Operations Management in Retail: A Case Study of Marks and Spencer

This report explores the role of operations management in a retail setting, using Marks and Spencer as a case study. It examines different approaches to operations management, the functions of a store manager, and the impact of external factors on decision-making. The report also analyzes leadership styles and their relevance to the organization's success.

Management and Operations
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
Reference list:................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
There is a selected and continued path or a continued workforce for each of the organisation, the
leaders and managers are the person who shows the path towards the employees. They are the
human community which helps employees of the organisation to leads towards a targeted goal of
the organisation. Based on this particular context, the functions of a leader and manager are quite
different and similar at the same time. The analysis of leadership largely based and adopted from
the theories based on it. Other than that as the leader have different type of approach towards the
organisation, this is why leaders clearly imply their own skills towards the organisation.
The current report is based on the factors of the research adoption of the leadership and
management styles of an organisation. As per the fact the leadership and management styles are
even different from each other, but still how the development programmes works together, the
report states about that.
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Task 1
Introduction
Each of the organization have own targets or goals to achieve, in order to achieve that goal, the
manager and leader of the organization plays a big role in that. The chosen organisation is
‘Marks and Spencer’. In order to train the employees of the organisation with the aim of making
them the future leader or manager. Leader of the organization tries to motivate and inspire the
employees to encourage their work in a proper way. On the other hand, manager is the person,
who makes sure that the workflow should be maintained, employees are getting a good work
environment, for the sake of the work and so on.
a) Differences and similarities between a leader and manager considering their roles and
characteristics.
The differences of the leader and manager are evaluated below:
Leader Manager
Way more responsible Less responsible
Motivational and inspirational towards the
employees
Directive or authoritative approach towards the
employees
A leader of an organization is cautious and
fearless
the manager is self contained
Table 1: Differences between a leader and manager
(Source: Created by the learner)
Differences Role and responsibilities
The role and responsibilities of the leader of the organization and manager of the organization is
considered to be one of the biggest differences in Marks and Spencer’s. A manager’s role in the
company is to instruct the employees, on the other hand the leader who takes the responsibility
of the work and motivates or inspire their employees to make the work happen. Authority and power
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Another difference is the authority and power of the leader and manager. A leader is involved in
each of the segment of the work this is why the leader of the organization have more power and
authority than the manager, at times the leader can even instruct the manager as well. Approach towards problems
As per as the leader is way more involved towards the organization this is why that person has
way more responsibility towards the organization. This is why the kind of approach the leader is
able to do that is quite different from the managers. Traits
A leader of an organization is cautious and fearless at the same time. The ability of adaptability
is way more of a leader than a manager. On the other hand the manager is somebody who is self
contained. As per this factor causes various situational problems from the managers and the work
gets hampered as well (Bolman and Deal, 2017).
Similarities Dealing with critical situation
On the cases of situational contexts both the leader and manager deals with the situation. In the
scenarios of the crisis situations both the manager and leader have to work in a collaborative
manner, other than that there is going to be no solution for the problem. Critical thinking
Whenever the business organization is going through a situation, where the organization is
unable to cater the demands of the market. At that time manager and leader of the organization
need to work in a collaborative manner. Both contributes towards the foundation and structure of the organization
On situational contexts both the leader and manager deals with the situation. This is why both
contribute towards the foundation and structure of the organization (Zagenczyk et al., 2015).
b) The functions of a manager according to Fayol and how a manager in your organization
performs these functions using various examples.
Role of a leader, focused on Fayol’s management principles, are evaluated below:
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Figure 1: Fayol’s management
(Source: Hatchuel and Segrestin, 2018)
 In the organisation named Marks and Spencer, the leader specifies all the individuals
and separates them into different groups and departments. Now this segmentation of the
employees depends on factor of the skills of employees, this will help the organisation’s
employees work in more efficient manner and the company will easily achieve their goal.
 As per the fact the leader considered to have a lot of authority and power in order to
achieve the organisational goal. For this coherence the leader gains a lot of respect from
the employees.
 Each of the employees has their own kind of approach and capability towards their work,
but they should be treated equally. This is why the leader should be able to motivate all
the employees, in order to get the work in an efficient manner. The employees of an
organisation considers being one of the biggest assets of the organisation, this is why they
should be treated in a proper manner.
 Another important role of the leader is the decision making skills. An organisation goes
through various problems while the work is running. At times business organization is
going through a situation, where the organization is unable to cater the demands of the
market. At this type of situation the leader of an organisation plays an important role by
taking the right type of decision (Medlin and Green, 2014).
Role of a manager, in order to have a greater impact in the organisation and make the employees
work in more efficient manner, after over viewing all the situation of the organisation the
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managerial approach is important towards an organisation. Focused on Fayol’s management, are
evaluated below:
 The work environment of the organization depends a lot upon the decision of the
manager; at times the management of the organization may have to make the employees
of the organization more in order to fulfill the demands of the work. There are various
situational contexts where it is proved that the manager of the organization guided the
employees in a justified manner and the employees of the organization came to work in a
better manner.
 Maintaining the perspective of equality is one of the most important things in an
organization. Keeping the persona; factors out of the professionalism is considered to be
one of the main factors of the manager, the manager should not be biased to words any
employee (Dumez, 2018).
c) Situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency leadership using various
scenarios in your organization to support your explanation.
The situational theory of the management is considered to be one of the most important factors;
it basically aims to be in the case of the approach of each of the leadership personality. The
leadership styles are evaluated below:
Democratic Style
The democratic style of the leadership style states that the employees should be well informed
about the task which they are supposed to achieve. They should get the proper type of freedom
which they aim to achieve. Other than this whenever the employees do not get to access the
freedom like this, they feel an amount of dependency in the stretch of their work (Hughes et al.,
2017).
Autocratic style
The autocratic leadership style is where the leader gets to have all the power and that person will
be able to do each of the decision-making. During the time of taking any type of decision one
thing which the leader always keeps in mind that is the employees of the organisation do have
the acceptance of the leadership or not. The employees should have the same type of thought
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about the decision, other than that the aim achievement of the organisation is going to be very
far.
Laissez-faire style
In laissez-faire style the employees get to have the highest amount of freedom towards the
employees. The employee of the organisation requires getting the proper type of freedom which
they aim to achieve of the organisation named ‘Marks and Spencer’s. Other than this whenever
the employees do not get to access the freedom like this, they feel an amount of dependency in
the stretch of their work.
The pros and cons of this leadership styles are explained below:
 The advantage of the leader and manager is they get to access a large amount of power
and they will be able to lead the organisation towards a better aim or the way in which
they want.
 Other than this, the problem can occur like the employees of the organisation may not get
the kind of work freedom which they need (Mwenda and Wachira, 2015).
The organization have own targets or goals to achieve, in order to achieve that goal, the manager
and leader of the organization plays a big role in that. The chosen organisation is ‘Marks and
Spencer’. The situational theory of the management is considered to be one of the most
important factors; it basically aims to be in the case of the approach of each of the leadership
personality. A manager’s role in the company is to instruct the employees, on the other hand the
leader who takes the responsibility of the work and motivates or inspire their employees to make
the work happen. The leadership styles and its negative impacts are also explained.
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Task 2
The manager of a big organisation requires provide a seminar on operation management. The
chosen store for the sake of speech is Marks and Spencer. A manager of the brand requires being
the pilot of the business organisation, as per the fact that through his/her point of vision towards
the aim for the business organisation and the employees of the organisation is going to work in
that way. The operations management is the one thing which provides an idea towards the
structure of the business.
1. Explain different approaches to operations management and identifying what is used in
your store.
Operation management is field of business, which is directly involved, with the factors of
involving the professional managerial skills along with the entire organizational process for an
organization. It has been suggested by several researchers that, skills and the tools are the most
beneficial factors for developing a proper operational management skill. Different approaches of
the operational management are as follows:
Project management:
In case of large organizations, the project managers plays vital role in order to judge the most
beneficial factors for the company to plan for the organization and to increase the productivity of
the company. Moreover, in this aspects, the Marks and Spencer’s company is in operation for a
longer times in the market and they have successfully managed to implement suitable business
strategies for the company itself (Bromiley and Rau, 2016). The project managers of M&S are
continuously monitoring the current fashion trends in the market and are finding out suitable
strategies based upon which the desired target can be meet. While the customers are finding out
the products and the service offered by the company is proper, they are being interested to
purchase more from the company. Therefore, the operation managers need to be devoted enough
so that they can fulfill the demands of the customers appropriately.
Customer driven approaches:
This is the most important task for an operational department of an organization, which leads in
fulfilling the desired target in the market. While operation managers are properly accustomed
with the exact demands and needs of the customers, it becomes easy for them to divert the entire
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trading process according to that (Pérez et al., 2017). However, entire business environment and
the economic condition of the market somehow affect the strategies implemented by the
operation managers. While evaluating the customers’ demands, the managers need to judge the
potential of the company and should maintain the proper profitability level for the company. by
the help of all these strategies, the M&S company has been successful in the domestic an in the
international market.
Product and service quality:
Customers prefers best quality product within the reasonable price limit. Remembering all these
factors, the managers of the M&S Company should build up an effective business policy, which
will meet the demands of the customers. Moreover, while the customers are getting the proper
product within the price limit, they are diverting the purchasing choice to the company, which is
helpful to generate proper revenue amount for the company. Besides this, the word of mouth
approach is also helpful for the company to attract customers from the international market.
Furthermore, the managers of the company should maintain the proper quality of the products so
that the goodwill of the company is maintained. Being a large retail company, M&S has
successfully managed to incorporate all the suitable strategies, which have been appreciated by
the customers, and at the same time, the company is gaining proper revenue from the trading.
2. Explain what makes your role as a store manager a classic example of an operations
manager.
There are several functions that is operational manager need to play for the organization. As
store managers for the organization, I need to make up a suitable planning for the organization,
which will be helpful to implement the strategies. In this scenario, I should develop suitable
planning which will give the company competitive advantage to survive in the market. The first
priority of the store managers is to build up a suitable communication with the customers’ and to
understand the demands of the customers. The store manager should be responsible enough in
order to improve the customer relationship approach and to have the suitable implications of the
strategies that will help the company to meet the business objectives. Therefore I should be
careful enough to judge whether the strategies are being propeller fulfilled o not. It is also my
responsibility to monitor the employees’ performance in the store. At the same time, I have to
monitor whether the customers are getting opportunity to have the exact product from the store
and to collect reviews from them, regarding the service process, this is beneficial to improve the
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goodwill of the company. Sometime as store manager, I have to guide the customers to get the
exact products and to understand the demands of the customers.
I should encourage the customers to spend more time in the store and to have a look to all the
products. Besides this, I should encourage the customers to suggest the company regarding the
fashion products and the procedures by following which the company can serve the customers
better. However, I must emphasize on the factors of the overall internal and external
communication and to judge the improvement in the day by day basis. I have to prepare a report
properly by including all the feedbacks from the store. Based on the information of the report, I
should obey the suggestions from my higher authority to improve the service efficiency. The
better customers’ company relationship is a vital factor that helps to improve the service
efficiency and the customers’ feels free to shop in the retail stores of the company. The interior
and exterior architectures of the store also attract the customers to shop. Hence all these factors I
should maintain carefully a store managers.
3. Explain the importance of operations management in your store.
The manager of the store mostly plays the role of the operations manager, in various certain
cases. The strategies which is aligned to the context of essential investments and the regulatory
compliance, is considered to be one of the important role played by the operational manager in
the store. The operations manager always make a business plan in order to make the business
development plan, in order to achieve the goal of the organization (Smallbusiness.chron.com,
2018). There are several areas where a business operations manager works. The steps are
explained below:
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Figure 2: Operations management diagram
(Source: Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2018)
There are several problems goes in an organization while running the business. The organization
always need to present elements those are unique towards the customers. In order to maintain
that factor the operations manager should always stay in the huger for creating something new
and innovative. The things which will give the potential customers to give reasons to come back
to the particular business organization and maintain the loyalty towards the enterprise named
Marks and Spencer.
Resources
It is the responsibility of the operations manager to maintain good relationship which each of the
stake holders as they are considered to be one of the main resources for the organization. There
are many people who considered are the stake holders of the business organization. The suppliers
and partners of the company are considered to be one of those people who have the capability to
serve the organization a lot. The product which serves the customers of the organization is
provided by the suppliers. This is why in order to get the supply of the product in a proper
manner, the operation manager need to maintain good relationship with them, and give certain
type of solution to all the problems that the suppliers has. Then the development plan of the
business is going to work in a proper manner. Another thing on which the manager keeps an eye
on that is the factor of the technological development which will help the organizations in order
to uplift the business organization towards success (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2018).
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Capacity
Maintaining the perspective of equality is one of the most important things in an organization.
The operations manager focuses on these factors of quality. Keeping the persona; factors out of
the professionalism is considered to be one of the main factors of the manager, the manager
should not be biased to words any employee (Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2018).
4. Identify and assess the key outside factors that can have an effect on the operations
management for your organization.
The retail business organization named Marks and Spencer is considered to be one of the largest
business organizations which made a global arena for the sake of its business. There are some of
the key factors of the organization; through the PESTEL analysis of the business organization
will definitely be able to understand the effect in the organization of operations management. It
is evaluates below:
Political
Before any business organization makes a house policies one thing which each of the
organization keeps in mind that is the political scenario of that country. The politically stable
countries do have the potential to provide more business growth towards the organization. In the
case of the developing countries the governments are in the support of the stores (Demkovich et
al., 2018).
Economic
Business growth of Marks and Spencer mostly depends on the economy of the country. The
politically developed countries anyway have the potential to give the business growth way more
towards the business organization. However, the business organization got affected because of
the session of economic growth in the developing countries.
Social
Each of the business organization creates the product in order to cater the demand of the society.
This is why these factors should always be kept in the mind. As retail store serves various
products towards the society. This is why the organization needs to know all the cultural and
regional factors of the organization. Whenever the organizations get to understand all these
factors then they have a huge potential to grow in the developing countries (Thompson et al.,
2017).
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Technological
The factor of the technological development which will help the organizations, in order to uplift
the business organization towards aim of achieving its goal.
Environmental
The business organizations effort to develop the factor of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
is a significant important factor to access. Now a day each of the individual aims to have a good
standard of lifestyles, the store manager should be able to influence or manipulate the
promotional methods of the brand in a good manner. Marks and Spencer is basically leading the
developing countries towards a better lifestyle.
Legal
Just like the political factors the legal factors are also considered to be quite an important thing,
in particular. The business organization should be able to maintain all the legal rules and
regulations other than this it becomes difficult for Marks and Spencer to survive in a country
(Booy et al., 2017).
5. How are these factors impact upon your decision making as a store manager?
A store manager’s skill of decision making affects a lot upon the factor on which the business
organization is leading business in. An organization goes through various problems while the
work is running. At times business organization is going through a situation, where the
organization is unable to cater the demands of the market. At this type of situation a store
manager of an organization plays an important role by taking the right type of decision (Ahearne
et al., 2015).
Political scenario of a business organization influences the decision of a store manager of an
organization. The politically stable countries do have the potential to provide more business
growth towards the organization. In the case of the developing countries the governments are in
the support of the stores. Whenever the political scenario a country is unwell at those situations
each of the time the manager makes a decision have to keep that factor in mind. The business
organizations effort to develop the factor of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a
significant important factor to access. Now a day each of the individual aims to have a good
standard of lifestyles, the store manager should be able to influence or manipulate the
promotional methods of the brand in a good manner (Ahearne et al., 2015).
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Another factor which is there that got a huge impact the decision making of the store manager of
the business organization that is the social factor. The business organization creates the product
in order to cater the demand of the society. This is why these factors should always be kept in the
mind. As retail store serves various products towards the society. This is why the organization
needs to know all the cultural and regional factors of the organization. Whenever the
organizations get to understand all these factors then they have a huge potential to grow in the
developing countries.
Another thing which makes the influence in the sector of decision making of the store manager,
that is the technological factor a manager cannot demand or make a decision on something on
which cannot be technologically developed. This is why the kind of technology is the business
organization is using provides a lot of effect in the factor of decision-making of the store
manager of Marks and Spence’s (Ahearne et al., 2015).
The retail business organization named Marks and Spencer is considered to be one of the largest
business organizations which made a global arena for the sake of its business. There are some of
the key factors of the organization. A store manager’s skill of decision making affects a lot upon
the factor on which the business organization is leading business in. An organization goes
through various problems while the work is running. The strategies which is aligned to the
context of essential investments and the regulatory compliance, is considered to be one of the
important role played by the operational manager in the store. The operations manager always
makes a business plan in order to make the business development plan.
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Conclusion
The leaders and managers are the person who shows the path towards the employees. They are
the human community which helps employees of the organisation to leads towards a targeted
goal of the organisation. Based on this particular context, the functions of a leader and manager
are quite different and similar at the same time. The chosen organisation is ‘Marks and Spencer’.
The situational theory of the management is considered to be one of the most important factors;
it basically aims to be in the case of the approach of each of the leadership personality. An
organization goes through various problems while the work is running. The strategies which is
aligned to the context of essential investments and the regulatory compliance, is considered to be
one of the important role played by the operational manager in the store. The operations manager
always makes a business plan in order to make the business development plan.
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