Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................2 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3 P1 Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager.......................................3 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5 P2 Role of leader and function of manager in different situations.........................................5 P3 Different models and theories of leadership.....................................................................7 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8 P6 Impact of business environmental factors on operational management and decision making of leaders and managers.........................................................................................................8 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
INTRODUCTION Management and operations are considered to be the most important approach in business organisation which focuses on production, distribution of goods and services which provides efficiency in its operations (Boyd and Dougherty, 2016). It manages the work in organisation and has the responsibility of attaining the business objectives and attaining brand imagein market. Operation management is concerned with improving efficiency and removing errors in the production of goods or services. In this report the chosen company is Unilever which is world's largest consumer goods company headquartered in London, UK. Its products include food and beverage and personal care products. This project analyses the role of leader and manager in different situations in organisation.It also determines the importance of operational management in contemporary business organisation. TASK 1 P1 Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager Leader is an individual in the organisation who has superior power to exercise certain degree of control or influence on its followers. They have the capability to get work done through others towards the achievement of goals and objectives. Characteristics of Leader ï‚·Decision making capability-Leader at Unilever should be able to take decisions within appropriate time period to avoid any confusion and delay in task operation. ï‚·Communication- Unilever's Leader should be able to properly communicate with its followers which encourages them to interact with leader at discuss their problems and get immediate solutions (Ellitan, 2017). Role of leaders ï‚·Act as a representative-Leader represent the respective company at the seminars, conferences and meetings. His role is to communicate on behalf of Unilever and act as an representative of own department. ï‚·Strategy formulation-They are responsible for formulation of strategy in relation to execution of tasks which helps in attaining goals of Unilever. Manager is a person who is responsible for management of the company by proper planning and organising of activities and coordinate effectively with others by a way of proper
guidance. They are responsible for carrying recruitment and selection process in Unilever and hiring suitable candidates. Characteristics of Manager ï‚·Knowledge- Manager at Unilever should pose a high level of knowledge to share it with employees and which helps them to gain proper understanding to complete the task. ï‚·Confidence-Tobeaneffectivemanageroneshouldhavehaveconfidenceand experience in managing organisational performance. They should confidently motivate the team to achieve better results (Eraki, 2015). Difference between Leaders and managers BasisLeaderManager ApproachAleadersetsdirectionfor achieving desired outcomes Managerofanorganization plansdetailsandprovidea maptoachievedesired outcomes. SubordinatesLeadershas followers as their subordinates. Managers have employees in a workplace as subordinates. FunctionLeader motivates and guides its followers in organisation. Functionofmanagersisto plan,organise,staff,direct, motivate and control. ChangeIn an organization leadership promotes change Managers reacts to change and makestrategiestoovercome those. RelationshipAll leaders of a company are not manager. All managers are leaders.
Paraphrase This Document
Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
TASK 2 P2 Role of leader and function of manager in different situations Leader in the group is responsible for inspiring and guiding followers to complete the business operations and attain desired outcomes. On the other hand manager is one who regulates the subordinates by proper plans and policies and helps Unilever to achieve the objectives (Idris, 2016). There are different situation in the organisation where manager and leader have to perform their functions to manage and achieve the objectives of Unilever. Problem/ conflict management Problems or conflicts are inevitable parts of organisation due to some miscommunication and misunderstanding among the employees and higher authorities. These problems act as an hurdle in execution of task in respective company. Sometimes problem arises due to cultural gaps and because when individuals doesn't work for collective interest they work for personal interest conflict creates that time (Maand and Sun, 2012). Unilever is brand company where employees work from diverse backgrounds have different languages, beliefs and customs which are totally different from company's culture. This creates problem in organisation and to resolve Illustration1: Difference between leader and manager Source:Leader vs Manager: Key Traits To Adopt.2018
conflict managers conducts training sessions and meetings. In that process leader work to solve the problems of their followers so that effective results should be acquired. Launching a new product When Unilever wants to launch new product it generally requires the a lot of plans and strategies to create a high market share for its products. In Planning phase managers are required to provide certain suggestions and views of employees regarding the product features. On the other hand it gives feedback to leader of Unilever that observe different aspects in organisation andtakedecisionsaccordingtomarketdemandandconditionofdifferentsituationsin perspective of customers and employees and benefits the organisation. Recruiting prospective candidates When Unilever wants to hire prospective candidates for carrying the business operations it requires the role of managers and leaders to recruit high proficient candidatesto meet the objective of increased productivity with customer satisfaction at Unilever (Nayak, 2015). Manger should identify the needs of employee in organisation with adequate skills and starts the hiring process where as leaders are concerned with providing training to the new employees to carry smooth operations in business. These are the role and functions of leaders and managers at Unilever in different situations to maintain smooth flow of business operations. These greatly helps in understanding the role and functions of leaders and managers in different situational context. Functions of Managers InorganizationlikeUnilevermanagerperformsfivebasicfunctionstheyare-planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling. These all function are describe below ï‚·Planning-Manager makes plans and policies and makes a blueprint to achieve particular goals and objectives. ï‚·Organising- They organises the team by proper allocating of resources and task by assigning authority and responsibility towards achieving targets. ï‚·Staffing- Manager is responsible for proper recruitment and selection process which leads to providing training which aids to development of employees. ï‚·Leading-Managers leading functions includes providing guidance and coaching to employees which sets direction to achieve desired goals.
ï‚·Controlling-This help in measuring the employee's performance and if any deviations are found corrective actions are taken to make sure plan is on track (Fan,Liu and Zhang et. al., 2017). P3 Different models and theories of leadership Inanorganisationtherearedifferenttraitsandtheoriesofleadershipthathelp management operation to understand the changing environment. The managers of Unilever had adopted different strategies while operating in dynamic environment. The theories and traits that are adopted are determined below: Situational Leadership:A situational leadership is set of values and attitudes in which an individual or group of people deals with process or activities that are complex nature. It enables an organisation to build and create a critical condition where people at every phase work in a productive manner. This approach of leadership help manager of Unilever to develop their leader as a multitasker so that it can use resources in productive and high based principles. Moreover, design strategies and social progress in an organisation while operating (Pakistan, 2012). It also helps to builds effective system that help to bring productive in behaviour of employees and staff. Hence, this theory suggests that there are two main attributes that an leader should follow and style them in different situation in Unilever. The approaches are mention below: Telling:In telling process leader directs its followers so that they can give them the objectives and goals and they become responsible for their work and deeds. Selling:In selling phases of leadership takes decision, but in this decision such leader take suggestion of their subordinates and freely discussed with them before taking a correct decision. Participating:In participating, a leader encourages it subordinates and staff to enhance their skills and knowledge and participate in challenging environment (Parmar, 2014). Delegating:This helps leader to delegate certain authority and responsibilities to its subordinates to perform their task and achieve goals. System leadership:In an organisation system leadership enables organisation to build and create condition where employees can carry out their work without any difficulties. This style of leadership uses employees as productive in nature. It helps managers of Unilever to bring out employees that are helpful for an organisation. Moreover, this leadership helps in achieving
Secure Best Marks with AI Grader
Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
business objectives and goals and create a positive which helps to attain feedback of employees in organisation too. Contingency theory of leadership:Contingency theory of leadership states different types of leadership in a particular organisation.In that concept best leadership style is that best match with situation. The managers of Unilever found that this is best type of leadership that helps to match in all types of situation that suddenlyappears in an organisation. Moreover, best leadership styles matches with situation and both organisation and employees can benefit from it. In this contingency theory of leadership helps to determine three factors which are effective according to situation (Plesser and et. al., 2014). Leader member relationship:This factor of contingency theory helps a leader to maintain a good interaction with their subordinates in workplace. Task Structure:Task structure helps contingency theory of leadership to allot task and responsibilities according to employees skills, knowledge and talent. Positional power:Positional power help leader to distributes it power of authority and responsibilities to their employees in order to manage staff and carry out their without any difficulties. TASK 3 (Covered in ppt) TASK 4 P6 Impact of business environmental factors on operational management and decision making of leaders and managers There are various environmental factors which affect the operational management and decision making- ï‚·Corporate social responsibility-It is the responsibility of the respective organisation to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of individuals. Unilever should produce products according to the needs of the society and which gives a positive impact to the individuals and achieve efficiency in its operations. Leaders and managers should take proper decision regarding the business operations which produces products which in interest for the society and doesn't harm them which will automatically increase its production and company will able to generate
huge profits (Yun and et. al., 2018). ï‚·Value systems- Values determine theculture and norms of the business. Regulatory framework of Unilever should act within the value of the organisation and should respectcultureandvaluesofemployeestoachievehighsettargets.Itisthe responsibility of managers and leaders to perform the business operations in regard to the value of the organisation. ï‚·Ethics- These are the moral principles that govern the individual behaviour or conduct of activity. It decides the frame work of company to behave ethically and conducts business to do rights things in right manner. IT is responsibility of Unilever manager and leader to review that company conducts its operations ethically and not affecting the norms and ethics of society. ï‚·Sustainability-ManagerofUnilevershouldoverseethatcompanyoperatesits operations in sustainable manner not exploiting the natural resources and maintains resources for future use to make a proper balance in the demand of goods and services. It is the duty of managers to have a check on the resources and helps operational management in analysing demands of customer in present and future conditions to start the production accordingly (Fan, Liu, and Zhang, 2015,). ï‚·Corporate culture-It is important for making good business environment at Unilever. In organisation if manager and leader not proper perform task and responsibilities then it impactsa lot to organisation and hinders it self interest. As there are specific demands of the people according to the culture which creates problem for managers and leaders to identify the varied culture of individuals and helps in attaining efficiency in its business operations.
CONCLUSION From the above report it has been concluded that managers and leaders are the very important to an organisation and plays crucial roles in managing situations at Unilever. This report covers the situational, system and contingency theory of leadership which determines leadershipqualitiesaccordingtosituation.Operationalmanagementhelpsinachieving maximumefficiency in its business operations. Leader and manager play a important role in achievingbusinessobjectivesofUnileverwiththehelpofoperationalmanagement. Environmental factors such as corporate social responsibility, values and ethics interrelates relationship with leaders and managers.
Paraphrase This Document
Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser