Importance of Operations Management

The provided text discusses various sources related to operations management, including research papers, articles, and online resources. It highlights the importance of operations management, its role in organizational effectiveness, and how global forces affect businesses today. The sources cover topics such as contingency theory, climate change, low-carbon operations management, project and functional managers, leadership styles, social support, workload, stress among nurses, public-private partnership projects, employee motivation strategies, organization performance, knowledge creation and dissemination, and the impact of authentic and transactional leadership styles on employee creativity. The assignment title is 'Importance of Operations Management', the meta title is '[SOLVED] Importance of Operations Management', and the meta description is a summary of the content in less than 40 words.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................3
ACTIVITY 2 .................................................................................................................................11
Covered in ppt...........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations is the business practice adopted by organization for
increasing operational efficiency, performance and productivity. It aims at planning, organizing,
coordinating, controlling and monitoring the activities of organization which helps in attaining
organizational goals and objectives. Management and operations are mainly concerned with
conversion raw material into effective goods which leads to increased sales and maximization of
profit which helps in attaining competitive advantage and higher market share.
Amazon is one of largest e-commerce company and mainly focuses on cloud computing,
consumer electronics, digital distribution of goods and artificial intelligence. It was founded in
year 1994 by Jeff Bezos and has operations worldwide. Amazon provide number of products
services which mainly comprises of Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime, Echo, Kindle stores, Alexa,
App store, Amazon web services, Fire TV, Amazon Studios, Music unlimited, Amazon digital
game store, etc.
This study will highlight role of leaders and managers by effectively applying various
theories and concepts. It also analyse role of leaders in accordance with different situational
context and also highlights strengths and weaknesses of different approaches in accordance with
business situations. It defines the importance and value of operations in achieving business
objectives. Furthermore, this study also includes relationship between leadership and
management in a contemporary business environment.
ACTIVITY 1
Leader is an individual who holds the superior position within his field and there is in the
opposition of exercising a high degree control or influence over their followers to achieve the
specified goal.
Manger is the person which manages company's resources and activities for integrating
them in one direction to achieve organisational goal and they are responsible for planning,
organisation, staffing, directing and controlling organisational activities.
Roles and characteristics of leader and managerial
There are different roles and characteristics of the mangers and leaders which are to be
performed in the organisation for effective and optimum utilisation of all the resources and to

integrate all the activities of various departments in the direction of achieving organisational goal
and objectives.
Comparison between role of leaders and managers
Basis Manager Leader
Managing people The key role of manager is to
manage team of the people in
organisation and their
activities(Annarelli and
Nonino, 2016. ). They are
basically more detailed than
leaders as leaders set the broad
plans and vision and manger is
the one who implements the
activities and plan to achieve
the mission an vision of
company. Some
characteristics and role of the
mangers are:-
Their tactical focus is
in organisational strategy-
they aim to plan the strategy in
such a way that all the
activities of organisation
directed towards the strategy
which leading in effective and
smooth flow of the
business(What Are the Issues
of Social Responsibility &
Ethical Behavior, 2019).
The leaders continuously and
regularly review their
requirements of the customers
in context to organisation.
Their work is to focus on
those areas which are essential
in the organisation for smooth
working(Ibraheem, 2018).
They focus on organisation's
needs and guide the
departments to work
accordingly.
Establishing principles
It is another role
performed by leader of
Amazon. According to the
requirement of organisation,
leaders set policies and
principles on which the
complete activities and
functions are going to
perform. Following the
principles and work
accordingly is the primary
objective of all the employees

and members of company.
Hence, there are
various key characteristics and
role which are performed by
the leaders and managers in
the organisation.
Delegating responsibility Mangers of Amazon focuses
on the various activities
performed by different
departments (Arthur, 2016 ).
They continuously monitor
and control employee's
activities and check that all are
integrated towards the one
direction so that organisation
can perform in given flow and
they will able to achieve their
organisational goal (Dufosse
and et.al., 2017).
Leaders also plan about
function of the Amazon which
need to perform in the future.
It involves the more detailed
plan to achieve the
organisational goals and
objectives with optimum
utilisation of all the resources
of the company.
Directing The mangers also perform
function of directing and
monitoring the activities of
departments and
organisational team in order to
achieve accurate and efficient
operations in organisation so
that goal can be achieve
within specified time.
Direction are given by leaders
to the employees of the
company to perform the
activities in given direction in
order to perform effective
working and achievement of
the task and goals(Nor
Idayu,2016. ). The direction
also includes giving the
command and orders to
subordinates to ensure the

roles and responsibilities of
leader must be completed
effectively to pursue the
further activities of the
company.
-
Analysis and evaluation of different theories to leadership:
Behavioural theory- This theory of leadership focuses on behaviour of the people in
leadership positions which is opposed to their mental, physical or social characteristics. From
this theory, researchers will be able to find the cause and effect relationship of specific human
behaviours in the company. This theory divides the leaders in two categories that is the one who
focuses on tasks of Amazon's employees and another who focuses on the people.
Situational approach and Contingencies Model- This theory says about the leadership that
is there is no single way of leading. (Osei-Kyei and Chan, 2017). Human traits are related to
different situations and in which leaders have to exercise their leadership accordingly that is, the
situation decides which leadership style would be more effective.
Whereas transformational leadership is based on creating the relationship with others
members of Amazon which will leads to crate a high level of trust between the parties which
resulting increasing motivation in leaders and followers.
Change in technology- In this situation the Role of leader and functions of the
management encourage Amazon to make improvements and changes in the operations of the
company as it is affected by different traits and characteristics of leadership and management
functioning. In this situation leaders and managers can motivate employees to make use of new
technology which will also help them in improving their performance.
Labour turnover- In this type of situation the role of leader and function of manager is to
provide employees with rewards and incentives so that the turnover reduces. It will also

help in retaining workers in the firm. (Osei-Kyei and Chan, 2017). Frequent changes disrupts
the organisation which can be avoided in the situation of labour turnover.
Conflict – In this type of situation managers and leaders are engaged in motivating employees to
get involve in open communication so that situation of conflict is being removed. when the
situations changes slowly it is somewhere helpful for the managers and leaders to estimate and
predict the risk which can arise in the near future and may disrupt the operations of business.
Fast changing situations- the leaders and managers achieve to make short ruin strategies
for the situations which are uncertain and may arise anytime is the company and can affect the
operations of the business(Philipo, 2016). To avoid these affects changing situation sit is the duty
of leaders to make the short term plans through which they can be able to face the situation sand
manage their operations in those situations accordingly. The managers need to implement those
plan into action for effective and effective working of the business operation's and management.
For example stock market prices changes very frequent which directly influences on the
investors of the company.
Situational leadership
It is the model or theory which visa called as life cycle theory . This theory is two factor
theory of leadership which says that there are two variables in which one of those focus on
behaviour of task and activities and another is relationship behaviour (Philipo,2016).
This approach states that one single leadership style is not appropriate for all the situations.
Application of style is completely depends on the type and nature of the situations.
Amazon adopts situational theory which can be applied in the different situations according to
their operations smoothly and efficiently. For example in this the leaders and managers act
according to the situation pertaining in the organization.
System theory of leadership
This theory treats the organisation in open or closed systems. As system is basically a set
of the parts which form complex whole, . Any closed system is not affected by the environment.
Whereas an open system is directly affected by change in the environmental factors. In this the
leaders treat organization as an open or close system. Similarly, Amazon also entertain the open

system as meeting the changing requirement of environment is necessary for any organisation to
run its business effectively in the market for the long run (Philipo, 2016 Systems approach is not
an approach to leadership in terms of a manner of leader’s work, but it’s the leader's
determination to factorize in his leadership the external environment and relationships with and
among elements. Leader without followers is unable to exercise his leadership and to ensure their
conviction they should provide a system, a structure, a purpose, despite the alternative chaos.
feedback is also the part of the open system which can be further used for improving and
continuing the quality services (What Are Some Ways in Which Global Forces Affect Business
Today, 2019.).
Contingent theory of leadership
This is an organisational theory which claims that leader's effectiveness is depended on
leadership style which matches with situation. As there is no best and constant style of leadership
which can be followed in the organisation. A leader will be effective only when his style matches
and fits with the situation (Mahadevan, 2015). This approach emphasis on both the leaders'
personality and the situation in which leaders has to operate. This also outline the two style of
leadership that is task motivated and relationship motivated. Task is completely refers to the
accomplishment of the task and motivation refers to the interpersonal relationships.
Strength and weakness ofdifferent approaches to situations within the work environment are
defined below:
S Strengths W Weaknesses
Situational It helps in recognizing the
flexibility.
It helps in creating the
comfortable environment for
workers
It also takes the different
Situational theory focuses on
immediate needs instead of
long term needs.
This theory does not able to
provide enough information
for leaders of the Amazon.

development phases into the
considerations
it helps in increasing the
awareness of the leader of
Amazon
creates team work and
integration of all the activities
it boosts the training routine of
the Amazon
Adopting this theory requires
skill level of leaders.
Leads to create confusion in
the company.
It focuses more on immediate
needs than long-term needs.
Situational leadership is based
more on meeting an exact
need, at the moment, then an
approach which looks toward
the long-term needs of a team.
Instead of staying focused on
the overall objectives,
situational managers can fall
into a trap where they are
evaluating or responding to an
immediate circumstance all
the time. That allows for fires
to be put out and morale to be
salvaged, but it also creates
issues where personal
development can be stalled.
system The system theory strength is
interdependencies, adaptability
including exchange of the
resources from different
systems.
It focusses on inclusion instead
of separation
May not be always practical
and lead to delays in decision
making.
Nature of inter-dependence is
not defined.
Classification of the inter
relationships has to be done

It helps in empowering the
leadership style.
Increases productivity by
matching and accepting the
changes followed by open
system (Sanda and Arthur,
2017)
Maximising profitability
It provides good basis for
control in the organisation.
Helps in developing the
coordination of specialized
activities in order to match the
changing environmental
requirements.
properly otherwise it could be
counter productive.
contingent This approach is adaptive in
nature as it allows the
organization to remain flexible
to make changes in their
policies and strategies
according to the changes that
takes place in the environment.
It helps in empowering the
leadership styles
This makes the company more
adaptable as they are ready to
face the contingent situations.
It is complex theory to apply
in the organisation.
Determining the situation in
which managerial actions are
required is difficult process
It involves difficult empirical
testing
Contingency approach is
reactive in nature.
This approach suffers from
inadequacy of literature that is
it cannot be easily understood

It also helps in improving the
productivity
and the different type of
actions which can be taken
under different situations of
the company(Reid and
Sanders, 2015).
ACTIVITY 2
P.5
Covered in ppt
P.6 Assessment of factors which affect the operations of management and leads to decision
making by managers and leaders.
There are various external factors which
influence the operational efficiency of the
organization which hampers performance
and productivity of Amazon. External
factors like increased in number of
competition, technology, economic,
political, legal and social factors which
influence the operations of the organization.
Global competition: Large number of rivalry
competitors are increasing at a larger scale
by offering improve quality product and
services. This leads to shifting of
prospective customers to different brand
which leads to lower market share and
reduced customer base (What Are Some
Ways in Which Global Forces Affect
Business Today, 2019.)
Successful leader helps in recognizing the
need to adapt to increased number of
competitors and find effective ways to
reduce cost and maintain competitive
position in the market by targeting particular
segment of market which leads to higher
sales and profit. Manger of the organization
find the best way to do a particular business
to maintain a competitive edge in the market
which helps in long term sustainably and
growth of Amazon effectively and
efficiently.
Technological factors: Technology is
changing at a faster pace and is rapidly
becoming obsolete. Amazon is one of the
leading e-commerce and cloud computing
company which deliver products and
services online all across the globe.

Implementation and adaption of new and
improved technology helps in increased
operational efficiency and productivity
which helps management in catering large
number of people from worldwide which
leads to smooth communication and
customer satisfaction which is the core
objective of Amazon.
Leader plays a key role in implementing
new technology in the organization by
fostering technological innovation and helps
in guiding and motivating employees of the
organization to adapt to such change which
will lead to operational efficiency and
productivity. Managers of Amazon
understand and analyse the benefit of this
technology to the organization and
evaluating how implementation of this
technology adds value to the business to
achieve organizational goals and objectives.
Social responsibility issues: Corporate social
responsibility is of significant part of
business ethics. The main objective of the
organization is to minimize environmental
factors which leads to higher operational
efficiency and productivity. The major
challenge to the organization is to make
profit without damaging or over utilizing the
natural resources of the economy.
Leaders of Amazon aims at guiding people
and employees of the organization to work
within legal framework to protect
environment and its resources. Manager of
the organization is responsible to set
standards within which organization must
perform for effective results and outcomes
(What Are the Issues of Social
Responsibility & Ethical Behavior, 2019).
Quality, customer service and cost
challenges: Amazon is largely influenced by
the cost attached to the distribution of goods
and services from across the globe. They
mainly focus on distributing goods at a
faster pace effectively and efficiently to its
premium customers without charging any
delivery charges. Ineffective customer
service and defected quality products is a
major challenge for Amazon which leads to
ineffective operational efficiency.
Manger helps in effective decision making
by implementing effective strategy and plan
which helps in increased operational
efficiency and productivity. Management
helps in taking effective cost control
measures which helps in long term
sustainability growth and success. Leaders
helps in monitoring and guiding various
distribution and supply channels which leads
to effective operations and performance of
Amazon.

CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarized that, management and leaders are of
significant importance to the company who are responsible for the formulation of strategy,
implementation and monitoring the operation of the business to achieve organizational goals and
objectives. It also concludes that, mangers helps in improvising operational efficiency of the
business by successfully implementing models and theories in different situation for effective
results and outcomes. It further states that, there are various environmental factors like increase
in number of global competitors, rapid change in technology, social responsibility issues, quality,
customer satisfaction and cost challenges which affect operational efficiency of organization and
hampers competitive position and market share of company.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Annarelli, A. and Nonino, F., 2016. Strategic and operational management of organizational
resilience: Current state of research and future directions. Omega. 62. pp.1-18.
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Arthur, N.A.D., 2016. The Influence Of Leadership Styles On Employee Creativity In Ghana’s
Telecommunication Industry(Doctoral dissertation, University of Ghana).
Bligh, M.C., 2016. Introduction: Exploring compelling contexts through paradox, tension, and
new approaches to leadership. In Leadership lessons from compelling contexts (pp. 1-27).
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Carter, D.R and et.al., 2015. Social network approaches to leadership: An integrative conceptual
review. Journal of Applied Psychology.100(3). p.597.
Cullen-Lester, K.L. and Yammarino, F.J., 2016. Collective and network approaches to
leadership: Special issue introduction.
Dufosse, E.D., Patry, N. and Reiner, W., Gvbb Holding Sarl, 2017. Operational management
solution for media production and distribution. U.S. Patent 9,614,885.
Dufosse, E.D., Patry, N. and Reiner, W., GVBB Holdings Sarl, 2017. Operational management
solution for media production and distribution. U.S. Patent Application 15/422,193.
Furlan Matos Alves, M.W and et.al., 2017. Contingency theory, climate change, and low-carbon
operations management. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 22(3).
pp.223-236.
Heizer, J., 2016. Operations management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Ibraheem, A., 2018. Project and functional managers: Coopetition paradox and leadership
impact.
Ivanov, D., Tsipoulanidis, A. and Schönberger, J., 2017. Global supply chain and operations
management. A Decision-Oriented Introduction to the Creation of Value.
Mahadevan, B., 2015. Operations management: Theory and practice. Pearson Education India.
Nor Idayu, Z., 2016. The influence of leadership style, social support and workload toward stress
among nurses (Doctoral dissertation, Universiti Utara Malaysia).

Osei-Kyei, R. and Chan, A.P., 2017. Perceptions of stakeholders on the critical success factors
for operational management of public-private partnership projects. Facilities. 35(1/2).
pp.21-38.
Persaud, D., 2015. A Correlational Study of Servant Leadership and Employee Job Satisfaction
in New York City Public Hospital Emergency Rooms. Grand Canyon University.
Philipo, R.P., 2016. Employee Motivation Strategies and Organization Performance: A Case
Study of Ifakara Health Institute Head Office Dar es Salaam (Doctoral dissertation, The
Open University of Tanzania).
Reid, R.D. and Sanders, N.R., 2015. Operations Management, Binder Ready Version: An
Integrated Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Roth, A and et.al., 2016. Knowledge creation and dissemination in operations and supply chain
management. Production and Operations Management. 25(9). pp.1473-1488.
Sanda, A. and Arthur, N.A.D., 2017. Relational impact of authentic and transactional leadership
styles on employee creativity: The role of work-related flow and climate for
innovation. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies. 8(3) pp.274-295.
Swink, M and et.al., 2017. Managing operations across the supply chain. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Education.
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