Importance of Operations Management in Business

The provided text discusses the importance of operations management in business, highlighting its role in enhancing quality, minimizing costs, and effectively utilizing resources. It emphasizes the need for businesses to prioritize culture and ethics, making changes in operational activities to raise quality and enhance profitability. The document references various books, journals, and online sources that provide further insights into operations management.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Role and characteristics of leader and manager.....................................................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Role and function of leader and manager in different business situation...............................5
P3 Explanation of different theories of leadership......................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4 Key approaches of operation management and role played by leaders and managers...........8
P5 Significance and value of operation management..................................................................9
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P6 Factors affecting operation management..............................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations refer to process of design, controlling, planning, executing and
monitoring business activities to ensure smooth flow of organizational activities (Heizer and
et.al., 2017). The present study is will outline management and operations of Vauxhall, a British
car manufacturer which is a fully owned subsidiary of German Car Manufacturer. The report will
outline two tasks where one is based on impact of managers and leaders on operations of
company while second task will derive implication of role of managers and leaders in operations
management with the help of different theirs an approach. Study will include approaches of
operation management and factor that impact on business operations.
LO 1
P1 Role and characteristics of leader and manager
Vauxhall and its management structure
Vauxhall Motors Limited is a British car manufacturer offers wide range of award-winning
cars. The firm sells light commercial vehicles and passenger cars under Vauxhall marque and
also sells buses, trucks and vans under Bedford vehicles. The company is one of the oldest car
manufacturer and distribution company in UK (Reid and Sanders, 2015).
Figure 1: Management structure of Vauxhall
(Source: Changes in the management board of Vauxhall/Opel, 2018)

Management structure of car manufacturer is combination of hierarchical and division
where in hierarchy there are level 1 I headed by Board of directors. Further, level 2 includes
chairman that chief executive officer who is connected with level 3 that comprise president
COO, Vice Chairman and EDS. Level 4 consist of executives who are connected with different
division for on the basis of functions (Haksever and Render, 2017).
Manager is a responsible person who is focused on administering organizational functions
and staff. The individual assist company in each step which comprise planning, controlling,
executing and delivering of goods and services., The person is responsible for ensure smooth
flow of activities with regard to changing business environment.
Leader is the person who is responsible for leading people and enhancing commitment of
employees towards the organisation.
Basis Leadership Management
Meaning Leadership can be defined as
quality of person to lead
people in organization.
Management can be defined as
art of managing people and
raising coordination among all
departments in order to
accomplish organizational
goal.
Emphasis Leaders pays more attention
on inspiring people so that
they put hard efforts and work
hard in organization.
Managers pays attention on
managing activities so that
overall task can be completed
on time.
Power Leaders are responsible for
influencing behavior of others.
Managers rule on employees
and workers have to follow
their instructions
Formulation Leaders formulate principles
and find innovative ideas to
perform the task in most
effective manner (Lee and
Tang,2017)
Managers formulate policies
so that task can be done as per
pre-determined manner.

Role of manager
 Execution: the main responsibility of manager of Vauxhall Motors Limited is to execute
plan effective so that strategic vision of business can be obtained.
 Direct: Manager of company plays the role of director, individual guides team members
so that they can perform their daily function effectively and can contribute well in
meeting with the goal of Vauxhall Motors Limited (van Aken, Chandrasekaran and
Halman, 2016).
 Process management: This is another duty of manager, individual has to cater needs of
employees and involve them in decision making process so that skilled people can retain
in business for longer duration.
 Planning: Manager has to play the role of planner as individual is responsible for
planning activities so the business operations can be completed smoothly and in effective
manner.
 Organizing: Manager plays the role of organizer as individual has to organize activities in
systematic manner so that entire work can be completed on time.
 Staffing: Manager has to ensure hiring of skilled people so that talented people can
perform in the organization and contribute in accomplishment of business goal.
 Directing and controlling: It is another role of Vauxhall Motors Limited manager, as
individual has to control over business operations and have to ensure that people get
correct direction in order to finish the allotted work effectively.
Role of leader
 Honesty: Leader must be honest; Vauxhall Motors Limited leader always maintain
transparency by behaving honest with other employees. That is why people respect the
person and follow their instructions carefully.
 Risk taking: Leader of Vauxhall Motors Limited always take risk that help business in
finding new opportunities.
 Communication: It is most common and important feature of leader, individual must be
able to communicate with team members effectively so that all people can understand
their role properly and can perform it well (Sterman and et.al., 2015).
 Action centred leadership model has been given by John Adair, this model explains three
different role of leaders: achieving the task, managing people and managing team or

group. Leaders have to frame aim and vision and have to identify necessary resources and
have to arrange it properly. Leaders have to set standards and have to play the role of
monitor in organization. Another role plays by leader in Vauxhall Motors Limited is to
manage group. They have to develop team working sprit among people and have to give
them training. Furthermore leader has to understand skills of each individual and have to
utilize their skills accordingly.
Figure 2: John Adair model
(Source: Action-Centred Leadership - John Adair, 2018)
Characteristic of leader and manager
Manager of Vauxhall Motors Limited must have quality of making sound decision, it
makes them different from other individuals in organization. Manager needs to be patient and
work for avoiding conflicts at workplace. Whereas leader must be humble and needs to get
attached with employees emotionally. Leader needs to be able to create friendly environment and
finding innovative ways to perform the task well.
LO 2
P2 Role and function of leader and manager in different business situation
Vauxhall Motors Limited is performing well in car manufacturing industry, it aims to raise
its sales and want to expand its business globally. But still there are many critical situations
which are faced by the firm that affect its overall working to great extent. In such critical

conditions leaders and managers have to perform different role so that these situations can be
handled properly (McCrie, 2015).
Staff turn is the major issue in Vauxhall Motors Limited, as company is suffering from
high employee turnover which is the major problem because due to this company is unable to
offer satisfactory services to its consumers. It is considered as one of the most critical issue
faced by Vauxhall Motors Limited. Management has to direct and control the workers in proper
manner so that workers can get adequate direction and can perform their work effectively.
Managers’ function is to plan activities so that no employee feel over burden and can feel happy
in business unit. Toyota, BMW offer attractive pay scale to employees which influence the mind
of workers and they think to leave from Vauxhall Motors Limited. Leaders have to perform
managerial responsibility towards the task as individual has to monitor the progress and have to
establish such culture where talented people like to work for longer duration. In such condition
leaders have to motivate people and have to create healthy workplace environment. This type of
friendliness makes the person feel comfortable and individual think to stay in organization for
longer duration. Furthermore, manager has to identify the needs of staff members and have to
provide them incentives, bonuses so that employees feel satisfied and work in organization for
longer duration (Holweg and et.al., 2018).
Declining sales is the another issue recently faced by Vauxhall Motors Limited, it is
another major situation face by companies, in such condition manager and leader both take
effective decisions so that enterprise can raise its sales and can sustain in market for longer
duration. Managers have to organize activities properly and have to hire skilled employees in
business unit so that talented employees can offer satisfactory services of consumers and can
help in increasing sales of organization. Leaders have to pay attention on group working and
have to develop team sprit among group members, if all people work in a group then they will
contribute well in increasing sales of business. Furthermore, leader has to give them freedom and
authority so that they feel valued and perform even better in the firm. Contingency theory states
that leaders and managers have to work to raise skills of workers, if manager do the same then it
would be beneficial in increasing sales as people will be able to perform better and will provide
amazing services to consumers which will make them positive towards the brand. Manager is
responsible for monitor working performance of business and conducting market research so that
actual cause of declining sales can be identified. By this way manager can make changes in

strategies can be implement new technologies through which enterprise can offer satisfactory
products to consumers and can raise its sales to great extent. In the same situation leader has to
find innovative ideas to make the consumers positive towards the brand and have to develop
communication between departments so that appropriate way can be found to enhance sales of
Vauxhall Motors Limited (Redjem and Marcon, 2016).
High resistance towards changes is another issue faced by company. Technological
changes implement by Vauxhall Motors Limited, it always tries to use latest technology so that
quality of cars can be improved and wastage and manufacturing time can be minimized. But
employees resist to accept changes, in such situation, leaders have to motivate people and have
to make them aware with significance of these changes. By this way staff will understand
necessity of these technical modifications and they will support management in such change
management. Leaders have to train people and have to develop their skills so that they can work
in changed environment effectively. Situation leadership theory states that leaders have to react
asper the necessity of situation hence leaders have to reach soft in this situation so that all people
can accept changes at workplace. On other hand manages have to give training about new
software and have to resolve their confusions related to new technology. By this way people will
be able to work on new software comfortably and they will improve their working performance
as well (Visvikis and Panayides, 2017).
P3 Explanation of different theories of leadership
Situational leadership
This theory states that leaders have to react according to situation, there is no specific
leadership style which can give best result, leaders always have to look upon the circumstances
and they have to react accordingly. The model states four primary styles of leaders:
 Telling: In such kind of style leaders have to make people aware with their role and
responsibilities and have to train them so that they can perform their duties well.
 Selling: In such style leaders involve people in decision making process, employees share
their views and ideas which are used by leader to improve efficiency level of operations.
 Participating: Leaders empower employees and allow them to take their own decisions.
By this way employees feel valued and they perform well in organization (de Sousa
Jabbour and et.al., 2018)

 Delegating: In such kind of leadership there is less involvement of employees and all the
decisions are taken by higher authorities.
Leader of Vauxhall Motors Limited needs to understand the situations and accordingly
they have to take their decision of implementing styles. If sales of company is getting down then
leaders have to implement participating leadership style, as they have to empower people and
have to involve them in decision making process so that all individual contribute well in
accomplishing the goal of business unit (Chan, Choi and Yue, 2016).
System leadership theory
This theory states that leaders are the responsible person those who have to arrange
working patterns in such manner so that skills of employees can be utilized properly and people
work effectively. Leaders have to predict behavior of employees and have built such kind of
system where individual feels comfortable to work. Vauxhall Motors Limited creates friendly
atmosphere at workplace, leaders develop healthy relationship with employees and motivate
them to work hard. This helps in raising productivity of workers and getting positive results to
business unit (Operations Management – Definition, Elements and Objectives, 2019).
Contingency leadership theory
This theory states that leadership style must be matched by situation of business unit.
Leaders of Vauxhall Motors Limited develops relationship with their staff members, this aids in
motivating employee’s and raising their working abilities (van Aken, Chandrasekaran and
Halman, 2016). Company implement task culture where each individual is given different work
on the bases of their capabilities and skills. Leaders have to make them aware with the task and
have to encourage them so that allotted work can be completed within stipulated period of time.
Leaders are required to use their power positively, they have to analyses capabilities of staff
members and accordingly they have to treat them. This aids in handling each complex situation
well and meeting with the Vauxhall Motors Limited goal (Heizer and et.al., 2017).
Situation leadership theory is very effectively and Vauxhall Motors Limited should apply
this leadership model, as by this way leader will be able to manage the performance of business
unit effectively and will be able to retain talented people in the organization for longer duration.

LO 3
P4 Key approaches of operation management and role played by leaders and managers
Operation management (OM) is the process of planning, organizing and managing the work
in effective manner. It ensures effective production, manufacturing so that quality goods can be
delivered to consumers. Various approaches of OM are explained as below:
Six sigma
It is the most effective approach or tool of operation management that helps in process
improved in organization. It emphases on improving quality of goods and services by focusing
more on issues. Vauxhall Motors Limited applies this methodology in its manufacturing process,
this tool helps the firm in identifying cause of issue and removing this cause by taking
appropriate action. Role of manager is to create proper infrastructure for people, so that
employees can perform properly and can give desired output (Haksever and Render, 2017).
Furthermore, leaders are responsible for giving expert advice so that confusion of staff members
can be minimized and task can be finished from standard process. Six sigma approach is
beneficial for Vauxhall Motors Limited in reducing operational cost, minimizing process time
and increasing quality of end product. By this way Vauxhall Motors Limited becomes able to
offer high quality cars to consumers and raising profitability of business unit significantly.
Just In Time (JIT)
This is another approach of operation management which is generally applied in
manufacturing process. This tool concentrates more on actual requirement of consumers in term
of quality, quantity etc. This ensure avoiding delay in inventory and delivering the goods and
services to consumers on time (Holweg and et.al., 2018). JIT approach supports Vauxhall Motors
Limited in producing only such cars which are needed by consumers without wastage of
resources. It utilizes resources well so that inventory management can be done properly. This
helps in reducing operational cost and minimizing delivery time as well. This technique is
beneficial in order to minimize inventory cost and reducing requirement of space as well. By
implementing this approach Vauxhall Motors Limited can reduce planning complexity and can
raise efficiency level of operations to great extent (Chan, Choi and Yue, 2016).
Lean manufacturing
It is systematic tool that emphases on waste reduction in manufacturing process. It
focusses on effective utilization of resources without degrading productivity. It adds such aspects

on process which may add value to business and can help in reducing production time. Quality,
cost and delivery are three major elements which are focused by this lean manufacturing
approach. It eliminates wastage and raise efficient use of resources. This helps Vauxhall Motors
Limited in avoiding additional cost and offering quality products to consumer’s asper their actual
requirements (de Sousa Jabbour and et.al., 2018).
Kaizen theory
It is another approach of operation management which helps in continuous improvement
of operations. It emphases more on finding relevant solution for the mistakes occurring in
operations .It creates the working practices in such manger so that everybody can take their own
decision and can encourage creativity so that continuous improvement can be done in operations.
P5 Significance and value of operation management
It is essential to have great planning, effective controlling and close supervision in order to
maintain standard and producing high quality products. Operation manager is responsible for
monitoring delivery timing and eliminating delay issues. Individual have to ensure use quality
raw materials so that finished products can meet the needs of consumers. Operational
management is very important for business unit and create value for Vauxhall Motors Limited.
Significance and value of OM are described as below:
 Quality products: One of the major function of OM is to produce quality goods by
utilizing resources well. Operation management approaches help Vauxhall Motors
Limited in improving service quality and offering satisfactory goods to consumers. It
continuously works to identify issue in operational process so that correct action can be
taken timely to minimize such problems (Chan, Choi and Yue, 2016). Leaders and
managers play the role of monitor, they have to look upon working of employees and
have to involve them in decision making process. By this way rout cause of problem can
be analyzed timely and it can be resolved on time.
 Improving distribution system and controlling: Operation management is helpful in
improving distribution system so that quality raw material are used in order to produce
high quality products.
 Process designing: OM is beneficial in improving process designing which help in
producing goods in low cost. By this way Vauxhall Motors Limited can minimize
operational cost and can improve operational efficiency as well.

 Raising satisfaction level of consumers: JIT, six sigma approaches always support in
improving quality of products. It ensures that goods can meet with the needs of
consumers. Hence operation management is helpful in making people satisfied towards
Vauxhall Motors Limited. As it also supports in minimizing wastage hence production
cost can be minimized and company can offer high quality cars to consumers at
affordable prices (Lee and Tang,2017).
 Waste reduction: This is main benefit of operation management, Lean manufacturing, JIT
approaches emphases closely on reducing wastage so that inventory can be managed
properly. If Vauxhall Motors Limited apply JIT and lean manufacturing process, then it
would help in saving money and improving quality of products to great extent.
One of the main goal of Vauxhall Motors Limited is to expand its business and raise
profitability. For that it is very important for business to produce high quality goods so that it can
offer satisfactory good to consumers and can influence their mind to buy such cars. Operation
management practices help Vauxhall Motors Limited in raising quality of services and
minimizing processing time (Reid and Sanders, 2015). This aids in attracting more people
towards brand and raising their interest as well. Furthermore, it uses input more efficiently in
order to produce maximum goods. It also tries to make balance between raw material or input
and output. That is why operational cost of the firm is quite low and it is able to enhance its
revenues to great extent. Vauxhall Motors Limited ensure it provides standard quality cars to
consumers, by using operation management practices firm can raise efficiency level and
maximize its throughput time (McCrie, 2015). As one of the major function of learn
manufacturing is to minimize wastage hence manpower, machines etc. all resources are utilized
significantly. This is beneficial in meeting with capacity utilization objective of Vauxhall Motors
Limited. Operation management supports Vauxhall Motors Limited in reducing delay and
rendering high quality services in minimum cost.
Value of operation management
 It helps in reducing cost of operations hence enterprise can offer goods too end users in
cost effective manner.
 It is valuable in order to provide quality products to customers.

 Recycling of material and taking care of environmental are another valuable aspects of
operation management. By using continuous improvement approach company can utilize
its resources well and can contribute well in improving environmental conditions.
 It is beneficial in increasing ability of business to produce more products or raise
production ability of the firm.
LO 4
P6 Factors affecting operation management
There are many factors that impact on operation management to great extent. These
components are explained as below:
Ethics:
It is essential for Vauxhall Motors Limited to follow ethics properly; it has to ensure that
production process does not harm any individual or society. Unethical decisions affect
operational efficiency of company and also impact on its brand image as well. Vauxhall Motors
Limited treats its workers, customers and other stakeholder effectively. Use of inventory in
wrong manner may hamper production efficiency. By this way Vauxhall Motors Limited will not
be able to offer satisfactory goods to consumers. This will increase cost and will minimize
efficiency of manufacturing process as well (de Sousa Jabbour and et.al., 2018).
Corporate social responsibility (CSR):
This is another major factor which has high impact over operation management of
organization. Vauxhall Motors Limited fulfills its corporate responsibilities and contribute well
in protecting environment and society. Enterprise uses raw material in efficient manner and that
help in minimizing resource wastage (Visvikis and Panayides, 2017). It ensures that natural
resources do not get wastage and it is utilized in best possible manner so that environment
condition can be improved. Vauxhall Motors Limited ensures that its manufacturing process
does not increase pollution. Furthermore, Company offers quality cars to consumers and meet
with their needs. If enterprise fails to take right CSR initiatives, then it would increase cost of
operations and will fail to maintain balance between input and output.
Stakeholder expectation
This is another factor which influence business operations to great extent. Vauxhall
Motors Limited always concentrates on needs of potential buyers and make changes in its
operational process so that it can satisfy its stakeholders (Sterman and et.al., 2015).

Implementation of lean manufacturing process aids in minimizing cost which help in increasing
net profit of Vauxhall Motors Limited. By this way it becomes able to offer quality products at
reasonable prices to consumers and also become able to give good return to investors over their
invested amount. Changes in expectation of stakeholder’s increase pressure on Vauxhall Motors
Limited and enhance operational cost of business.
Culture and value
Organizational culture impact on operation management of firm, if culture is good then
enterprise becomes able to retain skilled people and these talented employees always work
hardtop raise operational efficiency (McCrie, 2015). But if culture is not good then people leave
job which hamper operational process and enterprise fails to meet the needs of consumers.
Technology
It is external factor which influence the decision making of leaders and impact on
operation management of company. If new technology come into the market, then it is very
important for the business to apply it at workplace in order to reduce operational cost and
increase productivity. But if company fails to apply new techniques then leaders will not be able
to fulfill company’s objective. Furthermore, leaders will have to make changes in their decision
and have to create healthy environment so that people don’t resist changes and they accept
changes of applying new techniques at workable.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that operation management ensures correct
planning and manufacturing of high quality products that may help in offering satisfactory goods
to consumers. Leaders and managers have to work hard to handle operational process of
company. They have monitoring working of all workers and have to give training to them so that
they can perform their work with more efficiency. Lean manufacturing and JUIT approach aid
business unit is effective utilization of resources and minimizing cost without compromising
with quality. Culture, ethics impact on business operations hence entity is required to emphases
on these elements and have to make changes in operational activities so that it can raise quality
and can enhance its profitability.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chan, H. K., Choi, T. M. and Yue, X., 2016. Guest editorial big data analytics: Risk and
operations management for industrial applications. IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Informatics. 12(3). pp.1214-1218.
de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L. and et.al., 2018. Decarbonisation of operations management–looking
back, moving forward: a review and implications for the production research
community. International Journal of Production Research. pp.1-23.
Haksever, C. and Render, B., 2017. Service and Operations Management. World Scientific
Publishing Company.
Heizer, J. and et.al., 2017. Operations management: sustainability and supply chain
management, 12/e. Pearson Education.
Holweg, M. and et.al., 2018. Process theory: the principles of operations management. Oxford
University Press.
Lee, H. L. and Tang, C. S., 2017. Socially and environmentally responsible value chain
innovations: New operations management research opportunities. Management
Science. 64(3). pp.983-996.
McCrie, R., 2015. Security operations management. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Redjem, R. and Marcon, E., 2016. Operations management in the home care services: a heuristic
for the caregivers’ routing problem. Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal. 28(1-
2). pp.280-303.
Reid, R. D. and Sanders, N. R., 2015. Operations Management, Binder Ready Version: An
Integrated Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Sterman, J. and et.al., 2015. System dynamics perspectives and modeling opportunities for
research in operations management. Journal of Operations Management. 39. pp.40.
van Aken, J., Chandrasekaran, A. and Halman, J., 2016. Conducting and publishing design
science research: Inaugural essay of the design science department of the Journal of
Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management. 47. pp.1-8.
Visvikis, I. D. and Panayides, P. M., 2017. Shipping Operations Management (Vol. 4). Springer.
Online

Changes in the management board of Vauxhall/Opel. 2018.[Online]. Available through <
https://gb-media.vauxhall.co.uk/en-gb/changes-management-board-vauxhallopel >
Operations Management – Definition, Elements and Objectives. 2019. [Online. Available
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and-its-objectives/ >
Action-Centred Leadership - John Adair. 2018. [Online]. Available through <
https://www.businessballs.com/leadership-models/action-centred-leadership-john-adair/ >