Management and Operations: Role of Leaders and Managers in Tesco

This report discusses the role of leaders and managers in Tesco, their characteristics, and the application of different theories and models of approach. It also explores key approaches to operations management and the impact of business environment on decision-making. The report provides expert insights on the subject and is relevant for students pursuing management and operations courses in colleges and universities.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
Role and characteristics of manager and leader together with its comparison...........................1
How the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts?
.....................................................................................................................................................3
Application of different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency...........................................................................................4
Conclusion and recommendations..............................................................................................7
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play. ........7
The importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives...........8
The factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers. ................................................................................8
How operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business objectives..........9
Conclusion and recommendation................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
References:.....................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management refers to the process of planning, organising, staffing, directing and
controlling in order to achieving the organisational goals and objectives. Any business plays an
important role in uplifting the economy of any country by generating revenue by performing
business operations. All these operations have been managed by the mangers and leaders at work
place which help in smooth functioning of organisation. This report is based on Tesco which is a
British multinational groceries retailer having headquarter in Welwyn Garden City,
Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. It was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919. This report
deals with the several functions of leaders and managers along with their difference, different
theories and approaches of leadership. In addition to this, it also include the key approaches of
operation management along with their values and importance which they played in achieving
the organisational goals and objectives. It is also found that the factors of business environment
affect the operational management, these factors are also going to discussed under this report.
PART 1
Role and characteristics of manager and leader together with its comparison.
Tesco is a multinational retailer which was founded in 1919. By the end of 1960s, Tesco
has expand their business market by retailing of clothings, books, toys, software and many more.
By 1990s, they expanded globally and currently almost 7005 shops are performing operations in
all over the world. They are following Hierarchical Organisational Structure at their work place
under which the management has divided levels of hierarchy of the people and each & every
level have their control (Hill 2019). A chain of command has been established among the senior
managers and the general employees.
Leaders and its role
Leader are the person which are responsible for leading and motivating the group of
people in order to getting the work done through others for the purpose of achieving
organisational goals and objectives. Controlling and monitoring the performance of employees is
the main task of leader. In the organisation of Tesco, leaders perform several roles, some of them
are given below:
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 Provide Direction: Leaders have to properly communicate all the directions of
performing task to the employees. Leaders of Tesco are making several strategies so that
they can contribute in the growth and success of organisation.
 Execute Strategy and monitor result: Strategies are made for the purpose of executing
them. Leaders of Tesco are executing the strategies. Along with this, they are constantly
monitoring the performance of each member of team so that they can make effective and
necessary changes in the strategies.
Characteristics Self awareness: It has been found that a leader always try to improve its area so that they
can perform their work in better and effective way. Leaders of Tesco are always ready in
attaining the knowledge and learn all the skills which are related to their profile (Hill
2017).
 Focused: Leaders in Tesco are constantly focus on their work as it is necessary for
achieving the organisational goals and objectives along with managing the team of
employees.
Managers and it's role
The work of motivating and supervising the employees is done by managers. Along with
this, they also provide directions to the employees so that they contribute their best in meeting
the goals of organisation. Roles of managers in Tesco are given below: Setting Objectives: Managers have to set the targets for all the general employees and
provide them complete directions so that employees can achieve them effectively.
Managers of Tesco has created a environment of clear communication of goals.
 Monitoring the performance: In the context of Tesco, the managers provide proper
guidelines to the employees which also help them in keeping track over their
performance (Lawrence 2017).
Characteristics Time management: Managing the time according to their task is a huge feature of
managers. In Tesco, the managers manage their time in an effective manner so that they
properly communicate all the tasks and guide them to achieve the objectives.
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 Communication: Managers of Tesco have ability to properly communicate all the tasks
to their employees which include strategies of organisation, targets which present a
clear structure for reaching to the objectives of organisation.
Distinction of leader and manager
Basis Manager Leader
Meaning Managers are responsible for
planning, coordinating,
directing and controlling the
general employees (Haksever
2017).
The leaders of organisations
are responsible for influencing
the employees in order to get
the work done from them.
Aim Managers make aim to meet
the goals and objectives of
organisation.
Basically they focus on the
growth and development of
organisation.
Change They react to the change. They promotes change in the
company.
How the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts?
The managers and leaders of Tesco are performing the all their roles and functions in an
effective manner but there are various situations which they have to face and make strategies so
that they can perform their functions without any disturbance. The application of role of leaders
and functions of managers are given below in several situations:
Employee Engagement
The effectiveness of work performance of Tesco is depend on the work performance of
employees as it also leads to the growth of organisation. Employee engagement means to get the
employees in regular touch with the management by constant conversation (Naderi, M., and et.
al., 2019). Lack of employee engagement at workplace of Tesco has been found. In order to
creating positive and healthy working environment which result in increase in employee
engagement, managers and leaders have to perform below mentioned roles and functions:
Role of leader: Creation of positive and healthy working environment at work place
leads to the employee engagement. The leaders of Tesco have to provide directions to their team
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members in a proper manner. So that they can perform the task with mutual discussion and
involvement.
Function of manager: The managers of organisations have to develop such policies and
rules which result in employee engagement. The managers of Tesco have to analyse the
requirements of employees which can motivate them to perform the business operations and
increase employee engagement.
Introducing new offerings
In order to moving towards the growth and success of organisation, they are require to
adopt changes in their working. The organisation can attract the customers by doing innovation.
Tesco has bring various new products in the market which include clothing, groceries and many
more which leads to the growth and development of organisation. Roles and functions of leaders
and managers regarding this situation are given below:
Role of leader: They have to properly communicate the strategies and motivate them to
do the work in an effective and efficient manner (Glock, C.H., and et. al., 2019). Leaders of
Tesco communicate all the strategies and plans to their work force so that they contribute their
best in innovation.
Functions of managers: In the context of Tesco, all the plans and strategies related to the
innovations are made and developed by the managers. The discussion of managers result in
bringing something new in the market.
Application of different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency.
Leadership is a process of leading the employees in order to get the work done from
others in an effective and efficient manner. Every leader follows a style of leadership which help
them in getting the work done in an organisation. Leaders of Tesco follow the below mentioned
leadership style:
Situational Leadership Theory
It is found that there is no any best leadership style which is suitable for all situation. This
theory works on the assumptions which are different from situation to situation. Firstly the
situation have been analysed by the management and then the best style of leadership has been
adopted which is suitable for any specific situation. This theory include four elements which has
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been approached by the leaders in several situation. Below mentioned are the several elements of
this theory: Directing: This approach provide directive and authoritative powers to leaders so that
they can direct the employees that how to perform any specific task. The leaders of
Tesco direct their workforce and the employees have to follow all guidelines. Coaching: This is the second approach where leader is the decision maker. Leaders of
Tesco sell their concepts to their employees so that they can do debate on the same in
order to getting the better clarity at work place (Oc 2018). Delegating: Under this approach, the participation of leaders in processes is limited as
they only provide guidelines to their employees whenever they require the same. The
leaders of Tesco are allowing their subordinates or team members so that they can make
their decisions by their own. Participative: Leader of Tesco allow the members of organisation to participate in
giving the new ideas rather than highly involving in the same. This act of leaders result
in bringing the effectiveness in the performance of employees of organisation.
Strength Weakness
 This style of leadership is flexible as it
include various elements which can be
adopted as per the situation.
 On the other hand, it also leads to the
creation of confusions in the mind of
employees as they have to frequently
shift the styles.
System Leadership Style
In order to get the work done from workforce with flexibility, it is necessary for
organisation to bring changes in the environment. This style of leadership bring environmental
changes in organisation. Majorly this leadership style is applied in the organisations which are
performing their operations on a huge level (Ferkins 2018). This theory include several abilities
which are very helpful for leader to lead the people. Along with this, it also include collaborative
leadership which state the proper utilization of resources so that they can achieve the
organisational goals in an effective and efficient manner. Leader of Tesco can adopt this style of
leadership because it will help the organisation in properly utilisation of skills and knowledge so
that they can develop the growth and success of the organisation.
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Strength Weakness
 This style of leadership offers holistic
approach to the organisation which
result in the increment in adaptability
of organisation to the environmental
changes.
 It will be difficult to handle all the
employees under this style as some of
employees will agree and some will be
disagree with any point which also
leads to the creation of communication
gap.
Contingency Leadership Style
This style of leadership develop believe that the effectiveness of leader is contingent
which is totally depend on the situations. It has been found that the same qualities of leader will
not be applicable on all situation. One of the feature of leader is flexibility as they have to
develop the skills and qualities as per the situation. In the context of Tesco, the adoption of this
theory include three elements, which are as follow: Situation: At this stage, leader have to analyse the situation and then they have to plan
according to the scenario. At this phase, the leader of Tesco are require skills and
knowledge in order to screening the situation. Leadership Style: After analysing the situation, the leader have to select the leadership
style which can work effectively in any specific situation (Dutta 2017). The leader of
Tesco can select the leadership style only after analysing the situation. Develop relationship between leadership style and situation: Leader of Tesco have to
show their skills and knowledge by establishing relationship between situation and
leadership style so that the organisation can deal the situation effectively.
Strength Weakness
 It brings flexibility at work place as the
leader can change the policies
according to the situation. It result in
the improvement of decision making
skills of leaders as they have to analyse
the situation in order to adopting the
 Selection of ineffective leadership style
by leader can result in the disturbance
of work performance of complete
organisation.
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effective leadership style.
Conclusion and recommendations
It has been concluded that the managers as well as leaders both are important factors for
an organisation. Leaders are responsible for making the right selection of leadership style which
leads to the growth and success of organisation. The selection of leadership style effect the
working performance of employees (Ryan 2020). Furthermore, it is recommended to Tesco that:
 For the purpose of adopting changes, the leaders of Tesco should apply contingency style
of leadership which result in the development of several dynamic strategies which make
easy to adopt changes.
 The manager of Tesco should develop some strategies in order to develop the feeling of
motivation in employees so that they can adopt the changes in organisation effectively.
PART 2
Key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play.
Operations management refers to the administration of business practices whi9ch leads to
the creation of high level of efficiency in the organisation. In simple words, it can be said that it
is related to the conversation of raw material and labour into the finished goods and services.
Tesco is an organisation dealing in the retail industry so it include several operations such as
production, sales, marketing and many more. In the key approaches to operations management,
managers and leaders of Tesco have an important role which is described as below:
 Total Quality Management: It has been found that this approach is mainly used by the
companies of customer oriented in which the employees constantly work for improving
their services to the customers (Duke 2020). The role of manager and leader of Tesco are
given below:
Role of leader: The leaders of organisation have to allocate the employees with their assigned
tasks in order to ensuring the production of good quality products for their customers. The leader
of Tesco communicate the complete task to their employees on time so that they can complete all
the work on time.
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Role of Manager: They are responsible for making and developing various policies which
include ethical code of conduct and plans which make sure the improvement of products quality
of Tesco.
 Learn Production: This approach is concern about the minimisation of waste along
with ensuring the quality. This approach is applicable on all the aspects of business
such as distribution, productions etc.
Role of leader: In order to properly utilize the resources to get the effective result, leaders have
to play the role by doing motivation. The leader of Tesco are required to make outlines of task
for employees so that they can adopt several methods which result in increase in productivity and
decreasing wastage (Visser 2020) .
Role of Manager: Tesco have efficient managers who are entrusted with the role to make such
strategies which involves utilising less cost and high optimisation and utilisation of the resources.
The importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives.
Operation Management is directly related to the objectives of organisation. Hence it plays
an important role in business. Below mentioned are the points which explain the importance of
operations management for Tesco: Resource Utilization: The main focus of operation management is on the utilization of
resources in a proper manner so that management can reduce the wastage and improve
the productivity. In the context of Tesco, the managers and leaders have to make sure
about the utilization of resources so that they can reduce the wastage and achieve the
organisational goals and objectives in a cost effective manner.
 Quality of the product: The leaders and managers of Tesco are constantly monitoring the
performance of employees which result in the improvement of quality of products. This
improvement leads to the development of organisation within the improvement of quality
of products offered by the Tesco (Dimitrov 2020).
The factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers.
All the organisations work in the business environment which include internal and
external factors which effect the business operations. Several of internal and external factors of
which influence the operations management are as below:
Internal Factors
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 Corporate Social Responsibility: It is necessary for Tesco that their business operations
should not affect the the environment. CSR can be considered as a huge and important
obligation for all organisations. Same in the case of Tesco, the managers and leaders of
Tesco to make such decisions and policies which should fulfil the social responsibility in
an effective and efficient manner.
 Sustainability: For the purpose of surviving in competitive market, it is necessary to have
sustainability in the organisation. Maintaining sustainability at work place is in the hand
of leaders and managers. So the leaders and managers of Tesco should take such
decisions and develop such policies which leads to the bringing sustainability at work
place as it will also result in the reduction of cost and maximization of profit.
External Factors Social: It refers to those factors which effect the working of organisation as customer
demand for the product on the basis of their culture, age, preferences etc. Tesco is
providing various products which cover the demand of several groups (Alexander-
Wright 2020). The managers and leaders of Tesco have to take such steps through
which the company can cover all the customers.
 Technological: In the world of this competition, Tesco is properly using the technology
at their work place. For the purpose of reaching to all the customers, they are accepting
digital order. The managers and leaders of Tesco have to do work on technology so that
they can achieve the goals and objectives of organisation quickly and effectively.
How operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business objectives.
The managers and leaders can make the strategies which result in the reduction of
wastage and increment in profit. So it is the responsibility of operation management to do the full
utilization of resources. The managers and leaders have to make and develop various strategies
in order to achieve the organisational goals and objectives in an effective and efficient manner.
They should be strong in communication so that they can easily communicate with their team
members (Wilson 2018).
Conclusion and recommendation
 In order to gaining the higher satisfaction level of customers, the managers and leaders of
Tesco have to monitor the quality of their products and services.
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 The organisation must screen its micro and macro factors so that these do not adversely
affect the working of the company and also come up with regular strategies to overcome
any barrier like strategy to deal with foreign currency fluctuation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that carrying various goal oriented activities in the
organisation is the responsibility of leaders and managers. They both focus on the growth and
development of organisation. There are various options of leadership style which are available
for Tesco such as contingency, situational and system which are very useful in managing the
employees at work place. In addition to this, it is also analysed that operation management is also
an important part for an organisation. There are various factors as well which effect the decision-
making process as well.
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References:
Books and Journals
Alexander-Wright, D.L., 2020. Follow the Leader: Middle Management and Supervisors’
Impacts on Work-Life Balance Practices (Doctoral dissertation, Regent University).
Dimitrov, A., 2020. The Concept of Leader and Leadership in the Proto-Studies of Leadership.
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Duke, A., 2020. Clinical leadership in the dental profession: Approaches to becoming an
effective leader. BDJ In Practice. 33(4). pp.10-11.
Dutta, K., Ghoshal, A. and Kumar, S., 2017. The interdependence of data analytics and
operations management. In The Routledge Companion to Production and Operations
Management (pp. 291-308). Taylor and Francis/Routledge.
Ferkins, L., Shilbury, D. and O’Boyle, I., 2018. Leadership in governance: Exploring collective
board leadership in sport governance systems. Sport Management Review. 21(3).
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management: A systematic literature review. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 131.
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Haksever, C. and Render, B., 2017. Service and Operations Management. World Scientific
Publishing Company.
Hill, A. and Hill, T., 2017. Essential operations management. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Hill, P., Korczak, A. and Wang, S., 2019. The use of earnings and operations management to
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Lawrence, R.L., 2017. Understanding collaborative leadership in theory and practice. New
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Naderi, M., and et. al., 2019. Sustainable operations management for industry 4.0 and its social
return. IFAC-PapersOnLine. 52(13). pp.457-462.
Oc, B., 2018. Contextual leadership: A systematic review of how contextual factors shape
leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly. 29(1). pp.218-235.
Ryan, I., Myers, B. and Mooney, S., 2020. Leader development: A pathway for social
change?. Leadership, p.1742715020980295.
Visser, W.F., 2020. A Blueprint for Performance-Driven Operations Management. Mining,
Metallurgy & Exploration, pp.1-9.
Wilson, S., 2018. Understanding bottlenecks: An operations management experiential learning
exercise. Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education. 16(3). pp.166-184.
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