancing the
quality of their product.
 Queuing theory: It is theory of mathematics that is related to the study of waiting in
lines. It is part of operations research since results are used for making business decisions
about resources that will be utilised at the time of providing services (Bonomi Santos,
and Spring, 2013). This helps Marks and Spenser in managing its several operations at
the required time and hence fastening the speed of the firm's operation.
Several approaches to operation management:
 TQM: It is a quality assessment method that involves each aspect of product and
services. In order to ensure better quality of product, it focuses on planning and
organising things that are important improvement process. This approach is used by the
cited company so as to improve the quality of the overall business processes and
products.
9

 Just in time: It is an inventory strategy that is applied by firms so as to increase the
efficiency and reducing waste production by selecting appropriate resources in the
production process which ultimately helps to reduce inventory cost (Understanding
operations management, 2017). Forecasting demand becomes essential for Marks and
Spenser.
 Improvements on regular basis: It is essential for the cited firm to make continuous
improvements in their working mechanisms and operating procedures. It is also known as
Kaizan theory. It will help this company in its future growth.
P5. Importance and value of operational management for achieving business objective
Managing operations is crucial for any kind of firm that is of the scale of Marks and
Spencer where there are numerous operations being performed on daily basis. It involves
processes of designing, operating and advancement of product and services. Marks and Spencer
deals with the services and products that needs to be of high quality for which it’s time to time
evaluation at every stage needs to be done (Lillis and Sweeney, 2013). Operations management
helps in selecting resources among the available resources so the product that is delivered to the
customers at the last is of high quality. It undertakes all those steps and procedures that adds
value and eliminates those that don't. It undertakes quality management methods like TQM so as
to check the quality of products as any failure of delivery can lead to reputational and monetary
loses. It also applies waste management strategies in effective manner that helps company in
adding value and reducing the cost involved in the process of transforming raw materials into
final goods. This company deals in the business of clothing whose primary requirement is the
10
Source 1: Operation Management, 2017

quality which will be unable to achieve without operational management. In mark and Spenser
there are several other factors that are effecting the management of operations like implementing
lean production so as to reduce the over burden of the activities. Using Six sigma approach faults
are removed in various processes. Just in time approach used in operation management helps in
also helps in suggesting that only that raw material are used which is necessary and good for the
quality products. Management and operations suggests that there must be a regular time to time
up gradation in the whole operations and procedures within the firm so that company can achieve
its objectives easily.
M3. Role of leader and manager in improving efficiency of operation management
Role of leader and manager can be understood by following points:
 Work management: It is role of manager to place right people at right places as per the
requirement (Operations Management Defined. 2017).
 Efficient idea construction: To achieve targets managers needs to make efficient ideas
for the production process.
 Talent management: It is role of manager to hire people as per the requirement of firm
and train them so as to make them updated.
11
Source 2: Operation management function, 2017

D2. Critical evaluation of operational management and factors that affect wider business
environment
According to Anupindi and et. al., (2011) Operational management helps to achieve
desired goals using available resources while reducing the waste. On the other hand, Bateman
and Lethbridge, (2014) says that operational management helps to increase the quality of final
product.
Factors that has impact on operational management:
 Political: Governments all around the world is changing policies of business and Marks
and Spencer needs to make changes in its operations accordingly.
 Economical: United Kingdom is a healthier economy hence company needs to be
assured of its growth rate.
 Social and legal: Unemployment and other legal factors are forcing firms to change its
operating mechanism.
 Technological: It has become important for the Marks and Spencer to use technology in
its operating mechanism so as to survive in the competition.
TASK 4
P6. Factors that impact upon decision making and operational management
Factors that influence operation management are as follows:
 Corporate social management: Marks and Spencer has responsibility in the market like
it has to work for removing unemployment. This needs to be fulfilled by this
organisation.
 Business ethics: For business firms operation moral principles are important.
Management has to incorporate operations that do not violate business ethics. Mark and
Spenser also needs to consider these business ethics while making there operational
management plans.
 Stake holders: Operation management is done citing the profit of every stakeholder and
it also assigns duties to each stake holder. And when it comes to company of the scale of
Mark and Spenser this becomes more important as the number of stake holders that this
company has is large.
12

 Culture and Value: Marks and Spencer has to incorporate operational management
citing the values and culture of the society in which it is operational (McConaghy, 2013).
 Sustainability: Any operational management is done ensuring the sustainability of
business due to it. While making the operational management strategy for Marks and
Spenser this needs to be perfectly taken care of.
Factors that affect decision making process:
 Return on investment: It is essential for understanding the profit that will made hence
this factor needs to be considered while making decisions.
 Availability of Resources: Any decision made must according to the limit of the
resources that is available with firms (Slack, Brandon-Jones and Johnston, 2013).
 Brand name: Decisions are made as per the brand name company has in the market as
any wrong decision will degrade firm's image.
M4. Ways in which different factors affect the business environment and wider community
Factors like ROI, CSR, Resource availability as well as brand name plays crucial role in
determining the profit of firm. Stakeholders and various macro factors shapes the internal and
external environment of the firm (McDonald and Bronsvoort, 2012). All decisions are made
citing the impact of these factors. Cultural values and business ethics shapes the procedures that
are applied in operational management.
CONCLUSION
Operational management is important in Firms like Marks and Spencer where several
activities being performed on regular basis. Role and Characteristic of leaders becomes
important in applying operational management and there approaches are illustrated by various
theories like situational, contingency, trait etc. There are various issues that arise in a firm like
conflicts, staffing etc. and its manager and leaders role to resolve this in order to ensure proper
working of the firm. Leaders and managers increases the efficiency of operational management.
There are several factors like ROI,CSR, business ethics that has impact on operational
management.
13

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
14

15