Operations Management: Leadership, Management, and Business Objectives in Tesco

This assignment explores the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers within Tesco, a leading UK retailer. It examines how leadership and management functions differ in various situational contexts, applying theories like situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency. The assignment also delves into key approaches to operations management, including Six Sigma, TQM, Lean production, Kaizen, queuing theory, and JIT, highlighting their importance in achieving business objectives like increasing sales, surviving in a competitive market, and satisfying customers. Finally, the assignment analyzes external factors impacting operational management and decision-making, such as sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and stakeholder expectations.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
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Table of Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................3
LO1....................................................................................................................................4
Using examples from your organization define and compare the different roles and
characteristics of a leader and a manager [P1].................................................................4
LO2....................................................................................................................................6
Using examples from your chosen organization, examine examples of how the role of a
leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts. [P2]............6
Using examples from your chosen organization apply different theories and models of
approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency [P3].. . .7
LO3....................................................................................................................................9
Using examples from your chosen organization, explain the key approaches to
operations management and the role that leaders and managers play [P4]....................9
Using examples from your chosen organization explain the importance and value of
operations management in achieving business objectives [P5]......................................12
LO4..................................................................................................................................13
Using examples from your chosen organization assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational management and decision-making by leaders
and managers [P6]..........................................................................................................13
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................14
Reference List..................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
This assignment will compare the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders.
Additionally, the assignment will outline the functions of the leaders and managers in
the context of different organizational situation. This assignment will help in
understanding the theories and approaches in relation to leadership. With the help of
this assignment, it will be easier to understand the role of leaders and managers in
operation management. There are six different types of approaches to operation
management, which has discussed in the assignment. This assignment will be
conducted in reference to Tesco, the United Kingdom.
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LO1
Using examples from your organization define and compare the different roles
and characteristics of a leader and a manager [P1].
Leader: Leader is a person who motivates and encourages a group of individuals in
order to achieve the goal and objectives of the organization. Leadership is the ability of
an organizations management to accomplish the aim and objectives set by the
organization (Randel et al., 2016).
Manager: Manager is a person who takes up the charge of tasks assigned to the
groups. Managers make decisions concerning the tasks and operations of the
organization. The key purpose of the manager is to plan, preparing the budget and
organize the tasks (Loeffler et al., 2017).
Functions of manager of Tesco:
The role of manager of Tesco is to manage the organization by taking up the
responsibilities like planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and controlling. One of
the main purposes of the managers is to get their work done by employees by
numerous ways. Managers have the authority to hire employees as well as fire the
employees.
Functions of leader of Tesco:
The role of the leaders of Tesco is to take up flexible, fast and decisive action. The main
purpose of the leader is to surpass the competition and influence others within the
organization to perform good enough. Leadership gives direction to the company. It is
because the workforce of the organization must know the direction they are heading.
The purpose of the leader is to show the employees the way to perform effectively
concerning their responsibilities within the organization. A leader on daily basis
supervises the tasks assigned to the employees in order to ensure that they are
progressing well enough (Bolden, 2016).
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Comparison of the roles of leaders and managers of Tesco:
Comparison Basis Leader Manager
Approach Setting the direction for the
employees
Planning the tasks of the
employees
Attribute Focuses on predicting the
future
Focuses to create the future
Style Focuses on transformation of
the employees
Focuses on transacting from
the employees
Decision Facilitates the decision Makes the decision
Focus Employees within the
organization
Process carried within the
organization
Aim Development and growth of
the company
Attain the goal and objectives
of the company
Risk Leaders mitigates the risk Managers take the risks and
overcome them.
Dispute Leaders utilizes the disputes Managers avoid disputes
Change Leaders appreciate changes
and promotes them
Managers respond to the
changes in both positive and
negative manner
attempts Leaders go for effectiveness
i.e. “doing the right thing”
Managers go for efficiency i.e.
“doing things right”
Abilities Leaders have the ability to
influence the employees
Managers have the power
over the employees
Table 1: Comparison of the roles of leaders and managers
Source: (Dtpr.lib.athabascau.ca, 2018)
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LO2
Using examples from your chosen organization, examine examples of how the
role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational
contexts. [P2].
Stable situation:
In Tesco when the situation is stable, the leaders carry out with their regular jobs that
include directing the employees in the right direction to accomplish the objectives of the
organization. The leaders of Tesco focus on carrying out their general activities like
facilitating the decision, transforming the employees to work more effectively and
predicting the future of the organization. During stable situation when changes are not
taking place within the organization the leaders, look forward to put some kind of
change into action. On the other hand, the managers of various departments of Tesco
also carry out their day-to-day tasks, as they are the ones who response most quickly if
any kind of change takes place. The managers of Tesco plans out the tasks of the
employees based on the situation and does not gives them any kind of pressurizing
tasks during stable situation (Cummings and Worley, 2014).
Slow-to-moderate changing situation:
During slow-to-moderate changing situation, considerable and noticeable changes take
place in the organizational environment both internally and externally. In slow-to-
moderate, changing situation leaders of Tesco take up the initiative to change the
organizational activities by influencing the employees to adapt to the changes. On the
other hand, the managers of Tesco analyze the changing environment and notices if the
change will bring a positive or negative impact on the organization. If the manager
considers the change positive, he would help the leaders to promote it. As the planning
of the tasks are done by the managers of the company the managers make
modifications in mid and long duration of time to plan and organize the things that would
be fitting the new environment.
Fast changing situation:
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During fast changing situation the leaders and managers of Tesco has to respond
quickly as the changes that take place at a rapid pace could affect the organizational
activities in a negative manner. The leaders of Tesco during fast changing situations
adapt to the changes quickly and help the employees to get accustomed to the changes
as the changes take place very quickly. Due to quick changes within the internal
environment, it becomes tough for the employees to get accustomed to the changes
and they tend to perform their tasks quite inefficiently and harm the organization badly.
During fast changing situation the managers of Tesco has big role to play as they have
to take quick decisions regarding the activities of the organization carried out by the
employees. The managers have to make some huge changes in a short amount of time
in every functions of the organization to get accustomed to the new situation.
Using examples from your chosen organization apply different theories and
models of approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership and
contingency [P3].
Situational leadership:
Tesco follows the theory of situational leadership that helps the organization in order to
let the leaders of the organization to utilize the leadership style and approach based on
their followers’ level of growth. As per this model and theory, readiness of an employee
is showed as a combo of their commitment level and competence level. It is the key
aspect in order to determine the appropriate style of leadership. Tesco by following this
model and theory makes the leaders of the organization function and operate
dependent of their groups. Tesco makes their leaders work effectively through following
this theory as it says that for the leaders to be effective they are required to use right
approach of behavior at the right time in the development of the employees (Thompson
and Glasø, 2015).
System leadership:
Tesco follows the systems theory or model for the welfare of the organization.
Systematic leadership approach helps the organization to solve the issues that are
based on the identifying the general structure of the systems that are within the
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organization. As per the System model, each company is a huge system, which
consists of sub systems containing production system, recruitment system, marketing
system, promotion system, sale system and the financial system (Northouse, 2018).
Tesco works based on this system as the outcomes of Tesco depends upon the quality
and class of inputs (resources like technology, money and staffs) and the process of
transformation that converts or transforms the input to output. In Tesco, the managers
must plan for the output intended, gather the resources required and lead the
employees during the procedure, and control their activities.
Contingency leadership:
Tesco also follows the contingency perspective as it says, “there is no best approach
to management for every situation”. According to this model, managers are
accountable for determining the most appropriate managerial approach that would be
most effective for that specific situation (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The managers of
Tesco require identifying and analyzing the key possibilities for a specific situation so
that it turns out to be beneficial for the company. Tesco analyzes the external
environment, which consists of the expectations of the consumers, competition level
and regulations as well as the internal environment such as the corporate strategies,
management department, etc. It helps the organization to change the management and
leadership roles according to the situation in order to get accustomed.
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LO3
Using examples from your chosen organization, explain the key approaches to
operations management and the role that leaders and managers play [P4].
The main focus of the operation management is to manage the processes that will help
in producing and distributing the products and services. The management operation is
also concerned in converting the labour and material into the goods and services as
effectively as possible, which will help in maximizing the profitability of the organization.
There are six approaches to management operation, which are as follows:
 Six-sigma: Six-sigma was developed by Motorola in the year 1986, which
emphasizes the cycle-time enhancement. It helps the operation management to
eliminate the defected products. Additionally, six-sigma focuses on providing
better services to the customers, sustaining and improving products and services
and meeting requirements of the customers. With the help of six-sigma
approach, the operation management of Tesco will be able to provide better
quality products to the customers (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014). With the help of this
approach, Tesco will be able to specify the problems in a clear way.
 Total Quality Management (TQM): Total quality management can be described
as the management system that is based in the principle that every member of
the staff must be committed to maintain high standards of work in every aspect of
the operation of the company. In this approach, every employee of Tesco
participates in the improvement of the process, services, products and the culture
in which they are working (Ross, 2017). With the help of TQM, the operation
management of Tesco will be able to aim at continual enhancement of the
business operation. It also helps in enhancing the procedure that is in place for
production. The operation management of Tesco will also be able to monitor the
work of the employees. This will help in increasing the performance of the
employees. Tesco can implement total quality management to minimize the
inventory and waste.
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 Lean production: Lean production is mainly concerned about doing more with
less by employing fewer employees. Additionally, lean production is mainly
concerned in determining what activities or processes will add value by
minimizing the other aspects of the business. If the one of the process of Tesco
is not adding value, then the operation management should allocate the
resources to the other process, which is adding more value to the organization
(Jasti and Kodali, 2015). This will also help Tesco to focus on the products and
process that is generating more value to the organization.
 Continuous Improvement (Kaizen): Continuous improvement also refers as
Kaizen can be described as the ongoing enhancement of products and services
with the help of breakthrough and incremental improvement. For supporting the
continual improvement of Tesco should examine the process for discovering to
eliminate the problems. This can be achieved by making small changes rather
than making more changes in the process. By focusing in the process, the
management of Tesco will be able to bring improvement in the level of customer
satisfaction. Additionally, this will also help Tesco to eliminate the process the
activities that are not adding any value to the organization. By implementing this,
Tesco can assure that all the activities will add value to the organization.
 Queuing theory: Queuing theory mainly deals with the issues is existing in
queuing or waiting of the organization. Queuing theory can be used for
developing more efficient queuing system that can help in the minimizing the
waiting time of the customers. This will help Tesco to increase the number of
customers that it can serve. With the help of the queuing theory, Tesco will be
able to offer better and faster customers’ service. This will help in attracting new
customers and at the same time, retaining its existing customers (Boer et al.,
2015).
 Just-in-Time (JIT): Just in time approach can be defined as the inventory
strategy that can be used by Tesco to reduce the waste and increase the
efficiency by receiving the raw materials only when it is required. In order to
implement this approach, the management of Tesco is required to forecast the
demand of the products more accurately. This will help in increasing the
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profitability of the company, as they will be able to meet the demand of the
customers in an easier way. With the help of Just in time, there will be less space
required to keep the products, as no unnecessary stocks are required to be kept
in the warehouse of Tesco.
Role of leader in operation management:
 The leadership capability of operation management encourages its employees to
design better innovative products and services that can help in meeting the
requirements of the customers.
 An operation leader focuses on motivating the employees to care about the jobs
quality that they are performing and products quality that they are offering to the
customers (Donate and de Pablo, 2015).
 An operation leader encourages its employees to stay positive when the
operation of the company is not operating effectively and efficiently for the
particular period of time.
 An operation leader also inspires the employees for overcoming the task related
difficulties and staying safe in the workplace.
Role of manager in operation management:
 The main responsibility of the operation managers is to plan and supervise the
employees in their provision of services.
 Operation managers develop, acquire and deliver the products and services as
per the demand of the clients, which is based on the capability of the company.
 Operation manager helps in enhancing the efficiency of raw materials by making
effective use of raw materials and ensuring minimum wastage of raw materials in
the company. In order to achieve this, operation manager makes use of
economic order quantity to determine the amount inventory that is required to be
processed (Heizer, 2016)
 Operation manager is also involved in developing and coordinating new
processes by re-evaluating the current structure of the company.
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Using examples from your chosen organization explain the importance and value
of operations management in achieving business objectives [P5].
 Increasing sales: One of the main objectives of Tesco is to increase the sales of
the company. The operation management of Tesco helps in producing better
quality services to the customer in the lowest cost that is affordable to the
customers. This will help in increasing the base of customers by providing better
services to the customers. By providing products affordable prices, Tesco will be
able to attract more numbers of customers. On the other hand, operation
management also helps in improving the efficiency of the company (Mahadevan,
2015).
 Surviving in the competitive market: The operation management helps in
lowering the cost by eliminating the waste of the company. Tesco will also
provide quality products and services that would meet the needs of the
customers. This will help Tesco to gain competitive advantage over its
competitors. Reducing the waste of the company will help the company to
generate high profitability and revenue of the company (Welford, 2016). Meeting
to the needs of the customers will also help Tesco to increase its market share.
Operation management helps in balancing the cost with the revenue of the
company to achieve the highest operating profit of the company.
 Satisfying customers: Another business objective of Tesco is to satisfy the
needs of the customers. The operation management of the company will help in
producing the products of highest quality. The operation management of Tesco
also ensures that the products and services are provides on time to the
customers. By proving the products in time to the customers will help in satisfying
the wants of the customers. This also helps in increasing the revenue of the
company (Lin et al., 2016).
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LO4
Using examples from your chosen organization assess the factors within the
business environment that impact upon operational management and decision-
making by leaders and managers [P6] Effect of sustainability: Sustainability can be more costly and more complicated
for the operation management of the company. If the company becomes more
dependent on the sustainable methods, then it can add more cost to the
operation of the company. This may require higher investment for the company.
The leader and manager needs to develop some strategy that will help in
implementing the sustainable methods without increasing the burden on the
company.
 Corporate social responsibility: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
encourages Tesco for taking some responsibility for the well being of the non-
customers and customers. This has affected the workings of the operation
management, as they only focus on the customers of the organization. The
operation management of Tesco will have to develop some strategy to ensure
that CSR activities do not affect the profitability of the company (Schwartz, 2017).
Additionally, this will also affect the decision of the leader and manager, as
shareholders may not be willing to spend the resources of the company on the
non-customers. Stakeholders: Different stakeholders have different expectation from the
company. It will be difficult for the company to meet the expectation of the
company. This can affect the performance of the operation management. For
example, customers, one of the groups of stakeholders may have the want of
high quality products at affordable prices but at the same time, management
(another stakeholder) may want the customers to pay high prices for the products
and services. So, it is important for the operation management to take effective
decision to increase the profitability of the customers.
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Conclusion
This assignment has compared the roles and characteristics of the leaders and
manager in the organization. This assignment has also displayed the theories and
approaches related to the leadership. From the above assignment, it has been identified
that the leaders and managers perform different functions as per different situations.
From the above assignment, it has been identified that with the help of the total quality
management, the operation management of Tesco will be able to eliminate the waste of
the company, which can help in increasing the profitability and revenue of the company.
From the above assignment, it has been identified that operation management helps in
increasing the sales and satisfaction level profit of the organization.
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