Roles and Characteristics of Leaders and Managers in Operations Management

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.