Operation Management and Leadership Roles

The provided assignment explores the concept of operation management (OM) and its significance for organizations. It delves into different factors that affect the business environment, such as economic conditions, technological advancements, competitors, legal and environmental changes. The assignment also discusses leadership roles and models, including situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency theories. It emphasizes the importance of OM in controlling costs and managing business complexities.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Roles and characteristics of leaders and managers.........................................................................3
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................4
P2 Role and function of manager and leader.......................................................................................4
P3 Theories and model of approach....................................................................................................6
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................................6
P4 Key approaches and methods used in operational management ...................................................6
P5 Importance of operational management.........................................................................................8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................................9
P6 Leaders and managers influence on operational management.......................................................9
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
In the current project report managers and leader’s relative analysis is done in terms of
features. This assignment will also help to understand the role of a leader and manager. There
are different theories and models of approach related to management and operations. This
assignment will also describe what situational leadership is. This would also talk about system
leadership and contingency. In the current research report detailed analysis of facts and figures is
done in order to do more in-depth analysis. Thus, it can be said that in the present research study
with full granularity topics are analyzed in proper manner.
TASK 1
P1 Roles and characteristics of leaders and managers
Leader
Leader is the person who is an inspiration for the followers and is also known as influencer. The
person is responsible for making employee work in coordination and cooperation by setting
inspiring vision. Leaders in Marks and Spencer are focused on managing employees work on the
basis of shared perspective by setting shared goals and aim.
Manager
Manager is the responsible individual or organization who aim at administering and controlling
group of employees on the basis of workplace, policies, practices, culture, power and structure.
Managers of M&S are aim at controlling and administering workplace activities with regard to
employee satisfaction which is managed by fair employment policies, equality and diversity, fair
wages, etc.
Leader and managers are those people in the firm who manages and control different
activities which can be operational or financial or non-financial effectively. They also make
decision regarding activities in order to improve business operational activities' effectiveness
which leads towards profitability and production.
Comparison of different roles and characteristics of leader and manager
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Basis Leader Manager
Role Organization representative:
A leader is someone who
leads a group of people or a
team. A leader also motivates
their team members and leads
them to become an
organization representative.
There are different roles of a
leader. For example, in Marks
and Spencer leaders are
focused on integrating and
reconciling personal goals
with the goals of the
organization. There are
different traits which are
commonly found in any leader
around the world. It is the role
of the leader to influence the
employees to achieve the
organizational goals.
Helper and guider: Need to
motivate the employees and
guide them. The leader
teaches the employees the
entire work process and helps
to build morale. A leader
needs to be honest and
delegate. There should be
clear communication between
the employees and the leader
Team development: There
different other responsibilities
of a manager but the main
responsibilities are to guide
the employees and show the
path to achieve success
(Chiarini and Vagnoni, 2015).
In Marks and Spencer
managers are focused on one
place as well as creative in
order to possess the place of
the leader. Managers also aim
at motivating its employees to
perform at their highest
capabilities.
Management of resources
and organizing: It is a
function of management
where the managers and
leaders develop the structure
of M&S and allocate human
resource to ensure that
business will achieve its
objectives and goals
effectively. Every organization
requires managers and leaders
in order to deal with problems
and so that they can create
new strategies which can be
very helpful for any
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so that there is no
communication gap in the
organization (Ferguson, et al,
2017).
Required at all levels: A
leader needs to be creative in
order to bring in new ideas
which can be beneficial for the
organization. The leader of
Marks and Spencer lead with
confidence to coordinate
entire team or group of people.
There should be positive
attitude inside a leader so that
in the time of emergency the
leader can handle the situation
easily without thinking
negative and go on with the
work in the organization
(Alderton and Saieva, 2013).
organization (Slack, 2015).
Honest towards work: The
manager must be honest as
well as have patience in order
to work with its team and help
to complete the objectives of
the organization. Every
manager must have empathy
and the ability to delegate as
well as be flexible in
workplace.
Characteristics Common characteristics of
leaders of Marks and Spencer
are, creativity, eye on horizon,
setting inspiring vision and
also the individuals have long
range perspective which aid
the firm in managing long
terms goals for success.
Leaders ability to perform
right thing with own creativity
Common characteristics of
manager of Marks and
Spencer are cooperation, sense
of justice, punctuality,
persistence and disciplinarian
(Jacobs and Chase, 2017).
Managers ability to
administering workplace
activity with by maintaining
equality is the foremost
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is the major traits which
denotes one’s willingness of
being inspiration for follower
and to be one good following.
characteristics which reflects
managerial traits.
TASK 2
P2 Role and function of manager and leader
MANAGER AND LEADER FUNCTIONS
Planning: Planning is a function of manager that it helps to determine the course of action and
works for setting objectives within M&S to achieve the goals and objectives. There are certain
traits and styles of leader which attracts organization and which also draws them towards those
candidates because they are the only people who actually understand the work which is to be
done in order to achieve success.
Organising: The role of the manager is to coordinate and interact with the resources and
employees to know them better. The managers help the organization by helping it to achieve the
objectives and goals of the organization (Heizer, 2016). A good manager must have positive
attitude and warmth so that no employees get affected by the attitude of the manager.
leading: There are several theories regarding management skills which can be used in order to
achieve all the leadership skills which are required to be the manager or leader of any
organization.
Controlling: There are different functions and roles of managers and leaders which helps the
organization to achieve the goals and objectives. There are many functions of the managers
which can be very useful for any organization.
ROLES IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Appropriate decision making within M&S operations: Decision making is very important for
the leaders and managers in different situation within M&S operations. There are different
theories which are related to leadership theories which can be utilized in order to get greater
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outputs from a leader so that the person can use them in order to doing his duties. There are other
theories as well which are very effective for any manager or leader working in some
organization.
Optimum utilization of fund and resources: The leaders and managers have duty to manage
resources and funds for business activities. The entire topic of function of manager can be
explained easily with the different theories which are there to support those theories. There are
few things which an organization does not understand and so does most of the employees and
this is the reason why the presence of leader or manager is important for M&S Ltd. The
managers at M&S Ltd are somewhat experienced and have all the ideas to express their thoughts
on the issues and challenges faced by the organization.
Integrated management of M&S operations: There have been situations where the prices of
materials increased and the equipment received from the suppliers where not up to the mark.
These types of situations are being handled by the managers to equalize the situation and resolve
issues which are related to the organization (Song and Parola, 2015). There are different policies
which affect the work of the employees and the rules are being by the managers so they have to
be very alert while dealing with other employees and keep them satisfied otherwise none will
work for them. There is a theory called behavioral theory which states the behavior of the
employees working in an organization (Chevalier, et al, 2015). These policies and models
helped M&S Ltd to reach their objectives and goals. There are different challenges which are
faced by the organization every year but M&S Ltd has used proper theories and models to face
those challenges.
This is the reason why always leaders and managers are busy with their work and while
working they tend to concentrate fully without listening to anything else (Omansky, et al, 2014).
There are different situations which the managers face everyday which helps them to gain some
experience from the day to day work. Due to all these reasons managers and leaders are being
given respect because of their ability to work in immense pressure and the experience they have.
Thus it can be said that there are many ways that the role of leaders and managers can be
defined.
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P3 Theories and model of approach
LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND APPROACHES
There are different theories related to situational leadership as which also includes
different models of approach, system leadership as well as contingency.
System leadership: System leadership is the type of leadership system where all the employees
have to work while maintaining the system which the organization has chosen. M&S Ltd has
taken steps in order to follow the theory of system leadership which can be very useful for the
organization as it tends to put the entire organization in a proper system which has to be followed
in order to finish the given task. These tasks have to be carried out in a systematic manner in
order to end the project (Cucoranu, 2016). M&S Ltd has taken steps to insert the system of
system leadership inside the organization which has helped the organization to carry forward the
entire task in a systematic manner.
Situational leadership: The other theory which is being applied in order to carry on the
organization work is situational leadership. Situational leadership is something which can apply
on any organization in order to complete the task. There are situation where the managers are
absent ad the work has to be finished there the organization seeks for people with such
capabilities who can complete the task easily (Burns, 2014). This is where the organization finds
with such potentials and this helps the employee to gain some experience and the organization to
finish the project. Situational leadership is some which is required in any emergency position and
in absence of any leader or manager. M&S Ltd has applied this theory in order to deal with its
emergency problems (Wu, 2016). These reasons help to state that these theories are actually
helpful and can be used to in order to solve issues.
Contingency leadership: The idea of contingency leadership is something which can be
beneficial for any organization and this is the reason why contingency leaderships help an
employee to understand many things. This also helps the employee to understand their skills
which could be applied in order to elevate knowledge level and capacity of the workforce to
work in different situation and also helps the organization to grow (Wang, 2015). The
management of objectives plays an important role in dealing with the operational issues. There
are different approaches related to the topic. These models of approaches can be very much
useful in order to complete the tasks.
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TASK 3
P4 Key approaches and methods used in operational management
ROLE OF MANAGERS AND LEADER
Identification of goals and objectives: It is important to set goals which are required for any
organization because those goals help to drive the entire organization. There can be different
organizations which do not have proper goal setting ideas which are very much required for any
organization to do. M&S Ltd has set different goal setting ideas which are actually helpful.
Communication is the other part of the story.
Effective report line: It all depends on the size of the organization and the wide range of
business and also interpersonal skills to succeed. The next thing which is also important is
financial management which actually is one of the major things which every organization wants
in order to safeguard its financial part which is actually one of the most important thing to be
remembered (Parsanezhad and Dimyadi, 2013.).
Key approaches to operational management
SIX-SIGMA
Define: In defining process M&S management try to find the problems and make solutions. In
OM varied methods are used by managers and those approaches can be applied for making the
task easy for the employees working in that organization. There are different things which have
to be kept in mind while dealing with different circumstances.
Measure: The team appointed by the management and leaders measure the process of finding
customers needs and requirements. There is much organization which progress on the basis of
proper communication. Every operation managers requires good communication skills which
help them to interact with their employees and this is how the entire cycles go on.
Analyses: Process of analyzing helps managers and leaders to determine the points which
causing problems and issues. Salary is something which is very important for any organization
because without having proper salary no employee will work for any organization.
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Improve: Operational leaders and managers are very important for the organization as they play
a key role in interacting with the employees understanding their problems as well as the issues
which are and needs to be solved (Baxley, et al, 2016.). This is the reason why they are being
paid high amount of salary so that they can do their work in peace.
Control: M&S Ltd has all the leaders and managers which are being required to work out in all
paths and this is the reason why the organization is developing the organization in the number
one position. The organization has used the key approaches in order to complete their tasks and
solve the issues faced by them.
Total quality management: It is a a management approach to long–term success through
customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving
processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work.
Continuous improvement: There should be proper management of resources in order to keep
up the task. Continuous improvement in products and services offered by firm very important it
is the key to complete the task given. M&S Ltd concentrates on bringing up resources which can
be used to complete tasks. It is very important to manage the resources which are available and
for this managers and leaders has to be active in order to manage the resources.
Just in time: Just in time method is a inventory management system which will help firm to
manage resources by decreasing wastage and unnecessary elements from the organisation.
P5 Importance of operational management
IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Operation management is an integral part of business objectives of any company like
M&S Ltd. In a word, through operation management operations a firm produce products,
maintenance and enhancement of quality and create service (Gopalakrishna, et al, 2013). OM is
the domain that is mostly associated with production process or manufacturing activities. Under
operation management varied methods comes like linear programing and LIFO as well as FIFO
approaches. Production is a conversion function by which goods and services are produced.
Through Operation management the system of production can be easily developed. On the basis
of market report it would be clear about the demand of some certain product. Then there would
be certain change can be occurred in quality of product. The quality of service should be
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maintained for the finished product. It is urgent for the goodwill of the company. The two key
terms of logistic for operation management are supply chain management and logistics (Stadtler,
2015). It is urgent to know the proper need of the client to ensure generating supplies. There are
several values add to the success of M&S business such as:
 Price: Price of the product is determined by considering number of factors like
production cost and desired margin percentage. The careful and considered use of
resources depends on logistics. Employee must be able to realize this series of process
and the relation between these two. The productive resource of company depends on-
 Quality: being specific and unique. Quality relates to the products and services which is
delivered to the customers to fill their requirements and expectations to meet their
objectives effectively. Quality improve the production and also increase the profitability
and dependability within operational management.
 Availability: Availability of stocks. It is concerned with the event to manage the
production system which is the right way to deal with the varied resources that are used
in the production process in order to manufacture goods at the workplace. The operations
function requires not only day-to-day production of goods and services but also strategic
management also.
 Improvement in operational efficiency: Finally, the effectiveness of operations
management depends on productivity. Through productivity efficiency of production can
be measured. To evaluate Production system, productivity is a standard efficiency metric.
It is a ratio between outputs and inputs, and can assume many specific forms. The idea of
operating system regarding achieving business objectives is developed M&S limited is
able to develop by using this concept of business study.
Terry Hill explains all the objectives related to order winner and order qualifiers in a very
different approach which is far better than the theories which has been put out by different other
scholars. It may be assume that order winners are those variables that allow firm to differentiate
itself from rivals. On other hand, order qualifiers are those on which attention is given for
performing transactions. Successful of the said company depends on concerned planning,
organizing and supervising in the contexts of manufacturing products and turns input to output in
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an efficient manner. This will help managers to improve efficiency of business operational
activities and management in order to achieve objectives and goals effectively.
TASK 4
P6 Leaders and managers influence on operational management
Corporate social responsibilities: Corporate social responsibility, often abbreviated "CSR," is a
corporation's initiatives to assess and take responsibility for the company's effects on
environmental and social well being. The term generally applies to efforts that go beyond what
may be required by regulators or environmental protection groups..
Business ethics: Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or
professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a
business environment.
Marketing issues: Operation management is one of the most important factors which need to be
done in order to keep the entire process running in a smooth manner. The entire process of
decision making is very important as wrong decision can lead to a lot of trouble which can lead
to certain disadvantages to the organization (Dotson, et al, 2015).
Human resources: The entire assignment concentrates operation management of M&S Ltd
which is a very important point which has to be noted in order to finish the task (Wei, et al,
2016). The organization has done a lot to understand the entire concept of operation
management. Operation management is very much important because it helps the control all
situations where the organization can be in trouble.
Stakeholders: Stakeholders can affect or can be affected by the organization action, objective
and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditor, director, employee, government
its agencies, owner, supplier, union, and the community from which the business draw its
resource.
Different factors that affect business environment
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Economic environment: The changes which occurs in economic environment affect the
demand and capacity of productivity. This helps the organization in understanding its traits and
problems which needs to be solved and thus the entire thing could be done with the help of the
operation management.
Technology: Technological changes such as innovation of machineries, new techniques has also
a significant impact upon operational activities. The concept of operation management deals with
different things which can be put into any organization to help it deal with different challenges
which the entire things help to cover up all the challenges.
Competitors: There can be many reasons for the growth which some organization but mostly
occurs due to competitors(Fu, et al, 2015). There are certain factors which have been explained
as it is very easy to consider those points as very important as those helps the organization to
boost out and stand in order to safeguard the interest of the organization and the goals of the
organization.
Legal and environmental changes: There are many points which have to consider developing
the idea that it is one of the most important points. The leaders and managers in organization
create new way outs in order to develop certain ideas. Each organization has different ways to
follow the legalization and rules and regulations formulated by the government which help them
to conduct different techniques in order to dismiss the issues which are there in the scenario.
Recommendations:
 Certain things are not done without the lead of any manager or leader here is where
managers and leaders takes the advantages which is equally important as there can certain
things which might be missing can be covered by the support and guidance of the
managers.
 There are different factors which are very important to be noted because those points help
to evaluate the main reason for the impact on operation management.
 There are different elements which in business environment is affecting OM. At varied
levels managers and at top level leaders perform their operations in order to manage
changes that happened in business conditions. There are several factors which will
explain why this helps the business environment.
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Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that the assignment has helped to understand the definition and
varied roles that managers and those working above them play in OM. The different theories
approaches to leadership have been critically analyzed. There is huge importance of operation
management for the firm because by it assist firm in controlling cost in its business. The
assignment also explains different models and theories of approach which includes situational
leadership, system leadership and contingency. It also explains the major methods to operation
management and also the role of the leaders and managers of M&S Ltd. This assignment also
explains the importance and value of operation management.
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