Quantitative Operations Management Approaches

This assignment delves into the realm of quantitative operations management, examining prevalent approaches and the challenges they pose. It explores various aspects of this field, including disaster supply chain management, world-class manufacturing practices, product portfolio management, and dynamic relief demand management in emergency logistics. The assignment draws upon a selection of academic sources to provide a comprehensive review of the topic.

UNIT 4. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P.1 Different roles of manager and leader in the context of M&S limited.................................3
P.2 analysis of the role and manager in different scenarios .......................................................5
P.3 different theories and models of approach............................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P.4 Key approaches to operation management and the role of manager ...................................8
P.5 the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives. . .10
P.6 the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers ...............................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are important for any business organization. It enables an
organisation to work efficiently and with effectively also. It enables the system of company to
achieve the business goals and objectives of the company. The present report has been based on
the M&S limited, which is the British company and one of the largest clothing company across
the world. In this aspect, role of leaders and managers have been discussed and the key
approaches to enable them work in the cited company (Akkerman, Farahani and Grunow, 2010).
Different traits and theories of leadership has also been discussed for the effective
implementation of the management theories. In addition to this, the study has been done to
identify the evaluation of various leadership skills and styles including management system in
developing strategies. In this significance of manager and leader has been discussed. Through
this report, it will be analysed that management is important for the betterment of the company.
TASK 1
P.1 Different roles of manager and leader in the context of M&S limited
Manager and leader are considered as the important part of any organisation. HP food
limited. These are responsible for the management of the operations of the company. The
company namely, M&S limited gains effectiveness and increases its product value in market by
obtaining useful coordination of leader and manager for improving the service quality of the
organization. Manager of M & S limited prepare plans and evaluate performance of the company
(Alderton and Saieva, 2013). On the other hand, Leader takes challenges and accomplishes
targets to meet objectives by building team as well as encouraging members of group for
valuable coordination in qualitative services of entity. Both leader and manager have different
roles in the organization that are as:
Manager Leader
 Maintains transaction of goods and
services.
 Managers evaluates and plans for
recovering issues occurs at workplace.
 Leader develops action plan for the
implementation of the policies that the
manager proposes for achieving goals
of company.

 Manager focuses on concentrates on the
system and structure of the organization
of the M&s limited.
 Leader set targets and build team spirit
and motivate them.
 Leader focuses on people oriented
strategies for the implementation of
business and their job performances.
So, it has been analysed that managers and leaders have their own different roles and
duties to play in M&S limited. Manager of the company instructs and directs regarding the
production of the production of the clothes, home products and luxury food products (Barratt,
Choi and Li, 2011). While on the other hand, Leader of M&S are responsible for the
implementation of the policies which are laid down by the manager of the company for the
increasing its production of the clothes and home products of the company. Hence, it has been
analysed that manager and leader are the effective role player in company. Manager of the
company have responsibilities regarding strategic planning, formulation along with the
evaluation of the action plans. In this process, manager makes decision regarding entity's
business activities and leader builds the team management for obtaining improvements in
business activities.
Characteristics of leader and manager in meeting the objectives of organization:
Manager and leader are very important to the company namely M&S limited. They are
essential to the increased efficiency of the production of its clothes and home products. The
following are the characteristics of the leader and manager in the company:
 They are responsible for the effective product distribution and services of the company
through which company can become the leading producer of the clothes and home
products across the world.
 Role of manager is also extended up to the personal and professional development of the
employees so that they can get more positive results.
 Manager are the responsible key personnel in the company, which generates new ideas
regarding new latest fashion in clothes and innovation in them to attract customers.
 Also the managers and leaders plays an effective role to satisfy its key stake holders
(Chiarini and Vagnoni, 2015).

There are some more features and characteristics of leaders and managers which are as
follows:
 Leader are honest in their nature. It means that the employees and organization is the
reflection of a leader. So it is required by the leader to be honest about their work.
 Leader has aim to enhance the brand value of Marks and Spencer. For this reason,
the leader has to make delegate his authority to lower level management.
 Manager is a person in an organization which is full of a positive attitude. The
manager of the cited organization creates the positive work oriented environment in
their organization which lead the employees to be work oriented.
P.2 analysis of the role and manager in different scenarios
As analysed, manager is responsible for managing the entire business process of the
company. The manager of the company namely, M&S focuses on to have a proper knowledge
about each operation so that manager can be able to perform for the betterment of its company.
On the other hand, leader is responsible for the proper team planning and development so that
employees can contribute to the overall success of the company. The role of leader and manager
vary per the different situational contexts. Leader and manager of M&S limited also applies
different tools and methods that improve the quality of services (Ergun and et. al., 2010). Role
of manager and leader are expressed as: Decision-making: The managers and the leaders are the individuals who are able to make
the decisions which is going to be in favour of the cited organisation at the most toughest
time of the organisation. Although they can take the decisions at any point of situations
whether it is in of favour or against the organisation. Such kind of activities will also able
to make the firm to get the competitive advantage over the others rivals. Now, this has
been seen that the leaders and the mangers both are responsible to perform their roles
within the organisation. Risk Taker: The managers and the leaders are the key person who takes risk in order to
get the maximize profits for the cited firm. They are the only one who have the guts to
take the risk at various situations. They could take the risk at various situations and make
the decisions so that they are able to make the firm more profitable. The mangers and the
leaders striving hard to emerge the risk appetite with the employees of the firm. But, it's a

challenging task . If managers and the leaders would restricts or overstretch employees,
then the employees becomes frustrated. Problem solving: This is what leaders must exist within themselves. Problem solving si
the tool which is used in the business for getting growth and opportunity. Managers and
the leaders are the main individuals who run the organisation within the most utmost
level, and they are ultimately responsible for resolving the issues which are associated to
the firm.
 Analysing market research: It is the term which means that the company should
regularly check on the market about what is in the trend. The manager must analyse the
fashion trends and changes in the taste and preferences of its respective customers so that
the cited company can implement those in its production of the clothes and also the home
products which can attract tits customers. in this process manager evaluates market
position of products by analysing information that are collected from the market. On the
other hand, leader accepts the challenges and motivate its employees to generate ideas
that lead to the successful achievement of objectives. Leader also establishes the link
between managers and employees so that they can perform accordingly to the strategies
of the manager.
In this manager of the cited organization aim to analyse the market area of cloth industry so that
they can be up dated with the recent trends and preferences of people and customers of their
organization.
 To maintain a balance between demand and supply of products and services: manager
and leader handles to maintain the effective balance between demand and supply of the
products and services of M&S limited. In this the manager ensures that the proper
production of goods and services has been done so that supply can be maintained
effectively (Galindo and Batta, 2013). For example, manager and leader must analyse
about the positioning of their market which enable them to regulate proper and
continuous supply of clothes and luxury home and food products. Also, the leader
motivates the employees to produce more goods so that efficiency of the company can be
maintained.
The manager and leader has a role to maintain the equilibrium in demand and supply of clothes
and luxury home products so that they can maintain their good will among customers. The

leaders has an assigned role that he has to check the ratios of demands according to which they
can supply their products.
 Customer satisfaction and establishing relationship with buyers: M&S limited aim to
provide its customers full satisfaction regarding its goods and services. For this purpose,
Manager and leader get feedback and suggestions regarding their product through,
questionnaire and online feedback form. The company the, recognises the suggestions
regarding any of their products and implement the changes so that its respective
customers can be satisfied. Leader aim to provide motivation top its employees regarding
good customer interaction at their retail outlet store, so that it can build good image in the
minds of people. Good and interactive relationship should be maintained with the
customers.
 Resolving of issues: manager of M&S aims to resolve any kind of issues happened in the
work place of the company. The way in which manager manages the risks and issues, it
measures the effectiveness of the M&S limited. Manager has to assess the reasons of
issues that arise in the company (Jacobs, Chase and Chase, 2010). The leader must
ensure that no employee should have any conflict with another and motivate them to
build team spirit. The manager and leader has key role in resolving the issues in the
premises of company between its employees. They listen to each and every conflict and
frame decisions in the best interest.
P.3 different theories and models of approach
Theories and approaches are formed for the effective implementation of the managerial
and leadership actions. The aim of the M&S limited is to maintain its good will in the market and
to achieve its set objectives and goals. There are different theories by which leader can be
classified. This helps in the achievement of objectives more efficiently. Different theories and
approaches in the context of M&S limited are as follows:
Situational theory: it is the theory which has been developed in the sense that there is no
single best style of leadership. It means that there is no style of leadership which any leader is
required to adapt. It implies that effective leading is the task relevant. Also, leader should adapt
different styles per the people as well as the task, job or function that is required to be
accomplished. Situational theory is based on the amount of guidance and direction given by the
leader and the amount of socio- emotional support a leader provides. In this theory, the leader

establishes a relationship between the employees and the company. In this leader guides and
motivates the employees per the situation, which increases their efficiency. It is also known as
the task oriented theory in which leader adapts its leading style according to the difference in the
situations (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013).
Behavioural theory: this theory of the leadership implies the behaviour of the leader is a
main factor. This theory mainly focuses on the analysis of the behaviour of leader in the
company to achieve the targets and objectives. Behavioural theory is based on the concept that
leaders are born. Not made. This theory executes a concept that leadership can be made more
effective by concentrating on the actions of leader. In this aspect, the behaviour of a leader in
M&S is recognised by the attitude and perception towards team. It has also been assessed that if
the behaviour of a leader is a deciding factor because if the leader is the behaving in positive
manner the results will be positive and vice versa. In addition, understanding tools are presented
to analyse the causes of changes and participation. The main function of manager and leader in
this theory is to adopt appropriate behaviour to handle the complex situations so that employees
can get motivated and inspired by the attitude of their leader.
Contingency theory: under this theory, it suggests the most appropriate style of
management. It is beneficial for an organization because in this leader learns different lessons
from different situations and apply in their leadership skills. They have the potential of learning
from specific situations and it influences future management of the same or similar situations.
This theory enables the management and leaders of M&S limited to develop their skills in
multiple areas (Sheu, 2010). in this theory, the role of the leader and manager is to learn
different practices that are required to be implemented in different contextual theories. The main
role of the leader is to apply their own effective style so as to make the plan more effective.
Situational approach: It is that approach in which it has been defined that there should
be different styles of leadership adopted in the different contextual situations. It means that the
manager of the company aims to have a clear defined different strategy and management
functions in accordance with the respective situations. In this approach the main role and
function of leader and manager is to identify and evaluate the different situations and apply the
approach the leadership approach which suits it the best. For an example, in the production
department, the leader is entitled to adopt the best suitable approach to ensure effective
production of clothes and luxury home products.

TASK 2
P.4 Key approaches to operation management and the role of manager
Operation management is the field of management where the focus of management is to
redesign the process of producing goods or redesign the operation of producing the good and
services to enhance the performance of the company by optimum utilisation of resources. Marks
and Spencer is a British retailing giant which has a focus on verticals such as clothing, home
products and luxury food items. Marks and Spencer majorly focus on quality of its product and
they also do provide various offers to its customers so that it can create new customer and
engage their existing customer-base.
Key approaches of operations management related to the given firm is as follows:
Total Quality management- TQM is an approach which is related to the long term success
of the project. It means that it consist of all the approaches of the management and
employees of the company which results in the improvising the process , products and
services etc. it ensures the long term success through consumer satisfaction and
achievement of goals. This approach also illustrates that the organization, in order to
achieve the efficiency should accomplish all the assigned tasks at time. This approach is
extensively used by the Marks and Spencer team to improve the quality of the product
and provide the best quality to the customer at the best price and provide after sales
service to the customer to keep the existing customer engaging.
Role of manager in TQM: -
1. As M&S Ltd. is a customer facing organisation. The manager of M&S Ltd. plays an important
role in the TQM as it the responsibility of the manager to hire right/quality employees so that the
workforce can increase the performance of the organisation (Ward and et. al., 2010).
2. The manager of M&S Ltd. Should ensure that the quality of all its product should be
maintained as required by the customers and per its brand image.

Just in time approach- It is an approach which has been implemented by the business
organizations so that they can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their business
organization with a way to reduce the waste and scrap and deliver the products and services at
time. In this method, the managers and leaders are entitled to forecast the demand in advance
only so as to complete the production at time. This approach is also adopted by M&S Ltd. In this
approach the company focuses on increasing the efficiency and decreasing the inventory cost. As
there is risk of having dead stock if organisation starts piling up its stock.
Role of Manager in Just in time approach:-
1. The manager should ensure that the production run of the product should remain less. There
should be changes made to the current line of product on equal intervals.
2. Clothing is the main the industry in which M&S Ltd. focuses on. The manager of the
company should ensure that the product should be as per the current market trends (Subramanian
and Ramanathan, 2012).
Continuous Improvement- The image of Marks and Spencer is of providing quality product at
reasonable price. M&S Limited. should focus on incremental improvement which will therefore
increase the overall performance of the organisation. This strategy is important to stay in the
competitive environment of business. It is an approach which also known as continuous
improvement in the ongoing operations in the company. In the context of business organization,
this approach refers to the tasks which help an organization to improvise and progress their
activities on a continuous basis. It applies to different deeds of actions like purchases, supply
chain etc. it also focus to reduce the waste and scrap so that organization can ensure its
efficiency.
Role of Manager in Just in time approach:-
1. The manager should focus on the strategies so that manufacturing of the goods is timely
monitored and which will increase the efficiency of the organisation.
2.The manager of M&S Ltd. Should focus on small changes that is those changes which do
require huge capital investment.
P.5 the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives
Operation management is the most important tool of the organization. It is responsible for
the proper management of all the operations and working in the company. It delivers on the
quality distribution of the goods and services of the company. If the operational management of

the company is good and efficient it will result in the better results and performance of the
company which also forms good will in the minds of the consumers (Talk, 2016).
Operation management gives rise to the manager and leader in the organization. The
operation manager is held responsible for processing operational activities in M&S limited. In
M&S limited, operations management has its own significance. It helps the cited company in
achieving its objectives. The operation management helps the company in regulating its
production and related process so that company can render its goods and services on time, to its
customers.
It also increases the effectiveness and profitability in an organization. It can also be said
that no business organization can achieve success without operation management. In the
context of M&S limited, it enables the management of company to use its resources
appropriately and promptly to create new clothing products like crop top and rugged jeans that
fulfils the demand in market. By using this approach. The management also focuses on to deal
with distribution of its goods and services in an efficient manner to maintain speed, cost, quality
and flexibility of the product and services.
It also enables the management of the cited company to establish good and healthy
relationships with the suppliers of raw materials and to ensure to have timely distribution of
goods and services (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2010). The company needs to have proper
operational management because it also helps the company to design, operation and
improvement of the system of M&S limited company so that it can create and deliver the
products and services like clothes for men and women and home products. M&S uses the
operations and management to ensure and sustain the efficiency and effectiveness of the
company (Understanding operations management. 2017).
In addition to it, efficiency in the M&S limited is concerned with the way in which the
management uses its resources like human expertise and inputs are put in use irrespective of the
purpose for which they were developed in the company. Also, by ensuring the proper operations
management in the company namely M&S limited, the managers and leaders can also ensure to
minimise the wastages in its factory, increases the productivity and time also the manages the
resources of company to make sure that cost of production is low.
At the store of M&S limited, the company is desirous of ensuring that the warehouse is
kept properly customers are well treated and delivering the product to the customers without no

issues so that shifting cost is low. This can be also possible by the effective and accurate
management of the operational management. Delivering good services to its customers can also
lead to customer satisfaction which accomplishes the goal of M&S limited (Ward and et. al.,
2010).
Marks and Spencer aim to adopt those strategies and techniques which will let them to
attain the customer satisfaction. If the management of its operations will be done effectively it
will lead to the consumer satisfaction and also, over all development of the company will be
possible. Customer service satisfaction is an another outcome which the company can assume by
the effective management of its operations. The managers and leaders focus to provide excellent
and quality services to their customers in the terms of clothes and other luxury home products.
Also, if effective operational management system, has been ensured in the company, then it will
lead to proper utilisation of resources and other competencies. Effective utilisation of human
resources will also help the cited organization to serve in the betterment of the society.
P.6 The factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers:
In this present era of competition, if the company wants to sustain in the clothing industry
then it requires proper decision-making by the managers and leaders (Stadtler, 2015) . There are
some external factors which affects the decision making power f managers and leaders Customers: one of the important factors which influence the decision-making power of
the company namely M&S limited. The managers must make decisions per the
preferences and requirements of its respective customers. M&S limited must focus on the
changing taste of women regarding clothes. For example, like trends jeans and pants are
changing by running time. So, the company needs to focus per the latest fashion. Social factors: social factors are those factors which have an impact on the M&S limited
in the view point of the society. Ethical changes and changes in values and cultures can
affect the decision making of the managers and leaders to the great extent. The managers
are required to make decisions per the social needs of its customers so that it can be
successful in building good image in the minds of its customers (Slack and Brandon-
Jones, 2011). The managers make decision per the ethical view like it manufactures
clothes according to the cultures of different religions.

 Government: government influences the decision making of the company in many ways.
The managers and leaders of the company need to make decisions per the rules and
regulations of the government of UK. They have imposed several rules and regulations
on import and export and regarding the tax liability, so the management of the cited
company need to consider it very seriously. Manager of M&S should also ensure that all
the functions of the management are done in accordance with the ethics.
 Market factor: The managers and leaders forms their decision in accordance with the
current market situations in the organization. It means they analyse the contemporary
fashion in clothes and other home products, which they can also implement in their
functions.
 Social factor: Societal factors also impact the decision making power of the cited
organization. The managers and leaders of the cited company makes sure that all the
societal norms and practices have been followed so that they can work for the betterment
of the society.
There are different approaches that measures the impact on the wider community are as follows:
▪ Time quality management approach .
▪ Just in time approach.
▪ Continuous approach.
▪ Kaizen approach.
Also, there are some internal factors which are there to affect the operational efficiency:
 Corporate objective: These can be termed as the aims and goals, for which company
functions in order to achieve them. In order to achieve the objectives, the managers and
leaders of the company plan the strategies and assign each and every task to its
employees according to their capabilities. The leaders take decisions in order to manage
their operations and achieve the goals and objectives properly.
 Functional areas: It has been truly depicted that the managers and leaders affects their
decision making strategies in accordance with the different functional areas in the
organization.
The external and internal factors enough in the operational management to assess the
entire business context within the industry. Now, this has been find out that these above

mentioned factors affects the operational management within the organisation. This also leads
the H&M to get the competitive advantages over the other rivals.
CONCLUSION
The report has discussed the operations and management of Marks and Spencer Ltd.,
which is a British retailing giant having its operation worldwide. This company has a focus on
verticals such as clothing, home products and luxury food items. Marks and Spencer believe on
providing quality products and they also do provide various offers to its customers so that it can
create new customer and engage their existing customer-base.
This report deals in importance of managers and leaders in the operation of the
organisation and role played by the leaders by applying various theories. This report also
provides information that company should adopt relevant operational management approach to
survive in the competitive world. It also analyses the major impact which external forces such as
customer, supplier and government has on the decision taken by the company. The report
informs about the application of operation and management and the effect of company policy on
the wider business environment.

REFERENCES
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ONLINE
Understanding operations management. 2017. [online]. Available
through:<http://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-management/management/leadership-and-
management/understanding-operations-management/content-section-0>. [Accessed on 4th
March, 2017].