Management & Operations Report

This report analyzes the roles of leaders and managers in Starbucks, exploring different leadership theories and their strengths and weaknesses. It examines key operational management approaches and their impact on improving efficiencies, highlighting internal factors affecting decision-making. The report concludes with the importance of effective leadership and operational management in driving Starbucks' success.

MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristic of a leader and a manager...........1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
P2 Role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational.......................2
2.2 Strength of weaknesses of different theories and models of approaches of leadership.........4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.3 Operation management 's key approaches and roles of manager and leader in improving
the efficiencies in operation management of Starbucks..............................................................6
P6 Factors inside Starbucks affecting operation management and decision making of leader
and manager.................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Every organisation requires a set of skilled employees to manage and run their
operations, and a leader and a manager to lead and manage them effectively (Wheelen and et.al.,
2017). A strong leader would run and make the organisation successful and growth oriented, and
good managers will do the same by effectively managing and controlling the activities. The
below report defines how the leaders and managers of Starbucks plays different roles within the
organisation, with explaining their job roles. Also, it mentions their duties and core
responsibilities, their roles within different situational contexts, different theories and models of
approach under which they can manage to work.
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristic of a leader and a manager.
The manager of Starbucks is an employee who has certain duties and responsibilities
to lead the function of various departments and their employees as well. The manager who is
responsible for a particular department functions usually have direct reporting employees for
whom he is having the leadership responsibilities (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014).
The leader of Starbucks is a person who holds the responsibility to provide direction,
instructions and guidance to its team, or the employees with the purpose of achieving a certain
goal. He is also aware of his team member’s strengths, weaknesses and motivations. His overall
responsibilities include developing strategies, providing training, taking feedbacks, monitoring
team members, creating reports etc.

Below differentiated are the key differences between a leader and manager of Starbucks:
Leader Manager
Leader of Starbucks is responsible for leading
towards the future. He asks tough questions
such as how does this task lead towards the
quarter goals? How does this fit into the
company's overall plan? How does this helps
prepare the employees for their future career
goals (Ptak and Schragenheim, 2016)
Manager of the Starbucks is responsible for
managing the tasks at hand. He is mainly
focused on getting the current job done. His
role comprises looking at the difficulties and
finding the solutions immediately to make the
operations run smoothly.
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Starbucks leaders characteristic include he is
often brilliant and mercurial. He is comfortable
in taking risks, sometimes seemingly huge and
important risks. A leader always has high level
of intelligence and creativity skills to identify
and tackle the ongoing situation.
The leader's outcomes are based on his
achievements rather than the results. He is
primarily driven towards leading the Starbucks
to a certain goal. In that order, he achieves his
overall goals and set target while observing the
opportunities and threats accordingly (Almada-
Lobo, 2016).
The chacteristic of a manager includes he often
supervises people or tasks. He tends to be a
rational, under control problem solver. He
often focuses on structures, personnel, and
availability of resources (Love and et.al.,
2014).
And his personality leads towards persistence,
strong will, analysis and intelligence.
The manger's outcomes are based on his results
rather than the achievements. He is responsible
to obtain a certain result within a given or
required time period. His main aim is to
effectively manage the department in such a
way that the desired results are obtained
successfully.
A leader of Starbucks is responsible to guide
his employees towards success. He puts efforts
in motivating them to achieve the
organisational goals and creates a set
environment in which his employees are
comfortable working for the organisation.
A Starbucks manager's responsibility is to tell
his employees to what to do. After observing
the organisations particular departmental
requirement, the manager gives orders to his
employees with a set goal of obtaining the
desired result and asks them to work
accordingly (Mahadevan, 2015).
TASK 2
P2 Role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situations
In situation of being in need of growth and improvement, or an organisation's requirement for
better and effective system. The manager and leader of Starbucks would play the following roles:
A leader's orientation in Starbucks mainly going to be towards its people. His core
responsibilities are to ensure that his people are comfortable working with the organisation, they
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are provided with required assets, evaluating his team's necessities etc. He will motivate his team
from time to time ensure their better functioning (McAdam and et.al., 2016). A manager
orientation in the organisation would be more towards his tasks. His responsibilities include
focusing on goals, structuring personnel’s, ensuring availability of resources etc. His job is to
establish or achieve department goals and results. For this, he will evaluate the budgets
requirements, to assign jobs, to set time periods for the assigned jobs, to dictate how the above
works can be done effectively to his employees etc (Otley, 2016). A leader's approach towards
task is more towards risk taking. He is responsible for the organisation's growth prospect, in
which he has to determine the risk areas and also to take risks accordingly. His actions lead the
organisation towards gaining necessary profits, achieving a certain objective, or making best
among the competitors etc (Abu Naser and Al Shobaki, 2016). The manager approach is more
towards risk aversion. He will be more conscious about the factors that can cause risks within the
departmental and functions and does the best to eliminate them. A leader of Starbucks look at
problems and devise new, creative solutions. His approach towards problems is more towards
eliminating them by finding new ways to manage and regulate the policies and principles of
Starbucks. Any number of problems can hinder the organisations goals strategies, thus, he needs
to ensure and take necessary steps to overall eliminate such factors (Akkermans and Van
Oorschot, 2018). However, a manager is going to lean towards creating more strategies and
methods to create teams and ideas that combine to operate smoothly. These strategies would
ensure the better functioning of the department and leave no trace of situational problems.
Individual empowers his employees by soliciting their views, values and principles. These
combinations help the departments or entire organisation to reduce inherent risks and generate
success. A leader's style in Starbucks is more transformational, consultative and participative.
This approach would ensure organisation's needs and requirements. He participates in various
activities that leads towards growth of his organisation and asks for the feedback from their
people (Varley, 2014). Individual ensures the right working environment, organisational
structures and makes sure that everything is smoothly running within. A manager's style is more
dictatorial, authoritative, transactional, autocratic, consultative and democratic. He directs his
team or employees towards an objective to garner desired results. This command would be more
towards setting up new goals to achieve more profits and eliminate the causes that impact
organisational activities. Person takes the feedback from his team of the necessary requirement
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that can change and replace the troubles they are facing. Time management and situational
command is an effective trait of the manager (Six Sigma, 2018).
2.2 Strength of weaknesses of different theories and models of approaches of leadership
Situational Leadership : This style of leadership is an adaptive leadership style. It
encourages leaders to take stock of their team members. They weigh the many variables in their
workplace and choose the leadership style that fits best with their circumstances and goals.
Situational leadership is a model of choice for Starbucks which helps the organisation to develop
people and work-groups, establish rapport and to bring out the best in their people. Also, it uses a
common leadership style in all units in Starbucks, be it local, national or international (Wheelen
and et.al., 2017).
Strengths Weaknesses
Situational leadership is a great tool for
practitioners. Starbucks ensures the effective
system management from this leadership
technique. Also, its practical, easy to
understand nature can be applied to different
contexts easily.
The lack of a strong body of research on
situational leadership raises questions about the
theoretical basis of the approach that might
cause Starbucks few troubles while addressing
with the situational leadership style. Also, this
approach does not compare favourably in its
impact on subordinates with other leadership
approaches (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus,
2014)
Systems Leadership : This style of leadership enables the leaders the Starbucks to create the
conditions where people at all levels can work productively to their potential. It uses sound
principles about human behaviour to create models of good leadership, organisational strategy,
system design and social process. Systems leadership helps to build such effective systems which
drive productive behaviour and lead to a more effective realisation of the organisation's purpose
(Ptak and Schragenheim, 2016).
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Strengths Weaknesses
Its major benefits amongst others is that the
leadership style increase organisation's
adaptability to environmental changes. Where
the organisation is studied as a whole but not
through its parts which enables it to adapt to
the needs of the environment. The decisions
are made keeping in mind the macro as well as
micro environment (Love and et.al., 2014).
It may not be always practical and lead to
delays in decision making. Its nature of inter-
dependence is not defined properly. In this
leadership the classification of the
interrelationships has to be done properly
otherwise it could prove as to be counter
productive.
Contingency Theory – This theory of Contingency in leadership asserts that a leader's
effectiveness is contingent upon how his style matches to the situation. In this situation the leader
needs to find out the kind of leadership style he or she thrives in. It has broadened the leadership
scope of understanding by being focused on a single and best type of leadership. It's advantage of
supplying data on leadership styles has proved itself useful to Starbucks in developing leadership
profiles for human resource planning as well (Almada-Lobo, 2016).
Strengths Weaknesses
It is used to create leadership style for
organisations and very helpful. It is easy and
very distinctive approach where the
organisation's leader effectiveness can be
measured and proved (Otley, 2016).
This leadership style suffers from inadequately
of literature. In this context, this style has not
adequately spelled out various actions which
can be taken under various different realities.
The theory has managed to survive over past
few decades as a valid and reliable approach of
how to achieve effective leadership because it
is grounded in its empirical research. The
researchers who have followed its founder
fielder have validated it from their own
research.
During putting into practice the theory
becomes very complex. Determination of
situation in which managerial action is taken
has involved various analysis of large number
of variables with multifarious dimensions. It is
stated to ignore the thorough analysis of the
theory and find a short way for its usage
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(Akkermans and Van Oorschot, 2018).
The theory has proved to have predictive
powers in determining the type of leadership to
emphasizing the importance of the leader's
style and needs in various realities. Hence, it is
an easy approach to achieve the organisations
goals in leadership and managerial activities.
The theory has said to be reactive in nature. It
closely suggests what a manager can do in a
given situation. Therefore, a manager is
responsible to manage the environment in such
a way that they avoid the undesirable aspects
of environment.
TASK 22.3 Operation management 's key approaches and roles of manager and leader in
improving the efficiencies in operation management of Starbucks
Operation management is involved in bringing efficiencies in the production process of
the company by effectively planning, organising and controlling the factors affecting the cost of
the items Starbucks is producing (Varley, 2014). The different approaches to operation
management in Starbucks are given below:
11 Six Sigma approach: This method helps Starbucks company to enhance the quality of
the products it is producing by identifying and deleting the defects in the production
process and it is helpful for large organisations like Starbucks from whom customers
expect high quality products. This method is a statistical data oriented tool to remove the
variance in the quality of the products and services. Six sigma itself consist of five stages
which the Starbucks follows ; identifying and describing the areas and problems,
measuring the present performance of the concerned problem area, analysing and
evaluating the reasons , making plans and strategies for improving the production
process and taking follow up actions to see whether the newly applied tactics are
effective or not (McAdam and et.al., 2016).11 Lean manufacturing approach: An approach used by Starbucks to minimize its waste
in the production of its goods and services. This technique helps Starbucks to keep a
check on its waste in production system effectively. The lean manufacturing method
describes several wastes that can be remove and ensure minimal waste so that the
company can achieve its objective of being cost effective in its operations. Excess
production, unnecessary transportation, huge defective margins in the production, large
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inventories, not optimally using the human capital, useless motions in the production
place are some factors that are taken into consideration while applying the lean
manufacturing approach (Wheelen and et.al., 2017).11 Reconfiguring manufacturing approach: This technique helps Starbucks to swiftly
adjust its production capacity in the time of excess demand for its goods and services by
configuring quickly its machines, labours and materials. Company often faces not so
ordinary events like machine breakdowns and high labour turnovers and this unpleasantly
affects the production process of the company, so applying of this tool of operational
management helps Starbucks to tackle extra-ordinary events in the workplace.
The operational manager of Starbucks is responsible for setting out the goals, agendas
and objectives for different departments in the company for example business forecasting. A
manager is responsible for effectively communicating the goals and objectives to its subordinates
and giving proper instructions regarding the procedures defined for attaining those objectives. A
manager is also responsible for providing a pool of talented and skilled personnel to achieve
operational efficiencies which in turn increases the total efficiency of the organisation (Love and
et.al., 2014).
A team leader of Starbucks manages a team of few people in the organisation. A leader
implements the strategies and procedures formulated by the operational manager and gives
training, instructions, guidance and create a friendly environment for its team members. Leader
is responsible for day to day operational activities of its members and inspires them to work
efficiently to achieve the target. Team leader is responsible for the task given to it by the
manager and for all the actions and performance of his team in whole. Importance of operation
management in Starbucks
Operation management holds a great importance in the organisation as it is concerned
with efficiently and effectively converting raw materials into usable products and services and
managing the production process of the company. This ensures the end goods and services are
made available to the customers at the right time. Its value and importance is discussed below:
11 Managing day to day activities: The operation management in Starbucks is mandatory
for managing its daily operations smoothly. It helps Starbucks to use its main resources
like man, material and funds optimally (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014).
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11 Increase in productivity: Operation management ensures the overall increase in the
productivity of the organisation through various tools and techniques employed by the
operational manager of the Starbucks like six sigma, lean manufacturing. The principles
of operation management eyes the concept of using scarce resources in the most efficient
way which helps the company to improve its overall production level.11 Central system of organisation: It is basically assembling different operational
activities in the organisation and serving Starbucks customers according to their
requirements in terms of timely delivery of the products and services. It acts as a heart of
the Starbucks as it manages the overall operating activities and ensures selling of
products and services at a faster rate (Almada-Lobo, 2016).11 Ensure high quality products and services: Operation management in Starbucks make
sure that customers are served with standard quality of products and services which was
promised by it. Operation management ensure that defect free products and services are
being catered to the customers.11 Cost effective: Through continuous planning and controlling the day to day operations of
Starbucks and bringing efficiency in the production process by removing the defects,
minimising the wastes in the production and manufacturing process, helps the company
to attain its objectives of being cost effective and earn high profit margins.11 Helps in building a competitive advantage: Operation management helps Starbucks to
have a competitive advantage (Otley, 2016). Since this management is concerned with
managing the core activities of the company and optimally utilization of resources, cost
effectiveness in the production process, improvement in the quality of the products and
services, timely delivery of the items according to the customers requirements being its
focal points, it assists the Starbucks to have a competitive edge over its competitors in the
industry.11 Inter-relatedness with other departments: The operational manager of Starbucks
coordinates with other departments of the organisation like production, finance and
marketing to successfully achieve the targets and to attain the organisational goals in
whole. No department in the Starbucks operate alone, it communicates with each other
and coordinates and cooperate to bring out the best of Starbucks for its customers
(Varley, 2014).
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11 Increases the profitability: Efficient operation management has resulted into greater
profitability for the Starbucks in last few decades. Making the best use of available
resources, managing the production process effectively, catering the needs of the
customers has led Starbucks to reap greater profits. Earning larger profits by selling low
priced products and services due to cost effective ways of production process and of
superior quality is the main aim of the Starbucks company and operation management
helps it in achieving its purpose and goals (Akkermans and Van Oorschot, 2018).
P6 Factors inside Starbucks affecting operation management and decision making of leader and
manager
There are various factors within the organisation which affects the operation management
and decisions of manager and leader which are given below:
1. Lack of adequate funds: Lack of adequate funds affects the decision making of the
manager and leader in the Starbucks organisation. The operational manager cannot carry
out strategic plans in the production process for improving the productivity of the goods
and services unless he has an adequate amount to bring the required changes. The day to
day activities are also backed up by the sufficient funds, the absence of which hampers
the efficiencies of operation management in Starbucks (Otley, 2016).
2. Adequate human capital: Human resource is one of the integral part of the Starbucks.
Having adequate number of talented and skilled workforce ensures the smooth operations
across the organisation. Operation management is concerned with optimum utilisation of
the employees to increase the productivity of the company and lack of appropriate
amount of human capital will hamper the purpose of operation management and
decisions of manager and leader.
3. Level of Research and Development: Starbucks operation management is greatly
affected by the level of research and development is carrying on by the company.
Introducing new ideas, new ways of producing the products, innovation in day to day
operational activities, new methods to motivate the employees are all mainly the
outcomes of R&D department of the company. Manager on the basis of the research
reports prepares strategic plans and procedures that are to be followed by the team leaders
and their members (McAdam and et.al., 2016).
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4. Technology up-gradation: The operation management of Starbucks is not only
restricted to improving the production process and making it cost effective but also
extended to preparing outlook of the products, using more of sound technical equipments
in the production to reduce time, energy and man. This positively impacts the decision of
operational manager to bring the updated technology daily core activities to successfully
achieve the firm's objectives (Love and et.al., 2014).
5. Time required in production cycle: Time plays a vital role in operation management of
Starbucks as the latter includes delivery of products and services at the right time to the
customers as per their specifications. A Team leader and the operational manager both
are concerned about the time, products and services requires in the cycle of converting
raw items into the end goods because the funds are needed more if the goods and services
takes more time in the production process and more labour is required. If time taken for
the production is more than the standard limit set in the plans, it affects the manager's
decision making negatively because this makes it difficult for the sale department to sell
the products and services at a rapid rate and hence the profitability of the Starbucks
suffers (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014).
6. Marketing in Starbucks: Marketing also influence the efficiencies of the operational
management as the operational structure of the firm is based on the type of goods and
services Starbucks is producing. Marketing mix is regularly modified according to the
requirement of the business and different strategies are adopted for tackling internal and
external environment to run the organisation seamlessly. For example, many a times'
location of store's set up may not favour the employees, or raw material are not easily
available (Mahadevan, 2015). Marketing department and the operational department go
hand in hand as marketing departments know what customers are expecting basis upon
which the operational department works and attains its eventual goal of customer
satisfaction by providing quality products and services to the customers.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is concluded that operation management is necessary in
Starbucks. The operation management has increased the efficiency in the core activities of the
company. It has helped the firm to be a competitive leader in the industry by having a lead
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advantage over the other companies in the market. Efficient operational system of the company
has helped it in increasing their sales and profits by implementing cost effective technology,
skilled labour and innovative techniques of deleting defects and waste in their production
process. Quality products and timely delivery of specified products and services has contributed
to effectiveness in the overall management of the company.
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REFERENCES
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(pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
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