Roles & Characteristics of Manager and Leader in Operations Management

This report discusses the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders in operations management, including decision-making, vision setting, resource allocation, and monitoring & evaluating. It also explores different leadership theories and approaches, such as situational leadership and system leadership. The case study focuses on General Electric and its CEO, Henry Lawrence Culp Jr.

Management and
operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................4
Roles & characteristics of manager as well as leader ................................................................4
Managerial skills & leadership qualities in specific situations...................................................6
Theories & approaches of leadership..........................................................................................7
PART 2............................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is basically an area that involves designing and controlling of
operations which is related with production procedure of an organisation. It also contains
redesigning of operations and activities which helps an organisation to make improvements and
earn higher profits(Basso, 2017). It is essential for managers of an entity to control as well as
manage all the operation which leads to achievement of desired goals within stipulated time
frame. General Electric is taken into consideration for the present report. It is a multinational
company which was established in the year 1892 by Thomas Edison, Charles A. coffin. GE
headquarter is in Boston, United states and prove its services globally. The company is ranked in
500 Fortune companies and ranked 18th position in terms of gross revenue globally. At present,
the CEO of General Electric is Henry Lawrence Culp Jr. The report is covered into two parts,
the first part covers role of leaders and managers with the difference. In addition to this, Models
as well as theories of leadership is discuss in relation to the situations. In the second part, there is
a discussion about various approaches & functions of operation management. Moreover,
importance and value of operation management is cover in the report.
PART 1
Roles & characteristics of manager as well as leader
A manager is a person who manages and administer all activities performed by
employees of a company (Frandsen and Johansen, 2018). Leaders give direction to employees
regarding implementation of activities which help an organization to achieve desired goals. In
addition to this, Leaders encourage employees to work with full zeal that impact positively on
productivity and performance of an organisation. Managers and leaders plays different roles
which are as follows:
Role of Leader:
Decision maker: One of the major role that is performed by leader in an effective
manner is decision-making. It is essential for a leader to take effective decision that is beneficial
for employees or the company (Campbell, 2017). For taking decision and share it to employees,
it is significant that a leader have good presentation & communication skills.
Vision setting: The another role which is necessary to attain objectives is vision setting
that is performed by a leader. The vision set by a leader is related with organisational objectives

as well as goals. The activities of a company is properly carried out by employees, if leader have
the ability to provide direction in effective and best manner.
Role of a Manager:
Proper allocation of resources: It is one of the important role that is performed by
manger in an effective manner. Proper allocation of resources assist organisation to lower down
their unnecessary cost and increase the level of profits. By the assistance of proper allocation, it
is easy for companies to maintain a balance between demand & supply.
Monitoring & evaluating: Managers check and evaluate performance of staff members
properly so that improvements can be done that leads to attainment of desired goals within time
frame. In order to evaluate, managers check actual performance with the expected performance
and then give feedback to staff members accordingly (Carreiro, Jorge and Antunes, 2017). By
the assistance of this, efficiency and productivity of employees increase that leads to raise in
profit and market share level of a company. In relation to General Electric, its mangers monitors
activities which is performed by employees on continuous basis that assist in attaining goals
within specified time frame.
Characteristics of a Leader:
Communication: It is essential for a leader to have effective communication skills as
they provide direction to employees and set vision for an organisation. The objectives, mission,
vision is effectively understand by staff members if it is properly communicated to them. In
addition to this, leaders motivate employees through their effective interaction skills which in
turn impact positively on performance and productivity of an organisation.
Trustworthy: In order to increase productivity of employees, it is important for a leader
to develop trust among employees so that staff members can retain for longer time on
organization and perform activities in an effective manner.
Characteristics of Managers
Decision-making: In order to attain success and growth in market, it is essential for a
manger to take appropriate decision at right time that will lead to attainment of goals within the
time frame. The effective decision assist companies to build reputation in market and raise
market share.
Time management: The another characteristics is time management that plays an
important role in every organisation in order to attain objectives within the time frame. It is

essential for managers to set activities according to the time so that productivity and profitability
of company raises.
Analysis and differentiate among role of leader & function of manager by applying range of
theories and concepts
In the situational leadership style, the role of leader is to make employee encourage and
influence to accept changes and deal with it in timely manner. Development of effective
strategies as per the situation is the function of manager in situational leadership style. In relation
to systematic leadership, to instruct and clarify employees about their working is the role of
leader whereas the function of manager is to monitor and check whether performance is on track
or not in an effective manner.
Managerial skills & leadership qualities in specific situations
In every company, there are different situations arise that influence on the overall
efficiency as well as performance of General Electrics. The managerial skills and leadership
qualities in relation to situations is defined below:
New service Launch: It is important for an organisation to make alterations in product
and services or develop new goods as well as services so that it can sustain in market for longer
time frame and expand their level of operation in effective manner (Gao, and Pishdad-Bozorgi,
2019). With reference to General Electric, the company is decided to launch an application that
contain all the information regarding general electrics and through this customers can
communicate about their queries 24*7 to the company. In this particular situation, the role of
leader and managerial skills is given below:
Leadership qualities:
In this situation, the responsibility of Jeck Welch is to encourage employees towards their
new service so that they can gain knowledge regarding new service and work on it in proper
manner. The leader quality is to give direction to employees and align teams in an effective
manner. It will assist company to execute activities associated with developing of application in
a smooth and proper manner. Along with this, it is determine that Jeck welch is a good leader
and always encourage its staff members to learn and enhance their skills as well. Moreover, it
help company to easily make employees to accept new product in an easy and effective manner.
Managerial skills

Herein, the function of mangers is to effectively plan and manage activities that is
associated with new application. One of the most essential skills that is required in this situation
is time management and budget estimation so that funds is available to employees in order to
carry out activities as well as operations in proper manner. In addition to this, Henry Lawrence
Culp Jr. should monitor activities implement by staff members at initial stage and reviews is
given to staff members accordingly (Majidi, 2017). For this, decision making skill is also needed
to have in managers in order to optimally utilise the resource of company. Moreover, it is
analysed that Henry Lawrence has effective communication and interaction skills that help
company to make employees conveyance about new product.
Conflict management: Every companies face problems & conflicts at workplace which
impact on their performance and productivity. The issues arise due to change in perception,
salary structure, different thoughts of employees and many more. In context to General Electrics,
recently company face problems due to different salary structure as its staff members think that
they did not receive outputs in terms of inputs they put in attaining objectives of organisation.
This brings down the morale of employees and develop negative mindset of employees that
directly affect negatively on profitability and productivity of General electrics.
Leadership qualities:
It is determined that Jack Welch, a successor of General Electric assist in resolving issues
and conflicts in proper manner. In the present situation, the role of leader is to listen problems of
staff members and then take actions accordingly (Mazidi, 2017). The other quality that is require
to solve this issue is to maintain good relationship with employees which helps in retaining
employees for longer time period and cut down the cost of company to recruit new employee for
the organisation. It is analyzed that Jack Welch maintain good relationship with staff members
due to which conflicts is easily solved in a proper manner.
Managerial skills:
One of the managerial skill that is needed to solve situation is effective communication
skills that assist in interacting with employees and influence them in a proper manner. Henry
Lawrence Culp Jr, the chief executive officer of general electrics developed agreements on
which all the terms and conditions is written and signed by employer as well as employees in
order to decline issue level in future. Henry Lawrence Culp Jr evaluate the performance of
employees which help them to resolve conflict effectively. Furthermore, it has the capability to

resolve problems by analysing the reason in a proper manner and then taking decisions. It will
help company to decline level of conflicts and enhance productivity of an organisation.
Employee dissatisfaction: General Electrics is facing issues as its employees are not
satisfied with the output they receive in return of their hard work. It decline the productivity level
of company and increase turnover rate. In this, leadership quality and managerial skills as per
situation is given below:
Leadership qualities: Jack Welch has the capability to deal with situations in an
effective manner and he knows that employee are the asset of company and fulfilling their
requirements and satisfy them help company to reach on higher position. The leader have good
communication and listening skills due to which it is easy to understand situations of employees.
It help company to resolve issues in an effective manner and retain employees for longer time
period.
Managerial skills: The managerial skill that sis required to solve such kind of issue is
performance analysis as it help giving equal output as per the input put by employees. It is
determine that Henry Lawrence Culp Jr has lack of understanding about performance analysis
and due to which it is not able to solve issue in a timely manner. It decline the overall
productivity and performance of company and increase in turnover rate of employees.
Actions and achievements of Jack Welch and Henry Lawrence Culp Jr.
Jack Welch is the greatest leader on this present era and the CEO of General Electrics
from the year 1981 to 2001. Jack welch transformed General Electrics from lightbulbs and
appliances company to a multinational corporation that offer innovative and quality products in
the market. In addition to this, he make GE as one of financially strong and leading organisation
in marketplace.
Henry Lawrence Culp Jr who is the present chief executive officer of General Electrics is
an American business executive. He purchase around 2,52,000 units of GE company stock that
has worth $7,135,072. He changed the way of conducting business and turned General Electrics
as fastest growing company within the United States. Henry Lawrence Culp plan to fix General
Electrics rather than breaking it apart. He hire employees from outside & importing management
strategies due to which company remain stable in market and is now includes in one of the
leading and fastest growing organisation at marketplace.

Theories & approaches of leadership
There are different approaches of leadership which is used by leaders as well as mangers
in order to solve the issues rapidly and effectively. By the assistance of this theories, an
organisation can easily bring changes and deal with conflicts. These approaches is defined
below:
Situational Leadership theory: This theory was proposed in the year 1969 by Ken
Balnchard & Paul Hersey. This theory suggest that there is no specific leadership style adopted
by leaders solve the issues. It changes as per the situations occur at workplace. It is important for
leaders to use appropriate theory as peer the situation as it will not only solve the issue but also
enhance productivity of organisation (Pisarenko, 2018). It is determined that an effective leader
is one who use appropriate theory which is beneficial to the company. This theory have
advantages as well as disadvantages which are as follow:
Strength Weaknesses
 One of the main strength of this theory
is it assist in managing activities as well
as task in proper manner.
 By the assistance of this theory, leaders
develop an effective relationship with
employees that impact positively on
mindset of customers and raise the
performance of organisation.
 Situational leadership theory mainly
emphasise on short term objectives
instead of long term objectives which is
considered as one of the major
weakness of theory.
 In order to attain higher profits,
situational theory is not profitable as it
apply according tom the situations
which is not decided earlier by the
leaders.
System Leadership Theory: This theory signifies that all the business operations as well
as activities is implemented and performed in effective manner. System leadership theory allows
managers and leaders to standardised activities in systematic manner (Razik and 2018). In
addition to this, acquisition of this theory by leaders and mangers of General Electric assist in
launching new service in market in proper manner which impact the productivity of company
positively. The strength and weaknesses of this theory is defined below:

Strength Weaknesses
 By using this theory, leaders and
managers can easily implement tasks in
systematic manner that helps in
attaining desired goals within the time
frame.
 The another strength of this theory is it
help in providing direction to
employees due to which efficiency and
productivity of a company increases.
 System leadership theory is not
applicable on all the conditions and
situations which is one of its
weaknesses.
 This theory only assist in solving
management issues which might
sometimes create problem within the
organisation.
From the above discussion, it is evaluated that situational leadership theory help a person to cope
up with the changes easily and properly. In addition to this, it is said that no specific theory is
suitable, it can be adopted by leaders as per situations occur at workplace. If it is talking about
system leadership theory, it helps an entity to develop standards for implementation of activities
and utilise all the resources in an optimal and effective manner. Moreover, it is analysed that
system leadership theory is suitable and effective for General Electrics for the solving the current
issues. It will help company to execute activities in a proper and effective manner (Szebehely,
2018).
Examine strength & weaknesses to appraise various approaches to situation in work
environment
One of the situation that is occurred at General electronics is conflict management. By
applying the approach of situational leadership, an entity is able to resolve it as it help in dealing
with situation that have no specific time and determine that no particular theory is applied to
every situations. The weakness of situational leadership theory is, it is not appropriate at every
situation and it focuses mainly in short-term solutions. Another situation is employee
dissatisfaction, using systematic leadership help company to listen employees issues and solve
them in a systematic manner and is consider as strength of this approach. It is analyse that
systematic leadership tis mainly focuses on management issues rather than solving small issues
that might be not solve this particular issue arise at workplace.

It is analysed that Jeck Welch who is the successor of General Electrics have good skills
to conveyance people and develop relation with them. This is consider as a strength to resolve
the issue of conflict management in a proper manner. But due to lack of listening skills, he is not
able to resolve such type of issues, which is weakness of Jeck Welch in dealing with the
situation. If it is talking about Henry Lawrence Culp, the CEO of General Electrics have good
communication skills, due to which he is able to gain insight about the reason of dissatisfaction
of employees ad resolve it in a proper manner. It is analysed that Henry Lawrence Culp have
lack of performance analysis skills, which make company enable to provide equal salary and
benefits to employees as per their performance. This is consider as weakness of CEO of GE in
order to deal with situation such as Employee dissatisfaction.
Critical analysis of different theories & approaches to leadership in given context
Situational leadership theory: The advantage of using this theory help an organisation
to deal with any form of situations in an effective manner as this theory suggest that no particular
leadership style is appropriate, it changes with the occurrence of situations. The limitation of
theory is it focuses on solving short-term objectives instead of long-term goals.
Jeck Welch is dynamic and flexible, which enables him to deal with any of the situation
in a proper manner. In addition to this, it is consider as a strength of Jeck Welch in order to apply
such theory in practices. On the other hand, due to lack of listening skills, it might be not able to
handle situation that is weakness to deal with any situations arise at workplace. Henry Lawrence
have good communication skills, due to which he is able to gain insight about the reason of
occurrence of situation that help in handling situation in an appropriate manner.
Systematic leadership theory: This theory help in systematically and properly
implement out activities in an effective manner as is consider as advantage of this approach. In
addition to this, it is determine that systematic leadership theory is not applicable on all the
situations and might create issues at workplace, which is a limitation of theory.
By having the ability to develop good relationship with employees and conveyance them
to achieve objectives is consider as strength which assist in effective and systematic
implementation of activities of company. If it is talking about Henry Lawrence, he have good
communication and interaction skills which make him enable to clarify activities in mind of
employees that has positive impact on implementation of activities in a systematic and
appropriate manner.

PART 2
(Covered in PPT)
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it has been analysed that operations management plays vital
role in companies as it assist in implementing as well as executing activities in proper manner.
Along with this, operations management helps in improving production process that leads to
increase in performance & efficiency level of an organisation. There are various roles perform by
leaders which changes according to the situations. Moreover. Leadership models and theories
helps a company to enhance their profit and productivity level. It is also analysed that operation
management helps in declining overall cost , which directly leads to raise in profits of a
company.

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