This report discusses the roles of managers and leaders in Unilever, different theories and models of approach, and key operational functions. It also explores the strengths and weaknesses of different leadership approaches. The report provides valuable insights into the management and operations of Unilever.
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Unit 4 - Management and Operations
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Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................3 Part 1................................................................................................................................................3 Roles of manager and leaders and difference in management and leadership...........................3 Differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by effectively applying a range of theories and concepts.....................................................................................................4 Different roles of management and Leadership in different organization situations..................6 Different theories and models of approach..................................................................................7 Strength and weaknesses of different approaches of leadership and management....................8 Part 2................................................................................................................................................9 Key operations of Unilever..........................................................................................................9 Key operational function and roles and responsibilities of managers......................................10 Key operational approaches to operations and their value........................................................10 Impact of external business environment factors affecting decision-making by leaders and managers...................................................................................................................................12 How these different factors affect the business environment and wider community................13 Improving operational efficiency..............................................................................................14 CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................15 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................16
·INTRODUCTION Leadership and management are two important roles within organization. Leadership can be definedas an art ofinfluencingand encouraginga groupto achieve commongoal. Management can be defined as a process of planning, organising, directing and controlling activities and resources within organization. This report aims at discussing management and leadership within Unilever. Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company. It was founded in 1929 and is headquartered at London, United Kingdom and have its existence in 190 countries in world. Operations management can be defined as administration of business practices to create highest level of efficiency possible within organization. This is mainly is concerned with planning, organising and controlling in context of manufacturing and production and the provision of services. Report will discuss operations management, its approaches in context of Unilever and will also discuss role of leaders and managers regarding operations management and factors affecting decisions of managers and leaders. ·Part 1 ·Roles of manager and leaders and difference in management and leadership Leader can be defined as an individual who develops vision for the organization and encourageemployeesandfollowerstoworkindirectionofachievementofvisionfor organization. Manager can be defined as individual who develops goals on the basis of vision and plan and organise resources and activities so that organization and employees can achieve goals and objectives of organization (Reina and et.al., 2018). Difference in role of manager and leader is as follows- RolesLeaderManagersDeveloping vision and goalsLeaders create vision that is ultimate desired end where they want organization to reach. Leaders clearly develop where they want their team and organization to reach. Managers create goals that are short term desired ends and
goals lead to achieving vision of organization.Role in changeLeaders are change agent and perceive change to be important element for future growth of organization. Being a change agent they initiate and strategise change to be implemented in organization. In addition to this leaders also gain consent of those who will be part of change and prepare them to adopt and accept change. Managers do not initiate change and they focus on maintaining status quo. This means that they also make practices so that employees can effectively adopt changes being implemented in organization.Role in RiskThis is another important element in which leaders play their role. As per this role leader take risk and try new things and are not afraid of failure as a result of taking risk. Managers play their role in controlling risk and minimising risk that is involves in operations and functioning of Unilever. In this, managers either avoid or control problems rather than accepting and adopting them.Building relationshipsAs per this role leaders work on building relationships and have focus on people (Lee and et.al., 2019). They are able to influence stakeholder in order to achieve their goals and objectives. Managers focus on building systems and processes. This involves building processes through which employees can complete tasks and activities.Coaching and DirectionThis is a role of leaders in which leaders coach employees and followers in organization. They enable employees and followers to find answers of their problems. Leaders consider that employees and subordinates are competent to find their answers and solutions.Manager direct employees in which they tell employees what to do and how to do it. In addition to this provide guidance to employees how they can complete assigned activities. l壱Differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by effectively applying a range of theories and concepts. On the basis of theories Mintzberg's roles of manager are divided in three parts that include- Interpersonal Roles Figurehead- This is concerned with being responsible for social and official duties reflecting their status and authority within organisation. Leader- This role involves inspiring, encouraging, and building morale of team. Liasion- This involves undertaking exchange of information in various departments and teams and also with external stakeholders. Informational Roles Monitor- This is concerned with role for collecting relevant data to assess market changes. Disseminator- This role involves communicating important information to team-members and subordinates.
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Spokesperson- This involves role in which manager conveys important information of Unilever to external stakeholders. Decisional Roles Entrepreneur- This is concerned with role in which manager are required to take risk as part of their managerial duties. Disturbance Handler- This involves ensuring that everything within Unilever runs smoothly and involves conflict management, and identifying areas for improvement. Resource Allocator-Allocating resources for different organizational activities. Negoatiator- Leading to win-win outcome of negotiation within and outside organization. Roles of leader are different from this and theory of situational leadership outlines certain roles that leaders play in Unilever and these are- Telling- In this leader plays important role in telling subordinates what to do and how to do certain task. Selling- This role of leader involves Selling their ideas to gain cooperation of employees and subordinates. Participating- This involves participating in activities of subordinates and providing them required support in completing their task. l壱Different roles of management and Leadership in different organization situations There are different situations in an organization that require contribution and support of both leader as well as manager. organizational situations and role of management and leadership are as follows- Implementing Change
This is a very important situation in which change is implemented in Unilever. In this change is developed and implemented in organization to achieve specific goals and objectives of the organization. In order to successfully implement change in Unilever effective change managementplays veryimportantrole.Inadditiontothischangemanagementinvolves effectively planning change and organising different elements accordingly. Unfreezing, freezing and refreezing are important phases of change management. Roles of leader and manager during change implementation are- Role of Leader- Leader plays very important role in change implementation within Unilever (Arifandet.al.,2017).Leaderplaysimportantroleinsettingdirectionforchange implementationwithinorganization.Leaderalsoplaysimportantroleinestablishing relationships in which they communicate vision for the organizational change and prepare organization and employees within Unilever to adopt and accept changes in organization. In addition to this leaders also play role model so that employees can inspiration from leader and work accordingly. Role of Manager- Role of manager in change includes planning change and its implementation. Managers also organise resources required for change and in addition to this organising activities for resources in Unilever is also role of manager. In addition to this another important role that managers play in change implementation within Unilever is providing regular assistance to employees when they are working in new practices of organization. In addition to this listening to problems of employees and providing adequate solution is also role of employees. Launch of new product This is another situation within Unilever that requires support and contribution of leaders and managers of Unilever (Cheng and Yang, 2019). Launch of new product is a situation in which organization introduces its new product in its target market. This is an important situation and role of leader and manager is as follows- Role of Leader- Leader plays very important role in linking organizational vision with new product launch and its activities. Leaders also play important role in reflecting organizational values through launch of new product of Unilever.
Role ofManager- Manager also play important role in new product development. This is done by organising different activities linked with launch of new product. In addition to this planning event and organization of activities is also included in role of manager within Unilever while launch of new product. l壱Different theories and models of approach Situational leadership Situational leadership Theory and approach outlines different styles of leadership that a leader can adopt on the basis of different situations within Unilever. As per this theory success of leadership is highly based on ability of leader to adapt different styles on the basis of situation within organization (Thompson and Glasø, 2018). Situations consist of maturity level of employees that is based on their commitment towards goal achievement and get capability for goal achievement. Some styles of situational leaders are telling employees what to do and how to do it. Selling, in this style of leadership leaders’ offer different options to employees and employees can select one of the option to complete the task. Participating style of leadership includes motivating and encouraging employees and allowing them to make decisions and complete task and offering less direction. Delegating style of leadership in situational leadership is concerned with delegating task employees in which all decisions are taken by employees. System leadership System leadership approach is concerned with creating conditions within Unilever where people at every level in organizational hierarchy are able to provide their best contribution in realising organizational goals and objectives. This approach of leadership is based on principles of human behaviouranddifferentmodelsofeffectiveleadership.Systemleadershipalsoinvolve organizational strategy and system designs as an important element to enable everyone to perform productively (David and Drysdale, 2018). System leadership provide tools to leader in organization so that they can predict behaviour of employees within Unilever. Leaders when are able to predict behaviour of employees and members within Unilever they become capable of making effective decisions to drive performance and innovation within Unilever.System leadership enables organization to get benefit of knowledge and intelligence of people working within Unilever at all level.
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Contingency leadership This is another approach of leadership in Unilever. This approach of leadership considers that effectiveness and success of leadership is contingent upon situation in which they are leading organization or leading teams with an organization. As per this theory leader cannot work effectively in every kind of situation and when they leadership style is adequately aligned with situation they are able to performed effectively and their leadership becomes successful (Vidal andet.al.,2017).Factorsonthebasisofwhichleadershipstyleiscontingentincludes relationship of leader and member within Unilever, task structure and leaders position power. On the basis of these elements success of leadership style can be identified and in addition to this least preferred co-worker scale can also be used to identify success of leadership style in particular situation. l壱Strength and weaknesses of different approaches of leadership and management Strength and Weaknesses of situational leadership Strength ·Leaders can effectively work in different organizational situations and employees can also work under right kind of leadership within Unilever ·This leadership style is effective for every employee in Unilever regardless of the time they have been employed in organization (Thompson and Glasø, 2018) Weaknesses ·In order to adapt to different styles leaders require being experienced ·Inadequate knowledge of situation can affect effectiveness of leadership Strength and Weaknesses of Contingency leadership Strength ·Leaders can effectively perform their leadership duties and responsibilities when they are working on situation that are effective as per their situation
Weaknesses ·Leadership can be failure and ineffective when situation is not suitable ·This is an complicated approach of leadership (Vidal and et.al., 2017). On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that leadership and management both are very important for successful functioning of Unilever. Different leadership approaches discussed outlines that every leadership style has their own advantages and disadvantages for organization. ·On the basis of above analysis it is recommended that Unilever while selecting people for leadership positions should consider that recruit and develop leaders with situational leadership style where they are required to deal with different type of people on the basis of maturity. ·On the other hand will leadership positions deal with same kind of people in terms of commitment and competency contingency leadership can be Highly Effective in such situation ·Part 2 ·Key operations of Unilever Unilever is a consumer goods company and provide different types of products to customersincludingfoodanddrinksandeatingproductsofdifferenttypes.Operational management functions of Unilever include designing goods and services and manufacturing goods and services (Anitah, 2019). In addition to this, functions also involve supply chain management and maintenance of production facility of organization. l壱Key operational function and roles and responsibilities of managers Design goods and services- This involves developing design for goods and services of Unilever. This is first and foremost activity in operations of Unilever.
Manufacturing goods and services- This is concerned with operation in which input is converted into final products to be sold to customers. Process and capacity design- This is concerned with designing process and capacity where input is converted into output. Supply chain management- This is concerned with managing supply chain in organization. In this input is acquired within organization and output is supplied to customers and consumers. Inventory Management- This involves managing inventory to be used in manufacturing activities and inventory that is ready to be delivered to consumers (Sinulingga, 2019). Maintenance- This activity of operations involve maintenance of production capacity. Role of Leader- Role of leader in these operations functions is to ensure that these are suitable and right on the basis of organizational direction of organizational vision. Leaders also develop relationships with different parties and stakeholders to ensure that operational functions can be effectivelycompleted.Leaderalsoplaysimportantroleinmotivatingandencouraging individuals to perform effectively their role in operations functions. Role of Manager- Role of manager in this includes planning and implementing plans for operational functions and activities. In addition this organising and coordinating operational functions and ensuring their direction towards organizational goals is also responsibility of manager within Unilever. In addition to this maintaining quality of products and standards of practices is also a role of leader in Unilever. l壱Key operational approaches to operations and their value Just-In-Time (JIT) Thisisanoperationalmanagementapproachthatsuggeststhatmaterialfor manufacturing should be aligned directly with schedules of production within Unilever (Li and et.al., 2017). This means that supplier of inputs and material supplies them when they are required before starting manufacturing operations. This requires that supply is coordinated with production activities within Unilever. In order to implement this approach for operations within
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Unilever it is important that organizations maintain effective relationship with suppliers and also maintain coordination so that they can supply required material and input on right time. Thisapproachofoperationsmanagementhelpsinreducingcostassociatedwith maintenance of inventory. In addition to this it also is helpful in ensuring optimum utilisation of production facility. Lean production Lean production is another important approach of operations management. This approach of operations management outlines that Unilever should create more effective processes of manufacturingbyeliminatingwastefulpracticesandimproveefficiencyoffacilityand processes. This approach considered that waste that occurred from operations activity does not have any value for customers and customers do not like to pay for waste (Wagner, Herrmann and Thiede, 2017). In order to create highest possible value for customers it is important that Unilever works on reducing waste to least so that they can increase output that has value for customer. Effective application of this approach is based on organizations capability to design and develop manufacturing processes that provides highest possible productivity by reducing waste to lowest level possible. Unilever can develop such practices by research and development and innovation capabilities of organization. Application of this approach of operations management Unilever can help them in increasing customer satisfaction and reduce cost of manufacturing. Total quality management This is another approach of operations management that Unilever can consider for its operational activities. Total quality management approach is highly beneficial and effective for long-termsuccessofUnileverthroughcustomersatisfaction.Totalqualitymanagement approach considered that all members of Unilever should participate in improving overall practices of Unilever along with product and services and culture of Unilever (van Kemenade and Hardjono, 2019). Total quality management approach is customer focused and requires involvement of total employees and is process centred approach. In addition to this total quality management also includes integrated systems in which decisions are based on facts and leaders
and managers have a strong emphasis on continuousimprovementof elementsaffecting effectiveness of operations within Unilever. With this approach Unilever can enhance its sustainability and value that its product provides to customers. Value of these approaches for Unilever Profitability- Effective application of different approaches of operations management helps in increasing profitability of Unilever. Profitability of Unilever increases by reducing cost and increasing productivity. Quality of Output- These approaches also help in enhancing quality of output that gets developed during operations activities of Unilever (Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and Schönberger, 2017). Approaches like total quality management and lean production are examples of how Unilever can increase quality of output approaches of operations management. Effective and efficient utilisation of resources- Approaches of operations management are also helpful in ensuring effective and efficient utilisation of organizational resources. Resources included in this are material and input, human resources and financial resources. l壱Impact of external business environment factors affecting decision-making by leaders and managers Decision making of leaders and managers gets affected by several internal and external factors of environment and which Unilever operates. Some of external environmental factors affecting decision making of leaders and managers are as follows- Competitionwithinindustry-Unileveroperateinahighlycompetitiveindustryand competition for Unilever gets intensified by the fact that it provides different types of products and has existence in different industries. Competition of Unilever has a significant impact and influence on decision making of leaders and managers within Unilever (Calabrese and et.al., 2018). Leaders and managers required to consider the factors through which Unilever can maintain from position in competition of industry.
Globalisation- Unilever is an organization that operates in 190 countries in the world and globalisation is one of the most important factors to affect in decision making of leaders and managers of Unilever. It is very important that the decision enables organization to become successfulonglobalstandards.Decisionsofleadersandmanagersregardingoperations management get significantly affected by globalisation. Customers-Decisionsofleadersandmanagersgetsignificantlyaffectedbycustomers (Johnston, Adeniran-Ogundipe and Lautenbach, 2017). This is because success of organization and its operations activities depends on whether they have been accepted by customers or not. It is very important that leaders and managers take decisions that their product is acceptable to customers and outperform expectations of customers regarding products of Unilever. l壱How these different factors affect the business environment and wider community Pestle Analysis Political- political environment have very important impact on opoperations management. This is because government have important impact on decisions regarding production and operations methods that organize can use. Economical- operational environment have impact on cost and profit of organization. Economic conditions determine which operations practice organization should adopt and what impact external economic environment will make in profitability of Unilever. Social- This environment includes customers and their preferences regarding products of organization. It is important that operational activity of Unilever can provide required quality to customers. Technological- Regarding operations management and decisions technological environment has a key role to play. It is very important that technological development is considered regarding operations practices because developed technology helps in improving quality of products as well as production. Legal- It is very important that decisions regarding operations practices of Unilever are based on legal and regulatory requirements. This involves different measures for safety that organizations
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are required to undertake along with these standards of products are also determined by laws and require to be considered by Unilever. Environmental- It is another important factor affecting decisions regarding operations practices of organization. Operations practices have significant impact on environment and considerations different guidelines have been developed for operations practices. In addition to this Unilever is also required to undertake practices ensuring the least impact on environment through practices of organization. l壱Improving operational efficiency Focus on quality- This is an important way through which operational efficiency of Unilever can be improved. It is important that leaders and managers have strong emphasis on quality which enables them to identify and develop different ways through which they can develop practices and processes to increase quality of products and practices of manufacturing. Technological utilisation- This is another approach through which quality of product and processes can be enhanced. Technology can provide several types of assistance in operations management including measuring quality and increasing quality by reducing waste (Mohapatra and Mohanty, 2017). Application of effective Research and development practices can help in developing Technology through which operations efficiency can be increased. Continuous Improvement- This is a way through which efficiency of operations can be improvedto successfully meet business objectives.System leadership approach can have significant impact on effectively applying continuous improvement practices in organization to enhance efficiency of Unilever. Continuous improvement takes place when everyone within organization considers it as their responsibility to share their opinion and ideas through which efficiency of operations can be achieved within organization. Innovation- This is another approach in which through innovation Unilever can enhance efficiency of its operations. Innovation includes developing practice and processes to increase productivity and decrease cost of production and enhance efficiency of operations (Jawabri, Rehman and Alarmouti, 2019). Participative and transformational leadership approach can help
leadersindevelopingacultureofinnovationwithinUnileverwhereeverymemberof organization can contribute to best of their capabilities. ·CONCLUSION On the basis of above discussion it can be concluded that operations management within Unilever can get benefit from different approaches operations management. OnthebasisofabovediscussionitisrecommendedthatUnilevershouldconsider implementation of system leadership within organization to make everyone responsible and accountable for organizational success. This will also increase employees to work on improving quality of activities within Unilever.
·REFERENCES Books and Journals Anitah, J.N., 2019.Industry 4.0 Technologies and Operational Performance of Fast Moving Consumer Goods Manufacturers in Kenya: a Case Study of Unilever Kenya and L’oreal East Africa(Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi). Arif, M and et.al., 2017. Role of leader-member exchange relationship in organizational change management:Mediatingroleoforganizationalculture.Internationaljournalof organizational leadership.6. pp.32-41. Calabrese, M and et.al., 2018. From mechanical to cognitive view: The changes of decision making in business environment. InSocial Dynamics in a Systems Perspective(pp. 223-240). Springer, Cham. Cheng, C. and Yang, M., 2019. Creative process engagement and new product performance: The roleofnewproductdevelopmentspeedandleadershipencouragementof creativity.Journal of business research.99. pp.215-225. David, G.U.R.R. and Drysdale, L., 2018. System leadership and school leadership.Research in Educational Administration and Leadership (REAL).3(2). pp.207-229. Ivanov, D., Tsipoulanidis, A. and Schönberger, J., 2017. Global supply chain and operations management.A decision-oriented introduction to the creation of value.2. Jawabri, A., Rehman, W. and Alarmouti, A., 2019. Role of logistics and SCM management practisesinimprovingoperationalefficiencyintheretailindustryinthe UAE.International Journal of Business Performance Management.20(4). pp.313-329. Johnston, K., Adeniran-Ogundipe, T. and Lautenbach, P., 2017. Factors influencing business intelligence and analytics usage extent in South African organizations.South African Journal of Business Management.48(3). pp.23-33. Lee, A and et.al., 2019. Beyond relationship quality: The role of leader–member exchange importance in leader–follower dyads.Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology.92(4). pp.736-763. Li, H and et.al., 2017. Towards just-in-time suggestions for log changes.Empirical Software Engineering.22(4). pp.1831-1865. Mohapatra, S. and Mohanty, S., 2017. Improving operational efficiency in utility sector through technologyintervention.InternationalJournalofEnterpriseNetwork Management.8(4). pp.291-326.
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Reina, C.S and et.al., 2018. Quitting the boss? The role of manager influence tactics and employeeemotionalengagementinvoluntaryturnover.Journalofleadership& organizational studies.25(1). pp.5-18. Sinulingga, R.A., 2019. Risk Management System in PT. Unilever Indonesia, Tbk.TIJAB (The International Journal of Applied Business).3(1). pp.38-58. Thompson, G. and Glasø, L., 2018. Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower congruence approach.Leadership & Organization Development Journal. van Kemenade, E. and Hardjono, T.W., 2019. Twenty-first century total quality management: the emergence paradigm.The TQM Journal. Vidal, G.G and et.al., 2017. Contingency theory to study leadership styles of small businesses owner-managers at Santo Domingo, Ecuador.International Journal of Engineering Business Management.9. p.1847979017743172. Wagner, T., Herrmann, C. and Thiede, S., 2017. Industry 4.0 impacts on lean production systems.Procedia Cirp.63. pp.125-131.