Roles and Characteristics of Leaders and Managers in Operations Management

This report discusses the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers in operations management. It explores different theories and models, such as situational leadership, systematic leadership, and contingency. The report also highlights key approaches to operations management and the importance of operations management in achieving business objectives. The case study focuses on H&M, a fashion clothing brand.

MANAGEMENT &
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Definition and Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager...............3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2 Examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts.................................................................................................................3
P3 Different theories and models including situational leadership, systematic leadership and
contingency.............................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role of leaders and managers................6
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achievement of business objectives7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6 Factors in a business environment that impact operational management and decision
making by managers and leaders............................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
There have been growing consciousness in in customers regarding quality of products which
have led organisations to use a number of different techniques and tools in order to manage their
quality and also increase customers satisfaction along with it. This adds to the process which are
designed in a way to effectively manage customer satisfaction as well as all the operations in an
organisation (Beske and Seuring, 2018). The following report is based on H&M which is a
fashion clothing brand which deals in apparels and accessories for men, women and children. It
stands foe Hennes 7 Mauritz. This business operates in more than 74 countries and has under
5000 stores. It is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The following report includes roles of
managers and leaders. It also explains application of leadership and various management theories
and concepts along with difference between leadership and management.
TASK 1
P1 Definition and Comparison of roles and characteristics of leader and manager
In Presentation
TASK 2
P2 Examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts
There are a number of kind of employees in a company who come together in order to
achieve a particular goal. It is often seen that all of these employees belong to different set of
cultures and backgrounds due to which they face difficulties in adapting with each other and
conflicts between them arises. In context of H&M all the managers and leaders are devoted
towards taking a number of different steps in order to make sure that there are no
misunderstanding or conflicts arising between the employees. Some of the situational context
which managers and leaders of H&M have to deal with are mentioned below:
Dynamical changes in surrounding: There can be seen a number of technological
innovations and inventions coming in market every day. All these have a great influence on
business. Online retailing is the technology which have greatly affected H&M. It becomes duty
as well as responsibility of managers and leaders of the company to make sure that they take

effective measures to manage the staff and employees at the time of this diverse changes. The
role of leaders and managers in such a situation is mentioned below:
Role of leaders: It is necessary for managers and leaders that they remain connected to
employees. They need to regularly communicate to them through meetings so that they may
know about any of the problems faced by them (Chung, Park and Lee, 2017). On the other hand,
the managers and leaders at H&M are required to analyse the external market situations around
them and take effective measures to deal with them.
Functions of managers: In such cases the managers at H&M are require to critically
analyse the whole situation before taking any step regarding those changes or the problem faced
by the employee. They need to manage the changing needs and demands of consumers in the
market. They are also required to guide employees so that the employees can effectively take
actions to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation.
When there is a dynamically changing external environment the managers and leaders at
H&M use the concept of scientific management so that they can effectively manage the situation.
This is helpful for employees to adopt the occurring changes in the market effectively.
Situations regarding conflicts: It is often seen in organisations that there are people who
some from different customs as well as different believes and cultures. There are a number of
barriers between them regarding languages and many different factors which result in
misunderstanding and conflicts between the employees. When taking H&M into consideration it
is often seen that there are a number of cases regarding conflicts arising in company. It is duty of
managers and leaders in company to effectively manage all these cases and to make sure that
there are no unresolved cases left. The ways through which they resolve such conflicts in the
organisation are mentioned below:
Role of leaders: The leaders at H&M are responsible to manage all these different
situations and conflicts in the organisation. They make sure that they bring in improvement in
organisation along with solving these cases (Cook and Billig, 2017). They communicate to
employees personally and listen to the discussion through both the point of view after which they
come to a conclusion. They effectively take steps so that none of party associated to conflicts
feel neglected.

Functions of managers: The duty of managers is to devise certain policies and strategies
in organisation which make sure that there are no conflicts arising between employees. They also
develop various strategies to resolve such issues.
It is often seen that managers and leaders in H&M use the theory X and theory Y in order
to resolve such issues in the organisation. This theory is helpful in managing employees as per
their requirements. The policies under this are formulated by analysing the behaviour and
responses of employees in a particular situation.
P3 Different theories and models including situational leadership, systematic leadership and
contingency
In order to conduct a business operation effectively and efficiently the managers in a
business usually adopt a number of models and theories. It is necessary that managers take
special efforts to effectively perform in an organisation. They are required to meet all the goals
and objectives of the organisation within a given time period. They also need to manage the
changing environment and resolve any issue that is taking place while doing business. Some of
the theories used by managers at H&M are mentioned below:
Situational leadership – In this theory of leadership the leaders are responsible to act as
per the situation. There are a number of conditions taking place in an organisation which are
needed to be dealt with. Various leaders adopt situational leadership in order to deal with these
different arising situations in a business (Ellitan, 2017). There are a number of benefits attached
with this leadership style. It is helpful as it always remains flexible in order to deal with various
situations. The leaders can easily modify it based on the situation that they are going to face.
The leaders in H&M use this leadership style so that they can easily change the strategies and
style whenever required to be modified for a certain situation. There are a number of changes
taking place in fashion industry. The fashion industry is drastically changing and in order to deal
with such changes the managers at H&M necessarily require this particular leadership style. And
in this changing environment and customer taste it is important for them to deal with the
employees who should adopt the dynamic environment as well.
Systems leadership – This is a kind of leadership style under which the managers and
leaders are necessarily required to maintain a properly structured environment in the organisation
which is beneficial for business as well as the employees in the organisation. Through this leader

can also effectively motivate all the employees of the organisation in order to work for the better
of organisation. When taking H&M into context it is often seen that the leaders adopt a
systematic approach to leadership in order to keep everything in their organisation organised
well. It also effectively helps them to manage the staff as well as organisation well. The most
important factor of this leadership style is that it keeps employees motivated throughout. With
the help of this the efficiency in work increases along with the quality of work. It also makes
achieving target in an organisation easy. The only negative factor related to this style is that it
does not consist of different formats for different situation.
Contingency leadership – This can be basically described as how can leadership support or
enhance a given business situation. This means how will the leadership style will be similar to a
given business situation (Glukhov and Balashova, 2019). Therefore, in order to apply this theory
leaders are required to make sure that they analyse and study the business situation properly.
When taking H&M into consideration it is often seen that the company have to face disputes
regularly also while selection of this particular style company faces a number of negative
impacts. It is analysed that business environments are complex, dynamic as well as flexible in
nature so a business leadership style should support all these aspects of a business.
TASK 3
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role of leaders and managers
There are a number of theories and tools present in business operation management in order to
make sure that quality is not hindered while production of goods and services. They aim at
optimum use of resources at minimal cost producing best quality of products. Some of such
approaches used by H&M are mentioned below:
 Six Sigma - Through the help of this statistical tool the defects and wastage or variability
in a process is reduced. This also helps in reducing the variability of processes in a
business. It is process through which the business can easily measure, improve and
validate various activities and tasks. Through the help of this tool a number of businesses
have improved and managed their work efficiently improving quality, meeting customer
requirements and also improving the sustainability of company so that they can
effectively survive in long term in the marketplace. H&M uses six-sigma at different
stages (Ma and Sun, 2018). These stages include defining, measuring, analysing,

improving and controlling. The leaders as well as managers at H&M conduct analysis at
various functions so that they can identify various issues and also have impact on various
business activities positively.
Lean principles – This is a process used by business organisations in order to analyse the need
and requirements of customers from the products and services which are provided by the
company. Through the help of this an organisation formulates all the appropriate policies
and strategies which can be then used by them in future to run their business effectively.
There are basically five stages of lean principles which are followed by H&M these
principles include values, stream flow of values for establishment, and implement them as
well. Through all these steps the leaders and managers at H&M efficiently. They develop a
number of procedures as well as plans through this. This also helps in building the brand
image for company as well as helps it in surviving in competitive market for a longer period
of time.
 Total quality management – This is an efficient product used to enhance the quality of
product and service along with satisfying the customers by fulfilling their demands.
Through this the companies improve the quality of product and services provided by
them. This also attracts the attention of customer towards company (Simon, 2020). In
context of H&M total quality management plays a very important role for the company.it
invites a number of customers to them. They also take feedback from their workers in
order to improve their processes. They also improve their services through the help of it.
It also improves the services by satisfying consumer requirement.
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achievement of business objectives
The process through which a firm affectively adopts various activities and works which are
conducted in an organisation affectively in order to achieve all the goals and objectives of a
business is called operation management (Meyer, Neck and Meeks, 2017). There are number of
approaches adopted by H&M to conduct their operations effectively. Some of such approaches
which are adopted in management in order to run a business affectively are mentioned below:
Behavioural approach –Behavioural approach is an approach in which behaviours of an
individual and their ability to conduct a particular work in an effective manner is understood. It
leads to achieving goals and objectives by an individual. The managers and leaders of H&M
develop strategies through analysing the behaviour of employees effectively. That they develop a

number of training and development programs so that they can effectively train all the employees
as per the needs of their customers. Leaders and managers also develop number of strategies so
that they can effectively achieve all the goals and organisations objectives.
Situational approach: Situational approach refers to an approach which is developed by
a manager and leader so that they can face various challenges and situations arising. It is required
by managers as well as leaders to conduct analysis on regular basis so that they can verify a
number of different situations and formulate plans and strategies according to the situations. In
respect to this company the manager and leader conduct the analysis in market on a continuous
basis so that they can list down all the situations taking place in company for stop this will help
them in decision making and also attend the goals of company in the given time for stop they
also top strategy so that they can use all the services and products of company to satisfy their
customers.
Importance and value of Operation Management:
Every organisation uses operation management so that all the managers as well as leaders of
the organisation can effectively develop some strategies which will help them in future to attain
all the goals and objectives of the company. Through help of this the employees in an company
are able to understand the rules and responsibilities they are required to conduct in the company
and what are their jobs. This also helps the company to reduce the wastage of resources and
efforts while in production process. There are a number of nature importance and advantages of
operational management system used by the company which are mentioned below:
 Through the help of this H&M can effectively and hence their process of production and
also reduce the waste of resources as well as efforts done by them. they also increase
their profitability ratio as well as the market share, they have in the market using this.
 The company also develops various decisions through the help of analysis of these
situations in an effective manner. The leaders and managers analyse the situation and
create various policies to deal with them. They have a solution for each problem which
they have forecasted can arrive in future. Through this the productivity of employees can
also be increased.
 Operational management also helps company to complete all the goals and objectives in
the given time along with making sure that the quality of product satisfies the customers
efficiently.

TASK 4
P6 Factors in a business environment that impact operational management and decision making
by managers and leaders
The process through which organisations top level and middle level member conduct and
analysis and they also formulate a guideline through which all the executive level members work
in an organisation and understand their job and responsibilities is called decision making. There
are a number of factors which are affecting the decision-making power of leaders as well as
managers in an organisation. It is analysing that these factors can be internal as well as external.
Sum of such factors which impact the decision making of H&M mentioned below:
Corporate social responsibility – These are the activities which are conducted by a firm
in order to make sure that they are paying back to the society in which they are carrying on the
business activities in some ways. The make sure that the resources they are using from the
environment are not wasted and they are giving something back to the society in return. This is
very effective as it helps the company to develop the Goodwill of company and attract more
customers towards it. When talking about H&M company donates a lot towards education and
health facilities. In this way they increase their profitability as well as brand image in market.
Culture – Culture is said to be the beliefs and values of a people for a common society. it
is necessary to provide a proper rules and regulations in an organisation to conduct the
communication and work effectively (Morelli, 2011). The organisational culture is something
which is developed by managers and leaders in order to guide the employees. In H&M the
managers and leaders make sure that they attain a positive organisational culture. Through the
help of this they can develop a sense of belonging among the employees and also employees and
customers will respect each other.
Social Factors – All those external factors which directly or indirectly affects the
decision making of and leader or manager is called social factors. The social factors are very
dynamic in nature. They keep on changing from time to time. It is necessary for managers and
leaders to analyse the social factors in order to deal with them. In H&M analysis is conducted in
market in order to identify all the social factors. Through this manager can develop a strategy

and also improve the quality of their products and services so that they can satisfy their
customers effectively.
Economic Factors – The economic condition of a country or a nation is included in this. It
is necessary for a manager to make sure that they are aware about what is going on in the
economy in which their business is running. This includes the income tax rate, interest rate,
unemployment rate, and so on (Qin and Nembhard, 2020). In H&M the managers and leaders
keep a tab on what is going on in the economy. They sanction their budget based on the
economic condition of the country through this day can effectively develop the company and
make sure that all the funds are utilised effectively.
CONCLUSION
The above report concludes that the importance of management as well as operations in an
organisation is vital. They work as an integral part of the business and help in providing
customer satisfaction along with sustainable profitability to business. This report also
summarizes the role of a leader and manager in an organisation. There are a number of traits and
characteristics through which they encourage others in the organisation. The roles and
responsibilities for both of them are unique and different. It is also seen that they are
interdependent and that they support each other to effectively fulfil the objectives and goals in an
organisation. There are also a number of leadership theories and concepts which are helping
leaders and managers to manage workforce and produce maximum productivity from them. This
will help business in optimum utilisation of resources as well as increase in their revenues and
sale.

REFERENCES
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