Comparison of Roles and Characteristics of Leader and Manager

This report discusses the comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager in the context of operations management. It also covers the key approaches to operation management and the role of leaders and managers in different situations. The report focuses on Tesco plc, a British multinational retailer, and provides insights into its operations.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1 ................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager......................................3
LO 2 ................................................................................................................................................5
P 2 Role and functions of leader and managers in different situation....................................5
P 3 Different theories and models of approach......................................................................6
LO 3 ................................................................................................................................................8
P 4 Key approaches to operation management and role of leaders and managers.................8
P 5 Importance and value of management operations ...........................................................9
LO 4 ..............................................................................................................................................10
P 6 PESTLE Analysis of Tesco............................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is the administration of business practices to create the highest level of
efficiency possible within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labour
into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Tesco
plc trading as Tesco, is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer with
headquarters in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. It is the third-
largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest retailer in the world
measured by revenues. This report covers issues such as comparison between roles and
characters of leaders and managers, role and functions of leader and managers, different theories
and models, Pestle analysis and key operations in operations management.
LO 1
P 1 Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager
Basis Leader Manager
Definition Leader is the person in the
company who have the power
to influence, inspire and
motivate the employees of the
company so that they can
achieve their targeted goal.
Leaders formulate the
strategies and make necessary
changes so that they can
predict the outcome of the
decision. Leader of the
company represents the
organization at every stage and
they are required at every level
in order to take the necessary
Manager of the company is the
one who is assigned for
handling the work which
relates to planning, controlling,
directing, organizing and
controlling. Managers of the
company are held responsible
if the task is not completed or
or completed with an false
attempt as it concerns the
reputation of the company.
They even have the authority
to hire the eligible candidates
and fire the unsuitable
candidates. Company hires

steps in the company. He
encourages and motivate them
so that they can work together
as a team so that company can
reach to success with less
efforts. Leaders possess many
qualities such as motivation,
innovation, developing trust,
creation of team etc.
(Shabanpour-Haghighi and
Seifi, 2015. )
various types of managers as
they are required in their
respective area of expertise.
For instance functional
managers, project manager,
general manager and top level
managers. Role that managers
of the company play is wholly
based on the nature of the
work. For instance managers
of the company who are
working on the top level they
will be concerned for setting
the vision and mission of the
employees.
Innovation Leader of the company is the
one who comes up with new
ideas so that they can bring
new process for work in the
company which helps them to
gain more share in the market.
They focus on the things
which are currently in buzz in
the market so that they can
make products according to
that.
Manager of the company is
one which maintains the
services of the company which
are already existing in the
market. Manager of the
company controls the
employees and work of the
company so that they can
prevent the factors which are
threat to the company.
Trust and Control Leaders of Tesco needs
encourage their employees so
that they can work up to their
potential and achieve the goals
Managers of the company
controls the work which is
done by the employees by
assessing them at every stage.

for the company. They take all the factors which
helps the employees to
complete the task in an
effective manner. (Wakui and
et.al., 2016. )
Judgment To play their role effectively in
the company they need to
work on the decisions and their
judgment as they are the only
factors which help them to
lead the company in both
internal and external factors.
(Qin and et.al., 2019.)
Managers don't have the
capability as leaders which
helps them to assess and
analyze the failures in
completion of task. There
center of focus is on two
objects that is when and how
so that they can plan the
situation and achieve the goals
in a proper way.
LO 2
P 2 Role and functions of leader and managers in different situation
Both leaders and managers of Tesco are required to achieve the result with success. They
both have a set of skills and abilities which helps them to achieve the goals and handle the
situation with different styles. Tesco is a UK based company which offers products and services
to consumers at very low cost. There are various types of situations in which their style and
behavior of work help the company such as
Labor Turnover-
It is the most common situation as it happens in almost every company irrespective of
their nature of work and operations. Tesco needs to focus on this situation as it needs to be
solved as soon as possible so that it does not let affect the image of the company and loose their
competitive advantage in the market. If this factor is high in the company then they will loose
their image in the market as it will lead to rise in factors such as poor quality products to the
consumers. This situation requires the pattern or style of working of leaders so that they can

solve this issue, increase the efficiency of the work and identify the problems which are causing
this issue so that they can make the necessary changes according to their suitability of styles.
They help the employees of the company by showing them the right way and path so that they
can work with less errors as possible. On the other handle managers of the company has their
own way of handling and assessing the situation. They provide them incentives, bonuses, awards
for their performance so that they remain motivated and work more efficiently. Managers assess
the needs of the employees as everyone is concerned with a different problem and to keep them
motivated giving them benefits on the basis of financial or non financial will help them a lot.
(Liu and et.al., 2018.)
Conflicts among employees-
It can happen over any issue irrespective of their level. The reason behind conflict can be
employees of the company can feel discriminated or they have a lack of understanding of work
which leads to fight over a issue or problems over communication. In any case of this situation
leaders of Tesco assigns the employees into a team so that they can learn to work with each other
rather than work against them. On the other hand managers of the company tries to make
everyone on team feel comfortable and convenient at work by making the environment of the
work more friendly with less restrictions. When the issues and problems between them will get
solved then they will work in an more efficient manner. (Radosavljević, Jevtić and Klimenta,
2016. )
Poor Productivity-
This aspect is also considered as a barrier in the path to achieving success for a company.
To rectify this issue leaders at Tesco provides them with proper training so that they can work up
to their potential which will result in increase in the productivity of the company. Managers on
the other hand develop the pattern of working by analysing where they are going wrong so that
they can use the necessary approaches in order to improve the productivity of the company.
P 3 Different theories and models of approach
Theories of leadership plays an important role in the structure of the company so that
leaders can work efficiently. Different theories help the company to provide them them the
guideline so that they can apply or implement them according to the situation.
Situational Leadership-

This theory helps the leaders of Tesco so that they can assume and adjust according to the
suitability of the situation. Leaders at Tesco has adapted this theory of leadership so that they can
take more effective decisions and reach more success. For instance employees of Tesco will
work better if they seek a proper guidance by the leaders who are autocratic and directive and
some of them work better when they are left alone on their own as they don't require any kind of
guidance or advice which is different from their way of working. Apart from this all industries
requires different set of skill because it depends on the nature of the job. Skills are demanded
according to the work operations of the company it can require highly skilled workers or low
skilled workers. (Kiehtreiber and et.al., 2018. )
System Leadership-
This leadership states that conditions of the company or environment of the company
must be created in such a way so that employees of the company can work up to their potential at
all levels. This theory of leadership takes help of stable principles so that can influence and
inspire the employees by their good skills of leadership, implementing strategy, design of system
and implementation of social culture. This theory will help the company to build a structure
which is effective and give tools to the leaders of the company so that they can predict the
working pattern and behavior of employees of the company. More the system is effective for the
company more it will help the leaders to realize the purpose of the company. Aim of this theory
is to increase the productivity of the organization. (Anvari-Moghaddam and et.al., 2016, )
Contingency Theory-
This theory states that how the strategy or style of a leadership is effective in a selective
situation. It helps the leaders of the company to figure out their area of expertise. This theory
derives that one style is not suitable for all the situations and effectiveness of the leader will be
realized by his style of work and their judgment in a critical situation. The theory helps to figure
out the effectiveness of the leader by the analysis of handling the situation. It does not comply to
adapting it. It states that the styles of every leader in every company is fixed and they cannot
change, modify or adapt it. To use this theory in an effective leaders of the company must realize
their style of work. According to this theory there are two types of leader that is task oriented and
people oriented. Leaders of the company which are task oriented works best when they have a

higher position or authority in the company whereas people oriented leaders gives their best
when they have maintained a good level of relationship with their team of employees.
LO 3
P 4 Key approaches to operation management and role of leaders and managers
Six Sigma-
This strategy was introduced by an engineer of Motorola who was an American named
Bill Smith. It consists of specific set of tools which helps Tesco to improve their performance
and improve the quality of the product. It helps Tesco to identify all those factors which are
affecting the process of production and remove them so that company can reduce the variability
at the stage of manufacturing. This model consists some of the approaches which are statistical in
nature so that Tesco can manage the quality of the product. Managers of Tesco plans their steps
in a sequence before implementing them so that they can target and achieve those goals which
have some value. For instance passing the low cost of production to the consumers which the
company is already doing by providing them their products at low pricing strategy. On the top of
that this model helps the leader of the company get more return on investment. With the help of
this model leaders of Tesco takes decisions which have been proven effective for the company as
it helps them to take the help of strategy after evaluation rather than just assuming what will be
best for the company. (Chen, 2016)
Lean Manufacturing-
This method helps the leaders of the company to minimize the time of manufacturing
which is getting wasted with keeping in mind that the productivity of the company does not get
affected from its current stage. This model helps the managers of the company in handling the
workload from employees and overburden of work. In order to make them feel convenient they
need to work according to their perception. This method allows the company to take on only
those methods which adds value to the products other than that all things are removed and
considered as waste. Most of the parts in this process is taken up by the production system of
Toyota as it is considered as one of the most successful method. (Zhou and Yan, 2016.)
Queuing Theory-
This theory is based on a approach which is mathematical in nature and study the aspect
of waiting in lines. This model helps Tesco to figure out the estimated time and predict the length

of the line. This theory is also known as research of operations of branch. It is because results
taken out are used for a when decisions of the business needs to be complied with service. This
model helps Tesco to connect those queues which are not multiple to a network and is routed. It
is done in order to achieve the level of equilibrium so that they can distribute their network
fundamentally. Company needs to work according to the perception of the customers by
understanding it first. Perception of people are some of them don't even visit the line if it is very
big. Many people has their own way of waiting in the line they keep on switching between the
lines and when they get tired some of them leave the line. Tesco needs to consider these factors
because at the time of sale the company has to deal with many more people than they regularly
deal with so they need to be prepared for those as many people tend to give up which is a loss for
the company as they were not able to serve them. Company needs to rectify these type of errors
so that they can serve as many people as possible. (Reim, Parida and Sjödin, 2016.)
P 5 Importance and value of management operations
Total Quality Management
Total quality management is done in a company so that there is a understanding of the
products which are being served to the customers are matching to the needs and demands of the
customers so that the customers are satisfied with the services. There are a lot of improvements
are taking place in Tesco for improving the total quality of the products which are being served
to the customers and the research and development team of the company is working very hard to
make the changes accordingly to the needs (Bäder, 2016) and demands of the customers which is
a very important factor for the company. There is a standard which the company has set for
themselves that they have to reach the expectations which they have created for themselves
which is very important. The focus of total quality management is on the customers mostly
because the customers are the king of the market and satisfying them is very important. The
company is very open to new ideas which are coming in the company for the benefit for the
customers and the company will benefit the most from this factor. (Stella, 2019. ) There are a lot
of improvements which have to be made in the company so that they can reach the standards of
the company and that is very important because the company has to make a change for the
betterment of the company. The final product is changed because of the customers wants so that

all the products are having a quality work in it and they are being able to capture the market
completely. (Susanto, 2016. )
Kaizen
There is a continuous improvement in the company for the benefit of the company and
also because so that the company will be able to reach the needs and wants of the customers.
There is always an improvement which is taking place in the company so that the company is
reaching the expectations of the customers and they are providing the best of products (Al Ghani,
2018). There are a lot of changes which have been made in the company for the benefit of the
customers and the employees. The employees are also being focused on in the company now
because there has to be a good service which has to reach the customers through them.
Just in time
In this the method is to reduce the cost and make the best quality product from the
amount which is being invested in the product. This way the company will be able to make a lot
of profit by saving the amount and making the customers get the best of quality in the products
the company is dealing with. Tesco makes sure that the products the company is serving to the
customers are of good quality and at low prices therefore the company is doing so good in the
market and that is a very important factor. There has to be a cost cutting of labor, material and
goods which are focused on in this method (Miller, Jayaram and Xu, 2018).
LO 4
P 6 PESTLE Analysis of Tesco
Political Factors-
Tesco is operating in 12 countries which includes Europe and Asia. Political factors has
affected many operations of Tesco. These factors are concerned with the rate of taxes,
legislation, instability of political factors, rate of unemployment, economic condition of the
country wherever the company is maintaining the flow of the operations. Leaders and managers
of the company need to take decisions which does not let these factors affect the profitability of
the company. For instance if the import duty is high in some countries then it will affect the
pricing strategy of Tesco as it imports many products from different countries.
Economic Factors-
Cost of labour is high in UK which affects the profitability of the company. For instance
minimum growth rate for wages is 4.4 per cent which is on the data of 25 years. This has costed

Tesco millions of pounds in the country. There are also other factors which leaders and managers
of the company needs to keep in mind such as price, cost profits as they are also fluctuating.
Leaders must focus on reducing their borrowing cost. It is because this results in increasing the
price and cost which can decrease their profits and with that they can also loose their goodwill in
the market. (Suarez-Barraza, Miguel-Davila and Vasquez-García, 2016. )
Social Factors-
Trends in the market are constantly changing with time. Most of the people prefer to buy
products in one visit as it takes less time and with that they want an option of returning the items
as the schedules of people who are working is not free. Leaders of the company needs to take
decision and make changes in their structure according to that. Their demand will only increase
if they satisfy more and more consumers. The company has a slight advantage as it is believed
that the customers of UK are loyal. (Hasegawa and et.al., 2015)
Technological Factors-
To solve their issue of poor experience of customers they brought new scope in to the
market so that they can gain the trust of the customers. They advance the use of technology by
using retrial technology. Leaders of the company took this step so that they can improve the in
store experience of the customers. It helps them to count them the stock and adjust it after sales
which saves their time. (Lindström and et.al., 2015.)
Environmental Factors-
With many other companies Tesco is also included in the list of facing pressure from the
government. After that the company has announced that they will make 100 per cent of their
operations conducted by renewable sources until 2030 and with that their managers has also said
that they will reduce the carbon by next year so that it does not affect the environment. (Ulewicz,
2016.)
Legal Factors-
Leaders of the company needs to take decisions which are not against the forces of legal
environment so that the company can conduct their operations in an smooth manner. They need
to take right steps as they have already faced issues on the basis of discrimination and on the
basis of low pay rates for which they have also faced legal action and it took a lot of money to

settle it. With that it affected their reputation which they need to improve by taking on the right
decisions. (Kato, NEC Corp, 2015. )
CONCLUSION
From the above studies it has been concluded that Tesco needs to take better decisions so that
they can improve their reputation in the market. Leaders and managers of the company has
announced that they are going to work with the sources which are renewable. They take help of
many approaches which helps to reduce the waste and Improve the quality of the product.
Theories such as six sigma, lean manufacturing, Kaizen, queuing theory, TQM, Kaizen and Just
in time have been used which helps the company to justify how they help them improve their
quality.

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