Roles and Characteristics of Manager and Leader in Operations Management

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1- Comparison between roles & characteristics of manager and a leader................................3
M1- Differentiate between role of leader and function of manager ...........................................5
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2- Leader role and manager function apply in varied situational contexts...............................6
P3- Models and theories of approach..........................................................................................7
M2- Strengths and weaknesses of varied approaches to situation..............................................8
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4- Important approaches to operations management and role of managers as well as leaders
within it.......................................................................................................................................9
P5- Value and importance of operations management in context of achieving business
objectives...................................................................................................................................11
M3- Managers and leaders improve operational management efficiency................................12
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................12
P6- Factors within environment of business that influence decision-making and operational
management..............................................................................................................................12
M4- How factors affect wider community and business environment.....................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations is one of the best practices of businesses, they help to assure
maximum efficiency within a company. It concerned with transforming raw materials into
products as effectively as possible which in return increase profitability & productivity of any
organization operating within specific sector. The present report is based on M&S, which fall
under category of leading British multinational retailers in United Kingdom.
The current assignment will explain roles & traits of leader and manager and also discuss
function of management & roles of leadership in regard to different situations. Beside this, it will
also apply several models of approach including systems, situational and contingency theories.
Furthermore, this study will also justify methods to operations management and role that
manager & leaders play. It will clarify significance of operations management in achieving
objectives of business and also explain factors that may be effect decision-making process as
well as operational management.
LO 1
The current scenario is based on roles of leader and manager as well as both
characteristics in regard to Marks & Spencer.
P1- Comparison between roles & characteristics of manager and a leader
Management functions-
Planning-
According to this function manager role is to create effective plan based on situational
analysis which makes them able to achieve business aim and objectives.
Organizing-
Along with better planning, a manager can organize each activity of business and workers
in systematic manner.
Leading-
Manager accordant to this function needs to be confident and comfortable while
managing their team.
Controlling-
Manager control everything according to plan and use different strategies which makes
them able to enhance operational efficiency. For example, to analyse business success they can
use Benchmarking tool to measure and then control business practices.

“Management consists of interlocking actions of developing corporate policy and
managing, controlling, planning and directing a company resources to achieve their objectives of
that policy” (Murray, 2017).
“Leadership is defined as art of inspiring and motivating a unit of individual to act and
work toward achieving a common aim of business”.
Roles and characteristics of leader-
Communicate-
Leader role within M&S is to communicate with their staff members in order to identify
their problems. It also allows them to understand the needs of workers in effective manner.
Motivate-
Another role of leader within organization is to motivate their old and new employees at
workplace which makes individual able to perform effectively. They also guide applicants to
participate in a common attempts (Sharma, 2018).
Provide a vision-
Providing a clear vision for entire production and other team is single most essential roles
of leader within M&S. It helps employees to focused on achieving business aims & objectives
(Davis, 2018).
Empathy-
It is one of the best characteristics of leader as it help them to improve work of other
people working around at same workplace within company to achieve set aims.
Integrity-
It is another characteristic of leader who is playing their role within M&S with honesty
and high commitment towards performing much better than before.
Creative-
Leader in a creative person they perform cooperatively to create innovative ideas in firm.
Roles and characteristics of Manager-
Planning-
It is the best role of manager within company, they develop effective plans to manager
each and every activity as well as task (Steelman and Wolfeld, 2018).
Monitoring-