Roles and Characteristics of a Leader and a Manager

This study material discusses the roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager in an organization. It compares the differences between the two and explores their functions and responsibilities. It also examines the application of leadership and management in different situational contexts. Additionally, it explains various theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency. The material further explains the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play in achieving business objectives.

Management and
Operations
Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1.Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts........................................................................................................5
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency..........................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play..............................................................................................................................9
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers....................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management is considered as a concept and an activity which is useful for guiding and
running an organisation considering its staff members. In terms of this an organisation is
considered as the collection of people goals and prominent actions that revolve among the
employees in terms of accomplishing their objectives and targets. Including this, the operation
management is considered as the procedure which is essential to take prominent actions that
impact the performance and productivity of company by considering the changes and prominent
functions (Bromiley and Rau, 2016). Furthermore, the following report is based on Sainsbury’s
which is the largest Supermarket chain in UK and founded by John James Sainsbury’s.
Sainsbury’s is classified under three prominent divisions including Sainsbury’s
supermarkets limited Sainsbury’s Bank and Sainsbury’s Argos. The report is going to cover the
concept of both leader and manager and compare the difference on the basis of roles and
characteristics considering various situations that helps in developing better vision for effective
management. Moreover, it also covers prominent theories and approaches of operation
management in an effective way and also represents the importance of Operation Management
practices by undertaking various factors that has direct impact on the decision-making of both
leaders and managers.
TASK 1
P1.Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
In present business world the term “Managers” are the person who is responsible for all
the administrative activities. Managers are considered as the specialist who can develop
prominent Strategies and plan for the betterment of company in terms of making the performance
and productivity more effective (Enyinda, 2017). In terms of this manager perform several roles
by considering unique perspective which is mentioned as under:
Roles of manager:
 Resource allocator:It depicts that managers comes under the higher-level authority
within the organizational structure and due to this manager play a major role regarding
the effective development of strategies with prominent use of resources considering the
productivity and performance level which is useful in achieving targets within the
stipulated period of time.

 Monitoring:In this manager maintain prominent track and record of team activities of
employees that are performed by them. Along with this manager perform their roles
considering the prominent standards and performance of employees by placing them on
the required position.
Functions of manager:
 Time management: Managers carry prominent time management skills with them as it is
the important part of their effective management and skills. In terms of this they also
make sure that their work and task should be completed on time and they always tied to
actively achieve their objectives within the given period of time (Fiorentino, 2016).
 Risk avoiders: Managers are those individuals who lead to neglect risk as they donot
influence by the creativity and uniqueness. In terms of this leaders opt various ways in
order to work according to them and also prominently analyze its uses.
In business world, the term “Leaders” are those individuals who prominently make effective
use of Manpower by motivating and providing support to them in order to take right decision and
also encourage them to perform in an effective manner which is useful for company in terms of
achieving theirtargets. Moreover, leaders are those individuals who become an ideal of others in
terms of their behavior personality and practice.
Roles of leaders: Developing vision: The primal role that came in front of leader is to develop vision. In
context to Sainsbury’s, it is the duty of leader to come up with vision for future context
and also deliver the same information to staff so that they can perform effectively
towards desired goals and objectives. Decision maker: Another role of leaders within an organisation is to take decisions. In
context with Sainsbury’s, it can be said that it is the responsibility of leaders to take
decisions where they can follow different leadership styles like for an examplesetting
targets for staff where it is the responsibility of employees to meet them so that
appropriate outcomes can easily be seen (Mateo, 2016).
Functions of managers: Planning:This is said to be one of the crucial function manager where it is the
responsibility of manager of an organisation like Sainsbury’s to effectively plan all the

projects so that particular or different goals and objectives can easily be attained in
specified time frame. Coordinating: Another function of a manager is to co-ordinate with staff members of
Sainsbury’stowards different tasks that are been given by board of directors like attaining
a goal of improving sales by 5% and so on. This is where it is mandatory for manager to
co-ordinate with employees of Sainsbury’s and deliver them information and different
ways through which they can directly achieve the particular goal.
Comparison between the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers:
Characteristics and roles Leaders Managers
Risk seeker/Risk avoider These are the individuals who
focuses on taking risk and
known as risk seeker within a
company like Sainsbury’s.
Managers are those who tends
to look the traditional method
of working instead of opting
new approaches.
Decision maker/Resource
allocator
Specifically, if it is talked
about Sainsbury’s then leaders
what required to take decisions
and can be called as decision
takers or makers (Meredith
and Shafer, 2019).
It is the responsibility of
Managers to allocate resources
to staff members in order to
achieve an achievable goal.
TASK 2
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts
SITUATION 1: Launching of the product
Sainsbury’s, which is an international supermarket and retailer is looking forward to
launch its own organic product and in relation to do so, it is must for board of directors to
perform proper evaluation of different elements like market, competitors along with needs and
requirements of customers.
Role of leaders:

The roles of a leader at the time of Sainsbury’s will be launching the product is to take
decisions, motivate staff members, inspire them and also to develop vision and make it clear in
front of them so that launching of the product could easily be performed by the organisation in
much effective and efficient manner (Misra, Ravinder and Peterson, 2016).
Functions of managers:
Planning is considered to be the primal function of manager while working in an
organisation. In context with the situation of Sainsbury’s where it is looking forward to launch
the new product in the market it will be required by the managers to focus on managing the
targets given by board of directors and attain them in rightful manner.
SITUATION 2: Managing Conflicts
Basically, situation that took place where mentality along with the perceptions of
individuals who are working in Sainsbury's is not effectively matching with each other that
raised situation of conflicts. Alongside this, contentions will in general emerge with the
assistance of outer condition and Sainsbury's have to manage itself while considering the rapidly
changing nature of the market and furthermore make things conceivable endeavour the conflicts
related situations.
Role of leaders:
In present context, the role of the leader belonging to Sainsbury’s will be to effectively
communicate with staff members and to analyse the particular issues which has actually been
faced by them. With the help of this, it can easily be said that organisation might become able to
perform all the tasks in rightful manner and also leaders may become able to reduce the chances
of future conflicts among staff (Omansky and Kanner, Autodesk Inc, 2017).
Functions of managers:
Controlling or coordinating are the two different functions of managers that can be taken
into consideration by managers of Sainsbury’s because when it comes to manage the conflicts
these are the two effective functions that plays an important role. Basically, coordinating is said
to be the effective tool that will help managers to reduce the burden from one particular
individual and delegate the work equally.

P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency
There are different ranges of theories and models that can be taken into consideration in
order to improve the operations management of an organisation like Sainsbury’s. as it has
already been discussed that how leader is important for a company, different theories including
models like situation and leadership, contingency and systems leadership theory has been taken
into consideration and have also been discussed underneath:
Situation leadership theory: Heresy-Blanchard mentioned thatleaders while working in an
organisation have an opportunity to take into consideration of any type of leadership style based
on in their own working and confidence level over staff members. Basically, situation leadership
Theory has given the information that a leader can be flexible at the time of considering the
particular leadership style and this is effectively based on the situation on which it is needed for
the individual to change the existing style (Radnor and Bateman, 2016). On the other side, this
theory is also considering leadership style that is opted by the leaders of Sainsbury's as per the
situation considering the flexibility. These styles are mentioned as underneath: Selling and Coaching: This is considered to be the primal approach that can be taken
into consideration by leaders belonging to Sainsbury’s where they are effectively
trydeveloping unique ways for the staff members so that they can perform their role
effectively. Telling and Directing: In present context, Sainsbury’s leadersmain adopt this type of
leadership style where they can deliver the information to staff members about what
exactly the company has planned for the future and direct them towards their daily targets
so that they can be achieved right on time. Delegating: Delegation of the work is something that can be helpful for Sainsbury’s to
effectively e start improving the existing performance level. In this context, it can be said
that leaders of this particular organisation may play an important role of giving
information about the tasks and assign them equally so that no conflicts while working at
the workplace arise (Ravinder and Kollikkathara, 2017). Participating and Supportive:It is kind of democratic leadership style where staff gets
the opportunity of taking participation among different desired goals that a company like
Sainsbury’s is looking forward to achieve where it is the responsibility of leaders to

effectively support staff members.This will help in in enhancing the motivation level
which will directly impact positively on performance level of staff.
System leadership theory:
System leadership theory is specifically being referred to the important actions which are
taken for project management in a systematic way because it will directly improve the efficiency
level of staff if they will be performing all the tasks that are linking to a particular project in a
systematic manner. Leaders of Sainsbury's may consider this theory when it comes to analyse the
market conditions considering all the external factors that may impact negatively and deliver a
proper guidance to individuals who are working for the company for attaining their own
objectives like daily targets in a systematic way.It has been found that for effective utilisation of
systematic leadership Theory it is the responsibility of leaders to first engage staff and also try to
effectively balance the supply and demand of services along with products which are being
offered by Sainsbury’s (Reid and Sanders, 2019).
Contingency leadership theory:
Contingency leadership theory is being referred to the decisions taken by leaders based
on the situation where rapid determinations like changing within the team for utilisation of any
other unique machine are specifically being done for maximisation of the profit and productivity.
For this current, Fiedler's contingency model is utilized which speak to that leaders need
to turn out to be more proficient as far as utilizing conspicuous aptitudes of their labourers and
furthermore will in general incorporate them thinking about the critical circumstance of
successful outcomes. For this, the leadership theory additionally covers three conspicuous
segments that are specifically being utilised byleaders of Sainsbury's have to recognize the
unmistakable circumstance in which they have to work. At the point when this particular
situationwas inspected then they have to recognize the particular initiative style which is
noteworthy considering the current circumstance as far as increasing successful results with
respect to the desired goals and objectives for the specified timeframe.

TASK 3
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play
In context with Sainsbury’s, some of the key approaches to operations management are
presented underneath: Total Quality Management: Leaders and managers plays an important role in this type of
tree approach of operations management where they specifically clear the situation to
subordinate like mission and vision of the particular task or of the company. In present
context total quality management specifically helps Sainsbury’s in eliminating all the
waste materials with an aim of reducing the cost where productivity and profitability can
easily be maximized (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). Just-in-time:This procedure is helpful as far as expanding productivity, wipe out expense
and for this, administrators of Sainsbury's will in general guide their staff with respect to
the effectiveness of strategies that are completed in organization.
 Kaizen:Both managers and leaders belonging to Sainsbury's carries effective roles and
responsibilities in order to consider Kaizen approach in much effective and efficient
manner and furthermore keep their staff propelled as far as selecting changing as it
prompts advance development and create efficiency.
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives
Operations management plays an effective role in an organisation because it is considered
to be the process of importing all the raw materials and rolling out the end product which isis
developed considering all the factors like after analysing the market, customer needs and
requirements focusing on the prophet ratios and so on. In present context, if it is talked about
Sainsbury’s then it can be said that there are various operations management techniques that are
specifically being executed buy them and also some of the operations of Sainsbury’s are
presented underneath: Production: Sainsbury's, which is said to be one of the largest supermarket chain that
offers organic and different type of food products within the supermarket where the
production department what required to take into consideration of high level of efficiency
like considering total quality management in order to reduce the waste materials.

 Marketing: Sainsbury’s would require considering unique marketing approaches among
the individuals and society thinking about their administrations and items. For this, the
advertising capacity will work for the equivalent as far as creating limited time plans and
it is finished by supervisors to promote the different range of products and services
offered by them. Sales:This functional department focuses onsales performed by Sainsbury’s considering
the procuring benefit by higher incomes so as to include individuals in selling and
furthermore will make effective deal in their stores to improve sales (Svensson and
Hedman, 2018).
Significance of operations management for Sainsbury's: Enhanced quality of product and higher productivity: In order to deliver high quality it
can be said that an organisation like Sainsbury’s would also required to invest high on
equipment that are linking to operations management which may also aid in improving
the productivity as well.
 Cost reduction: The most primal advantage that is specifically being delighted by
Sainsbury's with respect to the operational managementtechniques liketotal quality
management and just in time for reducing the cost which was basically being applied for
waste materials. In context to Sainsbury's as items will be offered in low cost so as to
accomplish desired goals and objectives for the operational administration method as it is
significant for the turn of events (Wallius, 2020).
TASK 4
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision-making by leaders and managers
In present time it has been analysed that there are ample number of factors that are available
in the business environment that impacts operation management along with decision making
process of both leaders and managers (Yun and Kang, 2018). In context with Sainsbury’s, both
leaders and managers would require to take decisions based on the surroundings of the business
so that appropriate growth can easily be seen. Some of these factors that impacts on operational
management are presented underneath:

 Stakeholders: staff members of the organisation, investors Pharma Government and so
on are said to be the stakeholders of an organisation where they have the power of
influencing operations of an organisation like Sainsbury’s.It is the responsibility of both
managers and leaders to take into consideration of just in time and total quality
management based on the situation in order to satisfy customers who are considered to be
the primary stakeholders Sainsbury’s (Ono, Kamomeya Inc, 2019). Sustainability: Another crucial element that majorly impacts on operations of an
organisation like Sainsbury’s and its dynamic of the board as in market the new patterns
prompts pull in individuals and furthermore pulled in for the practical merchandise and
concerning items that are created with reasonable methodologies. Consequently,
Sainsbury's needs to attempt the prominent changes that is satisfied by leaders and
managers of the company as far as cost sparing and furthermore prompts diminish
concerning strategies like Kaizen, just in time total quality management and so on
(Hasegawa, NEC Corp, 2017).
 Culture and values: It alludes to the different practices, morals and so on for which
organization works. Here, the managers and leaders of Sainsbury’s additionally need to
work and settle on compelling choices according to culture of organization. It will aid in
empowering to create collaboration among staff members which will be helpful for the
organization and furthermore make favourable working environment for workers.
CONCLUSION
With the help of above mentioned information, it effects that operations management is
something that may both make or break an organisation. It is the responsibility of leaders to play
their roles effectively and also functions are required to be managed by managers in an effective
way so that desired goals along with the objectives are attained in a specified time frame.It is
also summarised that, considering different key approaches to operations management like total
quality management just in time and so on may effectively lead an organisation to attain different
range of goals and objectives in much effective and efficient manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bromiley, P. and Rau, D., 2016. Operations management and the resource based view: Another
view. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.95-106.
Enyinda, C., 2017. Modeling enterprise risk management in operations and supply chain: A
pharmaceutical firm context. Operations and Supply Chain management: An International
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Fiorentino, R., 2016. Operations strategy: a firm boundary-based perspective. Business Process
Management Journal.
Mateo, J.R.S.C., 2016. Management Science, Operations Research and Project Management:
Modelling, Evaluation, Scheduling, Monitoring. Routledge.
Meredith, J.R. and Shafer, S.M., 2019. Operations and supply chain management for MBAs.
John Wiley & Sons.
Misra, R.B., Ravinder, H. and Peterson, R.L., 2016. An integrated approach to the teaching of
operations management in a business school. Journal of Education for Business .91(4).
pp.236-242.
Omansky, A.H. and Kanner, J.L., Autodesk Inc, 2017. Systems and methods for construction
field management and operations with building information modeling. U.S. Patent
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Radnor, Z. and Bateman, N., 2016. Debate: The development of a new discipline—public
service operations management. Public Money & Management .36(4). pp.246-248.
Ravinder, H. and Kollikkathara, N., 2017. Project Management in Operations Management
Textbooks: Closing the Gap. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 18.
Reid, R.D. and Sanders, N.R., 2019. Operations management: an integrated approach. John
Wiley & Sons.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Svensson, A. and Hedman, E., 2018, September. Knowledge Management for Operations
Management Within Health Care. In European Conference on Knowledge
Management (pp. 847-XXVI). Academic Conferences International Limited.
Hasegawa, H., NEC Corp, 2017. Operation management device, operation management method.
U.S. Patent Application 15/340,487.
Ono, M., Kamomeya Inc, 2019. Operation management apparatus, operation management
system, and method for managing operation. U.S. Patent Application 16/275,279.
Yun, L. and Kang, J., 2018, November. Energy Management and Operation Control for DC
Micro-Grid Based on Photovoltaic Generation. In 2018 IEEE International Power
Electronics and Application Conference and Exposition (PEAC) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Wallius, V., 2020. Assessing the sustainability impacts of innovative forest management and
operation practices in Norway.