Importance and Value of Operations Management in John Lewis

MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Defining and Comparing different roles and characteristics of leaders and managers.........1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2. Examination of how role of a leader and function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts......................................................................................................................3
P3. Application of different theories and models of leadership approaches...............................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P4. Explanation of key approaches to operations management and role of leaders and
managers.....................................................................................................................................5
P5. Explanation of importance and value of operations management........................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P6. Assessment of factors within business environment impacting operations management....7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management is one of the most crucial functions of an organisation which refers to
appropriate planning, organising, appropriately directing, as well as controlling of the resources
and activities of the company. On the other hand, to support this function, operations are carried
out by the firm, which refer to the tasks which are carried out in order to accomplish
organisational objectives (Filimonau and Delysia, 2019). In this context, the report below is
based on John Lewis, which is one of the most renowned departmental store organisation within
the United Kingdom. Hence, the report covers differentiation between functions and roles of
managers and leaders respectively, along with application of these aspects within the company.
In addition to this, the assignments undertakes demonstration of the role which managers and
leaders play in operations function of the firm. Another explanation covered within the report is
in relation to understanding of relationship between leadership and management within a
contemporary business environment.
TASK 1
P1. Defining and Comparing different roles and characteristics of leaders and managers
John Lewis is a departmental store organisation that deals in all the retail related activities
across the United Kingdom. Moreover, it is one of the biggest non-trading organisations within
the country as per several statistics in 2016 (The Power and Limits of Enterprise Design, 2019).
In context of its organisational structure, the firm adopts democratic leadership, with a high
consideration towards its employees. Moreover, the firm has several employee councils, along
with profit sharing schemes. In addition to this, the reason for their success is related to its co-
owned business structure followed by the firm, which enhances the industrial democracy and
works on notion of gain, knowledge and power sharing.
Within the company, there are different roles and characteristics of leaders and managers
that are required to be differentiated in context of analysing the scope of their functions. While
managers refer to individuals managing the functions of the company, leaders are the people who
are responsible towards appropriately guiding and motivating individuals in achieving the targets
effectively. Hence, below is the determination as well as comparison of different roles and
characteristics of leaders and managers:
Role of a Leader:
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 Developing Vision: One prominent role of a leader within John Lewis is that they are
responsible towards developing a vision to be attained by the subordinates.
 Motivation: They also play an effective role in terms of motivating employees to perform
at their fullest potential.
Characteristics of a Leader: Honesty: One prime characteristics within leaders of the company is that they must be
honest when it comes to disclosing important and crucial information to subordinates.
 Creativity: They are also required to be quite creative and innovative in relation to
ensuring flexible and adaptive working environment.
Role of a Manager: Planning: These individuals are required to plan different strategies and functions of
organisation in order to anticipate the requirements to achieve organisational objectives.
 Organising: Managers play the role of organising the structure and resources of the
company so that the goals and targets could be accomplished sequentially.
Characteristics of a Manager: Communication: A manager is required to clearly communicate the instructions to
employees and hence, this characteristics is required to be possessed by managers of John
Lewis.
 Decisive: Another characteristic of managers of John Lewis is that they are required to
take complex decisions and hence, it is required for them to possess this trait within
themselves (Valsecchi and et. al., 2019).
However, there is a significant amount of difference between leaders and managers that is
showcased below:
BASIS MANAGERS LEADERS
Attributes
Managers in John Lewis are
calculative in their decision
making.
Leaders within John Lewis are
visionary when taking
decisions.
Authority Higher access to power and Limited power is accessed by
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