Management and Operations: Roles and Characteristics of Leaders and Managers

This document discusses the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers in the context of management and operations. It explores different theories and approaches, including situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency leadership. The document also examines key approaches to operations management and the role played by leaders and managers. The case of John Lewis partnership is studied to understand its strategies for success.

Management and
operations

Introduction:
It is a method which includes business practices which shows different ways to achieve profits
for the organisation In the other word,here available resource are converted into finished product
and services, distributed such goods in the target market. Here proper care it taken for having
proper balance in the organisation .the revenue generated from the particular activities in the
management of the company. Their are various management activities such as planning,
organizing,controlling and directing, in the company to have a formal flow of cash
management. Manager has vision for providing good quality of goods and services. and earn
profits from providing final product in the market. With the references of the UK company, John
Lewis partnership,it is British company found in the 1929. this company offers various clothes,
watches and housewares in the market. Under this report, roles and responsibility of the leader
and manager are discussed
(Andersen, Houlihan and Ronglan, 2015)
LO1:
P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristic of a leader and a manager.
Leader: He is a individual who have the great influence on the team of people to have goals
and pre-determine outcomes in the market. Leader is a individual who make sure that workers
are motivated to products efficient ways so that mission and vision of the organisation can be
achieved in time. Here under John Lewis partnership Inc., company have great manager &
leader at the management team which helps company to expand its business in the UK
marketplace.
Roles of leader: The role of the leader in the organisation is to results of different purpose in the
organisation. to the profits for the company. Some of the roles of leader are discussed below:
Encouragement: Leader should always motivates its employees so that they perform at their
full capacities in the organisation. Leader provide its employees with different techniques and
tools which helps them perform more efficient in the management activities.
Setting mission and vision: Here leader make sure that every employees are aware about the
mission and vision of the organisation so that they align their activities with the object of the
company(Binz and et.al., 2014).
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Characteristic of leader: Leader is a individual having different qualities to lead and motivates
its employees in the organisation. Under such conditions, John Lewis partnership in.leader is a
some who holds the following characteristic skills.
Leadership skills : These qualities are inherit in the nature of person is difficult to learn. A good
leader always motivates its workers to perform better in market e( Caniani and et.al.., 2015)
Faces new challenges : A leader is a person who faces challenges with the good confidence and
follow its approach to overcomes the challenges.
Manger: He is worker of the company and make sure they perform better in given task so that
profits can be required in the organisation and in effective . There are certain number of person
who are answerable to the manger about their responsibilities in the given tasks.
Duties of manger : he has to perform various role and duty to increase profits for the
company. any in the long run. Here manager should evaluate the vision of the company and
start performing in small step to achieve the such vision in the long run. Manger has to make
rules in the team which are to be followed to get the correct outcomes and in affection
Traits of manger : In the context of John lewis , he should have great personalty in the company
communication skills: he has a good soft skills, so that important information can be deliver to
all the employees in the team.
Delegating: A manger should be delegated to its responsibilities which are given to them by
senior manager(Liu 2016).
Comparison between Manger and leaders:
Basis Manger Leaders
Main A person, looks after all the
activities in the company.
A individual focus on is to
influence the people of the
team.
vision Manger has a clear vision
about task which are to be
performed.
Leader has a vision for the
growth of the organisation.
Subordinates Manger has certain number of
employees for completing the
given tasks.
He has employees as a
subordinates.
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Style Manger follows
transformational.
Leader follows transactional
style
LO2:
P2: Examine example of how the role of a leader and the function of a manger apply in different
situational contexts:
The role of the leader in different situational condition is that they are able to influence the
employees of the organisation towards the common goals and objectives which are to be
achieved within the set time period. The leader uses different methods of leadership in its
management team so that all the member of the team can understand the mission and vision of
the organisation and how to achieve them in the lost effective manner. The good leader can play
various roles which will helps its followers to understood the aim objectives of the company.
The function of the manager is to manage the employees of the organisation in such as way that
leads to accomplishment of pre-determine goals and objectives in most profitable manner. The
manager has to distribute the roles and responsibilities so that everyone in the team know what
duties they have to perform so that task can be completed in effective ways.
manger and leader have an important role and function in the team for having better results in
the marketplace. With the present scenario, the manager has study the market at which a John
lewis operates at the international level. Some of the scenario is the fast changes and conflict
resolution among the different situation are the most affected changes which lead to change in
the environment of work conditions. There are various role of the leader and function of the
manager which helps the organisation to achieve the desire outcomes in the most effective
manners.
Fast changes: Due to research conducted at the marketplace, it is stated that working
environment is the complex and dynamic in nature. It is seen that Organisation has to changes
or modified its product and services in accordance of the current requirement so that they are
able to attract more customer and retain the existing customer. For example, John lewis provide
various product and services from clothing to the electronic devices to its customer. Due to
market survey conduct in 2015 ,it was studies requirement of the customer keeps is changes
which the new trends in the environment, which lead to company modified its goods according
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to the trends in the target marketplace. And other things is that company needs to keep a eye at
technology changes in the market, so that they adsorb these techniques in the organisation. The
manger and leader have to see changes in the demand and supply of the product and service in
the marketplace . here the leader have to switch to different leadership methods which can be
applied at the operational management so that organisation compete the task in the most effective
manners whereas the manager has various function at the work management like controlling the
various activities and managing the all the worker in the systematic manners to achieve the
profits.
(Malano. and van Hofwegen, 2018
Conflict resolution: Due to research conducted by great manager has notes that conflict is one
thing which needs to dissolved in the organisation as soon as possible so that it does not affects
the performance of the overall organisation. Under such condition,conflict arises due to different
point of view and ineffective interaction with the manger and leader. In other words conflicts
arise in the team due to miscommunication within the team and with the manger. Leader and
manger play a important role in solving such conflict in the organisation so that they can
enhance the performance of overall company. with the reference of John lewis partnership,
sometimes there is conflict between members of the team which leads to decay the performance
of overall company, so manger provide a path for its employees which to be followed in the
management to achieve the goals and objectives in effective ways. It is duty or the role of the
leader and manager to dissolve the conflicts in the most effective and efficient manner so that
aim goals and objectives can be achieved in the most productivity ways and achieve the desire
profits,
(Ning and et.al., 2014)
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P3: Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,system and
contingency leadership:
In the organisation there are various theories and approach which are used to required the goals
of the companies. Manger and leader follows different theories and concept to perform the
various activities in the management, by delegating the duties to every employee in the team.
Their are few leadership theories are discussed as follows :
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Situational leadership: Under this leadership, manger and leader should be flexible in their
style depending upon various different situational conditions. They can not rely on one type of
leadership style in the management operations. This leadership include different style which can
be benefits the organisation. From the context of John lewis partnership inc, uses this
leadership theory as it is moveable in the firm and helps in developing the effectiveness in
accordance of different situations and maintain the balance between the team members. The
situational leadership have a real life application as it lead to movement of new type of
leadership depends on the needs and wants of the organisation so that work can be completed in
the effective ways. (Mazidi and et.al., 2017)
Role of the leader: here the leader have to use different type of leadership to manage the various
situation present in the organisation so that effective results can be seen in the operational
management in the firm.
Function of manager: under this situation, manager needs to control and manage the
management team according to the condition or the situation arises in the organisation. Manager
have to maintain the proper balance at the work places to get effective results
Strengths:
This leadership style helps the leader to adopts different leadership styles according to needs of the
situation in the organisation. It also helps to develop new leadership skills in the leader which can be
used to dissolve the conflict in most profitable ways.
Limitation: This leadership style sometimes create conflict among the leader and its followers in the
organisation as there is difference of opinion in the management team.’
System leadership theory: Under such situation theory, leader and manger make sure that all
employees are working at their full capability to receive the profits and outcome of the
organisation. This theory can be applied to every organisation as the manager always wants
that its employees work at their full potential . For John lewis partnership inc, this leadership is
applied at different levels as this will helps in increasing the productivity at the work level.
provide different methods and safe, healthy and friendly working environment for its employees
to enhance the performance of overall organisation. It study human behaviour in the
organisation, like system design and social process.
Role of leader: leader of the John Lewis organisation focus on making the worker realize their
full capabilities so that firm are able to achieve the mission and vision of the organisation in
effective ways.
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Function of manager: he is responsible for managing the whole team so that employees stay
motivated to accomplished the desire profits in the long run and increase the market share.
Manager look after the team and make sure they perform better in the given task.
Strengths: Here employees are able to realize their full potential at the work place and can
focus on improving their productivity at the work place.
Limitation: sometimes employees focus on its personal goals instead of the organisation goals
and objectives which can damage the performance of the organisation in the long run.
Contingency leadership of theory : under such theory, it stated that success of any person
depends on the not only his abilities. There are various different factors present in the
organisation which has different impact on factors such as company work culture and work
environment. It is better for the organisations as it changes with the change in the environment
and company can perform in better ways . It states that leadership style of the manger as well as
of the leader changes in accordance of the changes occur in the market. This theory can be
applied to John lewis as there are different work condition which lead to unexpected situation
which needs to dissolve by applying such leadership in the organisation.
Role of leader: under this leadership style, leader tries to reduce the threads which are present in
the work environment so that he is able to solve the issues and conflicts in the most effective
and productivity ways.
Function of manager: here the manager of the John Lewis focus on giving the guidance to the
worker about how to compete the task in the prefect ways as work environment keeps on
changing so that employees have to adopt to the new skills to finish the work in proper manners.
Strengths: this styles helps the leader to solve the upcoming issues at the work places in the
most effective manner so that organisation are able to achieve their objectives in time and
improves the profits.
Limitation: it is difficult for the leader to solve the problems in work related places as issues
can come in any forms which maybe not indefinable by the leader and can affects the
profitability of the organisation.
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LO3:'
P4 Key approaches to operations management and the role which played by leaders and
managers
Operations management is administrative business practices which help in creating
profits for the organisation as much possible within an organisation. In addition to this, there are
several key approaches related to operational management which played by leaders as well as
manager of John Lewis. Explanation of these are as follows :-
Six Sigma – It is methodology which introduced in 1935by Motorola, Inc.. Six Sigma
utilise data-driven review for limit mistakes as well as defects within entire procedures.
Implementation of Six Sigma by leaders and manager of John Lewis for improving their business
practices by decreasing likelihood of errors. In simple term it can be said that, Six Sigma is data
driven approach that use statistical methodology for eliminating defects. Under this, the role of
the manager and leader is to make use of six sigma which helps in getting rid of the defects in
the management so that goals can be achieved in the long run. The manager make sure that there
is less defect in the given task so that productivity can not be effected in the long run.
Furthermore, respective operational management approach evolved within more general business
management philosophy, customer retention get improve, focus on meeting requirements of
customers as well as improving and sustaining business services & products. Most important is
that Six Sigma is applicable for every type of industry. John Lewis will be able to serve their
customers in effective manner and they also get satisfied through quality of products as well as
services.
Total quality management – TQM is continuous procedure through which errors within
manufacturing, supply chain management, customer experience get detected and reduce. Total
quality management aims is to hold all the parties who are involved within procedure of
production to hold overall accountability of product and services quality. It is responsibility of
leaders as well as manager working within John Lewis to manage quality of their offerings
because it will help in making customers satisfy and serving within more effective manner. In
simple term it can be said that managing quality of offerings results in long term satisfaction of
customers and also in enhancing customer base. Here the role of the manager is make sue that
this approach is applied in the organisation to detect the default in the different department such
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as production, supply chain, and customer experience so that default can be improved in the
organisation
Lean production – the objective of lean production is to reduce the wastages without
any compromising products and services quality. Respective method suitable for different
process within organisation such as designing, production and distribution. Here profits are the
aim focus , John Lewis extra cost which take place within production process get reduce and
they will be able to serve customers within effective manner. Along with this, extra cost will get
minimise by reducing level of wastage which take place at the time of production. The role of
leader and manager is to check whether there is any wastage in the production place which
should not effect the quality of goods and services.
Management approaches – With the help of management related approaches leaders as
well as manager of John Lewis will be able to manage their operational related activities in
effectual manner. In addition to this, through management approaches respective organisation
manager and leaders will be able to develop strategy as per the situation. With the assistance of
this management approaches various situations will be able to get manage effectively. Here the
role of the leader and manager is to look at the approaches whether applied at the different
production activities so that effective results can be achieved.
Their is great impact of role of leader and the manager on the applying such approaches
at the productivity of the organisation in the present and future work conditions. Through above
mention operational approaches manager and leader of John Lewis will be able to conduct daily
basis have better operation activities by reducing wastage and improving quality of offerings.
P5: The important and value of operations management in accomplishing business objectives:
The management of operations activities is important for having effective outcomes from the
given tasks. They follow sets process which are followed by the every levels of management in
the organisation. In the context of John lewis partnership inc, the management take care various
activities right from the raw material to the finished goods and services. Some of the operational
management functions are as follows:
produced way : it is very important step for the organisation as here task is designed in
accordance of goals and objectives of the organisation. In the context of John Lewis, the product
and services are design with the reference standards outcomes. It also helps them to improve
their performance in the target market(Szebehely, 2018)
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Logistic and inventory: under this condition, company focus in providing supply chain
management for its target market. It is very important for the company to have proper
distribution channel in the market to reach the market at large. Here manger has to look after the
availability of the raw material and make sure that such materiel are available at the production
levels and finally goods and services are to be provided to the customer. It the effective
distribution channels in the market which provide audience for the company goods and servcies.
L04:
P6 Factors within business environment that impact upon operational management and decision
making by leaders & managers
Business environment involves the internal as well as external factors which play
important role in functioning of an organisation. There are various factors presented within
business environment such as customers, staff members, political, technological, social as well as
economic factors. All these have wide impact on working of an organisation along with this,
affect decision making of John Lewis manager Explanation of these internal and external factors
are as follows :-
Political factors – There are several factors included within it such as tax policies,
political stability, tariffs, trade restrictions, government laws and many more. All these have
wide impact of decision making of manager and leaders within organisation. Thus, it is essential
for John Lewis manager and leaders to follow all political regulations while formulating
strategies.
Economic factors – It include factors such as deflation, inflation, unemployment rate,
interest rate and so on. All these have wide impact on working of John Lewis, so it is important
for company to build or develop business after analysing economic condition of particular
nation. Because it can take business up to its high or low both so it is important to analyse it
within effective manner.
Social factors – This involves behaviour of customer for purchasing products and
services. Thus, John Lewis manager as well as leaders have to analyse market effectively for
prevailing needs as well as trends of customers. Such practices will provide assistance to
respective organisation is enhancing their customer base and making them satisfy.
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Technological factors – This factor play important role and advancement in technology
play important role within success of an business firm. For each and every organisation it is
essential to implement latest technology within their working because it will help in conducting
operations in effective manner. Along with this, also help in sustaining within business
environment for long term.
Role of managers and leaders
Manager as well as leaders of John Lewis have to develop strong strategies for
performing business and operational activities within more effective manner. Respective
organisation is dealing at global level as they are focusing on needs as well as demand of
customers for making them satisfy. Thus, leaders of John Lewis have to give guidelines to their
staff member for conduct their practices as per customers preferences.
Recommendations
After going through entire discussion it as been recommended to manager of John Lewis
that it is essential for them build or maintain good relation with outside parties. Along with this,
they have to develop communication strategies which will assist them in maintaining contact
with other parties. Moreover, research and development department of John Lewis have to
ensure that on continuous basis thy have to analyse current market trends and demand for serving
customers in effective manner and making them satisfy.
CONCLUSION:
After having clear discussion on operation management we can say. it is very important factor
for the growth of the organisation. Their are different theories and concepts which helps in
improving the outcomes of overall organisation. In any firms manager and leader have important
role in enchaining the performance of the organisation. Their bare different types of culture,
morale and ethics which are to be followed to achieve the pre-determine goals and objectives.
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