Roles and Characteristics of a Leader and Manager in Management and Operations

This report discusses the roles and characteristics of a leader and manager in management and operations. It explores the importance of leadership and management in different organizational situations and discusses the implementation of various theories and models of approach in operations management. The report is written from the perspective of Debenhams, a UK-based retail organization.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1 Define and compare between roles and characteristic of a leader and manager...............4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2 Role of leader and function of manager among different organisation situation..............6
P3 Implement of different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency.......................................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P4. Operations management approaches along with role that managers and leaders play.. 10
P5. Importance and values that operations management have in achieving business objectives.
..............................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P6. Factors within environment of business which impact operational management as well as
decision making by leaders and managers...........................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The term management is explicated as a process that aids organisation to direct and
regulate business of an organisation by managing all individuals which are engaged in company
operations and project. Organisation is a bunch of different departments and operations which
revolve company activities and goals in a systematic manner. Apart from this operations
management process is explained as an important and essential functions that induce and
demonstrate company productivity and profitability. This report is written from perspective of
Debenhams which is a UK based retail organisation that helps individuals to purchase all items
from one place (Alneaimi, 2015) Moreover, this report highlights on role and characteristic of
leader with their comparison. Functions of manager and role of leader with it's implementation
among different situations will also included in the upcoming report. In the last, Role of leaders
and manager as per key approaches in operations management will be included in the upcoming
report.
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare between roles and characteristic of a leader and manager
Manager are responsible to complete all work by controlling and monitoring all
departments of business. Debenhams manager formulate plans as well as strategy because it
helps to accomplish company objectives in an organised manner. Similarly, leader motivate
employee's for performing work as per decided strategy. Some roles and characteristic of
Debenhams authorities are mention as follow:
Role of manager
 Monitoring- One of the most important role that is performed by manager is to ensure
that organisational workforce perform all roles and responsibilities in an organised
manner (Gillen, Jacquillat and Odoni, 2016). Debenhams manager are responsible for
ensuring that all task are completed according to decided standards as it help
management to identify the loopholes of workers.
 Resource allocator- Manager and leader are the top authorities of an organisation and
both are responsible to accomplish company goals. In the context of Debenhmans,
manager arrange and gather all essential resources which is required for company project.

Further, manager also perform the role of accomplishing organisational goal with
minimum use of resources.
Characteristic of manager
 Communication- Managers are the persons who communicate with team members of an
organisation in order to deliver essential value related with project. Debenhams manager
not only delegate job responsibilities and expectation of company but also listen the
requirements of team members as it helps to generate more productive results through
two-way interaction.
 Time-management- Time plays a crucial role for all organisation including Debenhams
as it leads management to gain first mover advantage through completing all work in
stipulated time period (Nakagawa, 2015). Along with this it is also used by the
organisation for examine the work perspective as per time period. In context of manager,
time-management characteristic enhance probability to achieve company goals.
Leaders are those individual who is responsible for making the best utilisation of human
resources through directing them towards company goals. It is also used for motivating and
satisfying the leaders towards managing organisation work according to the leaders and
followers.
Role of leader
 Motivating the workforce- Leader perform the role of enhancing motivation of
employee's through directing them towards company goals. Example- At the time of
implementing changes among Debenhams. Leader motivate employee's to adopt
changes in organisation by explaining their benefits.
 Formulate of vision- Each leader perform their work with the motive of accomplishing
vision. Leaders play the role of setting organisational vision in teams to complete all
task in an organised manner (Needles and et. al., 2016). This is also used for managing
and completing organisational work as per decided practices.
Characteristic of leader
 Learning ability- A leader is a person that is able to know what to do in complex
situations. This refers that quick study is a important character of leader who is engaged
in Debenhams because it helps to complete all work in an organised manner. Moreover,
learning helps leaders to complete task as per opportunity.

 Influence- Convince is an important aspects for a large organisation and in the context
of Debenhams, leaders generates logical, cooperative and emotional perspective to
inspire individual for completing all task in a transparent manner. Example- Empathy
lead person to understand emotional intelligence and utilise it to influence workforce
towards company goals (Omansky and Kanner, 2014).
Difference among role of leader and manager
Parameters Manager Leader
Motivating the
workforce/Managing the
workforce
Manager are responsible to
manage the work. It helps in
accomplishment of company
goals.
Leader motivate the workforce
to complete task according to
the decided strategy.
Risk management/Risk
analyse
An effective manager perform
their work with the motive of
reducing risk aspects by
managing them in an
appropriate manner.
Risk is monitored among all
aspects of business. So an
effective leaders analyse the
risk aspects for managing work
as per risk aspect.
Analysing the role of leader and manager
Both leader and manager are the important individuals of an organisation and with the
analyse of Debenhams functions and operations it is identified by management that roles or
functions that are performed by leader is different. Manager are responsible for controlling and
managing all work as per the goals of business it work as a positive point to control all
operations of Debenhams (Reid and Sanders, 2019). Apart, from this leaders are responsible for
formulate of vision and to enhance motivation among employee's to complete activities as per
decided vision.
TASK 2
P2 Role of leader and function of manager among different organisation situation
Debenhams manage their store at a large level so changes are faced by employee's and
management on regular basis. So to deal with different situations leaders and manager perform
an important role as they are professional for managing organisational work in an organised

manner. Benchmark and guidelines that are decided by leader or manager aids individuals for
performing their work in an appropriate manner. Along with this some example that exists
among different departments of Debenhams are mention as follow:
SITUATION 1- Recruitment and Induction of new team member
Debenhams is planned to expand their market area by introducing their retail store in
untapped market. In the context of Debenhams there are various task performed by management
so the number of employee's is also enhanced (Roda and Macchi, 2016). Therefore, recruitment
and induction of employee's is the first situation in which both leader and manager contribute
their efforts for managing overall workforce of organisation.
Role of Leader
Recruitment is a time-consuming process and also it is a challenging process for business
which refers that there are various complexity faced by management for selecting right applicant.
Leaders of Debenhams are responsible for managing the task with a close perspective such as
understanding job description support leader to interview candidate according to vacant position.
Function of a manager
Induction process require more time period as it does not end after the first day or week.
Debenhams manager perform the role of engaging new recruits as it ensure that individuals
obtain opportunity for growing their skills. Moreover, another function that is performed by
manager relates with management as it helps in managing different perspective. In the context of
employee's functions of manager introduce with each other.
SITUATION 2- Performance management
In the context of Debenhams, organisation perform their work by improving company
productivity it defines that employee's perform an important role for improving company
efficiency (Saghiri and et. al., 2017). Performance management plays an important role which is
used by management to complete work with more efficiency.
Role of leader
Leader engage persons to perform their work with more efficiency through understanding
the task of management as per company roles. It lead leader to complete their task by more
efficiency in order to motivate individuals for accomplishing success in short period of time. It
also results overall performance of organisation is increased with improving employee's
performance by engaging them in training period.

Function of manager
Manager perform an important role as it is leading individuals to complete their task with
more efficiency. Debenhams manager perform an important role as it leads track records of all
employee's which is leading persons to manage all task on the basis of company approval. By
monitoring performance of employee's on regular basis. Debenhams manager formulate
performance management with unbiased basis.
P3 Implement of different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency
The scope for operation management is wide and there are various operational task
relates with organisation that is used to improve efficiency of business. Leadership also plays a
vital role among business as it aids management of Debenhams to implement appropriate
operational techniques as well as theories (Venkat and et. al., 2015). Systems leadership,
contingency and situational leadership leads organisation to improve operational efficiency of
Debenhams. Some of them are mention as follow:
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY
The Situational Leadership Theory was developed by Paul Heresy and Kenneth Blanchard, thats
why it is also known as Heresy-Blanchard theory. This leadership theory works on an
assumption that the style of leadership depend on situation and it varies from situation to
situation. The first step for selecting this theory is that the situation is analysed initially and then
style of leadership is opted according to the situation. This theory has four elements which the
leaders must approach while developing their approach to a particular situation. The leaders of
Debenhams must use and apply this theory to deal with a specific situation. The elements are as
follows:
Directing- A directive and authoritative approach is applied in this element. what to do and how
to do directive is given by the leader and he has the authority to take decision. The support
and guidance map is provided to the employees and they have to follow the directions.
Coaching- This is the second style where leaders sell their ideas to their subordinate and in
return expect the debates and discussions from the employees for better clarity. The leader is
only the decision maker. It opens the bar on employees to put their opinion on table.

Delegating- The participation of leaders are limited and they only provide roadmap to the
employees whenever required. The responsibility is delegated and subordinates have to take
their decisions.
Participative- This style focuses on involving the subordinates in giving their opinions. They
are even free to take their decisions. It helps in motivating the employees to work efficiently
for organisational goals.
Strength of situational leadership
Increase in flexibility- Situational leadership is flexible to implement and this helps organisation
to perform their work with more efficiency. According to flexible aspects it is easy for
management to conduct all task with current situation.
Weakness of situational leadership
Dynamic situation- Each situation is different for the organisation and as per perspective of
business it is identified that management complete all work with adoption of new
systems. So this is difficult to implement situation as per new situation.
System Leadership Theory
As per the name suggest that systems leadership theory perform an important role as it
leads Debenhams to complete their project in an organised manner. This is also used to influence
performance as well as power of teams by analysing their work aspects. Debenhams implement
system leadership style at workplace because it is used to analyse external environment aspects.
But the existing market conditions of market are too dynamic so with the implement of system
leadership style an organised structure is formulated by Debenhams to complete organisational
work in proper manner. Moreover, system flow and engage individuals to manage and complete
their task as per the flow of supply and demands of organisation. System leadership also ensure
that team and firm both coordinate with each other as it leads to complete work with more
efficiency.
Strength
Leadership enhance strength by managing work according to the qualities and traits that
makes management more effective. This is also used for managing and leading work as per
strength of business.
Weakness

This is complex for organisation as per identification and managing the techniques but
Debenhams face challenges because it is complex for adopt of system for all basis.
Contingency leadership theory
According to the theory of contingency a business faced different situations which are
raised in the organisation at the time of performing company operations (Yabuki, 2014). Further,
all situations are different from each other so in simple words contingency theory state all
situation is unique. Therefore, management of Debenhams is responsible to learn and adopt
different leadership style for performing work according to existing situation.
According to the model of Fiedler's contingency it is stated by organisation that leaders
improves their employee's efficiency by implementing the model of contingency leadership. It
also helps Debenhams authority to integrate employee's efforts with different situation. The first
aspect is to analyse the situation and task which is engaged among project. Once organisation
situation is analysed than management identify particular leadership style which is appropriate
for company. In the last, by integrating all aspect it is easy to complete task in decided time
period and also with minimum utilisation of resources.
Strength
Self-awareness is one of the most important perspective that is used in to manage work key
leadership and strength which helps in managing functions with effective systems.
Weakness
Debenhams face challenges to work with the motive of contingency leadership style as it is
complex to understand because management not explain details as per situations.
TASK 3
P4. Operations management approaches along with role that managers and leaders play.
The definition of operation management is a field of management which is concerned with
planning, organizing and managing the development and modifying method that would continue
to run the company and boost efficiency. In other words, an organization of business decisions
that uses to define positive impact on productivity by transforming raw resources in to final
products. This will lead to increased productivity of the company by adjusting the products.
Difficulties that occur in companies that need to address and improve efficiency in the
professional context (Choi, Cheng and Zhao, 2016).

Just in time: The manufacturing proper planning set up to satisfy customers ’ needs with
minimal delay is yet another term for it. It focuses primarily on task plants, structures and
persons. It has more power to increase competitive advantages for mitigating waste production
addendum to compressive strength production and manufacturing productivity. Debenhmas is
major retail company that embraces the framework for measuring their production rates
contribution to lead to success. Leaders define and modify manufacturing techniques where
challenges exist and make adjustments. It also represents inventory-related secret issues and also
approaches to problems inside manufactured products. Managers play the role to emphase on
initiatives and leadership plays role to direct others for delivering with broader commitment.
Therefore, quite a strategy contributes to the production of goods beyond interruption and to the
transportation of products on time as possible. It also reduces time wasted, overcapacity
circumstances and stock depletion.
Leader's Role:
 To ensure that the goods obtained are adequately used and not lost in the manufacturing
process.
 Monitoring and verification of the requirements of all the equipment used in the
manufacturing process.
Role of manager:
 To order goods from manufacturers at the correct time.
 To keep a strong collaboration with partners to improve that the consistently perform the
quantity of goods needed.
Total quality management: This strategy that contributes in long term stability by maintaining
brand loyalty. Inside the strategy, every other worker contributes significantly equivalently to
enhancing the goods and services, processes and culture in which activities are completed to
achieve the company's objectives. It tends to make participation of all resources in continuous
improvement whilst also handling customer satisfaction in efficient manner. Through using
historical methods, training groups, cooperation is decided to make with performance subjects
and organization performance. Debenhmas enforces the performance improvement plan to
addressing greater customer satisfaction for product lines. The manager plays position to use
these quality control concepts and incorporate processes to reflect on customer expectations in
order to get successful results.

Role of leader: Leader has multiple positions in the TQM approach, such as defining success
assessment for the project, ensuring successful participation and efficiency of the average
employee, etc.
Role of manager: In TQM, the manager often has different responsibilities, such as handling
suppliers and professional colleagues, ensuring constant change and manufacturing processes
development, etc.
Lean production: By examining design concepts during the stages of manufacturing before
delivery, the technique is used to minimize waste and guarantee proper. With this strategy,
executives of Debenhmas try and reduce and also eradicate the tasks which are less efficient or
have lesser objectives. Under the strategy, service unit fix defective goods, removes excessive
staff movement and minimize inventory holdings (Fettermann and et.al., 2018).
Role of leader: Leaders play a key role in encouraging the whole resources for continual
improvements inside of their efficiency savings.
Role of manger: The manager play role for workforce practices, supervisor’s concentrates that
no unneeded movements are created and costs will be reduced thru the trying to make further
advancements in underling’s efficiency and performance
P5. Importance and values that operations management have in achieving business objectives.
All businesses, either small or large, apply the principle of performance activities in an
official manner to achieve defined targets. Operations management has its own meaning, along
with principles, in order to meet company goals. Some are as sophisticated:
Potentiality of improving production: Operations management is regarded more at Debenhmas
as it exhibit potential in terms for higher production contribution of different products in
consistent fashion. Therefore, the implementation of such leadership raises income by
consistently performing all activities in order to achieve the desired level of output.
Product quality and customer satisfaction – Organization uses various practices and process to
offer the highest quality of services so consumer can be happy efficiently. Consequently, activity
and management is a mechanism for Debenhmas and other organization to enhance company
performance as well as provide product quality (Gillen, Jacquillat and Odoni, 2016).
Supply chain management: A business largely depends on distributors who supply the raw
resources to producer then goods are shipped to whole seller and retailers for the purpose of sale
and increased market efficiency. In Debenhmas operation management provides optimal

relationships with customers and suppliers which can help to boost the trying to sell business and
operational productivity. A very company's management and leader has good ties with suppliers
that offer goods and services at various and affordable rates that can greatly boost corporate
revenue and profitability.
Better product quality: Operations management is also respected as it leads in changes in
current customer satisfaction in stronger way. The definition is essentially used by executives of
reputable businesses with their future consumer base in order to maximize the success of the
goods according to their requirements. When it is not correctly rated, instead outcomes are
shown in terms of reduction. Therefore, organizations emphasize process management as it
provides greater product efficiency such that revenue levels are increased with maximizing
profit.
M3 Leaders and managers can improve efficiency of operation management
From all of the above it has assessed that the leader and manager of Debehnmas institution
enhances their operational organizational performance by using various attitudes that also aims
to understand business goals efficiently (Kopardekar and et.al., 2016). In Debehnmas,
management are using TQM system that focus on the quality of its electronic goods which
absorbs audience and boost organisational selling increasing attainment of the goals. To use Just
in time approach it can affect the success by which the wastages that helps make increased
revenues, returns accomplishments of business objectives.
TASK 4
P6. Factors within environment of business which impact operational management as well as
decision making by leaders and managers.
In current context, there are multiple factors occurs that compromises operations
management along with business decisions by administrations. For managing business issues
inside global marketplace, evaluations of all the variables are crucial to achieve predictable
performance. The existence of these variables can be internally as well as externally which can
also drive industry to earn implementation of such variables efficiently. In relation to decision-
making by different leaders and managers, multiple factor which occurs in a competitive market
environment and has a major effect on organizational management is responsible:

Corporate social responsibility: This is correlated with government regulation, and is crucial
for firms to concentrate on it. This aspect helps to improve the brand value and consumer loyalty.
This consideration is used by management and leadership in Debehnmas to assure clients that
goods are of excellent quality and can attract new customers through engaging in CSR activities.
With aid of this variable director make correct decision about its growth and profits the
operational activities.
Organizational culture: It relates as character and culture of an organisation that is used by
organisation in attempt to optimize the firm's performance. Character of an organisation is
indicates that there really are different groups of people who have been employed by embracing
different approach and community to function. This is essential for the organization to obey all
community in regard to organization and offer work to accomplish the objectives. To increase
the efficiency of Debehnmas, director need to adopt desirable culture and will provide training
programs to workers so project can be completed in any amount of time (Mijumbi and et.al.,
2016).
Organizational ethics: This is another aspect that points out how a company reacts to the
current business structure. This describes a set of laws and guidelines that help to determine the
actions of the worker who behaves differently in the company and embraces the modifications
successfully. While Debehnmas retains high morals and conducts with staff, the director helps to
preserve the better efficacy and reputation of the corporation's kin effectively. This can helps to
increase the usefulness and start making decision for the business.
Variables such as business ethics, culture or corporate social responsibility are listed
above, all influencing organizational management so executives can change their choices or
strategies accordingly. Csr initiatives help to enhance brand image and then further increase the
costs of Debehnmas and it effectively reduces productivity and profitability. As well as this,
ethical output boost efficiency levels however if person does not pursue it, now it will adversely
impact or minimize the consumer's confidence or profitability.
Factors affect business environment and community
It has investigated that within market environment there are several factors which can
influence the business communities and the environment along with organisation culture, ethics
and corporate social performance. In conjunction with Debehnmas, administrators should
implement a content communities that will help to support advancement and social and

stakeholders to achieve the organization's goals. Some other component involving the
Debehnmas ecosystem and working environment is corporate image as it strengthens operational
excellence and generates loyalty that based on the style cash flow and even some sustainability.
CONCLUSION
In the last, it is concluded by above report that employers, leader and manager all
perform an important role for managing company operations in an efficient or organised manner.
Potential employee's are responsible to perform their work with more efficiency and as per depth
understanding of the topic as it helps for making best outcomes by accomplish of company goals
and objectives with decided strategy. Further, with implement of systematic leadership style and
other model organisation obtain sustainability in the market that is also useful for obtaining
competitive-edge in market.

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