Management and Operations: Approaches and Theories

This document discusses the key approaches and theories of management and operations in the context of Starbucks. It explores the role of leaders and managers in achieving business objectives and highlights the importance of operations management.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
Covered in PPT............................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2. Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts........................................................................................................4
P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency..........................................................................................................6
M2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the work
environment.................................................................................................................................7
D1. Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts........................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P4. Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play..............................................................................................................................8
P5. Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................9
M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management
to successfully meet business objectives...................................................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P6. Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers....................................................11
M4. Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider
community.................................................................................................................................12
D2. Critically evaluate application of operations management and factors that impact on the
wider business environment......................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operations Management is a phenomena and a practice which deals with keeping the main
focus on making processes most effective and efficient and rendering the best performances by
way of outcomes to the entity. The operations management approaches are value adding to the
processes that takes place on daily basis in the company by implementing number of techniques
and approaches (Hannon, 2016). The present assignment is developed on Management and
Operations of the chosen organisation that is Starbucks. It is an American multinational
coffeehouse chain which was founded in 1971 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The
company is a leading brand in the respective industry working on the leading positions in
domestic and international markets both. The report conducts discussion and examination on
number of aspects related to operations management where at first roles and characteristics of
leaders and managers are compared. Moving further, different leadership theories like Situational
and Contingency as well as approaches like Just-In-Time and Total Quality Management for
making effective and strong management within the organisation. Moving along, in case of
operations management there are certain importance of the notion which is addressed in the
report as well in context to functions of Starbucks. Moreover, lastly in the assignment the impact
of certain external factors on the decision making of leaders in the company while performing
their given roles and responsibilities are examined as well.
TASK 1
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
P2. Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
The role of the leader is really essential for very organization. Starbucks is a multinational coffee
house chain of America. Starbucks mainly paying more attention to their leaders and managers
because the role of the leaders and functions of managers are very responsible for the company.
There are two situation given, through these situations Starbucks analyse the impact of role of a
leader and functions of manage.
SITUATION 1 - LAUNCH A NEW PRODUCT

Starbucks Company going to launch a new product so that company can increase their
sale in the market so in this situation the role of leader of the company and functions of managers
are discussed below - Role of Leader- Starbucks is about to launch a new product in the market so that
company can maintain the various range of products and diversified their market growth
level. In this situation, Starbucks need an effective leader who have a good leadership
quality and lead to their staff members in a good way. When a company launch a new
product then the leader role become more challenging and responsible. Leader is the one
who is capable to lead team by town (Meng, Shi and Liu, 2017). Starbucks company
leader maintain all the activities and give proper guidance to their staff member with
proper cooperation and coordination.
 Functions of Manager- There are 5 important functions which company manager need
to perform these functions are Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and last
Controlling. Starbucks launching a new product so in this situation, functions of manger
are very prominent. Manager need to utilize all the 5 given functions so that manager
easily manage all the activities which are involved when Starbucks launch a new
products. Manager need to do proper planning for the new products like what is essential
requirement new products demand so manager can easily identify it and, Apart from this
manager need to organize the product and do proper staffing like prepare a team who
will help in new product project and after that manager need to give them direction and in
the end need to control and monitor all the activities.
SITUATION 2 - PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Starbucks is famous company across the whole world. Company need to manage
performance of their employees so that Starbucks can easily maintain their position in the
marketplace (Ming and et. al., 2017). Performance management is a very crucial situation for the
company. The role of the Starbucks leader and functions of manager are discussed below- Role of Leader- Starbucks leader need to manage performance of their team members so
that company can perform well in the market because company performance depends
upon the employee’s performance. Leader need to give effective guidelines so that team
members can easily follow that guideline and do their work in an effective manner.

 Functions of Manager- Starbucks manager need to focus on the performance of
company and use their functions so that Starbucks performance easily manages. Through
proper planning and organizing and controlling function, manager easily influence and
monitor company.
P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency.
In this report, Starbucks apply various theories and model that related to the different
aspects of the company. The description of these theories and model are given below-
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY
This theory is really useful in context of the organization and this theory is given by Paul
Hersey and also known as Hersey- Blanchard Situational Leadership theory. In this theory, there
are four leadership style given which is used by the Starbucks (Yang and et. al., 2019). Telling- In this style, leader discuss the people that what to do and also tell about that
how to do work. Leader is responsible to tell about the whole task so that employees can
understand their role very well. For Instance, the main role of Starbucks leader is to make
understand about all the working conditions to their group members so that they will
perform their task in a best way. Selling- In this style of leadership, leaders is responsible to generate the role and
objective for others and they also sell to others so that they can gain cooperation. For
example, Starbucks leader create objectives for the other employees and also take their
suggestions and opinions. The main role of leader in this is explaining & persuading.
 Participating: In this leadership, the main style adopt leader is sharing & facilitating. For
instance, these types of leaders leave the responsibility of decision to their team members
and team employees give their full participation in decision making process.
 Delegating: In this leadership, leader use the method of “letting others to do”. For
example Starbucks company leader provide less guideline to their employees and leader
ask team member time to time about the decision making (Wei and et. al., 2016).
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP THEORY
System leadership theory refers as a set of capacities and effective skills that are use by
the company employees so that they can support in the process of the system level and also
consider come changes in this. System leadership theory contain three types of factors such as

combines collaborative leadership and coalition building and last system insight which help in
mobilize the innovation and some course of actions across a massive and decentralized company
network. Starbucks company apply this theory so that company determine and reflect some
interdisciplinary system which shows outcome that involve the actions.
CONTINGENCY THEORY
This theory given by the Fiedler's and this is consider as an organizational theory that
define that there is no best method to organize and lead the company or make a good decision,
Apart from this a useful set of action is dependent upon both situation including internal and
external. Starbucks company contingent leader use their own leadership style in the right
situation. Contingent leader are able to take a good decision and they have flexibility to choose
and also adopt effective strategy which suits in changing situation at a specific given time in the
running of the company (Tran and et. al., 2018).
M2. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the work
environment.
In the section above the different approaches of leadership which are discussed are Situational
leadership, Contingency and System leadership. All the three leadership practices are applied to
Starbucks in respective manner for offering the best results (KS and Papaiah, 2020). All the
leadership styles adopted by leaders hold their strengths and weaknesses for Starbucks. The
major strengths are the leaders can increase employee engagement by applying these leadership
theories. Moving along, the weakness attached to the leadership styles is increasing interferences
of people in all stages within the organisational hierarchy in decision making as well as in
changing work environments.
D1. Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts.
The theories of operations management are Situational leadership, Contingency and System
leadership and the identified approaches are Just-In-Time, Total Quality Management and
Kaizen. All these tools and techniques are value adding and beneficial for management as well as
leaders of Starbucks to adopt for making the best use of resource most significantly human
resource and increasing productivity of the entity by effective performance of people. On the
other hand, the time consumed in such practices and tools to implement can have a negative
influence as it leads in inefficient results if applied in wrong manner.

TASK 3
P4. Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play.
Operational management is consider as an administration of the company which do
businesses practices and also create the highest level of effectiveness possible within company.
The main role of the operations management is convert the materials and all lobar in to the
products and services as an efficient and possible way (Reed and Allan, 2016).
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Total quality management refers as a practical approach which specifies a long term success
of the company with the help of customer’s satisfaction. In this approach, all employees of the
company participated in the improvement process and also give their best effects in products and
services and also culture of the company in which they are working. Starbucks Company mainly
focuses on this approach so that company can easily improve the quality of the management and
increase the standard in the context of the operations management. Starbucks leader need to
manage the overall quality of the employees so that they can perform their task in a specific an
appropriate manner. Manager of the Starbucks need to utilize their functions so that manager can
determine all the requirement of the employees which are helpful to maintain the total quality of
the management (Barnes, 2018).
JUST IN TIME
Just in time approach also known as the JIT approach. It is the most appropriate inventory
management methods in which labour, raw materials and products are re-filled and scheduled so
that all the materials and labours arrive exactly when required in the manufacturing process.
Starbucks company main purpose is use this approach is that manufactures use inventory to
increase the efficiency and effectiveness and decline waste by receiving products only when
employees required in the manufacturing process. Starbucks Company manager mainly try to
reduce the cost of the inventory so that company need to forecast and analyse the requirements of
labour and materials. There are many elements of Just in Time approach which Starbucks
company can use to maintain the inventory and decrease their wastage these elements are waste
from overproduction, waste of waiting time, inventory waste , waste of motion, transport waste
etc. Starbucks Company leader give proper direction to their team members so that all the
employees can do their job in a good way. Leader also responsible to maintain all the inventory

data so that leader can guide the employees to increase the efficiency and decrease the wastage
of inventory (Kazuno and et. al, 2019).
KAIZEN
The meaning of Kaizen is considered as a change for the betterment or continuously
enhancement. The main purpose of this approach to continuously improve the operations of the
company so that the involvement of the increase. Starbucks Company mainly uses this approach
to increase the involvement of the employees in their organization. With the help of 5 elements
of the Kaizen, Starbucks company leader can manage all the activities of the organization. 5
elements of the Kaizen such as team work, personal discipline, quality circle, increase morale
and advice for improvement. Leader of the Starbucks maintain all these elements and focus on
teamwork and personal discipline of their team members. Managers of the Starbucks company
help to improve the quality circle and increase the morale of the employees and also responsible
to give suggestions for the improvements (Benhafssa and et. al., 2018).
P5. Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
Operations management is a process that involves effective functioning and regulation of
all the business functions that are engaged in an organisation and works for attaining the goals
and objectives of the entity. The notion of operations management tools importance and value
businesses like Starbucks for effective and productive functioning of business. There are
different types of operational functions that exist in Starbucks. These are as follows:
 Marketing Function- The first critical function that exists within an organisation like
Starbucks that deals in a strict and highly competitive industry is of marketing. The
function is responsible for conducting promotional strategies and activities on behalf of
the entity in order to keep people aware and informed about the products and services
which are offered by Starbucks to its targeted audiences (Zhiyong, Hailemeskel and
Xiaojin, 2020).
 Human Resources Function- The second function is of human resource which is
responsible for fulfilling the workforce needs and requirements of the entity as well as
maintains appropriate skill sets within the firm by employing and bringing the best and
towards it. Human Resource Department of Starbucks holds a very crucial responsibility

to please do right person at the right time in the right position for performing all tasks
according to the requirements and in the best manner possible.
 Sales Function- The sales function of an organisation like Starbucks is responsible for
number of activities and tasks. The first and foremost task which is performed by the
leaders and managers of sales department is to develop strategic plans and techniques for
meeting the sales target of the organisation. And other relevant responsibility which is
performed by the sales unit is to establish appropriate sales target before making any
arrangements to achieve them.
 Production Function- Another very important function of a form belonging to
hospitality industry and food and beverage sector is of production department. The
production unit of Starbucks who is the responsibility to keep the quality as well as the
taste of all the beverages and coffee provided to customers with the menu and ordered by
people according to their preferences. Quality management is a very basic and important
aspect of Starbucks performance management strategy (Gan, Shek and Mueller, 2016).
VALUE AND IMPORTANCE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
 Increase productivity- A important and value adding aspect related to operation
management functions that are performed by leaders and managers within Starbucks is of
increased productivity of the entity. The different approaches and techniques of operation
Management used by the leaders and management of Starbucks helps them in keeping
people highly motivated and encouraged to perform their best for attaining organisational
goals in contributing their path towards the ultimate objectives (Azim, Cui and Li, 2016).
Thus, the practices like Just-In-Time and leadership styles like situational theory helps
manager in keeping people highly motivated results are shown through their increased
productive results.
 Increase customer loyalty- For a form belonging to hospitality industry a major concern
for the organisation is to maintain customer loyalty towards the brand and keep people
involved with them for the longest period possible. Another important value offered by
operation management to Starbucks is of increased customer loyalty as now people are
receiving the products according to their preferences as well as according to the quality
the quality of products they expect from the organisation.

 Enhance employee engagement- The third important dynamo which is served by the
idea of operations management to Starbucks is employee engagement. In above section
there are certain leadership skills which are discussed and applied to the organisation
which reflected on productive performances of people belonging to the company. The
same manner these leadership styles and respective operation management practices will
enable the leaders as well as managers to keep people highly engaged within the
operations and make them work willingly towards the ultimate objective of the entity
(Kosasi, Prabowo and Budiastuti, 2018).
M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management to
successfully meet business objectives.
Leaders and managers do play a very critical role in organisations, in Starbucks as well
there are certain operations management techniques that are used by I then for making the
operations of the entity most effective and productive. In the above section the discussed
techniques like just in time, kaizen and total quality management are those practices which I used
by leaders and managers of Tesco playing their significant role for leading the form towards its
ultimate objectives and making it a success.
TASK 4
P6. Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and managers.
Business environment refers to the surroundings in which an organisation or a business is
being flourishing. The business environment comprises of all internal as well as external factors
that are present around the company and the market in which it is dealing while conducting its
operations and functioning its business (Wijaya, Widiadnyana and Swamardika, 2016). There are
number of factors which exist and impact the business operations as well as the decision making
of leaders and managers. In the same manner Starbucks do have certain elements and factors that
exist internally and externally around the business affecting the decisions of leaders and
management of the entity. Some of such factors are elaborated below in regards to Starbucks and
their impacts on decision making of leaders as well as managers are also presented.
 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)- The first factor which exist in the surroundings
of an organisation that has influence on its operations internally and externally is of

corporate social responsibility (Abramov, 2018). The idea of corporate Social
responsibility have been enlightened up in recent years due to extreme implications
taking place on society and environment because of the business functioning practices of
different organisations belonging to different industries. Corporate social responsibility is
one major factor which forces the leaders and managers of Starbucks to make sure that
they are contributing their part towards the society on behalf of the company by making
active processes going on within the organisation more sustainable and potential by
involving reusable resources and productive use of available assets.
 Culture- The culture refers to the internal environment of an entity which incorporates
the behaviour, attitude, values, function and processes and many other similar factors.
The culture of Starbucks is an internal element that helps the company to create synergy
within the operations and functioning of business. According to the culture of the Antony
the managers and team leaders make their objectives and plans for conducting and
finishing the assigned duty or responsibilities.
 Sustainability- The third very important and value-adding business environmental factor
which affects the functioning of operations of an entity as well as the decisions taken by
managers and leaders as of sustainability. The concept of sustainability states that the
company should work in such manner that leads it towards success making the best use
of available resources and rendering their services to customer in the most productive
manner. The sustainability aspect is one of the major objective of Starbucks hence the
decisions of leaders and managers are revolving around the notion of sustainability of the
organisation within the respective marketplace and maintaining its living position in the
industry.
M4. Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider community.
The business environment comprises of number of factors which affect the functioning of
Starbucks and decisions of leaders and managers of the entity. The implication of these external
and internal elements on is elaborated in above section but these factors do impose significant
influence on the community (Tamura, 2018). Such as different CSR activities that are conducted
by Starbucks are favourable for the society as it contributes a little part back to the society for
using its resources. In the same manners organisational sustainability objective help the society
in preserving its resources for the longer period of time as company MS using these diseases

rather than it is making the best use of available resources as resolving them for future
generation.
D2. Critically evaluate application of operations management and factors that impact on the wider
business environment.
The application of different operation management approaches and techniques like
kaizen, quality management and Justin time are beneficial for the company as it reduces any type
of waste from the functions and brings in better results for by improved revenues and better
profit units. Is different operation management techniques also impose influence on the wider
organisational context that is its business environment as the leaders and managers can take
appropriate decisions in regards to these practices by critically evaluate all the factors associated
and developing strong business plans (Khan and et. al., 2016).
CONCLUSION
In the above report the discussion has been taken place in regards to operations and
management of businesses which controls that the phenomena is essential and critical for entity
to imply and practice while conducting and completing its activities. in the report above the
number of aspects of operations management are gone through such as different operations
management techniques. Also different leadership styles like situation and contingency and
system leadership are also discussed which states the ultimate benefits of these practices in
regards to the betterment and upliftment of performances of employees engaged within the
company.

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