Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1 P1. Defining and Comparing Different Roles and Characteristics of Leader and Manager.......1 TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3 P2. Examination of application of Roles and Functions of Leaders and Managers respectively .....................................................................................................................................................3 P3. Application of Different Theories and Models of approaches..............................................5 TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6 P4. Key Approaches to Operations Management.......................................................................6 P5. Explanation of Importance and Value of Operations Management......................................7 TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9 P6. Assessment of Factors impacting upon Operations Management........................................9 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
INTRODUCTION Management refers to the planning, organising, directing as well as controlling all the functions and activities within an organisation which helps in achieving business objectives (Heizer, Render and Munson, 2016). On the other hand, operations refer to the work performed by employees to conduct as well as manage inner workings of a firm which ensures high efficiency and effectiveness. Both these aspects are highly essential for an organisation, which are required towards helping an assisting an organisation in sustaining and growing within the market. The report below covers management and operations within Asda, which is one of the leading supermarket chains within the UK. The assignment covers a detailed differentiation between the role of a leader and functions of a manager within the organisation. In addition to this, it covers application of role and functions of leaders and managers respectively. The report also covers appreciation of role which both these entities play within the operations functions of anorganisation,alongwithdemonstrationoftherelationshipbetweenleadershipand management. TASK 1 P1. Defining and Comparing Different Roles and Characteristics of Leader and Manager A leader refers to the individual within an organisation, who is responsible towards leadingandmotivatinganorganisationtowardsattainmentoftheirbusinessobjectives appropriately(Neelakandan, Tyagi and Nagalkar, 2019). On the other hand, manager is a person who plans, organises, staffs, directs and controls the operations and resources of a company to ensure its growth, sustainability and accomplishment of certain targets. From the definition above, there are several themes which are identified in relation to determining the similarities between both the job roles mentioned above. Hence,some of these prominent points are discussed below: ï‚·Both management, as well as leadership are people oriented, i.e., both these aspects are related towards enhancing the performance and productivity of the company. ï‚·Both the managers and leaders have a prominent influence towards maintaining a working environment which enhances the scope of working within the company. However, despite the similarities, both managers as well as the leaders have significant differences too, which are very clearly showcased below: 1
BASISMANAGERSLEADERS Traits Oneofthemostprominent traitsisthattheyarequite calculativeintakingseveral decisions within Asda. On the contrary, leaders within Asdapossessthetraitsof beingavisionary(Reidand Sanders, 2015). Roles and Responsibilities The most prominent roles and responsibilities of a manager at the organisation are related to planning,organisingand coordinatingactivitiesand resources of the company to ensure maximum success. In order to achieve success, the main responsibilities and roles withinAsda'sleaderinvolve directing,motivating, communicationandhandling people within the organisation to achieve results. Authority and Power Managers enjoy high authority incontextofmanagingand directing people, processes and resources in Asda. Leaders are only confined to powersassociatedwiththe human resources, alongwith arerequiredtofollowthe manager's orders. However, there are several theories and concepts which are required to effectively assessed to further analyse the function and role of a manager within an organisation. Hence, in this context, Fayol's functions of management are stated below, which are associated with the working of a manager in Asda. Hence, these functions are discussed below:ï‚·Planning: The very first function of a manager within this company is associated with planning. It refers to a detailed assessment and analysation of situations and surroundings along with anticipation of resources, which would be required by the company to achieve its objectives. Within Asda, the managers plan the resources, techniques, equipments and financial requirements that will be needed by the company to handle its in store operations(Song and Parola, 2015).ï‚·Organising:Another function by Fayol is organising. According to this, managers are required to organise resources, people, finances and other intangible resources, which 2
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appropriately assists them to handle company's operations. In Asda, managers organise people by providing them their daily duties and finances by allotting the expenses towardscertainoperations.Furthermore,theyorganiseresourcesbymakingthem accessible to each and every part of the organisation, such as technology.ï‚·Commanding:This function requires the manager to command the human resources of the company in a way that maximum output is acquired from them. Within Asda, several directions are commanded towards employees which are directed towards their job roles and towards enhancing effectiveness(Gibson and Parkman, 2018).ï‚·Coordinating:Within this function, coordination between all the resources, operations and variables are required to be established in order to maintain consistency in activities. Within Asda, coordination is established by managers through communication with staff members and bringing intangible resources in alignment with the objectives of the supermarket. ï‚·Controlling:It is necessary that managers control the working and efficiency of an organisation,whichisrequiredtowardsenhancingthescopeofimprovementin operations.InAsda,severaltechniquessuchasKeyPerformanceIndicatorsand Benchmarking are used to appropriately monitor and control organisation's working. TASK 2 P2. Examination of application of Roles and Functions of Leaders and Managers respectively There are several organisational situation where leaders and managers are required to appropriately act and perform distinctively by applying their set roles and functions. Moreover, there are distinct aspects within which the active role and function of leaders and managers are required to satisfy certain situations. Thus, some of the situations within Asda are discussed below: ï‚·Employee Engagement: One of the prominent situation which witness involvement of managers and leaders is related to employee engagement. It is highly important for a company to engage its employee for long term in order to ensure better working environment for the organisation to function. Furthermore, within a firm like Asda, employee engagement is very necessary as the employees are required to perform at their best each day. Moreover, employee engagement contributes 3
towards enhancing the productivity of the company, which is very important for the retail market within the UK. Thus, in context of managers within Asda, their function concerning this situation is to provide clear and concise instructions to the employees, along with communicating what the firm expects from them. This would allow the employees to appropriately channelise their intellect in working according to the expectations. Moreover, in relation with the leaders, in this situation they are likely to adopt democratic style of leadership approach, which would be requiring them to motivate the workforce and solve their grievances by keeping them at the centre of decision making(Chevalier and et. al., 2015). ï‚·Structural Change: Onceawhile,eachorganisationchangesitsstructuretogainbettercompetitive advantage and attain higher profitability. In relation to Asda, it had been planning to merge with Sainsbury's lately, which is yet another appropriate supermarket chain in the UK. This is a major structural change that requires active participation from the managers and leaders. In context with the former, in order to ensure that employees perform at their best and without resistance, they would be providing them with additional benefits such as appraisals and work flexibility, which would be keeping up their hard work towards the company even after its structural changes. In context with leaders, they would be adopting transformational leadership style in this situation, in order to develop a vision towards which employees will be motivated and directed. ï‚·Technological Advancements: One of the most evident situation in a company is advancements in technology, which is an inevitable part of an organisation's life cycle. Within the retail industry of the UK, there are certain advancements in technology due to rise in digitalisation. Moreover, Asda has also employed several technologies within its framework such as loyalty platforms and Click and Collect feature in their company kiosks (Big Four Grocers Under The Microscope: Six ways Asda is tackling retail technology,2019). Thus, within this situation, managers perform functions associating with metrics to monitor and guide employees to adopt the new technologies. Moreover, they employ effective training and development alternatives which are necessary for the company to adopt and work with the new technologies. In relation with leaders, in this situation,theywouldadoptlaissez-faireleadershipapproach,asworkrelatedtonew technologies are required to be delegated in order to enhance familiarity of new equipments and techniques in a better and efficient manner. 4
P3. Application of Different Theories and Models of approaches Leadershipapproachesarethewaysandmethodsthroughwhichleadersofan organisation perform their role and lead the whole organisation towards attaining the objectives (Gillen, Jacquillat and Odoni, 2016). Furthermore, all these approaches that could be applied within Asda, along with their critical reflection are discussed below: ï‚·Situational Leadership: This leadership approach is associated with adoption, modification and alteration in the style of leadership as per the situation and development levels of organisation's employees. This approach is used within an organisation when the working environment is quite flexible and leaders themselves are quite adaptable towards adopting the leadership style which suits the purpose and situation. An example associated with this leadership in context of Asda would be that in case there are high degree of turnover within a company's department, such as Marketing, the leaders would be adopting this style in order to understand the situation and act accordingly. An advantage of using this leadership style is that it helps the leaders in formulating a comfortable environment for the employees which would allow them to be more engaged. However,onedisadvantageofthisapproachisthatitemphasisesmoreonimmediate requirements of the organisation rather the long term ones. This could enhance uncertainty in the organisation. ï‚·System Leadership: It is an appropriate part of the leadership, which requires the leader to appropriately lead across boundaries appropriately(Fu and Wnuk, 2015). Furthermore, this approach is best applicable if the organisation is suffering from a very complex situation which involves multiple departments. For instance, Asda might enhance the problem of inappropriate segregation of different types of oils, which has reduced the firm's reputation due to customer complaints. In such scenario, system leadership will be adopted by the leader as they would be working with the customer relationship department, along with the operations department to solve the issue collectively. One merit of using this leadership in this situation is that it helps the leaders in delegate tasks effectively, which allows in solving the problem more productively. However, due to involvement of so many groups, it takes ample amount of time to perform tasks and thus, it is limited towards solving the problem within due time. ï‚·Contingency Leadership: 5
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This approach is based on the idea that there is no perfect style of leading in a company. moreover, it suggests that activities adopted while leadership approaches are dependant on the situations, environment and certain circumstances. An example of this approach could be a contingency within the organisation, such as cyber breach. This would require the leader to choose an appropriate framework to find solution to this problem. An advantage associated with this approach is that it is quite flexible, which could assist a leader in solving a problem in flexible manners. However, due to so many approaches and flexible structure, this approach does not effectively guide the leaders within the organisation(Nakagawa, 2015). TASK 3 P4. Key Approaches to Operations Management Operations Management refers to all the activities and functions which are required to perform several operations within an organisation. Moreover, it is directed towards creation of maximum efficiency within a company to ensure maximisation in profit standards of the organisation. Thus, within the organisation such as Asda, there are several approaches which are adopted within the company. These approaches are combined below: ï‚·Six Sigma: One of the most prime approaches of operations management is Six Sigma, which is adopted by companies in relation to ensuring perfection in operations of the company and ensure process improvement by effectively emphasising on team efforts in enhancing the performance. In Asda, this is applied within marketing processes, along with stocking, to ensure that there are no defects in functions and appropriate management is attained. Within this approach, the role of manager is to develop certain marketing and stocking strategy, which helps the resources to be utilised optimally. Leaders implement teamwork within the organisation and appropriately and effectively channelise efforts of individuals to ensure perfection(Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). ï‚·Total Quality Management: Another approach within operations management is Total Quality Management, which is a structured method adopted within an organisation to improvise quality within operations and products of the company. It is based on the idea of continuous improvement, which requires the firm to continuously ensure betterment in its operations . It is applied effectively on the customer 6
service approach of Asda, where TQM is applicable towards the management of customer information, feedbacks and complaints. In this context, the role of manager is related towards application of different frameworks such as agile methodologies which require continuous modifications and improvements in technology to serve customers in a better manner.As for leader,appropriatesupervisingisadoptedbytheleaderswhichhelpsindealingwith improvement in processes more effectively(Hitt, Xu and Carnes, 2016). ï‚·Just in Time Delivery: This is associated with the procedures within an organisation which requires the firm to acquire the raw materials from suppliers as per the anticipated demand. The idea of this approach is to keep the inventory to a minimum which speeds up the process of stocking and managing the supplies. Within Asda, this approach is applied within stocking the food items, which helps in eradicating the chances of product perishing. In this context, managers play the role of directing the production and operational departments in ensuring control over the inventory. Furthermore, leaderswouldbe evaluatingthe overallperformanceof the employeesinmanagingthe inventory. In addition to this, there are several ways through which the leaders and managers could improve efficiencies of operations management. For instance, there must be regular training and development approaches adopted within the overall company with respect to adopting the operations management approaches. Furthermore, organisational culture could be developed in an effective manner, which considers customer satisfaction as a primary aspect, which would allow the operations to be moulded in an effective manner(Ferguson and et. al., 2016). P5. Explanation of Importance and Value of Operations Management Operations management are very much important within the overall organisation as it helps in appropriately and effectively enhance the scope towards enhancing efficiency of the company. In addition to this, while the operations management is necessary to be adopted by a firm, it has effective value within the company. thus, both these aspects with respect to Asda is discussed: ï‚·Profitability: One of the most crucial objectives of an organisation is its profitability. Each company works and moulds its operations and functions in ways through which their profitability could be increased. Hence, operations management plays a very crucial role in relation to helping an 7
organisation in achieving these objectives. For example, operations management allows Asda in managing its inventories in ways which reduces waste and enhances quality of operations. Furthermore, its value is appropriately reflected by the fact that it helps the organisation in saving an ample amount of money, which could enhance the revenue of the firm, hence, increasing the profitability(Kopardekar and et al., 2016). ï‚·Productivity: Another objective of Asda is increasing productivity. This is perhaps one of the most crucial as well as complex goals that the firm could achieve. Reason for this is that consistency is required in operations and functions within the organisation, which is quite challenging. In this context, operations management allows a company like Asda to manage its daily operations smoothly and with utmost ease. It could be stated due to the several approaches that are adopted by the company. For instance, TQM enables the firm in improvising the quality of its products and processes, whereas Six Sigma removes any sort of defects from the procedures and functions of the organisation. This helps Asda in accomplishing this business objective as consistency in operations is very well achieved as well as managed for long term. Additionally, operations managementalignsthebusinessoperations,whichensuresasequentialutilisationofall resources in quite an effective manner. ï‚·Employee Retention: Withinthisobjective,organisationsarerequiredtoadoptpracticeswhichallows maximum customer satisfaction and ensure adherence to their requirement and expectations from the organisation. This requires the company in managing each resource in a way which complies withthecustomerpreferences.Forexample,inrelationtostocking,eachclientwants convenience in relation to searching for their desired products. Thus, operations management complies with this requirement by adopting six sigma and TQM, through which, the items are managed and stocking procedures could be very well managed within the company(Venkat and et. al., 2015). In addition to this, within operations management leaders and managers' roles are very much important in implementing its principles and procedures associated with the operations management. Moreover, it is highly important that manager and leaders play effective roles as to achieve effectiveness and efficiency in organisational functions, these entities are required to monitor as well as motivate employees of the company to achieve effectiveness. 8
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TASK 4 P6. Assessment of Factors impacting upon Operations Management There are several factors which are related towards having an impact on operations management of the company. furthermore, these factors also influence the decision making of managers and leaders in distinct manners. Hence, all these aspects are appropriately discussed below: ï‚·Political: One of the major factor which has an impact upon the operations management of the organisation is political(Littlefield, Nallathambi and Chanchlani, 2016). These forces directly influence the working of the company. In context with Asda, the political environment of the UK has quite an evident impact on its operations. For instance, the regulations within the country are quite supportive towards the retail sector, which allows the firm to adopt new approaches in operations management and ensure better management of the same. However, due to likely events of Brexit, there is no political stability in the country, which has negative impact on the company, due to inappropriate supply regulations with the EU nations. This impacts the decision making of leaders and the managers as they are required to take decisions which supports their supply chain management effectively. ï‚·Social: Socially, UK has been quite inclined towards the retail sector and customers are having preferences associated with high quality products. This has a positive impact within the operations management of Asda as they could appropriately adopt Just in Time approaches to stock fresh food items, which comply with the demands of the people. However, with rise in online shopping, organisations in the retail sector are very much in a tiff to shift their operations online. This negative impact influences decision making of leaders and managers as to deal with this situation, these entities are needed to appropriately communicate with their employees in developing a culture which is associated with adoption and innovation(Kapadia, Dong and Yang, 2018). ï‚·Economical: The economy of the UK is in a very bad shape, due to inflation and decrease in value of pounds. This has a very negative impact on all the companies in the retail sector as they are facing challenging in acquiring supplies at desired rates and forced to sell at higher prices, which 9
are ineffective in dealing with customer preference. Thus, in this context managers and leaders are required to take decisions which are associated with communicating the employees in relation to engaging them even with lower pay scales so that their operations management functions could be well complied with. ï‚·Technological: This factor is related to advancements in technology. There are certain enhancements in equipments, services and resources in operations management, such as Automation in stocking, AI in managing inventory etc. This has a very positive impact on Asda, as they would be performing operations management in a better manner(Kato and et. al.. 2015). Furthermore, the decisions of managers and leaders are associated with employing more competent resources in the company in relation to operations management, along with effective training methods such as simulations to enhance the scope of familiarity of employees with the new technologies. CONCLUSION Thus, it is concluded from the report above, that management and operations are effective areas for an organisation in context of assisting them in achieving business objectives. It is very necessary to compare roles and characteristics of leaders and managers to specifically understand their working within an organisation. Furthermore, application of their roles and functions are very much required for an organisation in context of determining an appropriate criteria in context of their activities in a firm. Along with this, certain theories and models associated with leadership assists in determining the approaches adopted by leaders in their organisations. In addition, operations management must be performed within a company by adopting certain key approaches of the same, as well as through understanding its importance and value. Lastly, certain factors impacting upon operations manager must be assessed to determine the influence of external environment on this function of the organisation. 10
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