Operations Management: Case Studies

This assignment explores the multifaceted field of operations management through a collection of case studies. It examines key concepts and theories, showcasing their practical application in real-world scenarios across industries like transportation, energy, manufacturing, and water resource management. The provided articles delve into topics such as public-private partnerships (PPP) in airport development, labor-management cooperation, cooperative control strategies for energy storage systems, vanadium redox flow battery applications, functional product development processes, demand-side management in China, trickle irrigation for crop production, distribution network optimization considering fuel cells, microgrids in active network management, reservoir system operation modeling, and public transport planning, management, and operation.

Management and operations

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P 1 Definition and comparison of several roles and features of a leader and a manager............1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P 2 Role of a leader and the job of a manager apply in different situational contexts................3
P 3 Different theories and model of leadership approach............................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P 4 Approaches to operation management...................................................................................6
P 5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives ............8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P 6 Factors that impact upon operational management and decision-making ............................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are two terms which are closely linked with each other i.e.
all the operations or activities within an enterprise are used to organize or managed properly so
that business can be run smoothly (Ale and et. al., 2010). Different operations such as sales,
production, promotions, human resource management, etc. are maintained by specific persons of
a venture. These people can be a manager, leaders, employers, etc. They manage various works
in order to achieve the aims and objectives of corporation. The present report is based on the
Marks & Spenders where by roles and characteristics of a leaders and manager is explained. In
addition to this, different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency theories is also described in detail.
TASK 1
P 1 Definition and comparison of several roles and features of a leader and a manager
Leadership can be simply refereed as the quality of leading as well as observing large
number of workers with in a team. It involves skills to attain goals, or objectives. Here leaders
provide purposes to their group members so that they perform or act for meeting specified
ambitions. They give guide lines to group of individuals in order to complete any mission by
taking help of different strategies, programs and policies accordant to conditions. On the other
hand, management is nothing but a process which includes observation and scheming strategies
so that aims and goals can be accomplished (Bahmani-Firouzi and Azizipanah-Abarghooee,
2014). Hence, a manager normally allots and works on several practices of employees and track
record of everyday practices by organizing various plans for creating a disciplinary model.
Marks and Spencer Plc is a famous as major British international retailer whose
headquarter is located in the city of Westminster, London. They are offering varieties of clothes,
domestic products and luxury food items. It consists of approx. 84,939 workers and are earning
profit of around £ 115.7 million in the year of 2017. In this venture, leaders used to manage and
control entire work which is associated with the personnels' development and growth. They used
to give each task to specific employees who have good skills and knowledge which aid in
acquiring goals and aims.
1

Characteristic of Management
Persuasive
The appropriate functioning of whole operations that happen within organisation for
accomplishing goals, process of management is used. Therefore, it can be advised as persuasive
and comprehensive. The leaders are those individual who are persuasive in nature. They used to
lead the enterprise in their own way and also do modification in old methods by the updated
techniques.
Multidimensional
A manager has to be a multitasker and expert who have skilled personality. They are
capable of managing work at any time. Hence, it can be said that management is a
multidimensional activity (Burke, 2013). So, mangers should be multitasking person as they
have to manage various work at the same time.
Operation Administration
Management administer performs several tasks in efficient and effectual manner for
acquiring the best outcome from each and every action. Manager requires to manage various
processes within a working hour that consist of organisation, production, accounting, sales,
advertisement and finance. They also have to control respective functions of management in
accurate way which assist in achieving tasks and objectives.
Dynamic
Market is changing every moments thus business of company also should modify their
activity as per that. In accordance to new trends of industry, marketing plan and public beliefs,
governing body keeps on doing alternation according to that so it can fit in the venture (Cruz and
Marques, 2011). Manager have to be flexible in nature to set individual according to diverse
market situations. Failure and earnings of a specific department relies on its employer.
Characteristics of leadership are listed below :
 Diversity value : Leadership understand the components of diversity and its value for the
company betterment. This aspect alters supply creativeness and introduce more
innovations within a company in terms of ideas and concepts. A good leader analyses its
strengths and likes to be more originative through prioritization of such elements.
 Communication Skills : In order to impacting the thoughts of people and creating a
meeting with them, good leadership skills should involves effectual interpersonal as well
2

as communication power. A Leader should be best in these capabilities in respect to
motivate and promote their workers.
 Decision Making : Effectual leadership balances decision making methods and
approaches as per the condition which is faced by a venture. Normally a person thinks
over a state and come with a judgement. But a great leader knows which decision should
be taken in what state, even in stressful time. They used to take decision in difficult
conditions for the welfare of the firm
TASK 2
P 2 Role of a leader and the job of a manager apply in different situational contexts
There are mainly two situational context of M&S which is stated below:
 Conflict : Several conflicts emerges in the firm and the duty of resolving these issues are
always on the shoulder of leaders of the venture. Workers come from different places and
that is why they follow different tradition or culture. This is the major reason of disputes
among them. Thus, it is the responsibility of leaders to eliminate these conflicts.
 Resources : Every company needs raw materials for manufacturing products or services.
Marks and Spencer also want various raw materials like threads, cotton, clothes, food
items, oils, utensils, spices, etc. In addition to these things, human resource is also one of
the requirement of enterprise (Johnstone, 2016). Therefore, managers are responsible for
hiring employees in their venture so that good quality goods and services can be
produced in their corporation.
As per the two situational context, the function of a manger is stated below:
 Planning : The task of designating aims and objective of company is in the hand of a
manager. So, for this planning or scheming is done by them so that targets can be
attained.
 Organizing and staffing : After planning strategies, the next job of manager is to recruit
employees and divide them into team so they work together for achievement same goal.
They also collect raw materials in accordance with plan. Apart from this they assign tasks
to different teams and give some power to them. This is known as organization of job.
3

 Leading : This is another important work which is performed by supervisor. It involves
motivation, guiding, communication and promotion of workers.
(Source: Management process,2014)
Besides this, there are also some roles of a leader which is completely different from a
manager. The important role of leaders is discussed below:
 Communication : The role of an effectual leader is to convey significant information to
each and every worker by taking use several modes of communication. Such modes can
be verbal, written or can be done by using online techniques.
 Thinker : Leaders also perform role of good thinker as they have to understand different
functions of venture so that they can do modifications as per the demand of market place
as well as customers.
 Decision maker : After going through deep thinking, important decisions are made by
them. So, they are also known for their job of decision making as any of the decision are
not made without they approval.
4

P 3 Different theories and model of leadership approach
Leadership can be simply defined as a process in which a leader used to motivate their
followers for achieving a particular goals and objective. Different theories or concepts of
leadership is given by scholars which is stated below :
 Contingency theory : This theory was given by Albert Fielder. He stated that leaders
used to set their associates as per different conditions or situation. This is a set of fortune
and capabilities and qualities in accordance to respected condition (Kim and et. al.,
2010). Here team heads attempt to inspire their members for particular aim or goal based
on a specific situation.
 Behavioral theory : This is completely different from trait theory because it states that
leaders are inborn. Some special qualities are present in them from their birth. But
according to Behavioral philosophy, leaders are not inborn, an individual made itself a
leader by doing hard work and getting good training as well as knowledge.
 Situational theory : As per this concept, a leader should of flexible nature who can fit
themselves in each type of environment (Li and et. al., 2011). It states that this type of
leadership style is more directive and supportive. This idea is also used to find out the
different situations in which workers perform their duty and get good return from that.
 Trait theory : This philosophy refers to inbuilt skill of leadership which is present in a
person from their birth. This says that good leaders are born by having the capability and
skills of leading large number of people. It also describes that people who has not been
inherited with this quality cannot be become a guide. But this theory is not applicable in
every market place as there are so many leaders who become themselves capable by
doing very hard labor and getting experiences.
 System theory : This is a holistic approach to leadership as well as organizational
development that can be utilized by any leader at any corporation - al level for optimizing
an enterprise in order to create high performance in a situation of high uncertainty and
complexity. This is considered as a strategy of overall system improvement so that each
and every entity in venture such as teams, individual worker, business units, etc. can be
optimized for a sustained high performance.
5

TASK 3
P 4 Approaches to operation management
Business operation can be simply defined as a process which is performed for achieving
aims and objectives of venture. And management of operations is very necessary in company
like Marks and Spencer as whole things of its depends on the proper organization of these
activities. Some of the approaches are present for conducting appropriate operation management
which are stated below :
Six sigma : It is a powerful techniques that should be implemented by M&S in order to
improve their efficiency and quality of business. Following principles should be applied in firm
in context to this theory which are mentioned below:
 Focusing on users.
 Identifying and understanding how the work got completed.
 Managing, improving and smoothing the flow of processes.
 Involving and equipping the workers in each process as per their skills.
Lean production : It is a kind of approach which is related to the minimizing waste
activities from the production so that cost can be reduce. Like in Marks and Spencer should
focus on decreasing creation of waste products but without sacrificing on their normal
production level.
JIT : This is a kind of approach which is associated with the eliminating the time from
the production process so that company can achieve their target on time. This theory should be
implemented in cited organization. As per this, they have to concentrate on demands of users on
particular products and manufacture them at the same time.
TQM : As per this approach, companies should try to maintain the quality of their
products are services so that customers can get quality products. This theory is used for
improving the overall quality of products and services. For doing the same, M&S can implemet
fish bone philosophy in their business activities.
Role of a manger are listed below:
6

Employer of Marks and Spencer supports leaders to accomplish their goals and objectives. Some
of the major role of manager are stated below :
 Managers of M&S take care of various functionalities of management like coordination,
directing, planning and organizing.
 They also used to do negotiation with work force by conducting a process of bargaining.
Apart from this, they motivate or inspire workers in giving their best at the time of goal
attainment.
 It is the duty of a manager to recruit employees and assign them job roles as per their
skills and qualifications (Ming and et. al., 2013).
On the other hand, leaders play an eminent role in M&S and helps company in increasing their
productivity. Some of the main role of a leader are listed below:
 Leaders guide various members present in a team and show them right direction so that
they can acquire their targets.
 They used to communicate important policies and plans to the personnel related with
venture’s management.
 Leaders of M&S focus on quality management and inspires their associates in doing the
same.
P 5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives
Operation management plays a vital role in attaining aims and objectives of every
company as it controls the whole system. It is dealing with designing, improving and
operating system that is involved in creating and transferring of goods and services of
Marks and Spencer. It also works in improving the operations of marketing and finance
and used to develop a functional area of business that has the broad management
accountabilities. M&S is offering stylish and modern clothes, food commodities as well as
domestic items to their customers (Nakayama and Bucks, 2012). Their objective is to
manufacture best quality products so that they can increase their selling rate and as a
fruitful result improves their annual turnover. For doing the same, they are purchasing raw
7

maters in accordance to their goods or service’s needs. In addition to this, they are
involving external as well as internal marketers so that they can engage them in creation of
supply chain for raw materials and finished goods among the vendors and users. Operation
management also consist of visual perception, formulating and controlling the phases of
production and also manages the designing of business activities.
Apart from these importance herein, below some importance are mentioned below:
 Reduce waste of resource- This the main importance of the operation management. It is
helpful in minimising the waste of resources so that company can take maximum use of
these. In the mark and Spencer company they can use their resources effectively.
 Satisfaction of customer needs- The operation management also helps in satisfying the
need and demand of customers and through this companies can get high profitability.
Like the Mark and Spencer company can satisfy the need of their customers by providing
best quality products.
 Inventory management- Additionally, the operation management are important in
effective management of the inventory. Due to this company can take suitable decision
about the purchasing of new raw material.
 Support to organisational strategy- Apart from these importance, the operational
management is helpful in supporting to the organisational strategy. Like in the Mark and
Spencer company, it can be useful by linking up with the organisational strategy.
So these are some main importance of the operation management in the aspect of any kind of
organisation. Same as in Mark and Spencer company, it plays a vital role for proper
management.
TASK 4
P 6 Factors that impact upon operational management and decision-making
There are several factors that influence on the decision making of managers and leaders
in Marks and Spencer are described below:
 Return on investment : This is one of the major factor that effects on the process of
decision making which is conducted by managers or leaders of venture. This can be
simply understanding by measuring the profitability that earned from the investment
made by corporation. Thus, managers and leaders take proper decision by taking care of
8

this factor. For example, if M&S invest $2000 in advertisement and get huge selling from
this then it is considered as good ROI.
 Brand : The brand of company also impacts on the decision making of leaders or
managers. As if manager is going to make budget where they have to decide the amount
of revenue which will be invested on advertisement, then it is the brand that decides the
amount of money for investment (Palizban, Kauhaniemi and Guerrero, 2014). If brand is
not so famous then less money is invested while if branding value is high, then high
amount of revenue will be invested. So, mangers or leaders have to take proper decision
as little fault can destroy the whole brand value of any firm.
 Effects of resources : At the time of calculating profitability of corporation and before
coming to any decisions, managers considers whole effect of its on the human resources,
production, sales, technological advancement, etc. If company starts giving more
responsibilities to the employees, then it is possible that they might lose them. ‘
Some of the factors impacting on operational development are stated below :
 Global competition : The management of operations should be conducted in
appropriate manners because M&S is competing with large number of ventures at
national as well as international level. Thus, firm need to maintain a standard while
producing their products and services (Zheng, 2011). In addition to this, impressive
and attractive packaging should be done by firm so that large number of customers
gets attracted towards their food items, clothes and domestic goods by only watching
it.
 Social responsibilities issues : The issues of doing social upliftment also influences
the operation making process of enterprise because they have to spend some amount
of revenue on social activities such as giving employment opportunities to local
citizens, contributing in welfare of poor children, etc.
Some of the environmental factors that may impact on operations of M&S are government,
technology, society, legislations, economical situation of nation, etc. these factors are known as
Internal factors
9

Employee: Employee is the most important internal factor that influence business
proceedings that affect in business. If employees not motivated than they not give their proper
contribution to the organisation and it hinders economic stability of organisation. For motivate
employees there is need to positive environment that helps to keep them active and cheerful and
attract towards opportunities that provided by organisation.
External environmental factor -
Social factor – social factor is very crucial part that influences business activities of
organisation. Social choices and preferences affects a lot on production and distribution of
organisation. The changing needs of consumers encourage to organisation to remain always
updated according to choice of consumers. If organisation ignore choices of consumers than it
affects whole organisation revenue and sales and organisation have to pay attention on rituals of
society so that they can not hurt consumer self interest.
CONCLUSION
From the above based report, it can be concluded that management and operations are
two fields of an enterprise that are linked with each other. All the works of company needs to be
managed properly so that doubts cannot occur among workers and employers. The need or
importance of operation management has been explained in this project. In addition to this,
leaders and managers are two essential employers of company who are having the responsibility
of managing and operating all the functions or works. In Marks and Spencer, various leaders and
managers are present who are playing crucial role in motivating work forces within organisation
so that they give their best in achieving gaols and aims of company.
10

11

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ale, S. and et. al., 2010. Climate variability and drain spacing influence on drainage water
management system operation. Vadose Zone Journal. 9(1). pp.43-52.
Bahmani-Firouzi, B. and Azizipanah-Abarghooee, R., 2014. Optimal sizing of battery energy
storage for micro-grid operation management using a new improved bat
algorithm. International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems. 56. pp.42-54.
Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques. New Jersey, USA.
Cruz, C. O. and Marques, R. C., 2011. Contribution to the study of PPP arrangements in airport
development, management and operation. Transport Policy. 18(2). pp.392-400.
Johnstone, S., 2016. Labour and Management Co-operation: Workplace Partnership in UK
Financial Services. CRC Press.
Kim, J. Y. And et. al., 2010. Cooperative control strategy of energy storage system and
microsources for stabilizing the microgrid during islanded operation. IEEE
Transactions on Power Electronics. 25(12). pp.3037-3048.
Li, X. and et. al., 2011. Ion exchange membranes for vanadium redox flow battery (VRB)
applications. Energy & Environmental Science. 4(4). pp.1147-1160.
Lindström, J. and et al., 2012. A development process for Functional Products: hardware,
software, service support system and management of operation. International Journal of
Product Development. 16(3-4). pp.284-303.
Ming, Z. and et. al., 2013. Historical review of demand side management in China: Management
content, operation mode, results assessment and relative incentives. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. 25. pp.470-482.
Nakayama, F. S. and Bucks, D. A. eds., 2012. Trickle irrigation for crop production: design,
operation and management (Vol. 9). Elsevier.
Niknam, T., Meymand, H. Z. and Mojarrad, H. D., 2011. An efficient algorithm for multi-
objective optimal operation management of distribution network considering fuel cell
power plants. Energy. 36(1). pp.119-132.
Palizban, O., Kauhaniemi, K. and Guerrero, J. M., 2014. Microgrids in active network
management–part II: System operation, power quality and protection. Renewable and
Sustainable Energy Reviews. 36. pp.440-451.
Rani, D. and Moreira, M. M., 2010. Simulation–optimization modeling: a survey and potential
application in reservoir systems operation. Water resources management. 24(6).
pp.1107-1138.
White, P., 2016. Public transport: its planning, management and operation. Taylor & Francis.
Zheng, T. A. N., 2011. Discussion on reservoir management and operation methods in China
[J]. Yangtze River. 10. p.031.
Online
What is Operations Management?. 2014. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.topmba.com/mba-programs/what-operations-management>.
12