Management and Operations: Roles of Leaders and Managers in Unilever

MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................4
Defining and comparing the various roles or characteristics of a leader and manager.............................4
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................6
Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts..................................................................................................................................6
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership,
and contingency.......................................................................................................................................7
Situational Leadership:..........................................................................................................................7
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................8
Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play......9
Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives............10
...............................................................................................................................................................11
TASK 4.....................................................................................................................................................12
Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and management........................................................................................12
Speaker Note.............................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................16
2

INTRODUCTION
A leader and manager of a company are treated as the one of the important asset. They
are the one who plans, structure, supervises and guides the activity which is to be done by the
employees of the organisation (Carter, 2020). The present report comprises of a discussion upon
the importance and impact of managers as well as leaders within the success of an organisation
with respect to Unilever which is a UK based multinational company. The report also covers
some essential approaches and the roles which are being played by a manager and leader within
various situations. Further, the light upon operation management and its roles in the achievement
of organizational objectives is made.
TASK 1
Defining and comparing the various roles or characteristics of a leader and manager
Manager: Managers are such individuals within a business who structures and manages each
task of an organisation towards the company’s goals or objective. For the achievement of
successful goals, the manager’s main task is to create & establish the significant strategies as
well as policies to plan the activities of company’s staff & the employees with an aim of
performing respective works in accordance to the organisational goals ( Dal Mas, F and et. al.,
2021). The company appoints managers on different levels within an organisation so to manage
each departmental activity with greater efficiency.
Leaders: Leaders are those employees who are responsible to achieve the target from their
employees within the organisation. The leader plays a significant role in encouraging the staff
from their leadership as well as communication abilities & inherits them towards company’s
vision. The main objective of leader is to motivate & encourage the employees to enhance their
performance that ultimately increases the efficiency as well as productivity within the company
(Eschenfelder and Coleman, 2020).
Differences between the managers and leaders:
Basically the role of a manager & leader is being emphasized as interchangeable, but
there is a difference among the functions that are being performed by the leaders & managers so
to have successful completion of tasks. Managers within the business performs several task of
3

setting the objectives based on to the company’s vision & mission which is required to be
communicated or structured by the organisational leaders & managers. Certain difference
between manager and a leader is being mentioned below:
Leader Manager
He is the one who persuades the targets which are
being created by company’s managers
He is the one who actually sets the targets that are
needed to be completed by the employees.
They encourages & communicates the policies of
manager to the employees.
They forwards the organisational policies to their
leaders.
Provides guidance to the project team. Provides guidance to the department.
Pays their major focus upon the employees. Pays major focus upon the things needed to be
done.
Performs the motivation function within the
business so that employees can work with greater
efficiency.
Performs the planning function within the
business
Provides support and encouragement to the staff
for higher productive work (Ferro, Ordóñez and
Anholon, 2017).
Provides work direction to the organisational
Staff.
Manager’s function and Leader’s role:
 Planning: The main function of managers at Unilever is to plan & set the targets of the
business which complies to enhance the profits & sales of their offerings. The strategies
developed by Unilever with respect to their goals comprises of full planning that ads in
the regular improvement of the business. The leader’s role in Unilever is to circulate
these roles decided by the managers to the staff & emphasis the effort of the personnel’s
towards the attainment of objectives (Fordham, 2021).
 Organizing: The managers at Unilever, organizes & utilizes the available resources of
the business in such an effective manner that allows them to have successful achievement
of goals. The role of the leader there is to allocate such resources properly & motivates
them to have higher productivity from their work and a greater result.
 Directing: The managers at Unilever use to direct the employees with their respective
works whereas the leaders performs the role of formulating the team for such task along
with mentoring them towards the achievement of mentioned task.
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MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
1. Diverse function and features of a leader and a manager........................................................3
2. Examination of illustration of the responsibility of a leader and the purpose of manager
applied in dissimilar situational context......................................................................................4
3. Different theories and models of approach..............................................................................6
4. Key advances to operations supervision and the responsibility played by executives and
leaders..........................................................................................................................................6
5. The significance and worth of operations management in achieving company objectives.....8
6. The factor within the surroundings that affects operational management and conclusion
building by managers and leaders................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Operational management is the administration of business practices in order to build the
maximum level of efficiency within an organization. It is basically concerned with the
convergence of raw material and labour into finished goods and services as appropriately as
possible with an intention to maximise the profits of the firm (Wang and et.al., 2021). In order to
describe the concepts in detail, Unilever Plc has been taken as an organization. It is a British
multinational consumer products firm headquartered in London. The company includes various
products involves food products, vitamins and minerals and various other supplements etc. This
report will describe the roles of managers and leaders within the Unilever which helps the firm in
the improvement of the production efficiency and development of the high quality goods and
services. Apart from this, the study will also highlight the importance of theories of management
and different leadership styles in context of Unilever Plc.
MAIN BODY
1. Diverse function and features of a leader and a manager
Managers are the people within an association who propose and administer the work within the
workplace in order to direct the pre defined ambition and objectives of the firm. For the
victorious achievement of the tasks, the administrators are responsible to prepare relevant
strategies and policies according to the working of the staff or employees with an intention to
execute their individual tasks according to the establishment objectives. The managers are
diversified at different levels to direct the assignments in different departments (Renea, 2018).
The managers are also completely concerned with the performances of their staff members and it
has been identified with the involvement of appraisal procedure at regular time intervals.
On the other hand, the leaders are the persons who get their work done by the workforce
that are associated to the goals of the establishment. The leaders are highly important in order to
play vital role related to appealing the workforce through their management and communiqué
ability along with inclusion of a vision towards the betterment of the organization within them.
The primary aim of the leader is to inspire and influence the employees to make all them perform
in a way which enhances their productivity and efficiency within the firm.

The roles of the leaders and managers are often interchangeable in nature but apart from
this, certain difference lies among the functions performed by the mangers and leaders to make
their employees work within the Unilever. The differences have been described below:
Managers Leaders
 Set objectives within the organization  Provide directions within team
 Communicate policies to the leaders  Plays a role of implementing the ideas
into reality
 Provide directions to the group of
people or employees.
 Leaders focus on people.
 Produce the information for the
betterment of the firm.
 Their function is to inspire the
employees to work
 Do planning within the establishment  They converse and manipulate the
employees to job according to the
strategies.
In context of Unilever Plc. the managers set standards for the employees to perform their
tasks and the leaders within the firm helps them to encourage well-organized interpersonal
announcement talent in order to get the employment complete by the workforce according to the
set principles by the executive within the organization (Posylaieva, Sherstiuk and Posylaiev,
2019). The differentiated role of managers and leaders in Unilever marks in the enlargement of
the firm as the everyday jobs are separate out and execute in proper way.
2. Examination of illustration of the responsibility of a leader and the purpose of manager
applied in dissimilar situational context
The functions of managers and the role of leaders make the work within the establishment
towards the desired direction in order to fulfil the objectives of the firm. There are various
functions of management within the firm and diverse approach of management which enables
the employees in the appropriate implementation of the functions of organization. Unilever Plc.
is currently facing the situations of experiencing low sales amount and under such circumstances,
the effective performance of the utility of the supervision and the talent of leaders have been

MANAGEMENT
AND
OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
(1) Comparison of role and characteristics of leader and manager........................................3
(2) application of leader's role and manager's function in different situation........................5
(3) Theories and models of leadership approaches................................................................7
(4) Key approaches to operational managements...................................................................8
(5)Importance and value of operation management in achieving business objectives........10
(6) The factors of business environment impacted on operational management and decision-
making by Leaders and Managers........................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Operation management states that maximization of the output by efficient utilization of
input. This report will cover the role of manager and leader in an organization. This report is
prepared by taking a base of Unilever company case study. Unilever company is multinational
consumer goods company. Its products include food, ice-cream, tooth paste, cosmetics etc.
Further, this report will study the application of leaders and managers function in different
business situation. Moreover, this report will analyze different management and leadership
theories and models, approach along with the application. Key approaches to operational
management and the role of manager and leader play in the Unilever company will be studied.
The importance and value of operation management in achieving Unilever company objectives
will be evaluated. At the end, this report will highlight factors of business environment that
impact on the operational management and decision-making by manager and leader.
MAIN BODY
(1) Comparison of role and characteristics of leader and manager
Basis Manager Leader
Meaning A manager is the
representative of organization,
who is responsible for the
management work and take
crucial actions whenever
required.
A leader is a person who lead
their followers to achieve an
organization goal.
purpose Manager focus on setting,
measuring and achieving goal.
Leader focuses on motivating a
group to enable them to
achieve their aim.
Role Manager controls the situation
to reach and exceed
organization objectives.
Leader inspire their people to
turn their vision into reality
(Freund and Dorczak, 2020).

Risk Manager always make an
effort to anticipate, minimize
and control risk.
In order to implement their
vision, Leader will not hesitate
to try new methods and
exploring different paths.
Focus Manager focus on systems and
processes. It is required to set a
desirable structure in order to
achieve organization goal.
Leader builds a relationship
with the followers in order to
achieve the set vision.
Functions Manager performs different
functions such as planning,
organizing, staffing, directing,
controlling.
Leader also performs
function like directing,
motivating, coordinating etc.
Approach Reactive proactive
Role Manager push employees to
attain goal by analyzing
efficiency of day to day
activities (Jaser, 2021).
Leader pulls the employee to
achieve organization goal by
inspiring and driving people.
Conflict A manager reacts to change
and avoids conflict.
A leader promotes changes and
use conflicts as an asset. By
analyzing the root cause of
conflict, leader take necessary
action to resolve it.
Culture and environment Manager enacts the existing Leaders shape the culture,