Unit 4 – Management and Operations

Management and Operations
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Comparison between the roles and characteristics of leader and manager............................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Comparison of roles and functions of managers and leaders within different organisational
situations......................................................................................................................................5
P3 Application of different theories and models of leadership and management approach........7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P4 Different approaches to operations management...................................................................9
P5 Relevance of operations management and its approaches in achieving the objectives of
business organisation.................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P6 External factors in business environment which influences operations management and
decision-making in the organisation by managers and leaders.................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Leadership denotes to the procedure of influencing an employee’s behaviour in order to
obtain desired actions as compared to management which includes administration of day-to-day
business activities and operations to accomplish goals and objectives (Algahtani, 2014). J
Sainsbury plc or Sainsbury’s is a chain of grocery supermarkets in United Kingdom which was
founded in the year 1869 and the headquarters of the company are located at London, United
Kingdom (Cole, 2014). It is the second largest chain of grocery retail stores in UK. In the
following report, a comparison of roles and responsibilities of manager and leader is being made
by taking into consideration various theories and models of leadership and management
approaches. This report also deals with analysing the importance of different operations
management approaches in achieveing business goals and targets. In the last section of the
report, impact which the external business environment creates on decision-making and
operations management is being determined.
TASK 1
P1 Comparison between the roles and characteristics of leader and manager.
A leader is someone has the primary responsibility of influencing the behaviour of
employees in any business organisation and getting desired actions for accomplishment of
organisational objectives and on the other hand a manager is someone who has prime
responsibility of administering the routine operations of an organisation and formulate strategy
and policies for achieving organisational goals and objectives (Nen, 2015). Hence, both leaders
and managers of Sainsbury’s have a significant contribution to make in the accomplishment of
the company’s goals and vision. Here is a comparison between different roles of both leader and
manager in the context of Sainsbury’s:
Comparison of roles of the leader and the manager:
Manager Leader
A manager has the responsibility for setting the
targets, objectives and vision for the
organisation.
A leader is primarily responsible for
motivating the employees and workforce for
achieving the organisational goals and targets.
Subordinates work for a manager. Followers are influenced by leaders.
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Approach of management is generally
autocratic.
Leadership approach is generally democratic
and motivating.
Manager has the focus on achieving
organisational targets and objectives.
Leader focuses on alignment and harmony in
personal interest of employees and
organisational interest in the company.
Manager provides information to leader about
the organisational strategy and policies.
Leader helps in communication of policies to
the employees and helps them to comprehend
the rationale behind organisational policies.
Manager plans organisational changes. Leader helps in implementation of
organisational changes.
Manager arranges resources for the
organisation and completion of tasks.
Leader ensures optimum utilisation of
organisational resources by motivating
employees.
Managerial Functions & Role of leader:
Some of the most important functions that are being completed by managers of
Sainsbury’s and role that leader of the company have to play in execution of those functions are
being discussed below as follows:
Planning: A manager of the organisation has the function of determining the organisational
goals and objectives and outlining the operations of the company with an aim to accomplish
those objectives and the leader of the organisation has a significant role to play in directing
efforts of the workforce towards goal accomplishment.
Organising: Manager of Sainsbury’s arranges the various organisational resources and funds
from different sources at the best possible price after considering all alternatives and a leader has
to ensure optimum utilisation of those resources which are organised by the management
(MacLeod, 2012).
Directing: A manager directs the tasks and responsibilities to employees in the company and
determines the line of command and reporting relationships and the leader ensures that every
member of the company understands his task and is able to effectively complete the tasks
assigned to him.
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Controlling: Comparison of actual performance with the standard performance in the
organisation is a central job of the management and it is the duty of leaders to encourage and
influence workforce to take active part in the performance management campaigns in the
company which includes skill development and training seminars or workshops.
Classical Management Theory:
This theory is based upon the assumption that employees in an organisation only have
physical requirements which can be satisfied with the help of money and hence, the objective
and aim of the management is to improve the economic benefits and productivity of a company
(Saxena, 2019). It ignores the performance of organisation beyond economic measures of
evaluation. The management of Sainsbury’s constantly endeavours to implement principles such
as maximisation of profit, specialisation of work, bottom-line improvement and high operational
productivity which can help in significantly improving the economic and financial aspect of the
business organisation.
Motivational Leadership:
Motivational leadership refers to the process where a leader makes attempt to influence
the behaviour of employees and getting desired actions by providing stimulations and an
opportunity to satisfy personal needs and desires. As per this theory, the leaders of an
organisation are primarily in charge for inspiring and encouraging the workforce to work with
the best potential for accomplishment of organisational goals and objectives by satisfying their
personal needs and wants (Eims, 2012). Hence, the leader of Sainsbury’s constantly makes effort
to align the personal interests of the workforce with the organisational interests for motivating
and encouragement of the employees and boosting their morale.
TASK 2
P2 Comparison of roles and functions of managers and leaders within different organisational
situations.
It is important to realise that both managers and leaders have very distinct and important
roles to play as per the organisational requirement and situation which can be understood with
the help of following examples:
Situation 1 - Recruitment and induction of new team members:
Role of manager:
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While recruitment of new team members in the company, the managers of Sainsbury’s
have the responsibility of assessing the skills and competency of the candidates and determine
whether the candidate has the right mix of skills which is essential for the completion of his tasks
(Cohen, 2013). During induction, management of the company has to communicate the
organisational policies, procedures, objectives, rules, task requirements and other important
information which is vital for a new recruit to effectively complete the tasks which are assigned
to him.
Role of leader:
In the process of recruitment, leader of Sainsbury’s plays an imperative role to identify
the personal needs and career aspirations of the candidate and whether the job profile in the
organisation gives the person a chance to enhance his future employability with respect to his
career goals. A leader plays a vital role in the induction of a new team member by motivating
him to realise the team vision and objectives and fostering a shared vision and belief
(Lochmiller, 2014). It is also the responsibility of the leader of Sainsbury’s to make the team
member comfortable in the new organisational climate and work environment.
Situation 2 - Change Management:
Role of manager:
The management of Sainsbury’s has the function of conducting market research to
determine and identify any threat or opportunity in the external business environment and
implement necessary changes in the organisation. For the purpose, it is the function of managers
of Sainsbury’s to evaluate the external environment, determine its effect on the processes of the
company and prepare a change and development strategy for the company (Hayes, 2018). The
manager of company determines the changes which are to be made in organisational structure,
culture, task requirements and job description of employees and has to arrange the essential
financial and other resources for the process of implementation of change.
Role of leader:
During change management, a leader helps in reducing and mitigating the resistance to
change by employees and workforce of the organisation. Employees fear changes and
implementation of new procedure in the company as they anticipate it to also have an impact on
their job requirements and increase the challenging nature of job and without the participation
and role of leader in motivating and encouragement of employees, this fear or change resistance
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can’t be mitigated in Sainsbury’s (Al-Haddad and Kotnour, 2015). Hence, effective change
management in the company is determined by the effectiveness with which both leaders and
managers execute their role.
P3 Application of different theories and models of leadership and management approach.
Management by objectives:
It is an approach of strategic management which has the primary objective of enhancing
and improving the productivity and profitability of the operations of an organisations with the
help of setting objectives which are clearly defined and agreed by both management as well as
the personnel of the company (Carmen, 2014). In the context of Sainsbury’s, it is important for
the managers of the company to engage employees in the course or activity of setting goals and
targets and having a deliberate discussion to arrive at the goals of the company since it helps the
managers to fix responsibility and increase the accountability of employees for accomplishment
of goals. Advantages and disadvantages of implementing management by objectives in
Sainsbury’s is as follows:
Strengths: It helps the management to increase personal commitment and motivation of
the employees for accomplishment of organisational goals and objectives because of
participation in the method or the procedure by which organisational objectives and targets are
determined. It also increases the effectiveness of management of operations by a clear delegation
of tasks, authority and responsibility in the company.
Weakness: One of the biggest weakness of management by objectives approach is the
difficulty and challenges which are being faced by the management in determination of mutual
goals and objectives for the organisation which are very likely to be influenced by personal
needs and interests of the employees. Inflexibility of the objectives is another concern with
respect to implementation of this approach in the organisation.
Situational leadership:
Situational leadership is primarily an adaptive style of leadership where stress is laid on
necessity of selecting and choosing a leadership style which is best suitable for the people who
they aim to influence and consider the organisational structure and environment. The
management of Sainsbury’s should adopt a style of leadership which is in alignment with the
skills of the workforce, nature of task, internal organisational factors and the need of the
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company (Thompson and Glasø, 2015). The benefits and demerits of applying situational
leadership in an organisational are being discussed as follows:
Strengths: The most important strength of situational leadership is that it will help the
managers of Sainsbury’s to create and foster a comfortable work environment in the organisation
and will increase the awareness of the leader in terms of skills and competencies of the
workforce. It also helps a team to work in a better manner and increases healthy relationships
among the various teams and departments of the organisation.
Weakness: This approach can lead to a confusion in the organisation since individual
needs and maturity level of employees are considered by a leader and the effectiveness of this
approach is largely influenced by the skills and quality of the leader.
Contingency leadership:
Contingency leadership focuses on the necessity of leaders and managers to adopt distinct
styles and approaches of leadership based on the contingent situations and business environment
of an organisation. It argues that no particular style or approach of leadership can prove to be
effective in every business situation considering the dynamic nature of business environment and
hence, leaders need to change and adopt different leadership styles in accordance with the
requirements and the situation (Fiedler, 2015). For example, the management of Sainsbury’s
might adopt democratic leadership style for fostering innovation and creativity in the company
and might adopt autocratic style of leadership in a situation where a high degree of risk exists.
Positive and negative aspects of contingency leadership are as follows:
Strengths: Application of this theory and style of leadership will aid the administration of
Sainsbury’s to adapt to the business situations and implement changes in the organisation to
maintain and enhance the competitive position in the industry. This theory is proved to be
effective by various empirical researches.
Weakness: Biggest weakness or challenge in implementation of this style of leadership is
that one person might not be able to effectively change his style of leadership in accordance with
the needs and requirements of business situations which makes it very difficult to follow this
approach. It doesn’t consider the difference between situation and the existing style of leadership
which may prevail in any organisation.
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TASK 3
P4 Different approaches to operations management.
Operations management refers to the process which involves monitoring and supervision
of the company’s key activities to achieve highest level of operational efficiency (Reid and
Sanders, 2015). In the context of Sainsbury’s, operations management substantially improves the
ability of management to attain the top-level of organisational productivity with the help of
different approaches and tools of operations management being described in the following
section:
Six Sigma:
It refers to a combination of tools used for operations management by any organisation
with an aim of improving the business productivity and efficacy by mitigating the chances or
possibility of occurrence of an error in the operations. It is primarily a data-driven approach
which is used to develop an infrastructure and arrangement to reduce or eliminate the flaws in
the activities of the organisation to an extent to 3.4 defects per million times (Truscott, 2012). It
is amongst the most effective tool and approach of managing the operations which can be
implemented in Sainsbury’s to enhance the organisational productivity and by the help of
achieving six-sigma certification, the organisational can assure the quality of goods and services
which are being delivered to the customers.
Lean Production:
It is a vital approach of managing the operations that focuses on reduction and
elimination of wastage in the manufacturing and other production processes of the organisation.
Waste is regarded as any phase or point in the manufacture procedure of an organisation which
doesn’t add value for the customers. With respect to Sainsbury’s, lean system of manufacturing
can aid the company in reducing the lead times, improving optimum resource utilisation and a
providing a better value for money to the customers (Mrugalska and Wyrwicka, 2017). It can
also help the company to foster innovation and creativity in the operational process and inspire
employees to pursue better alternative which are more innovative and increase the value which is
being provided to the customers.
Just-in Time Inventory:
It is an approach of inventory management for an organisation which aims at
determination of an economic order quantity for inventory and materials and reduce the many
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costs related with inventory like ordering cost, carrying costs and storage costs (Lai, and Cheng,
2016). This approach can aid the managers of Sainsbury’s to improve the bottom-line of the
organisation and also reduce the cost of inventory management substantially leading to a rise in
productivity and profitability in the company. This approach aims to avoid the understock and
overstock situations for an organisation and at the same time, reduce the cost of inventory
management.
Role of managers:
Managers of Sainsbury’s play a very critical role in operations management of the
company and implementation of various approaches. Determining the activities which are to be
performed for implementation of these approaches, arrangement of necessary technology,
financial and other physical resources, making necessary changes in the organisational structure
and policies etcetera (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013). Recruiting employees as per the
skills and competency required for completion of task is also another important responsibility of
managers for operations management.
Role of leaders:
Every approach and tool of operations management requires an active engagement of the
employees and an effort in the whole organisation to enhance the standard of work being
performed by each individual. A very imperative and essential role is played by leader in
motivating and influencing the employees to participate in approaches which are being
implemented for managing the operations of the company and actively contribute in improving
the quality of work done and minimisation of wastage (Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2012). A leader
also has to play the part of directing the tasks and giving guidance to employees that can support
them in improving their efficiency and productivity.
P5 Relevance of operations management and its approaches in achieving the objectives of
business organisation.
Operations management helps a great deal in achievement of business objectives of reducing
the costs and increasing the profitability for any business organisation. With the help of effective
operations management, the management of Sainsbury’s can realise the vision and objective of
organisation which is to improve the operational productivity and profitability to an extent where
it provides a competitive edge to the business organisation. Dimensions of operations
management helps in achievement of business objectives in the following manner:
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Transformation of raw materials into good and services: Operations management can help
in improving the process of transforming the raw materials into goods and services for
Sainsbury’s which ultimately results into an increased operational productivity. Wastage and
factors contributing to increasing cost of production are eliminated in the process of operations
management fostering increased profitability and productivity and accomplishment of prime
objectives of business.
Increasing revenue and sales: With the help of operations management, the quality of
goods and services which is being offered to the customers improves substantially. For example,
total quality management aims to build long-term relations with the customers by constantly
improving the quality of goods and services being provided. It helps in increasing sales and
revenue in the long-term and provides a competitive advantage to Sainsbury’s by inducing
customer loyalty and high level of customer satisfaction (Bonacelli, Colladon and Schiraldi,
2013).
Supply and distribution networks: Under operations management, supply-chain and
distribution networks of the company are analysed and significant changes are made which
allows the organisation to provide goods and services to widely scattered customers in different
geographical locations and improve the accessibility and also obtain materials from suppliers at
the best price possible. Hence, it will help the management of Sainsbury’s to increase sales and
revenue and achieve business objectives of the company.
Capacity Management: Capacity management is an area of managing the operations which
deals with maximising the output for company without compromising the quality of goods and
services being offered. In the context of Sainsbury’s, capacity management can help the
company to make optimum utilisation of its resources and ensure no idle resources which might
be creating an adverse impact on profitability of the company.
Process Design: In today’s business environment, innovation and creativity is essential to be
fostered in the operational process of the company and with the help of operations management
approaches such as lean production, the management of Sainsbury’s can design the process in a
much creative and innovative manner to reduce cost and offer a unique value proposition to the
customers to increase long-term sales and improve competitive industrial position (Sharifzadeh,
2013).
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TASK 4
P6 External factors in business environment which influences operations management and
decision-making in the organisation by managers and leaders.
Political Factors:
Political factors impacts the decision of managers and leaders of Sainsbury’s with respect
to operational management of the business organisation. Government of developing countries are
encouraging multinational organisations to provide employment in their respective business
territories which has influenced the decision of managers and leaders of Sainsbury’s to reduce an
extensive use of technology and automation in the operations and create room for increased
employment opportunities.
Economic Factors:
Factors like rising level of disposable income of people particularly in the European
countries have also influenced the operational management and decisions which are taken by
administration of Sainsbury’s. Customers are now demanding goods of high quality which
encouraged the management to focus on providing the goods of best quality to customers and
enhancing the operational productivity (Diener, Tay and Oishi, 2013).
Technological Factors:
Technological factors and drastic changes in technological developments have a key
influence on the operational management for any organisation. It is important for the
management of Sainsbury’s to adapt the key trends in technology in the operations of the
company and replace the outdated machinery with latest technology in order to uphold the
competitiveness of the company and offer goods of better quality and standard to the customers
(Zawislak, P.A., Cherubini Alves and et. al., 2012). For example, installation of technology such
as bar-code scanner for automated inventory management is a key change in operations
management of Sainsbury’s influenced by technological innovations and developments.
Corporate Social Responsibility:
CSR refers to the duty and obligation of a business organisation to look beyond the
financial measures of performance evaluation and create a positive impact on the people,
community and environment within which it operates (Tai and Chuang, 2014). Every decision
taken by the managers and leaders of Sainsbury’s is influenced by the aspects of Corporate
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Social Responsibility which also determines the public image and goodwill of the company.
Major dimensions of CSR includes:
Culture: It is the duty of a business organisation to promote the culture and traditions of
the community within which it operates and don’t indulge in any activity which is conflicting
with the culture and might create an adverse impact on it. For example, the management of
Sainsbury’s should avoid production of any products or offering any service which is conflicting
with the culture and traditions of that community.
Values: Every business organisation is under the responsibility and obligation as a part of
its CSR to create a positive impact and value for the community in which it operates. For
example, it is the responsibility of the management of Sainsbury’s to contribute in development
and infrastructure of the area where it operates and provide more employment opportunities.
Ethics: Providing the goods of best quality and standard at the best prices as a part of
business ethics and CSR of an organisation is the utmost responsibility of the management of
Sainsbury’s. It affects the process of taking key operational decisions of the company since the
company needs to offer goods of high quality for which it is imperative to increase efficiency in
operations.
Sustainability: Sustainability in operations is one of the most important factors
influencing the decision-making and operations management of managers and leaders of
Sainsbury’s. The management needs to design operations in a manner which reduces the
negative impacts on environment such as emission of ozone-depleting gases and carbon
emissions and also improves the sustainability rating of the company which determines the
public image and goodwill (Krass, Nedorezov and Ovchinnikov, 2013).
CONCLUSION
On the consideration of above discussion and report, it has been summarised that both
leaders and managers have very vital and distinct role to play in an organisation. It has also been
concluded that various theories of leadership and management such as management by
objectives and situational leadership can be implemented by Sainsbury’s after considering the
strengths and weakness of respective approaches. Various operations management tools and
approaches such as lean production and six sigma helps an organisation to improve the
operational efficiency and achieve prime objectives of business which are increasing profitability
and competitive position by offering high level of customer satisfaction and increased quality of
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goods. In the last section of the report, it has been evaluated that external environment factors
affects wider community and operational management by influencing the key decisions taken by
managers and leaders.
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REFERENCES
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Zawislak, P.A., Cherubini Alves, A., Tello-Gamarra, J., Barbieux, D. and Reichert, F.M., 2012.
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