Roles and Characteristics of Leader vs Manager in Operations Management

This report discusses the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers in operations management, using ASDA as a case study. It explores different leadership theories, functions of a manager, and the difference between hard and soft skills. It also examines various management theories, such as management by objectives, classical management theory, behavioral theory, and contingency theory.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Roles and characteristics of leader v/s manager.....................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Operations Management refers to a study of various business practices so that required
information will be gathered about the working behaviour of staff members in order to attain
goals, task and objectives in an effective manner (Caniani and. et. al., 2015). In the present
report, chosen organisation is ASDA, which is a British supermarket retail chain. Headquarter of
the company is located in Leeds, West Yorkshire and founded in the year 1949. this report
includes different roles as well as functions of both leader & manager respectively. Furthermore,
it consist of various types of leadership theories along with hard and soft management skills.
TASK 1
Roles and characteristics of leader v/s manager
Manager refers to an individual person which is associated with the task and
responsibility of the company. These are the people who have to manage groups as well as
individuals.
A leader defines as the person who mainly work to motivate and encourage team
members on a regular basis so that there performance will be increased.
Difference between leader & manager
Leader develop vision as well as managers create goals
Leaders are the one who stipulate team roles effectively in such manner so that peoples
feel motivated in the performance of business functions. In context of ASDA, leaders provide
guidance to the employees in order to increase their overall performance. And on the other hand,
managers are the one who develop goals, objectives of the company and manage them
effectively. Managers of ASDA, manage and organise every activity so that organisational goals
will be achieved (Hugos, 2018).
Leaders are unique but manager imitates
Leaders are the individuals who provide innovative as well as creative ideas in order to
attain organisational goals and objectives. But on the other hand managers copy and imitates the
ideas and thoughts of other business organisation in order to perform their business functions. In
reference to ASDA, managers of the company copy skills and traits of other individuals but on
the contrary, leaders develop new and innovative ideas in order to accomplish goals and
objectives.

Functions of a manager according to Fayol
Managers within an organisation performs ample number of activities and functions so
that they can attain their goals and objectives effectively. Within ASDA, managers of the
company have majorly functions which are developed by Fayol. These functions are as follows:-
Planning: In reference to planning functions, Manager of ASDA perform their functions
in an appropriate manner and with the help of pre planning. This will assist in attaining
organisational goals in an effective manner (Jabbari-Sabet and. et. al., 2016).
Organising: Another crucial functions mainly performed by ASDA manager is managing
and organising resources as well as funds. This will help in conducting business functions in an
effective manner.
Commanding: It is the function which includes high level of communication so that
managers of ASDA execute their functions in an effective manner.
Control: Along with all these functions, it is essential for managers of ASDA to control
and monitor each and every task so that there must be balance between actual as well as desired
outputs.
Coordination: There must be proper coordination among employees and management
team of a company so that positive environment will be created within the workplace. For this
managers of ASDA, maintain proper coordination as well as corporation between every
department so that they can attain their goals and objectives in an effective manner.
Leadership Theories
Transformational leadership: According to this leadership style, it is the role of a leader
that they motivate, encourage and inspires staff members so that they can perform their business
functions in an effective manner. If we talked about ASDA, leaders of the company bring new
and innovative methods for performing business functions which helps in increasing the level of
satisfaction of staff members of ASDA. Therefore, they assist in attaining organisational goals
and objectives in an effective manner (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014).
Transactional leadership style: Transactional leaders refers to the leaders who provide
values to the structure & orders within the organisation. These are the leaders who strictly
follows all the rules and regulations, in order to perform their business functions in an effective
manner. In the present context of ASDA, it has been said that leaders within the organisation

follows this type of leadership style while implementing new technology as it required high level
of strictness so that chances of wastage might be reduce.
Action-centred leadership: It refers to a model includes 3 main elements which are
Task, Individual and Team. It is the model which says that leaders highly believes that task and
objectives will be achieved by managing groups with the assistance of team as well as deals with
individuals. In reference to ASDA, leaders of the company use this model according to the needs
and requirement of situation (Marchington and et. al., 2016).
Hard Skills v/s Soft skills
Hard management skills: It generally consist of some specific skills which are very
essential by an individual in order to get success for a particular job role. In the context of
ASDA, it involves some knowledge & skills helps in enhancing the performance of staff
members. Some of the hard skills are legal knowledge, accounting, web designing, computer
programming, mathematics and so on needed to perform particular job roles.
Soft leadership skills: It has been said that there are different type of soft leadership
skills needed by a leader so that they can perform their business functions in an effective manner.
In reference of ASDA, leaders of the company have some soft skills which includes feedback,
motivation, communications, positivity, creativity and many more. This will allow leaders to
attain their organisational goals in an effective manner and within stipulated time frame.
Management Theories
Management by objectives (MBO): It is a strategic management model used by large
number of organisation which have the aim of increasing performance and productivity by
stating organisational goals and objectives. In the context of ASDA, it is the model used by
management team in order to ensure that work and task is being aligned with stipulated objective
of corporation.
Classical Management Theory: According to this management theory, it has been
identified that employees have physical as well as economic needs. It is the theory which does
not consider various aspects like social needs, job satisfaction but on centralised leadership,
decision making, profit maximisation and many more (Jabbari-Sabet and. et. al., 2016).
Behavioural Theory: It has been said that it is the theory or learning which is based on
the past experiences and learnings. According to this theory knowledge, experience, learning is

highly based on the past experience which is gain by individuals from their life. This theory is
based on the behaviour which is acquired by individuals through conditioning.
Contingency Theory: According to this theory, it has been said that no single leadership
theory is best and most suitable. It is essential for the leaders to examine the situation and then
adopt the approaches accordingly so that positive outcomes will be produced. With the help of
this theory, managers can easily modify and alter their strategies according to the changing
environment arise within the organisation.
CONCLUSION
With the help of above mentioned report it has been analysed that operation management
is a procedure which is highly linked with accomplishing goals and objectives of the company in
an appropriate manner by reducing wastage and scrap. Along with this, leader are the one who
are highly responsible for positioning the behavioural features of staff members against given
objectives and goals and on the other hand, manager mainly provide responsibilities to the
employees.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Caniani and. et. al., 2015. Towards a new decision support system for design, management and
operation of wastewater treatment plants for the reduction of greenhouse gases
emission. Water.7(10). pp.5599-5616.
Hugos, M. H., 2018. Essentials of supply chain management. John Wiley & Sons.
Jabbari-Sabet and. et. al., 2016. Microgrid operation and management using probabilistic
reconfiguration and unit commitment. International Journal of Electrical Power &
Energy Systems.75. pp.328-336.
Jacobs, F. R., Chase, R. B. and Lummus, R. R., 2014. Operations and supply chain management
(pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Marchington, M., and et. al., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page
Publishers.