Operations and Management: A Critical Analysis of Leadership and Management Roles in Tesco Plc

OPERATION AND
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................2
P1 Define and compare the roles and characteristics of both managers and leaders,
highlighting the difference between management and leadership...............................................2
M1 by applying a range of theories and concepts of leadership and management, analyse and
Differentiate between a leader’s roles and a manager’s functions..............................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................6
P2 Give examples of at least two different situational contexts and examine how the role of a
leader and the function of a manager are applied in organisations..............................................6
P3 Explain how theories such as situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency
apply to the organisation and how these have supported growth and sustainable performance. 8
M2 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different management approaches to situations
within the work environment of your selected organization.....................................................10
D1 within the context of your selected organisation as an example, critically analyse and
evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given context..........................12
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................13
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play............................................................................................................................13
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives...................................................................................................................................15
M3 Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management
to successfully meet business objectives...................................................................................16
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................18
P6 With the help of suitable examples, assess the factors within the business environment that
impact upon operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers............18

M4 Analyse how different factors affect the business environment and wider community.....19
(D2). Critically evaluate the application of operations management in your chosen
organisation and the factors that impact on the wider business environment...........................20
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................22

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Leadership Vs management.............................................................................................3
Figure 2: Bass theory of leadership.................................................................................................4
Figure 3: Theory X and Y................................................................................................................5
Figure 4: Contingency theory of leadership....................................................................................8
Figure 5: Situational theory of leadership.....................................................................................10
Figure 6: Six-sigma themes...........................................................................................................14
Figure 7: Just in time approach......................................................................................................15

Introduction
In the present report we have focused on the analysis of the roles of leaders and managers of an
organization. Even though in the daily practice they are often confused and used as synonyms,
there is a lot of difference in both their roles. In order to analyse this better and to understand it
with the help of an example, we have tried to take an example of Tesco Plc. It is a UK based firm
which is based for providing various grocery products with innovation in the retail sector of the
firm and has been doing that since many years now. Tesco has both leaders and managers and
has also defined their roles very specifically which will be further discussed in the report. Also,
we have, for a better understanding, tried to analyse and connect this with certain theories and
approaches in accordance with the leadership styles and methods in order to make suggestions
for a better management and operational abilities of the firm.
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Task 1
P1 Define and compare the roles and characteristics of both managers and leaders, highlighting
the difference between management and leadership
Various basic roles that are to be performed by the firm’s managers can be understood as
follows:
Planning: In order to analyse the future risks and uncertainties and to take necessary required
precautionary steps for the same, planning is very much necessary. Planning helps the managers
to analyse and take actions according to the situations and various alternatives are considered
herein (Bolden, 2016).
Organising: The process of organising consists of the allocation of tasks and responsibilities to
the employees in accordance with their capabilities and working patterns. This is always done
with the context of the set organizational goals. Here mainly the positions are to b created for
personnel.
Controlling: Even though the organizational roles are fulfilled in an appropriate manner the
achievement of organizational goals is not necessary (Bolman and Deal, 2017). Because of this,
the due control is necessary and this type of monitoring of work is done at Tesco by the
managers.
Different role for the manager of Tesco PLC are: -
Interpersonal role: The interpersonal roles can be defined as the role which a manager plays in
terms of his or her attributes, mental fitness etc to become a leader and maintain the same.
Informational role: Managers also play a very important role of providing or transmission of
necessary information to the employees in the organization.
Decisional role: The managers and leaders have to take various important decisions for the
organization which falls under the decisional roles of the firm.
Table 1: Difference between leadership and management
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