Role of Managers and Leaders in Operations Management - Bentley Motors Limited

This article discusses the role of managers and leaders in key approaches of operational management at Bentley Motors Limited. It covers leadership and management characteristics, situational context, and different theories and models of leadership. The article also explains the importance and value of operations management in attaining business objectives.

Management Operation

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1: Definition and comparison of role and characteristics of managers with leaders ................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2. Examining role of leader and function of a manager in different situational context...........3
P3: Applying different theories and models of leadership...........................................................5
PART 2............................................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4: Role of managers and leaders in key approaches of operational management.....................6
P5: Importance and value of operations management in attaining business objectives..............8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6: Assessing factors of business environment that impact operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers..................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Manager can be termed as an individual who is solely held responsible for supervising
and directing employees in order to make organisational performance better. Leaders are
individuals who encourages and motivates their followers towards a stated vision of
organisation. Operations management is primarily concerned with maximizing efficiency of
business processes to gain higher profits. Bentley Motors Limited is taken into consideration for
finer understanding the difference between role of a leader and functions of manager. Company
was founded in 1919 and has its headquarters in Crewe, United Kingdom.
This project includes a comparative study between role and characteristics of leader as
well as managers in connection with different business situations. It also illustrates role of
leaders and managers in managing business operations. This project depicts relationship between
leadership and management in accordance with dynamic business environment.
PART 1
TASK 1
P1: Definition and comparison of role and characteristics of managers with leaders
Leaders - Leader is an individual who influence people towards accomplishment of
goals, track things which can be improved and encourage people to move towards the better
vision (Abideen, Mohamad and Fernando, 2020). Leader needs to be compassionate or made
connections with employees to be successful whereas, leadership is the relation between
companion and those who gets inspired or provided direction by them. In Bentley Motors
Company Ltd. leaders act as an advisor to their workers by leads expertise, knowledge, counsel
to provide a wise perspective. They helps every employee like a coach who offers their skills
with proper guidance.
Managers – They are the individuals responsible for supervising and encouraging
employees in order to direct the progress of an organization (Aboelmaged and Hashem, 2018).
Managers are in charge of a department along with people who work in it. In Bentley Motors
Company Ltd. manager aids to perform all the five function which are planning, organizing,
controlling together with staffing and directing. Besides this function, interpersonal role is
managed by the managers interact with their employees. In informational role managers share
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and analyse information of employees and perform decision making. Various role and
characteristics of manager and leader in relevance to Bentley Motors Limited are as follows.
BASIS OF DIFFERENCE LEADER MANAGER
Characteristics
Roles
 Communication
Leaders are able to clearly
communicate with individual to
be clear and consistence in
providing guidance. Bentley
Motors Company Ltd. process
this by giving its team a proper
attention that they deserve by
diligently listening and explain
everything from company
perspective in concise manner.
 Problem solver
Leaders are being able to solve
the problems instantly and
creatively. Leaders of Bentley
Motors Company Ltd. look into
the problem from every angles as
possible after that they also
involve their employees in the
situation and take there opinion to
solve them.
 Mentor
Leader helps the employee by
guiding the right path. Leaders of
Bentley motors possess the
dimensional traits, as a friend and
mentor by regularly monitoring
 Goal oriented
Management is a goal oriented
process as it always aims to
achieve the goal in time.
Function of managers leads to
achieve organisational
objectives. In Bentley Motors
Company Ltd. managers uses
this approach by motivating
its employees for example, if
the companies aim is to sell
100 cars then, managers plan
the course of action and can
make appropriate plans.
 Effectiveness and
Efficiency
Effectiveness refers to
achieving goals and objectives
on time and efficiency refers to
best utilisation of resources.
Managers of Bentley Motors
Limited can balance both and
get the work done.
 Informational role
A manager is receiver and
collector of information which
effect its activities. In Bentley
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their workers with problem
solving approach .
 Clear vision
This means influencing the
employees to understand clear
vision. In Bentley Motors
Company Ltd. leader motivates
its workers to perform their duty
while guiding them for
performing the work. They also
provide them tools which they
needed to perform the given task.
Motors Limited, manager
transmits the information to
subordinates within the
organization.
 Decisional role
It involves choosing the
suitable alternative out of the
available ones. In Bentley
Motors Ltd., manager actively
design and initiate changes
within establishment.
TASK 2
P2. Examining role of leader and function of a manager in different situational context
Role of Leader- Visionary- A great leader clearly monitors path where their team is heading to along with
results they are going to achieve on that path (Atieh, 2021). An effective leader examines
position of its team in comparison with tomorrows objectives. Role of a leader is to create
a clear vision as well as communicate it so effectively and efficiently to others that they
join them in that journey. Leaders of Bentley Motors Ltd communicates their vision and
objectives with their employees and team effectively so that they understand and perform
task proficiently. Strategist- One of the major role of a leader is to be strategic in order to consistently
achieve results with as well as with help of others while using disciplined planned
processes carefully (Bai and Et. Al., 2018). Bentley Motors Limited's leaders transform
vision of organisation into real results by creating and developing effective strategies as
well as systems that empowers its employees or team.
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 Talent advocator- An effective leader unleashes capabilities of each team members in
order to enhance their performance, grow their careers as well as solve problems (Brown,
Bessant and Jia, 2018). Responsibilities of leaders of Bentley Motors Ltd also consists of
making essential measures to enhance performance of its team members by providing
proper training and coaching to them.
Function of Managers-
Basic functions of a good manager in context of Bentley Motors Ltd is as below- Planning- Managers of Bentley Motors Ltd first needs to identify and decide various
steps that should be kept under consideration in order to achieve organisational
objectives. These steps consists of measures by enhancing advertisements, sales staff as
well as inventory. Organising- After plan is being created, manager has to organise team and employees of
company according to the plan in order to perform it more effectively. Assisting work to
employees as well as granting authority between team and units are elements that being
performed by managers of Bentley Motors Ltd. Staffing- After managers of Bentley Motors Ltd pick out needs of organisation, they
decides to beef up staffing process under organisation. This staffing process includes
recruiting, selecting, training as well as developing employees. Manager of Bentley
Motors Ltd also works with human resource management in order to select its employees
with objective to achieve goals.
 Leading- Managers of Bentley Motors Ltd also functions in leading a task, project or a
team. Under this function, managers motivates, communicate, guides as well as
encourages its team members or employees to work effectively and proficiently with
objective to accomplish business objectives as well as gain career growth in terms of
promotion, increment, etc.
Role of a leader and functions of manager makes Bentley Motors Ltd to work effectively
in a desired direction towards achieving organisational objectives. Below are some situational
context where managers and leaders of Bentley Motors Ltd works together to achieve
organisational goals. Increase cost of production- Bentley Motors Ltd is facing situation of increase in cost in
terms of raw material, equipments, etc. In order to get rid of such situations leaders and
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managers works together by implementing some strategies to handle production process
while decreasing wastage of resources and increasing sales for company. To deal with
such situation of increased cost of production and purchase of material, managers of
Bentley Motors Ltd plan strategies to select its suppliers in terms of low cost and quality
material. While leaders of Bentley Motors Ltd engages effectively in motivating its
employees to adopt latest technologies to reduce cost of manufacturing and production.
They also creates a trustable environment for employees to work together proficiently
with an effective communication process between them.
 Increase sales- Managers of Bentley Motors Ltd works with HR management in order to
select high skilled marketers for company in order to enhance its sales proportion by
attracting more customers. Leaders of Bentley Motors Ltd makes clarification of vision
of company to its marketers as well as analyses their performance which helps in
creating strategies to enhance performance of its marketing team by providing proper
trainings to them.
P3: Applying different theories and models of leadership
Leadership theories delves into situation and behaviour of individual that evaluates why
certain people can act as leaders (Wang and Et. Al. 2018). To become an efficient leader, some
natural traits are ought to be present in individual such as ethics and morals standards, fosters
connection with followers and self-organisational skills. Some leadership theories in relevance to
Bentley Motors Limited are discussed below: Situational leadership theory suggests that leaders choose differential styles while
motivating and encouraging their followers according to their maturity level (Ferdows,
2018). For instance, delegating leadership style can be used for individuals having high
maturity. These individuals are capable and responsible enough to perform their task by
taking guidance from their superior. In participating leadership style, leaders belief in
making as well as maintaining relationship with their followers and made them
participant in decision-making process. Leaders at Bentley Motors Limited applied
different leadership styles for different business situations and employees. Leaders can
adopt a combination of situational leadership styles for current situation of increased cost
of production. Leaders can motivate employees to use new technology in order to reduce
cost of production. It is advantageous for organisation as by lowering their production
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cost, they can increase their profit margins. This practice is disadvantageous for Bentley
Motors Limited as employees are reluctant to accept any change in production process.
Any dominant behaviour of leaders can led company into increased turnover rate. System leadership theory is concerned with those leaders who are not in any specific
positional power and essentially aids an organisation in bringing together different people
to build a group in order to attain common objective (Glock, and Et. Al. 2019). Under
this, organisational leaders develops different conditions where employees has to perform
in a productive manner with respect to their potential. Leaders at Bentley Motors Limited
uses this type of leadership in present situation of reduction of sales. Leaders enhances
the potential of their marketing team by providing them sufficient trainings that aids in
increasing their sales. Leaders keep a strict check on workings of its employees so they
can help effectively in generating more sales. Application of this theory in operations can
delay decision-making process. These type of leadership style aids in making employees
more interactive and communicative.
 Contingency leadership theory states that effectiveness of leaders is contingent to given
situation or circumstances (Aguertault and Et. Al., 2018). According to this leaders
should decide first which leadership styles he wants to adopt as per given situation. It
says that leaders at Bentley Motors Limited should be flexible in choosing different
leadership styles in order to respond to a given situation. For instance, maturity level and
motivating factors for every individual is different. In current situation of increased cost
of production at Bentley Motors Limited, leaders can be autocratic or democratic in their
approach while motivating and encouraging employees to adopt changes. Application of
this theory in organisation is beneficial as it provides scope of flexibility in its working. It
is disadvantageous for Bentley Motors Limited as it is a complex approach to identify
different behaviour of varied employees.
PART 2
TASK 3
P4: Role of managers and leaders in key approaches of operational management
Operations management is a strategical area which is essentially concerned with planning
and designing production process and supervising business operations for manufacturing
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practices of differential goods and services (Guha and Kumar, 2018). In other words, operations
management comprises of varied tools and techniques which aids in production process of
organisation in order to gain efficiency and optimization. Effective management of operations
aids managers of Bentley Motors Limited in understanding various internal and external factors
hence gaining competitive advantage in market. With operations management in practice,
production process can be modified according to market dynamics. Various key approaches of
operations management and role of leader as well as manager in managing them are as follows:
 Six sigma is a statistical approach which chiefly focuses on gaining and maintaining
quality of products and services by limiting mistakes or defects (Gupta and Gupta,
2019). It suggested a specified permissible limit of presence of any defect in producing a
product that is 3.4 occurrence per million of commodity. It is beneficial for Bentley
Motors Limited as it aids in making improvements in production process and satisfying
customers.
Role of managers of Bentley Motors Limited is to identify and execute six sigma
approach in production process of organisation for increasing effectiveness and reducing cost.
Managers monitors manufacturing process closely in order to find any gap in actual and desired
results. They also perform planning function for establishing varied goals and objectives for
organisation and also hire specified personnel for implementing this practice.
Role of leaders of Bentley Motors Limited is to communicate the importance of six
sigma approach in production process. Leaders should encourage team effectiveness for
successful implementation of this approach and also provides direction to collective efforts of
employees.
 Total quality management can be described as an approach which ensures long-term
success to an organisation through satisfying their customers (Lee, 2018). For
successfully implementation of total quality management, employees of all the
departments are held responsible to bring effectiveness in process. It is beneficial for
Bentley Motors Limited as it aids in increase productivity by developing every process
equally.
Role of managers of Bentley Motors Limited in application of total quality management
in production process as a facilitator. Managers hire individuals who can work in collaborative
manner and with co-ordination to line managers. Those individuals should be provided with
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proper training by managers so that they can handle crucial project like total quality
management.
Role of leaders of Bentley Motors Limited is to set the necessary culture in which total
quality management can be implemented effectively. Leaders promotes the importance of this
approach in this organisation by maintaining stable contacts with employees and customers.
 Just-in-time is an inventory management method under which specific goods are bought
from suppliers only at the time of need (Magon and Et. Al. 2018). Primary motive of this
approach is to reduce holding costs of inventory and increase turnover of stocks. It is
beneficial for Bentley Motors Limited as it aids in managing production process
efficiently and complete the customer 's orders in time.
Role of mangers of Bentley Motors Limited in applying just-in-time principle is to keep
a direct relation with varied department such as production, marketing and selling.
Role of leaders of Bentley Motors Limited is to access employee's performance and to
keep a check on inventory.
P5: Importance and value of operations management in attaining business objectives
Business objectives can be described as the written explanation which an organisation
wants to achieve or attain in a specified period of time (Pianykh and Et. Al. 2020). For example,
increased revenue, improving quality, customer satisfaction and many more can be business
objectives of most of the organisations. Managing operations effectively is a crucial element of
every organisation. Importance of operations management in accordance with Bentley Motors
Limited are discussed below: Improves quality of products or services – Effective operations management aids in
improving quality of products and services which an organisation offers (Schönsleben,
2018). Top management at Bentley Motors Limited continuously strives to improve
quality of their luxury cars by extensive research on market trends, customer preferences
and implementing new technologies in production process. During pre-production
process, managers of Bentley Motors have keep their checklist ready for all processes to
align them with quality of products or services. To perform this in effective manner,
managers should ensures to aware every employee about product and its objective. After
development of final products, manager should ensure that needs of customer are fulfilled
and organisational objectives are met.
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 Increase satisfaction level of customers- Operations management helps to optimize
business activities in order to satisfy customers (Tortorella, Narayanamurthy and
Cauchick-Miguel, 2021). To effectively mange operations mangers of Bentley Motors
Limited adopts quality management process to keep a check on quality and also reducing
chances of mistakes and wastage of resources. By providing quality goods to customers,
it enhances their satisfaction level and also their buying behaviour towards a particular
brand. To ensure customer satisfaction, mangers should hire personnel carefully so that
they aligned themselves quickly with processes to provide quality products. Bentley
Motors Limited never showed any carelessness in maintaining their quality of luxury cars
for gaining massive satisfied customer base. It also aids in achieving business objectives
and goals.
Values of operations management in accordance with Bentley Motors Limited are
discussed below: Aids in generating more revenue- By gaining quality in products and customer
satisfaction, operations management helps in increase revenue of organisation. Customer
satisfaction gives Bentley Motors Limited positive image in the eyes of potential buyers.
This provides positive mouth publicity to brand that further aids company in gaining
competitive advantage in market. Aids in motivating employees – Effectively implemented operations management
techniques helps in motivating employees of Bentley Motors Limited as it provides a
sense of direction to them. Employees are ensured by managers that their efforts are not
gone waste and helps in achieving desired business objectives.
 Compliance to rules and regulations- Operations management also aids in complying to
various rules and regulations. This ensures that operations of Bentley Motors Limited are
in accordance with rules and regulations. This helps in avoiding any fines on company.
Adherence with rules and regulations also assists organisation in attaining its business
objectives.
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TASK 4
P6: Assessing factors of business environment that impact operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers
PESTLE Analysis is performed by companies to identify and evaluate various macro
external factors that impacted business operations adversely (Torlak, Demir, and Budur, 2019).
Top management and leaders of Bentley Motors Limited analyses differential external forces in
order to measure their impact on managing business operations and decision-making. Various
factors of PESTLE analysis with relevance to Bentley Motors Limited are as follows: Political factors- These encompasses circumstances such as political stability,
administrative system etc of a country. In UK, political landscape changes due to Brexit
agreement where British made an exit from European Union. Many employees who hail
from European Union left Bentley Motors Limited, it affects company operations
adversely as they faces skill shortage. Mangers of company need to find potential
employees that aligns with their operations management system. Economic factors- It includes GDP trends, tax rate, inflation etc. of a nation. Global
lockdown impacts on purchasing power of people and increased inflation rates in UK.
This affects business operations and decision-making process of Bentley Motors Limited
in a negative way as it results in decreased sales of their luxury cars. Leaders needs to
provide motivate and encourage their employees to work efficiently in hard time of
company. Social factors- These depicts factors like population, health care system etc of a country.
In UK, increased birth rates and migration activities of foreigners towards country helps
top management of Bentley Motors Limited to enhance their operations management.
Managers need to plan about expanding their marketing activities in order to cater large
customer base. Technological factors- United Kingdom is considered as one of the leading tech country.
It encourages its business houses to adopt various new technologies for increase country's
economy. Positive attitude of government of UK aids Bentley Motors Limited in
implementation of advanced machinery to be used in assembling process. Leaders should
inspire employees to adapt changes done in assembling process.
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 Legal factors- UK government have proposed many laws and regulations which are to be
followed by companies operating effectively in country. In order to be efficient in
operations management and decision-making process, managers of Bentley Motors
Limited adheres with regulations like equality act, maternity law, etc. Compliance of
these laws in proper manner help company to build a positive image in industry.
 Environmental factors- In UK, government, non-profit organisations and other trusts
works for balancing environment with industrialization. Managers of Bentley Motors
Limited works on those technologies that help in designing eco-friendly cars. Hence
these factors have positive impact of operations of management.
CONCLUSION
As per the above report it is concluded that leadership is a term or skills which is used to make
management work efficient. Management is a process which is used to manage work processes
that are undertaken under an organisation to assure its smooth follow of resources as well as
operations. Role of a manager under an organisation is to plan, organise, develop, control, etc.
process and strategies which are used to accomplish business growth. Operations management is
a way of managing operations of a business firm by managers with objective to work proficient
as well as effectively in order to accomplish business goals in time. Role of leaders in a company
is to visualize goals of organisation, create relative strategies needed to achieve those goals as
well as monitor processes and performance of their team member or employees with it desired
goals and projects.
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