Operational Management and Leadership

The assignment provided discusses the importance of operational management and leadership in achieving target aims and objectives. It highlights the roles of managers and leaders in improving operations efficiency and introduces key operational approaches such as six sigma and lean production. The document also explores different leadership styles, with situation leadership style being considered the best for an organization's success.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1) Introduction to the organisation you have chosen and its management structure..............1
2) Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, and the differences between
management and leadership...................................................................................................2
3)Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts...............................................3
4)Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and
management to draw conclusions that support theories of leadership...................................4
5)Conclusions on how managers and leaders have made an impact on the organisation and
recommendations for future improvements............................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
1)Introduction to the key operations of an organisation.........................................................6
2)Roles and responsibilities of managers in the key operational functions...........................7
3)Explanation of the key operational approaches to operations management and their value. . 8
4)Evaluation of the impact of external business environment factors that affect decision-
making by leaders and managers............................................................................................8
5) Evaluation of how operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business
objectives using appropriate management and leadership approaches................................10
6) Conclusions and supported recommendations for future improvements to be taken by the
organisation..........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation is concerned with controlling and designing of the production
process so as to come up with better outcome for an organisation. The organisation which is
taken to carry out this assignment is Toyota which is multinational automotive manufacturer
organisation with its headquarter in Japan. File first task focuses on the introduction of
management structure of Toyota organisation and on analysis of the different roles of
management and leadership in application to different organisational situations, supported by
theories and concepts (Alderton and Saieva, 2013). Along with this it also focuses on evaluation
of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and management. Whereas,
second task describes key operations of an organisation and explanation of the key operational
approaches to operations management with their value. Lastly a brief explanation of evaluation
of how operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business objectives using
appropriate management and leadership approaches.
TASK 1
1) Introduction to the organisation you have chosen and its management structure
Toyota is a multinational car manufacturing company which was founded in 1937 with
its headquarter in Japan. It has near about 36,445 numbers of employees who are working under
this company and it is also one of the world largest market leader in selling of hybrid electric
vehicles.
Toyota follows divisional organisational structure under which it is segregated into three
main parts and they are namely global hierarchy, geographical division and product-based
division etc (Ashford, Coutu and Beasley, 2013). Toyota organisation maintains its global
hierarchy despite of its reorganisation and its decision making power lies in the hand of its
headquarter which is situated in Japan. Secondly, it divides its management structure into eight
main regional sectors and each section need to report to it headwater in Japan. It will help in
improving the goods and services as per the market conditions of regional sections. Thirdly it
sets its structure on the basis of product and as a result it has its four main division namely
Lexus international: Toyota number one for operations in North America, Japan and Europe;
Toyota number two for operation in all other regions; and Unit centre which is term to be

responsible for transmission and other related operations. Thus, all this structural features of
Toyota helps in development of its brands and products lines.
2) Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, and the differences between management
and leadership
Leader:
Leader is an individual who possess certain capabilities of influencing, motivating and of
encouraging workforce to achieve the target gaols on time without any delay. Therefore, leader
of Toyota plays certain crucial role as well as possess certain characteristics which are explained
below (Brown and Bessant, 2013):
Role of leader:
The main role of a leader of Toyota organisation is to support and to guide the group
team members so that they can know how to perform certain task in order to achieve company
aims and objectives. In addition to this other role is to listen the viewpoint of team members so
as to make them feel that they are being considered as an important part of an organisation.
Characteristics of leader:
The essential characteristics which leader of Toyota must possess is that an effective
leader must possess the ability to motivate subordinates so that they can perform efficiently. In
addition to this a leader must possess positive attitude and focused approach towards the
attainment of goals.
Manager:
Manager is an individual who have the authority and power to handle and to manage
overall activities and human resources of an organisation so as to achieve organisational goal in a
productive manner (Chiarini and Vagnoni, 2015).
Role of Manager:
The main role of a manager of Toyota organisation is to plan, organise, direct and to
control the overall operational activities of an organisation so as to achieve target aims and
objectives on time.
Characteristics of Manager:
The essential characteristics of manager of Toyota must possess is that a manager must
be of optimistic in nature who can encourage the employees to perform their best so that each
one can come up with best outcome for an organisation.

Differences between leadership and management:
Basis Leadership Management
Definition Leader is the one who possess the
capabilities of encouraging team members
of Toyota so that they can give their
maximum effort to achieve the aims and
objectives (Childe, 2011).
Manager is the one who
perform the five core function
in an organisation and they are
like planning, organising,
directive, coordinating and
controlling.
Role The main role of leadership of Toyota is
to motivate employees to perform their
task so as to achieve target aims on time.
Whereas, management main
role is to manage and control
different set of activities and
human resources in an
effective and efficient manner.
Focus Main focus of leadership of Toyota is to
lead and guide team members of
organisation.
Whereas, main focus of
management is to control the
working activities of Toyota
organisation.
3)Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts.
In an organisation while carrying out different operational activity there may arise any
kind of situation, so in order to deal with different situation both the leader and the manger plays
essential role (De Roover, 2017):
Contingency theory:
As per this theory leader effectiveness terms to be contingent upon which leadership style
matches to the situations. There are certain situation which may take place suddenly, and in order
to deal with such sudden situation both manager and leader play essential role which can be
explained with the help of example: A situation of transportation strike took place because of
which Toyota organisation was unable to meet the demand of customers due to insufficiency of
raw materials. In this case manager needs to take effective decision and that is of making
purchase of raw materials from local suppliers so that demand of customers can be fulfilled on

time. Whereas a leader needs to take decision of motivating employees in such situation so that
each one can give their best to achieve the target goal of an organisation.
Situation theory:
As per this theory leader of Toyota must adopt the style of leadership as per the demand
of situation that may take place in an organisation. For example: There took place a situation in
Toyota organisation that customers were not happy with their products because of the quality
degradation. So in this case manger of Toyota plays here an essential role of setting quality
standards so that superior quality products can be produced. Whereas, a leader plays essential
role in this situation that is of motivating and rendering appropriate instruction to each
employees so that each one can give their best in producing better and superior quality products
and services for customers.
4)Evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and
management to draw conclusions that support theories of leadership.
There are certain approaches to leadership and management which must be followed by
Toyota so as to achieve increase in organisational and operation efficiencies and each approaches
possess certain strength and weakness which are mentioned below (Drake, and Spinler, 2013.):
Contingent approach of management:
This approach of management is based on the concept that management effectiveness
terms to be contingent in nature or it can be said it is dependent upon interrelation between
specific situation and application of management. Additionally, it specifies that the way manager
of Toyota manage should change depending on the situations or circumstances as one size does
not fit all. Furthermore, there are certain strength and weakness too of this approach which are
explained below.
Strength:
The main strength of this approach is that it is term to be the best effective way which
helps in explaining how good leadership can be achieved. In addition to this it also helps in
widening the scope and understanding of leadership as well as help in linking leaders to the
situations.
Weakness:

The weaknesses of this approach of management is that it does not fully render
explanation about why some leaders terms to be more effective in some situation but not in
others.
Situation leadership approach:
It is one of the approach which can be applied by the leader of Toyota organisation as this
states that for different situation different leadership approach need to be followed. This will
help in dealing with typical situation effectively. Therefore this style of leadership possesses
certain strength and weakness too which are examined below (Haimes, 2015):
Strength:
The major strength of this leadership approach is that this style has stood the test of time
in marketplace. In addition to this it is easy to understand and can easily be applied in variety of
settings.
Weakness:
Whereas the major weakness of this approach of leadership is that in sudden situation this
style of leadership will be ineffective, as effective decision cannot be taken on sudden situations.
System leadership approach:
As per this style of leadership leader must treat the business as a system which is related
to natural elements or with human resources. The primarily dimension of this type of this style is
that it provides a leader of Toyota an opportunity to analyse, understand and to think about the
corporation so as to make effective use of essential resources in order to come up with increase
in efficiency and productivity of an organisation.
Strength:
The major strength of this approach is that if the leader of Toyota organisation adopts this
style of leadership then it will help in increasing organisation adaptability to environmental
changes. In addition to this it will also result in uniformity in decision making so that no specific
domain gets discriminatory treatment.
Weakness:
Whereas the drawback of this style of leadership is that it may not always be practical as
well as it may also result in delay of decision making.

Overall it can be concluded that leader of Toyota must take situational leadership into
consideration, as this style of leadship is term to best suitable for any kind of situation which
may take place in many different level of an organisation. Middle level manager of Toyota can
also use this style in order to direct staff and head of department can also make best use of this
style during planning structural changes within business. Thus, it can be said that this style of
leadership will lead in increasing the firm efficiencies level as it helps in taking effective
decision for every typical situations of business.
5)Conclusions on how managers and leaders have made an impact on the organisation and
recommendations for future improvements
Overall it can be concluded that leader and manager both play crucial roles and
responsibilities in different situation of business so as to run business smoothly as well as to
achieve objectives on time. A leader plays the role of influencing and motivating employees so
that they can give their best to the firm which will positively impact on organisation in the from
of increase in productivity. Whereas a manager plays five important function that is to plan,
coordinate, direct and to control overall operation of business activities. It can also be concluded
that there are certain leadership theories which are being explained in the above task with the
help of which workforce can be easily motivated and influenced to accomplish organisational as
well as personal target on time (He, Li and Chai, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, 2014).
Recommendation for improvements:
 A leader of different team members of Toyota must render training and development
session to workers so that they can give their best without the support of superior and
can become capable of taking effective decision for organisation.
 Manager of Toyota should also frame policies and plans taking into consideration
preferences of employees, so that each employees remain self-directed towards their
goals.
TASK 2
1)Introduction to the key operations of an organisation.
Toyota is term to be one of the fastest growing multinational auto-mobile manufacturing
company which operates its operation activity all over the world. Thus, there are different key

operations under which management of firm perform their task and some of the key operations
of an organisation are mentioned below:
Supply chain activity:
It is one of the key operation activity which is being performed under Toyota as it is the
technique under which the raw material passes from supplier to producer so that production
process can be started in order to come up with better quality finished products and services. In
order to address target aims of the corporation on time and to maximize the customer values this
process of key operation involves active streamlining of organisation supply side activities.
Designing of auto mobile:
It is the another crucial key operation activity which is being performed under the Toyota
organisation. As this key operation involves designing of better quality auto mobile with good
physical appearance by taking both the aspect of internal and external design of auto-mobile into
consideration as per demand and preferences of customers.
2)Roles and responsibilities of managers in the key operational functions.
As in Toyota organisation large number of operational functions are being carried like of
supply chain management and designing of auto-mobiles. In each operational functions different
roles and responsibilities are being played by the manager of Toyota which are explained below:
Roles and responsibilities of manager in Supply chain management:
In this operation function manager of Toyota main role is to develop and to maintain
good relationship with distributors and vendors as well as to promote the design, development
and implementation of warehouse and logistics solutions. In addition to this the major
responsibility of manager in operational function is to manage personnel productivity, labour
cost, inventory level, data accuracy so as to maximize the productivity and efficiency.
Roles and responsibilities of manager in designing of auto mobiles:
While designing of physical appearances of auto mobile manager plays the role of
resource allocator for each task so that each employees can make optimum utilisation of
resources. In addition to this responsibility of manager is to ensure that product that is being
designed is accordance with the preferences of customers. Moreover manager main
responsibility is also to ensure that the product quality is within the remit. Furthermore manager
is also responsible for making products differentiated from its competitors or substitute ones so
that large number of people get influence with their products.

3)Explanation of the key operational approaches to operations management and their value.
In order to manage different key operation activity in an effective manner, manager of
Toyota organisation must take into consideration some of the key operational approaches and
each approach has its own value which is explained below:
Lean manufacturing approach:
This is the best operational approach which can be used by the management of Toyota
organisation as it helps in waste minimization without sacrificing the productivity level. The
main value of this approach is that it takes into account the waste created through overburden as
well as waste created through unevenness in workloads. Whereas the other benefits which the
firm can derive from this approach is that it helps in reduction of lead time as well for the
delivery of goods and services as well as aids in increasing the productivity level.
Total Quality Management:
This is the another operational approach which can be used by the manager of Toyota in
order to increase the operational efficiencies of an organisation (Total quality management,
2019). The value which is being rendered by this approach is that it focuses on the continuous
improvement of quality of the goods and services by using continuous feedback. The main
objective of this approach is of doing things right at the first time over and over again which also
help the Toyota organisation in saving of time which were required to correct poor work and
failed goods and services implementation.
4)Evaluation of the impact of external business environment factors that affect decision-making
by leaders and managers.
External business factors are those which are not under the control of an organisation and
such factors greatly affect the decision making process of leader and manager of an organisation.
External factors are such as political, social etc.
Political factors:
This factor refers to change in tax policy, environmental law, political stability etc.
Therefore, changes in such factor greatly influence the decision making of leader and manager.
Manager of Toyota needs to take decision of adopting such changes and to carry out operation
activity as per the rules framed by the government (Marchington and et. al., 2016). Whereas a
leader need to take decision of training to its team members so that they can carry out different
activities as per the policies and strategies framed by government.

Social factors:
This factor refers to the changes taking place in preferences and demand of customers as
different culture, religion varies from individual to individual. So changes in such factors greatly
influence the decision making of leader and a manager (Penn and Pennix, 2017). Manager of
Toyota need to take decision of ensuring that whether the products that are being manufactured
is as per the demand and preferences of customer or not, if not then changes can be made on the
spot so as to satisfy customers. Whereas a leaders need to take decision of motivating and
encouraging workers by rendering monetary and non-monetary benefits in the form of salary
increments, bonus, appreciation for good performance etc. So that each team member can give
their best in order to come up with those outcome as per the preferences of the customers.
Stakeholder factors:
Stakeholders such as investors, customers etc. posses certain expectation from firm that
is the company should render them proper percentage of interest to each investors as per the
investment made by them. Whereas customer expectation is that the company should render
superior quality products and services to them. So in this case role of manager is to make sure
that each investors get their share of interest on time and workers are producing product as per
the preferences of customers. On the other hand leader role is to motivate employees and to train
them so that they can give there best to come up with the outcome as per the demand and
preferences of customers.
CSR factor:
It is another factors which impact upon decision making power of leader and manager. In
establishing the culture of corporate social responsibility manager of Toyota must ensure that
employees goals are aligned with CSR goals. In addition to this manager should also
communicate regularly about organisational CSR goals and activities to each members of firm.
Whereas leader role is to training employees so that each one can produce products taking into
consideration that fact of minimization of waste resources.
Value and ethics:
Moreover value and ethics are another factors which effect the decision making of manager and
leader. In order to run business smoothly manager must play essential role of ensuring that each
activities is being performed in an ethical manner by following the legal and ethical laws of an
organisation. Whereas a leader role is to establish ethical standard and moral value in an

organisation and ask each employees to follow them while performing their activities. Thus,
proper functioning of organisation activities in ethical manner will help in increasing the
productivity level as well as the brand image of the firm in marketplace.
5) Evaluation of how operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business
objectives using appropriate management and leadership approaches.
Business objectives refer to the outcome which the organisation aims to achieve. The
main objective of firm is to increase profit by taking customer satisfaction into consideration. As
in order to meet business objective successfully certain management and leadership approach
need to be considered so as to improve the operational efficiencies as well and some of the
approach is mentioned below (Pundi and et. al., 2015):
Trait leadership approach:
As per this leadership approach a leader must possess certain trait like a great leader must
be intelligence and action oriented judgement, must possess eagerness to accept responsibility,
must be task competence as well as should understand the followers and their needs. If the HR of
Toyota will take all this skills into consideration while selecting the best leader then it will help
in improving the operational efficiencies of firm in the from of maximum utilisation of resources
and increase in productivity and efficiency of products. As the best leader will give there best for
the business This is because selection of best leader will help the organisation to meet there
business objective on specified time period without any delay.
Administrative approach of management:
As per this approach of management, manager of Toyota needs to perform five important
functions in an effective and efficient manner and these functions are planning, organising,
directing, controlling and coordinating. Therefore if all these functions are being performed
effectively and efficiently by the manager of Toyota organisation then it will help in meeting the
business objective on time as well as will also result in improving organisational efficiencies to a
great extent through improvement of productivity of products and services.
6) Conclusions and supported recommendations for future improvements to be taken by the
organisation.
Overall it can be concluded that in a business environment there are certain external
factors which greatly influence decision making of leader and manager like political and social
factors. In addition to this it can also be concluded that in order to perform key operational

activity efficiently there are certain management and leadership approach need to be consider
like trait leadership and administrative management approach (Punyateera and et. al., 2014).
Recommendation for improvements:
 Among TQM and Six sigma approach, manager of Toyota organisation can use TQM
approach so as to render superior quality of products and services to its customers.
 Secondly, it can be recommended that in addition to political and social there are other
external factors too like social, technological etc. which must be analysed by the manager
of Toyota organisation so as to run business smoothly without any hurdle.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall it can be concluded that management and operation is term to be the essential
tool for an organisation as it helps in creating highest level of efficiency by converting raw
materials into finished and better quality products and services. Additionally, both the manager
and leader plays essential roles and responsibility to improve operations efficiency in different
situation. Moreover different key operational approaches like six sigma, lean production etc. are
being explained which help in improving the overall operational efficiency. Lastly, among
leadership style, situation leadership style terms to be the best for an organisation in achieving
target aims and objectives on specified time period.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Toyota production system from a strategic management, management accounting,
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Drake, D. F. and Spinler, S., 2013. OM Forum—Sustainable Operations Management: An
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