Operations and Management: Leadership and Management in a Contemporary Business Environment

This assignment explores the crucial roles of leaders and managers in the operations function of a business organization. It examines the key approaches to operations management, including Total Quality Management (TQM), Just-in-Time (JIT), and Lean Production, and analyzes the impact of internal and external factors on operational management and decision-making. Using Marks & Spencer as a case study, the assignment delves into the relationship between leadership and management in a contemporary business environment, highlighting the importance of leadership styles, such as directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented, in achieving business objectives.

Operations and Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organization and organizational structure:..................................................3
LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager.........................4
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager. [M1]
....................................................................................................................................................4
LO2 Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in given contexts. (1000).........7
P2. Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts......................................................................................................7
P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency..........................................................................................9
M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations
within the work environment...................................................................................................12
LO3 Demonstrate an appreciation of the role leaders and managers play in the operations
function of an organization......................................................................................................14
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play. [M3]................................................................................................................14
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives..................................................................................................................................15
LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between leadership and management
in a contemporary business environment.................................................................................16
P6 Using examples from your chosen organisation, assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational management and decision-making by leaders and
managers..................................................................................................................................16
Conclusion................................................................................................................................18
Reference List..........................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
Operation and management are the most two important wing of a business structure that help
in establishment of the business firm. To run and to make a business successful and
sustainable in the existing market the need of operation and management are equally
important to achieve the target goals and achievement of the business. In a business like
Marks and Spencer, the need of operation and management is very much essential in order
to perform the task efficiently and also to expand the market growth of the business. In this
assignment there will be the detailed information about how operation and management can
enhance each other and how this can affect the productivity of the business.
Background of the organization and organizational structure:
Marks and Spencer is company based in UK, it is a multinational retail business whose
headquarter is based at London, United Kingdom. This company was established in the year
1884 and having a worldwide market, with 84,939 number of employees.
The organizational chart of Marks and Spencer
Figure 1: the business structure of Marks and Spencer
(Source: Marks and Spencer, 2018)
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LO1 Differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager.
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a
manager. [M1]
To start with, it is necessary to understand the meaning of a leader and a manager and the
roles that they play in an organization and how their roles affect he productivity level and the
market growth of the business. It is also necessary to understand the different levels of
leadership and management and what are their importances within an organization.
Defining Leader
Leader is a person responsible for influencing the behavior of the employees to achieve the
planned goals of the business like Marks and Spencers. Leader mainly motivates the
employees working within an organization and also helps them in their crucial time to
achieve the given target which is set by the organization (Pava, 2015). A leader also helps the
organization by guiding the employees working within the business environment.
Defining Manager
Management is mainly done by the managers of a business which includes the process of
planning, leading, organizing and implementing the resources in the proper place to achieve
the planned goals of the business like Marks and Spencers. Leadership is a part of
management where the works are distributed in the proper way among all the workers to
achieve the goal set by the business.
Roles and characteristics of Leader and Manager:
The different roles of a leader
Motivating employees: The main task of a leader is to motivate the workers and the
employees working within the organization to achieve the goals (Fransen et al., 2017). At the
time of boredom it is the work of the leader to support and to motivate the subordinates and
aloes the employees belonging from the same hierarchy level to achieve the goals of the
business and also to enhance the working condition within a business like Marks and
Spencers (Huang et al., 2017).
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Implementing strategies: The important role of a leader is to implement the made strategies
within the work process and to make the employees work according to the strategies.
Creating mission and vision: The role of a leader is also to make the workers understand
about the work and also to make them about the target goal of the organization. In case of any
difficulties that the workers are facing while working, the role of a leader is also to solve the
issues that is hampering the quality of the performances of the workers in Marks and
Spencers.
In this section, the Mintzber’s Model and the managerial roles are compared to see the
relationship of the leader and manager within the business of Marks and Spencers.
Mintzberg’s managerial roles
According to Mintzberg the manegerial roles can be divided into three categories, they are:
1 Interpersonal Roles: these roles are performed by the leader with the workers within Marks
and Spencers to achieve the target goals of the business.
2 Informational Roles: Here the manager needs to monitor the work of the Marks and
Spencers that are performed by the employees of the business.
3 Decisional Roles: This is one of the most essential roles of the manager where the making
of rules and regulation of the Marks and Spencers is made and the allocation of resources is
done to achieve the target goal of the business.
Figure 2: Mintzberg’s managerial roles
Roles of the Manager:
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Planning: The manager needs to set the goals of the business and also need to brief about
achieving the goals in the best possible way. If the planning is not made then the motive to
achieve the desired objective or the gold will not be established (Shastri et al., 2017).
Organizing: The manager needs to organize the resources and the worker groups to achieve
the best possible result from their actions. If the organizing process is done properly then the
allocation of resource will be a waste because the proper scope for proper placement of
resource will not be possible and as a result the objective of Marks and Spencers will not get
achieved.
Leading: Motivating members of not only higher levels but also the members working
below his/her post and solving their issues so that the work conditions can be enhanced.
Leading the working group and the team within Marks and Spencers is also important to
achieve the goal of the business.
Controlling: The most important work of the manager is to monitor the working conditions
and the ongoing actions within the business and to improve the conditions if required.
Making of decisions and how to imply those rules in the business environment is also an
important work of the manager. Controlling is done to maintain the workflow and the quality
of the work.
Figure 3: Managerial functions
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LO2 Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in given contexts.
P2. Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply
in different situational contexts.
There are four possible management functions. Leadership is one of the most important
management functions. So, the two aspects of the management functions are management
and leadership. These two aspects deal with the job done by one person who acts as the
manager of the business organization. The managerial or leadership jobs of a manger can be
affected by the situations inside or outside of the company. The operations manager of Marks
& Spencer has been asked by the CEO to investigate the impact of leaders and managers on
the operations of the business organization.
Different situation Role of leaders Function of managers
Stable situation Mo modification in the
leadership style is required.
Marks & Spencer follows a flat
organizational structure. They
have limited management level
between the administration of
the management and the front
line employees of the
organization. Due to less
management level and
employee level communication
and interaction, it is easy to
maintain a stable situation and
helps in solving problem that
arises from various situations.
Slow to moderate changing
situation
Changes can be noticed inside
and outside of the business
organization when the
environmental situation changes
from slow to moderate. Now,
In slow to moderate changing
situation, the manager of the
organization need to make
changes in the management
function especially in the
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here the role of the leader is
mostly needed. The leader of
Marks & Spencer has to be
efficient enough to make
modifications in his leadership
styles or the management
functions to fit in the new
situation.
planning and organizing part so
that the organization fits in the
new situation.
Fast changing situation In this case, the achievement
oriented style leaders sets the
goals for the employees of
Marks and Spencer and ensures
the attention and focus that the
employees have in their work.
A huge number of changes
occur both inside and outside of
the organization in case of the
fast changing situation. So, in
case of the fast changing
situation that occurs suddenly in
the organization, the manager of
Marks & Spencer would be
highly responsible to take the
major responsibilities in
changing the functions or rather
making modifications in the
managerial functions and for
that the manger need to be
highly efficient too.
In case of the fast changing
situations, a good manager is
responsible to make some big
changes within a very short
period of time. He have to
change the roles of the
leadership styles so that the
business organization can adopt
itself in any situation.
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P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency
The path goal theory of leadership styles:
In the year of 1996, Robert House introduced the path goal theory of leadership styles.
According to this theory, predictions are to be made about the behaviour of the leaders and
under what circumstances the behaviour of the leader will be effective. Four leadership styles
can be adopted by the path goal theory of leadership styles. All the styles can be effective,
which depends on the factors as follows: The ability level of the employees, preference,
control ability, achievement and the motivation of the employees. All these are generally the
characteristics of the employees. Along with the characteristics of the employees, the
characteristics of the work area are also another factor. The characteristics of the work area
includes the environment of the work area, the degree of stress present in the environment an
the degree till which the task is unpleasant. The path goal theory of leadership style consist of
different leadership styles, those are as follows:
 Directive style
In this type of leadership style, the employees are provided with specific directions by the
directive leaders. The leaders are responsible for clarifying the role expectations, setting of
the schedule and to ensure that the employees know clearly what to do on a given working
day. When the employees of the organization are experiencing role ambiguity on the job, then
according to the theory, the prediction is that the directive style will work well.
 Supportive style
Emotional support is provided to the employees of the organization by the supportive style
leaders. The supportive style leader, treat the employees in a well manner and encourage
them and cares about them on a personal level. According to the theory, the supportive
leaders are predicted to be effective when the employee of the organization is under lots of
stress and when their performance is boring.
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 Participative style
The role of the participative leader is to ensure whether the employees of the organization are
making important decisions or not. When the employees of the organization have high level
of abilities, then the participative leadership can be much more effective for Marks &
Spencer.
 Achievement-oriented style
In this case, the achievement oriented style leaders sets the goals for the employees of Marks
and Spencer and ensures the attention and focus that the employees have in their work.
According to the path goal theory of leadership styles, the achievement oriented style is likely
to be most effective among the employees of Marks & Spencer, those who have high levels
of ability and high achievement motivational level.
Situation Appropriate leadership style
When the employees have high ability Directive style
When the employees have low ability
When the employees have any external control
When the tasks of the employees are boring Supportive leadership style
When the tasks of the employees of the
organization is stressful
When the management decision is relevant to the
employees
Participative style
When the employees of the organization has high
internal control
When the employees have high achievement
motivation
Achievement oriented style
Situational leadership:
One of the adaptive leadership styles is the situational leadership. According to this theory,
the team members are encouraged by the situational leaders (Thompson and Glasø, 2015).
They choose the best leadership style that is best suited in the workplace and moreover which
will help Marks & Spencer to achieve the goals and circumstances. Situational leaders do the
following tasks:
 Situational leaders develop people and workgroups in the Marks & Spencer.
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 They help in establishing rapport and bring out the best from the employees of the
organization.
 Situational leaders use a common leadership style across all the units of the Marks &
Spencer
Situational leadership is the most flexible amongst all the other types. They adapt themselves
to the existing work environment and fulfil the needs of the organization. There is no specific
skill of the situational leader, rather the situational leader modifies the style of management
to meet the needs and requirements of the organization. The situational leader has to be
adaptable to any situation. Situation leaders of Marks & Spencer must be able to move from
one leadership style to another, it will meet the changing needs of an organization and its
employees.
Systems leadership and contingency:
System leadership approach is not comparable to all the other approaches of leadership.
Contingency can sometimes be referred as the situational approach (Fiedler, 2015).
According to this model, the performance of Marks & Spencer defines the role of the
members of the organization. The system leaders are responsible to take decisions about the
new products and the new strategies that are needed to be implemented.
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According to the contingency theory:
 No universal or best way of management exists.
 The design of the organization must fit with the surrounding environment.
 If the organization is properly designed, then the needs of the organization can be
satisfied in a better way.
 The effectiveness of the situation depends on the decision making.
M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to
situations within the work environment.
The situations both internal and external of Marks & Spencer are assessed along with the
evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches to the situations and
the appropriate leadership styles for the situations within the work environment.
Approaches Strengths Weakness
Directive style of approach It is easy to learn.
This approach is good for the
inexperienced worker of an
organization.
Bad for highly skilled and
motivated workers.
The directive style is the
most effective when the
leader is present. So, the
weakness is that the approach
is leader dependent.
Supportive style of
approach
The employees feel
empowered and meaningful.
Allows the managers to
understand the positive and
negative impacts in a better
way.
Without any management
guidance, if the employees of
the organization receives too
much of responsibilities, the
duty of decision making can
become overwhelming.
.
Participative style of Increase in productivity In participative style of
approach, the decision
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approach Job satisfaction
Motivation to the employees
of the organization.
Reduces the cost of the
organization.
making slows down.
The security also occurs in
case of participative style of
approach.
Achievement oriented style
of approach
Clarity of purpose.
Precise task definitions.
It is well suited for the
structured work environment.
There is a fear of breaking of
rules among the employees.
The creative individual may
become demoralized.
Situational style of
approach
It is practical and easy to
understand.
This type of leadership puts
emphasis on leadership
flexibility.
It is used a lot in an
organization to train the
leaders.
It is hard to define hw the
commitment is
conceptualized in the
situational style of approach.
The model fails to address
how it deals with the
demographic characteristics
of the organization.
System leadership and
contingency style of approach
It increases the adaptability of
the organization to different
environmental situations.
System leadership and
contingency style of approach
focuses on multiple dimension
of management.
The theory may not be
applicable to smaller
organizations.
Nature of interdependence is
not defined in this theory.
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LO3 Demonstrate an appreciation of the role leaders and managers play in the
operations function of an organization
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play. [M3]
The key approaches of the operations management are as follows:
Total Quality management (TQM): TQM is a system of management that is based on the
principle that each and every employee must maintain the high standards of work in the
operation of the organization. In TQM, all the members of the organization participates in
improving the products, services and the culture of the work. Total Quality Management is
considered as a customer focused process. It ensures that all th employees of the organization
work towards to achieve the same goal (Sallis, 2014).
Just-in-Time: Just in time is a strategy which must be implemented to increase the efficiency
of the Marks & Spencer and to decrease the waste by receiving the goods that are required for
the organization. This method forecast the demand of the producers in a accurate way.
Continuous improvement: is the improvement in the organization that occurs continuously. It
refers to the ongoing improvement of the products, services through the breakthrough
improvements. The business professionals of the Marks & Spencer examine the process
continuously to discover the problems and then eliminating the problems.
Six-Sigma: The person who practices the six-sigma uses the statistics, the financial and the
analysis of the project of the organization to achieve the improved business functionality of
the Marks and Spencer. The six sigma method included the five steps called the DMAIC
which means define, measure, improve and control (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014).
Lean production: Lean production involves huge efforts to eliminate the waste and adds
value in designing and manufacturing of the customer service process of Marks & Spencer.
Lean productions help in determining the activities or process that adds value to all the
aspects of the organization.
Queuing theory: The queuing theory deals with all the problems which involves the queuing
or rather the waiting. It is used to develop more efficient system to increase the customers of
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Marks & Spencer. The queuing theory examines each and every component of waiting to be
served (Podgórski, 2015).
Role of leaders in improving the efficiency of the operational management:
The leader helps to design the most innovative products that should be appealing for the
customers and the customers will be attracted to the organization. An operational leader
motivates all the employees of the organization to care about the quality of the product. A
good operational leader is responsible for effective operation in the organization to achieve
the intended objective of the business organization. They can motivate the employees to do
their best. Efficiency is the most important factor in the operations management. An
operational leader convinces all the employees to use the organizational resources such as the
human, physical, financial and technological information in the best way. An operational
leader will always encourage the staff of Marks & Spencer to stay positive and hopeful all the
time.
Role of managers in improving the efficiency of the operational management:
The operational manager of the organization is responsible for planning and supervising with
reference to the production, manufacture and the production of the service. Operational
manager develops the goods to be delivered based on the requirements of the customer of
Marks & Spencer. The operational manager helps to improve the efficiency of the operations.
The operational managers of the Marks & Spencer are also responsible for coordinating an
developing new process after evaluating the present business structure. Organizing and
productivity are the two main keys that is required by the operational manager. Operational
manager also play a major role in controlling the entire operation in order to ensure the
quality of the products and the safety of the organization.
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives
Importance of operations management in achieving the business objectives of Marks &
Spencer
In the manufacturing companies, the operations are difficult. SO, a good operational leader is
responsible to inspire the workers to overcome the difficulties in the work and helps them to
stay safe in their respective work place. An operational leader motivates all the employees of
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the organization to take care about the quality of the products that the organization is
providing. Mars & Spencer understand the growing importance and contribution of the strong
IT function to have a efficient operation in the multichannel world.
Values of operations management in achieving the business objectives of Marks & Spencer
Fashion is continuously changing in today’s world. So, to keep up with the changes in the
retail market, Marks & Spencer have to keep their values in the operational management field
very high. Marks & Spencer has the total opportunity to compete with the other business
organization to widen up their product range even more.
LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between leadership and
management in a contemporary business environment.
P6 Using examples from your chosen organisation, assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational management and decision-making by
leaders and managers
Operational management:
The internal factors that affect the operational management are as follows:
System and process used: An operational management technique can use the organization
better to create an organizational chart by using the management efforts. Specific functions
are assigned to specific person of the organization and to ensure that no operation of the
business is left unassigned (Laffy and Walters, 2016). The design of the products of the
organization is also included in the system and process that is the internal factors that have a
huge impact on the operational management.
The external factors that affect the operational management are as follows:
Economy: The economic factors affect the operational management plan of the organization.
The economic factors include the rate of interest, the rate of exchange, and recession,
inflation of the taxes and the demand or supply of products of the organization. The economic
factors are undoubtedly the most important environmental external factor that have a huge
impact on the economy of the organization on a greater scale.
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Trade law: The trade law affects the employee and the business relationship. The government
may change the rules and regulations of the business organization from time to time. Thus,
the trade laws play a huge role as an external factor in affecting the operational management
of Marks & Spencer.
Competitors: The competitor in the same business industry affects the business organization.
The NEXT PLC, the ASDA group and the TESCO being the competitors of the Marks &
Spencer have a huge impact in the growth of the business organization.
Distributors and suppliers: The distributors and the suppliers of the business organization
also plays an important role in achieving the objectives of the business and have a huge
impact, affecting the operational management of the Marks & Spencer. There are certain
commitments and targets that the distributors and the suppliers need to follow in order to
make a huge benefit of the business organization they are working for.
Decision making:
Innovation and commercialization: commercialization has become a major issue in today’s
world. The world is digitally advanced and innovation is the major part which can help in
making a business organization the top selling organization. The business would not able to
compete and make its way without the capital (Heyler et al., 2016). So, commercialization
plays an important role in this case.
Performance: The performance of the organization is another most important key factor that
helps in the decision making. The performance of the manager, the leaders and the entire
organization will help in improving the business and meet all its objectives and also meet the
requirements of the customers.
Training and development: After selection of the employees in an organization, training and
development is the most important thing that will help the organization reach the height. So, a
proper training of all the trainees and the employees of the Marks & Spencer should be taken
take by the training and development cell of the organization to ensure that the organization
can meet all the requirements.
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Conclusion
The operations manager of the Marks & Spencer has been given responsibility by the CEO of
the organization to investigate the impact of the leaders and the managers on the operations
of the organization. After successful completion of the task as allocated by the CEO, the
operational manager has produced a report for the senior leadership team which included an
introduction to the organization: Marks & Spencer and the management structure of the
business organization. The roles of both the managers and the leaders have been clearly
defined and the differences between the management and the leadership have been clearly
identified. The different roles of the management and the leadership team with application to
different organizational situations have also been discussed and that have been supported by
the relevant theories and concepts.
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Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2015. Situational leadership theory: a test from three
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