Understanding Management and Operations

Understanding Management
and Operations

INTRODUCTION
Leader and manager in any organisation play different roles and have different functions. In
this project report, attempt is being made to evaluate the different roles of manager and leader
within the organisational context of TESCO Ltd. TESCO Ltd. is a British supermarket retail
grocery chain established in 1919 by Jack Cohen. The report has the objective of evaluation of
different management and leadership theory to identify the role played by manager and leader in
different business situations. The report also aims to assess the effectiveness of various
operational management approaches in attainment of business goals and targets. At last, the
report concludes with an assessment of business factors and their implications on the decisions
and managing the operations in the organisation.
TASK 1
P1 Roles and functions of leader and manager.
In our day-to-day life, we are likely to use the two terms leader and manager in a similar
pattern and ignore the underlying difference between the two concepts. Leader is someone who
impacts the behaviour of other people with an objective of getting desired behaviour whereas
Manager has the duty of organisation and administration of the operations and activities of a
business firm (Perrin, 2010). While management can be defined as the art of getting job done
from other people, leadership is primarily concerned with influencing people’s behaviour. In a
business organisation, the role of a manager and leader is very different and both the person have
different characteristics which can be better understood with the help of following table:
MANAGER LEADER
A manager sets or establishes the objectives
and targets for an enterprise.
It is the role of a leader to influence employees
for achieving organisational goals and targets.
A manager is a person who is likely to control
the risk in the organisational operations.
A leader is someone who is willing to take
risks with a desire to earn better profits and
revenue for the company.
It is the role of a manager to communicate and
transfer information about the organisational
policies to a leader.
Leader has the role of communicating the
management policies and procedures to the
employees and influences and encourages them
to act and behave as per the policies.
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It is the manager who has the responsibility of
planning for the changes and developments in
the organisation.
A leader is responsible for implementation of
the plans and changes which have been
prepared by the managers by getting employee
support and wilful participation in favour of
those changes.
It is the duy of manager to direct tasks and
responsibilities in the business organisation.
A leader provides guidance and support to the
employees on how to perform the tasks which
have assigned to them in an optimal manner.
In order to understand the difference in roles of manager and leader, some theory and
concepts of management and leadership can be considered. As per the transformational style of
leadership, a leader is responsible for motivating and encouraging the employees of an
organisation to seek creative and innovative alternative and solutions for organisational
processes and functions and makes an attempt to have a shared belief and value system in the
organisation’s vision and mission (Bass and Riggio, 2006). Hence, leaders of TESCO Ltd. have
the responsibility of developing faith of employees in the company’s vision and mission.
Management by objectives is a theory or a framework which lays emphasis on the need and
importance of managers to develop and determine well-defined and clearly established
objectives for the organisation which have been mutually agreed to by managers as well as
employees in improving the performance and productivity of the operations and business entity
(Drucker, 1954). Thus, it is the role of the managers of the TESCO Ltd. to determine goals and
objectives mutually with the employees of an organisation.
Characteristics of a Leader:
Some of the important characteristics of an individual who aspires to be an effective
leader are as follows:
Confidence: Confidence and assertiveness helps a leader to influence subordinates and
make sure that employees of the organisation follow his suggestions. A leader has confidence in
his skills and abilities which determines the effectiveness of his leadership.
Interpersonal Skills: Interpersonal skills such as communication ability or network
building skills is an essential personality trait of an effective leader which helps an individual to
inspire and influence the behaviour of subordinates (Zornada, 2005).
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