Rolls Royce: A Case Study in Leadership, Management, and Operations

This report examines the roles of leaders and managers in the context of Rolls Royce, a multinational company operating in over 135 countries. It explores the differences between leadership and management, analyzes the application of these roles in various organizational contexts, and delves into key operational management approaches adopted by Rolls Royce. The report also investigates the impact of internal and external factors on operational management and decision-making within the company.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
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INTRODUCTION
The description has been formulated with the objective of the role of managers and leaders
in the organization for the improvement of the quality of products and to raise high profits
from the products supplied to the market. The research includes the study of Rolls Royce a
multinational company from the USA operating in more than 135 countries. The report
includes the roles of leaders and managers and explains how they are different from one
another. The report also includes the execution of their work by the application of various
management theories. The chosen organization is Rolls Royce because we see effective
managerial traits acquired by the managerial authorities of Rolls Royce and the study of
these traits will help in the better understanding of management and operations within the
company.
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LO 1
P1 DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND THE FUNCTION
OF A MANAGER
BACKGROUND OF ROLLS ROYCE
Organisations managed and functioned by the effective leaders and managers increase the
profit of company exponentially. Rolls Royce is a multinational company functioning in more
than 135 countries and deals in various business ventures ranging from defence, civil,
marine etc. the engines manufactured by Rolls Royce can be found in every jet aerospace. It
is estimated that about 1, 41,000 engines are needed in next 20 years and Rolls Royce are
committed towards it (Pugh, 2015). The increase in demand is coming from rapid emerging
markets like Middle East, Latin America and South Asia. Rolls Royce has a high capacity of
engineering and researching and it can be applied to different segments of manufacturing.
Rolls Royce is determined in providing the best quality service to its users and retailers. The
managerial authority in Rolls Royce plays a prominent role in taking all the actions to the
execution the leaders and the high official's boost the workers and this motivation to
customers make them enthusiastic and thus Rolls Royce is a brand established and
maintained by the employees and managers of the company.
LEADER
A leader is a person within the hierarchy of the company who sets the vision for the team
and motivates them to achieve the vision by influencing several innovations. It is the leader
who by his foresightedness assigns the tasks to several members of the team and
encourages them to work with cooperation and coordination in achieving the common goal
(Northouse, 2018). A leader is present at all levels of the organisation and assists the
workers by guiding and teaching them the working of the company and encourages the
workers to work as a whole within the team.
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MANAGER
A manager is a person who manages all the functioning of the company. It is the manager
who is responsible for the proper execution, direction, and control and planning of the
actions. Managers are higher officials of the organisation and have rights to hire employees
and can also fire an employee according to his wish (Armstrong, 2011). Managers are
present at various levels of the company and possess many folios like Top-Level managers,
Functional Managers, Project Managers.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MANAGERS AND LEADERS
MANAGERS LEADERS
Managers are the persons who set the
objective of the company.
Leaders set the path for the achievement of
objectives.
Managers manage the communications
between leaders of different teams.
Leaders manage the communication
between the members of the team.
Managers provide steps for the groups to
follow
Leaders provide the procedures for the
achievement of objectives.
Managers put their focus on the objectives. Leaders put their focus and emphasize
people
Managers give their direction to people for
the achievement of specific tasks.
Leaders give direction to people as directed
by managers.
Managers promote innovations for the
betterment of work in a company
Leaders put the innovations provided by the
managerial authority in the work.
The role of leaders and function of managers in the organizations are as follows:
Planning:
Managers plan out the objectives which are to be covered in Rolls Royce and this planning is
undertaken by the different managers which form the authority. The Planning in an
organisation is the first and foremost thing in Rolls Royce because the company is trying its
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hands to enrich the efficiency of production of engines to meet the increasing demand in
the market.
Organizing:
The managers of Rolls Royce utilize the available resources in efficient ways such that it will
have the positive impact on the production of the company. The leader's role is to allocate
the available resource to the members of the team.
Directing:
Managers direct the work to leaders and leaders direct the work to workers. It is the duty of
the manager to have a check on the leaders and leaders watches the working of workers
and motivate them to work productively by increasing efficiency.
Staffing:
As per Cascio, 2018 the prior thing for any organisation to be successful is the proper
staffing. Managers staff the workers who have good skills, Leaders on other hands tries to
get best out of the skills and thus the proper staffing of the employees helps the company in
doing works in a better way.
Controlling:
The strategies and goals made by managers and leaders will be in vain if the proper
controlling of the work is not done so as to provide the best enough exposure of the
efficiency and productivity of the workers. If a work is not controlled it will damage the
entire working chain because there will not be any discipline in works and the workers will
not pay proper attention towards the work and the productivity and the working of the
company will fail and thus it will have a negative impact if the work is not controlled.
Motivating:
Managers are the authorities which motivate the leaders to take the work from the workers
efficiently (Diefendorff et. al, 2011). This is the persons within the company which
recognizes the work of a leader and motivated in doing the work. Leaders recognize the
employee’s potential and their appraisal are sent to the higher authorities and such they will
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be recognized by the top management and this recognition within the organisation will
boost their zeal in working with more hard work within the company.
LO2
P2 APPLICATION OF ROLES OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN DIFFERENT
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS
Leaders and managers play a significant role in the smooth and efficient operation of
different organizational activities. There are different organizational situation which can
influence the roles of leaders and managers. The three most possible organizational
situations are stable situation, slow to moderate changing situation and fast-changing
situation (Baldwin, et al. 2012).
STABLE SITUATION
The situation where an organization does not any kind of modification or change in its
business strategies is stable situation. In this situation, a company follows its existing
strategies to run its business operations. In this situation leaders and managers guides
employees to accomplish their task in an efficient manner (Hunt, et al. 2013).
SLOW TO MODERATE SITUATION
In this situation, initially, an organization makes slow changes in its business strategies and
then implements the moderate changes. In this situation, it is responsibilities of leaders and
managers to prepare their employees to work according to the changes.
FAST CHANGING SITUATION
An organization undergoes fast changes in order to respond effectively to the different
changes. Leaders and managers play significant role in this situation in order to achieve the
significant growth.
Rolls Royce is undergoing slow to moderate situation. The leaders and managers of the
company develop the strategies to respond effectively to the different organizational
situations. The different reasons behind these changes change in need and demand of the
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customers, changes in taxes, changes in competitors' activities, changes in inner
organizational changes etc.
The managers of the Rolls Royce perform the different functions in order to respond
effectively to different situations. Key functions of managers of Rolls Royce are planning,
organizing, leading and controlling.
Figure1: Functions Of Manager
[Source: Business consi, 2018]
Planning- It is an important function of manager which deals with the development of
effective plans for responding different organizational changes. The manager of the Rolls
Royce considers all the different associated with the changes in order to respond effectively
to the different changes (Kinicki, et al. 2014).
Organizing- After the development of plan, managers of Rolls Royce organize their
employees and other resources according to the plan. Manager assigns the tasks and grant
authority to team members in order to respond the changes (Shockley-Zalabak, 2014).
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Leading – Leading is an important function of manger which includes communicating,
motivating, guiding and encouraging employees to deliver the better and required
performance. The managers of Rolls Royce coach and assist the employees so that they can
work according to the plan in an efficient manner. Managers also help employees in solving
their problems so that they can perform their assigned role in an efficient manner.
Controlling – It is important for a manager to monitor and control the plan in order to
achieve better and desired results. Managers of Rolls Royce check results continuously so
that the required changes can be implemented to achieve the desired results
All these functions of manager help Rolls Royce in responding effectively to the different
organizational changes. Leaders of the company also adopt the different leadership style in
order to handle the different organizational changes.
Key leadership styles which are adopted by the leaders of Rolls Royce are directive style,
participative style, supportive style and achievement-oriented style.
Directive style - In Directive leadership, a leader directs its employee regarding the different
ways to perform their assigned task in an efficient manner. It is an effective leadership style
in different cases such as lack of experience, lack of clarity, locus of control etc.
Participative style – The participation of the team members in decision making or in other
organizational affairs is important to achieve the objectives without any issue. In
participative leadership style, a leader encourages team members to participate actively in
the organizational affairs. Leaders of Rolls Royce consider the ideas and views of the
employees in order to make the effective decisions (Yukl, 2013).
Supportive style- As the name indicates in this leadership style a leader support its team
members so that they can perform their assigned roles and responsibility in an effective
manner. A leader focuses on fulfilling the needs of the employees so that they can work
without any problem.
Achievement-oriented leadership – In this leadership style, a leader focuses on the
achievement of better result. A leader encourages its employees to deliver their best
performance to achieve better results.
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The leaders of Rolls Royce adopt all these leadership styles to respond effectively to the
different changes which can influence the business operation of the company (Yukl, 2013).
P3 DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP
Numerous leadership approaches and models have been developed which can be adopted
by a leader to lead the team members. There are numerous leadership theories which are
applied by the leaders of Rolls Royce. Key theories which are applied by leaders of Rolls
Royce are situational leadership, system theory and contingency theory (Miner, 2015).
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Situational leadership is one of the important leadership theory developed by Hersey and
Blanchard. According to this theory, no single leadership style is best. The effectiveness of
leadership styles depends on the situation. This theory suggests that a leader should adopt
the leadership styles according to the demand of situation and by considering other factors
such as nature of group, type of task etc. Leaders of Rolls Royce can adopt this leadership
style in order to get the job done in any situation (Thompson and Glasø, 2015).
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
System leadership is another efficacious approach that can be adopted by a leader in order
to lead the team members in an effective manner. In this theory a leader control and lead
the team according to demand for a specific task or organization. It is effective in controlling
and directing employees as per the demand of the organization (Miner, 2015).
CONTINGENCY THEORY
This theory is concerned with the situation, style and effectively matches the situation and
leader. According to this theory, the success of leader is functions of different contingency in
form of tack, group variable and subordinates etc. (Otley, et al. 2016).
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES
All these theories can be adopted by the leader of Rolls Royce in order to lead the team
members of the company. There are different strengths and weakness of this approach
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which should be considered by the leaders in order to lead the team members in an
effective and efficient manner. Situational leadership is considered as one of the important
theory to handle the complex situations. It can be applied to resolve the different issues.
One of the drawbacks of this approach is that a leader needs to be skilled, knowledge and
experiences in order to take decisions according to demand of time. System theory is also
one of the effective theory to manage the different department such as sales, operations,
marketing etc. The execution of this theory should be done properly in order to gain the
better results. Contingency theory can also be applied to the achieving the targets in an
effective and efficient manner (Nahavandi, 2016).
Bottom line is that the leaders of Rolls Royce should consider the strength and weakness of
the employees in order to lead the employees in an efficient manner (Miner, 2015).
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LO3
P4 KEY APPROACHES TO OPERATIONS AND MANAGEMENT
Operations management refers to the administration of the business practices of operations
to enhance the efficiency and productivity of an organization. It is an area concerned with
designing and controlling the process of different operations in an efficient manner. There
are numerous approaches which can be adopted by an organization to enhance the
efficiency of the operations (Mahadevan, 2015). Key approaches to operation and
management that can be adopted by the Rolls Royce are:
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Total quality management is a management approach which can be applied to achieve the
long-term success by focusing on the improvement of products, process, service and other
such important elements. All members of an organization put their efforts for the
improvement of the different factors. There are eight principles of this approach which are
customer focused, total employee involvement, integrated system, process centred,
continual improvement, strategic and systematic approach, fact-based decision making and
communications. Rolls Royce follows all these principles of Total quality management in
order to achieve the better results (Oakland, 2014).
JUST IN TIME
Just in Time is an effective inventory management strategy which can be employed by a
company to increase the efficiency and reduce the waste by receiving the goods only when
they are needed. It helps in reducing the inventory cost which reflects significantly on the
profitability of the company. A producer should forecast the demand accurately. There are
different advantages and disadvantages of this approach. One of the key benefits of this
method is that it eliminates the warehouse cost thus reduces the cost. An organization also
spends less money on buying raw material as they only in the required quantity. One of the
demerits of this approach is that it involves disruptions in supply chain. A sudden order or
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the products may delay the delivery of the final product to the customer. This approach can
be adopted by Rolls Royce to manage its inventory in an effective manner.
SIX SIGMA
Six Sigma is an important approach that focuses on the improvement of the efficiency of
different operations. It is a data-driven approach for eliminating defects in any process
including manufacturing to transactional and from service to product. This approach can be
adopted by Rolls Royce in order to eliminate the waste and to enhance the efficacy and
profitability.
Managers and leaders both play an important role in the effective management of the
different operations. Key roles of manager in operation management include policy
formulation, planning, controlling resources and communication. Managers of Rolls Royce
form the effective policies for the enhancement of the efficiency and productivity of the
operations. It is responsibility of manger to make the employees follows all the policies in
order to achieve the desired results. A manager develops plans for the improvement of
efficiency and productivity of the company. It is imperative for manager to consider all the
factors which can influence the effectiveness of the plan in planning itself. A manager
organizes and controls the resources so that it can be used efficiently. Communication is a
crucial element for the achievement of the desired results, therefore, it is responsibility of
the manager to communicate effectively with the team members.
A leader also performs a significant role in the effective management of the operation. A
leader encourages the team members to deliver their best performance in order to achieve
better results. A leader leads the people to work according to the developed plan and
strategies. It is responsibility of a leader to motivate and encourage the employees to
deliver their best performance in order to increase the efficiency. The appropriate utilization
of the different resources is also a key responsibility of the leaders.
The leaders and managers of Rolls Royce focus on the continuous improvement of the
different operations to maximize the profitability of the company.
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P5 IMPORTANCE AND VALUES OF OPERATION MANAGEMENT IN ACHIEVING
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
An organization always focuses on the achievement of its organizational objectives. Rolls
Royce also develops strategies to achieve the different business objectives. The company
focuses on the improvement of its operation management in order to achieve the different
business objectives. The key objectives of Rolls Royce are survival and growth, increasing
sales, maximization of the profitability satisfying customers (Seibert, et al. 2017).
SURVIVAL AND GROWTH
It is the main objective of a business to survives as well as to make significant growth. It is
difficult for a company to survive and make growth in automobile industry. Rolls Royce is
focusing on the improvement of its operations to survive and achieve growth in this
industry.
INCREASING SALES
Enhancement of the sales is very important to maximize the profitability of the company.
Rolls Royce manages its inventory in such a way that it can deliver the right vehicles with
right quality at right time. The company always manages its operations according to need
and demand of the clients.
MAXIMIZATION OF PROFITABILITY
It is the main objective of an organization to boost up its profitability. Rolls Royce focuses on
all the different factors which can reflect significantly on the profitability of the company.
The effective management of the operations helps company in reducing the cost and
appropriate utilization of the resources.
SATISFYING CUSTOMERS
Rolls Royce aims to satisfy its customers by delivering the products according to the
expectations. The company conducts the research in order to understand the needs and
demand of the customers so that effective strategies can be developed to meet them.
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The leaders and managers of Rolls Royce develop strategies and plans by considering the
above-mentioned objectives of the company. Managers develop effective strategies by
considering different factors which can influence the management of various operations.
The leaders of Rolls Royce motivate and encourage the employees to achieve all the
business objectives (Seibert, et al. 2017).
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LO4
P6 FACTORS WITHIN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THAT IMPACT UPON
OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING BY LEADERS AND
MANAGERS
In a multinational chain like Rolls Royce it becomes quite difficult to manage and operate
everything in a systematic manner but with the effective managerial and leadership qualities
possessed by the higher officials, it becomes quite simple to manage the operations with
high efficiency. The factor which influences the operational management and decision
making by leaders and managers in Rolls Royce are:
INTERNAL INFLUENCES WHICH AFFECT OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Corporate objectives
The operative objects differ from the corporative objectives as company's corporate
objectives are to raise profits but the operative objects are to raise product with high quality
and sometimes there is less productivity in this scenarios and then the corporate clashes
with operations.
Finance
Corporate social responsibilities raise much finance of the organisation and therefore
sometimes stakeholders affect the decision making the power of managers and leaders
which affect the operational management.
Human Resources
In Rolls Royce, extremely high skilled labours are required because it is very necessary to use
skilled brains in the manufacturing of aerospace engines and this human resource is fed by
human resource management team. It becomes difficult sometimes to find best human
brains and therefore the operational management is affected.
Marketing Issue
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Certain recessions on the market lowers the sale of the Cars and as such the productivity
becomes slow this slow productivity results in the lower profits of the company and as such
it is required to have a proper study of marketing mix and there must be adequate data of
the market rivals so that it will not affect the operational management and decision making
of leaders and managers (Zhu, et. al, 2013).
EXTERNAL INFLUENCES WHICH AFFECT OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Commercial Environment
There is a sudden marketing mix on the grounds of economic development of the country as
the tax policies and certain policies regarding the commercial business changes from time to
times these changes in the external policies of the government directly affect the business
environment and decision making of the managers of the company.
Competitive environment
Every organisation like Rolls Royce faces tough competition with rivals like Bentley, BMW,
Audi etc. these market rivals exert enough pressure on the production and policies of the
company and as such certain changes are demanded by the business environment.
Technological Change
Technology is advancing day by day and this technology plays a crucial role in the business
environment because each product in market needs to be technologically advanced. In Rolls
Royce, the manufacturing of 4-stroke and 5-stroke engines is changed and is manufactured
according to the new engine technologies.
Legal and Environmental change
Rolls Royce is an industry spanning worldwide and there are many legal considerations
which are needed to be acknowledged before commencing any project. The legal policies
changes with a change in governments in countries and these changes affect the operational
management and decision making of leaders and managers (Jiang et. al, 2012). Many
environmental aspects like droughts, floods and earthquake also affect the decision makings
of the managers and leaders within the Rolls Royce.
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CONCLUSION
It is crucial for an organization to give a special emphasis on the operation management as
its reflect positively on the profitability of the company. Leaders and managers both
perform important role in the efficient management of different operations. There are
different organizational situation which can influence the roles of leaders and managers.
The three most possible organizational situations are stable situation, slow to moderate
changing situation and fast-changing situation. There are numerous leadership theories
which are applied by the leaders of accompany. Key theories which are applied by leaders
of Rolls Royce are situational leadership, system theory and contingency theory. Key
approaches to operation and management that can be adopted a company is Total Quality
management, just in time and six sigma. A company can manage the different operations to
achieve different organizational are survival and growth, increasing sales, maximization of
the profitability satisfying customers. It is imperative for the organization to consider the
different environmental factors which can possess impact of the operation management. It
may be concluded that a company should focus on all these factors associated with
operation management in order to gain organizational goals.
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