Role and Characteristics of Leaders and Managers in Unilever

This report discusses the role and characteristics of leaders and managers in Unilever, a global consumer goods company. It explores the concepts of leadership and management, compares their roles and characteristics, and examines how they apply in various situational contexts. The report also applies theories and models such as situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency to understand leadership and management in Unilever.

Management
and
Operations
1

2

INTRODUCTION
Management is considered as combination of different principles which are related to
different functions which are planning, organising, directing and controlling & many others. It is
also considered as practice through which manager and leader conduct their work properly.
Operation refers to the activities which is associated with managing the internal work of the
business organisation so that it will run in an effective and smooth manner (Ansoff and et. al.,
2018). Organisation selected for this report is Unilever which is operating in consumer goods
industry. It was established in the year 1929 and its head office is located at London, England,
United Kingdom. They offer wide range of beauty & personal care products, cleaning products
and refreshment & food products at worldwide level. The purpose of developing this report is to
understand the thought of operations and management within Unilever by evaluating various
topics. In this report, different types of theories are going to be discussed which are system
leadership, situational leadership and many more. Along with this, it will include discussion on
various roles & functions of leaders as well as manager in various organisational situations.
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare the role as well as characteristic of leaders and managers
As per an analysis it has been said that Unilever is an organisation which have large
number of leaders and managers along with staff members. They are the people mainly
contribute positive things to the attainment of goals & objectives in an appropriate manner.
Detail description about the concept of leader and leadership along with manager and
management are as follows:
Concept of leadership and a Leader
Leadership is a process of continuously guiding employees of an organization towards
achievement of organizational goals and objective while working in a particular direction.
Leadership is that quality of a leader in which they influence behaviour of an individual with
their skills. In addition to this, they guide their staff members in a particular direction so that they
can achieve organisational as well as personal goals (Copacino, 2019).
Leader can be defined as a person who guides the organization's employees in the
direction to achieve company objectives with a clear vision and strategy . They use motivation
as a tool in leading the staff members of the company.
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Concept of Management and a Manager
Management is an process of a managing 5M'S (Men, machine, material, money and
methods) of an organisation for achievement of pre determined objectives and growth. It is that
process which include planing, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling of organisation in a
defined and efficient manner.
Managers are those individual who are skilled in administration of an organization or
they have skills of using organisation resources efficiently with a view of achieving firms goal.
A manager is the person who recruit, manage, select, examine and monitor the presentation of
staff members among the workplace in order to attain their goals & objectives effectively (Glock
and et. al., 2019).
Comparison between the roles of a Leader and Manager
Basis Role of leader Role of manager
Creation The role of a leader in
organization is to create a
vision of firms working in mind
of employees. Leaders are the
one who brings clarity in
concept of objectives and goal
of the organization within the in
mind of staff members (Gupta,
Yang and Jain, 2019).
The role of a manager within
the company is to implement
management concepts
effectively so that there
goals and objectives will be
attained in an effective
manner.
Focus Leaders mainly focuses on the
attainment of goals and
objectives for which they
provide guidance and direction
to the staff members. This as a
result aid them in developing
high quality goods and services
On the other hand, in context
of manager it has been said
that there main emphasis is
to manage and control all the
activities in an effective
manner so that positive
working environment will be
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within limited cost. created within the
organisation (Idris, 2016).
Comparison between characteristics of a Leader and Manager
Basis Characteristic of leader Characteristic of manager
Time management One of the main characteristic
of a leader is to manage all the
functions in a timely manner
and reduce any kind of mis
management so that they can
attain goals and objectives in an
effective manner (Mérand and
Rayroux, 2016). for this leader
is require to have effective time
management skill so that they
can fulfil all the requirements in
an effective manner.
Time management is a
important characteristic of
any manager this is because
a manger have number of
responsibilities, and they
have to allocate proper time
to these responsibilities.
Creativity Leaders of an organisation are
required to be creative, so that
they can motivate all the staff
members in order to perform
their work in an attractive and
creative manner. For example,
a leader always invite new and
innovative ideas so that they
can motive all the workers
effectively.
Managers of an organisation
is requires to have creativity
as the essential characteristic
so that they can accomplish
all the task in an effective
manner (Meredith and
Pilkington, 2018). For this,
manager develop effective
strategies and policies so that
all the task will be attained
in a creative manner.
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TASK 2
P2 Examine different examples of how role of a leader and function of manager apply in various
situational context.
In a company, there are different situations arise where leader and manager performs
different roles and functions respectively. Some of the most essential situation are going to be
discussed as follows which is associated with Unilever.
Situation 1: Adaptation of new technology in process
Unilever is operating its business functions at worldwide level and for them it is very
essential to adopt new technology on the continuous basis. This help in raising the overall
profitability of the company due to high quality products and services (Moutinho and Vargas-
Sanchez, 2018). In this condition leader along with manager plays various types of role and
functions respectively that are mentioned below:-
Role of leader
 In order to implement technology at workplace, the leader has the role about guiding of
employees so, they can perform the functions in appropriate manner. (Ma and Sun,
2012).
 Another major role of leader while implementing technology at the workplace is that they
motivate as well as encourage employees so that they get ready for adopting new and
advance technology properly
Function of manager
 In order to implement new and advance technology at the workplace of Unilever,
manager will conduct analysis in order to develop appropriate policies, rules and
regulations in effective manner so that they can avoid confit in whole situation (Murray,
and et. al., 2016).
 Manager of Unilever will also conduct controlling function which aid in identification of
deviations along with their removal in end. This contributes finally in successful
implementation of technology.
Situation 2: Conflict situation
It is one of the most common situation which arise within the organisation on a
continuous basis. In respect of Unilever, there is also occurrence of conflicts that affect
productivity of the organization. In order to resolve such issues, managers and leaders of the
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company develop positive environment within the organisation by providing equal job
opportunities to the staff members. In such situations, role of the leader are as follows:-
Role of leader
 In order to resolve issues of conflict respective company leader will conduct meeting
with all staffs so that they can understand issue due to which conflict arise at workplace.
 Leader of respective company will also conduct meeting with senior authorities in order
to aware them about the conflict so that they can develop proper strategies, plans and
rules accordingly (Mustak and et. al., 2016).
 Apart from this, it is very necessary for a leader of Unilever to maintain or handle the
disturbance arise within the organisation and negotiate with the employees so that they
can reduce any kind of conflict and disputes arise within the workplace.
Function of manager
 In order to resolve issues at Unilever manager will conduct meeting with conflict
participants in private so that they can understand situations in effective manner that aid
in developing strategies effectively.
 Manager of respective company will also conduct evaluation in order to develop rules,
regulation and policies related to conflict situation. Through this they able to resolve
issue as well as it will also help in minimising occurrence situation that arise conflict.
P3 Apply various theories and models of approaches, including situational leadership, system
leadership and contingency.
There are numbers of theories which a company may adopt in order to develop decision
according to the situation through that they are currently going. In respect of Unilever, their
manager and leader adopt numbers of theories and model in order to understand situation and
develop strategies accordingly (Renz, 2016). From which some main models and theories of
approach are given below in respect of Unilever:-
Situational leadership: This leadership style is formulated by Paul Hersey & Kenneth
Blanchard. It is considered as a leadership style in which a manager or leader can adjust their
style to fit improvement level of employees, to whom they try to influence. In respect of
Unilever their manager or leader can adopt this leadership style in order to develop decision or
plan according to the situation which they are going.
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Strengths:
 By adopting this leadership model manager or leader of respective can adjust their
leadership style according to skills as well as motivation level of staffs. This leadership model help in providing support to employees as well as it will also help
in providing appropriate guidance to staffs in order to boost their morale (Schönsleben,
2016).
Weaknesses:
 The implementation of respective model may arise confusion because leader or manager
can change their behaviour according to situation that arise at the workplace.
 Respective leadership is time consuming as well as it is also difficult to manage by leader
and manager of Unilever.
Systems leadership: This leadership style help leaders and manager of a company to
create situation where employees at all level can work effectively and productively according to
their potential. This will include sound principles related to the human behaviours in order to
create models of organisation strategy, social process, system design and so on. In respect of
Unilever they may adopt this method in order to develop situation through which employees fell
motivated and get encourage to do work. It has been said that in order to manage the conflicts
within the organisation, managers are required to adopt system leadership so that employees
perform their task in a systematic manner and reduce any kind of negative situation from the
workplace.
Strengths:
 This will help respective company manager and leader to deal with complexity in
effective manner, so that they can attain their objectives (Spandre and et. al., 2016).
 Respective leadership model also help Unilever manager and leader to take holistic view
which directly help in developing more appropriate decision. Respective company manager and leader may able to adopt as well as manage change
properly because this leadership model will provide opportunities to interact with
environment effectively.
Weaknesses:
 This leadership model not provide specify technique and tool for practising manager or
leaders effectively at the workplace.
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 The respective leadership model is difficult to apply at the situation that are practical in
nature.
Contingency leadership: Respective leadership model is developed in 1958 by Fred
Fiedler. According to this model, succession of a leader or manager is not only based on their
abilities, it also include other two factors i.e. skills set as well as situation of that person
(Srinivasan, 2017). In respect of Unilever manager and leader, by adopting this leadership style
they will be able to understand situation effectively for developing decision accordingly. It has
been said that there is no specific leadership style which suits the business organisation, as every
situation requires different type of styles in order to produce best output.
Strengths:
 Through this manager and leader of respective company able to analyse all situation
properly which help them in decision making. This leadership theory will not required that their all employees must be productive in
nature(Wakui and et. al., 2017).
Weaknesses:
 The respective model is not appreciate for the constant changing environment or situation
of Unilever.
 Along with this, respective model not provide proper guidelines that can be followed by
manager or leader of Unilever.
TASK 3 and 4
Covered in PPT
CONCLUSION
It has been analysed that operation management play very necessary role in order to
attain objectives of the organisation. By adopting key approaches for operational management,
managers and leaders will be able to enhance the performance as well as efficiency of the
employees in an effective manner so they can develop high quality products & services. In
addition to this, by using JIT and TQM approaches, managers will be able to reduce any kind of
issues and defaults so that they can increase their overall goodwill and brand image at the
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competitive marketplace. Apart from this, different environmental factors are there which
directly influence the process of decision making of company due to its operational process.
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