Unit 4 MO-Assignment Brief.docx

UNIT 4 MO

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is a working area of organization which designing and controlling
the process of manufacturing and redesigning business operation in manufacturing of goods &
services (Wild, 2017). It is concerned with maintain entire production system which is method
that changed input into output. M&S Ltd is a United Kingdom multinational retail organization.
Its headquartered in the City of Westminster. Company selling cloth, home products or luxury
food items into the market. Report will explain management structure of M&S Ltd,
responsibilities of managers and leaders. Role of seniors through management theories or
concepts. It will describe different decisions of manager in various situations. Report will discuss
key approaches adopted by organization, impact of external environment on business and
provide recommendation for future improvements.
TASK 1
1) Introduction of M&S Ltd. And management structure-
M&S Ltd- Marks and Spencer Group plc also known as M&S is a large British
multinational retail organization. Its headquartered located in the City of Westminster, London.
Organization is registered on London Stock Exchange. This is expert in cloth selling, home
applications and luxury food products. It was introduced in 1884 by two man one is Michael
Marks and second is Thomas Spencer. Organization started to sell of branded goods such as
Kellogg Corn Flakes in 2008. Company recently has 979 stores across the world and 615 only
supply food products (Webb, 2017). In 1958 M&S Ltd began selling of Christmas cakes and
puddings. It opened its first Asian stores in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1960. In 1998 the organization
acquired Brooks Brothers, an American cloth company and US food chain business Kings Super
Markets.
Structure- M&S Ltd follow flat structure into the organization. This kind of management body
has limited standards in management between admin level and front-line workers. This type of
body motivates employees in decision-making process. Employees easily can share their issues
with seniors. M&S Ltd has also started a new operating committee. Workers are free to give their
suggestions while management making something.
2) Manager and leaders and their roles or characteristics-
Manager- A person who is responsible for running part of or entire business
organization, called manager. They are charge of a specific task group or subset of a company
1

and having staff of people who report to them. Few departments of an organization appoint their
managers to be line managers, others known as employee managers depending on the department
functions.
Leader- Leader of a group of people or a company is the individual who is in under
control of it. A person or thing which holds a dominant and senior position in their field and able
to manage high degree of control over other members of team.
Role of manager in M&S Ltd-
Manger- Managers play different role in the organization according to their functions.
M&S Ltd. is a retail company and, in this manager, play store manager role (Nicholas and Steyn,
2017). They are responsible for store operations on daily basis. Manager is responsible for whole
organization employees across every sector.
Characteristics of manager- M&S Ltd managers has few characteristics- Confidence- M&S Ltd managers are confident person. They do their job very confidently.
 Responsibility- Manager of M&S Ltd are responsible person who perform their job with
responsibility.
Role of leader in M&S Ltd- Leader of M&S Ltd has different role into the organization. They
are require at all levels. Operational- M&S Ltd leader oversee the flow of whole distribution centre.
 Planning- Leader of M&S Ltd use system for forecast and planning modules to generate
labour requirement.
Characteristics of leader- Honesty- Leader of M&S Ltd are honest towards their job responsibility.
 Positive attitude- M&S Ltd leader believe to take risk and carry positive attitude to
reduce them.
Basis Role Basis Characteristics
(Manager)
Entrepreneur
M&S Ltd manager can
be an entrepreneur.
Communication M&S Ltd manager do
not have two-way
communication
method.
Operational Manager never look Creative Manager of M&S Ltd
2

after process flow of
distribution.
follow planning, they
do not prepare any
strategy for company
growth.
(Leader) M&S Ltd leader are
not entrepreneur,
leader only lead group
of people (Lasserre,
2017).
Leader of M&S Ltd
continuously
communicate with
team members.
Leader of M&S Ltd
oversees the process
flow of distribution.
M&S Ltd leader create
planning and ready to
take risk.
3) Differences of managerial functions and leadership role by management theories and
concepts-
Manager or leader both play their role and function into the M&S Ltd. They follow
different working methods to accomplish their functions.
Administrative theory of Henri Fayol- According to administrative theory of management the
basic managerial function of M&S Ltd manager- Planning- Manager of M&S Ltd frame planning for future forecasting and prepare a
structure plan of action and determine the goals or targets of actions. According to Henri
it is essential task of management. Organizing- It is the creation of M&S Ltd organizational structure which make efforts to
brings together human resources and non-human resources to accomplish company task. Commanding- Superior of M&S Ltd give direction and orders doing their work properly. Coordinating- M&S Ltd has various divisions in an organization. It is the process of
bringing the process of all departments and manage their efforts for accomplish goals. Controlling- M&S Ltd manager compare actual performance with the desired and correct
them if there is scope of improvement.
3

Leadership role- Leader of M&S Ltd keep their focus only on team performance. They do not
give advice while manager making planning and other strategy.
Management concepts- Management concepts find out how managers and leaders of M&S Ltd
use their knowledge to accomplish organizations goals. Manager perform their function to
achieve entire company targets while leader play their role to meet team pre-define objectives.
4) Role of M&S Ltd manger and leader in different situations-
Managers and leader both play different role in M&S Ltd. If conflicts arise between
employees in this situation they both manage condition in their own way.
Manager role- If conflicts occur between management and senior employees, in this
critical situation productivity of M&S Ltd also influence (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). Manager
will ask separately what is the problem mid them, and after know the whole matter they suggest
that management and senior workers both are enough to handle their issue. They are the icon for
juniors or they do not deserve this kind of argument.
Leader role- Leader of M&S Ltd give advice that if they both are not satisfied with each
other ideas then top management make a fix policy for both of them and reduce the chances of
conflicts.
Another situation is that team members are good satisfied with their salary in this situation leader
of M&S Ltd goes to management and keep their view in front of them or manager discuss with
other management people and increase a fix percentage of their wages according to company
profitability. This kind of mutual understanding resolve any big challenges into the organization
or create a good & healthy environment.
5) Management and leadership theories into M&S Ltd-
Manager and leader of M&S Ltd apply different theories to maintain their growth or
performance.
Situational leadership- The situational theory of leadership advice that no individual
leadership style is best. It all relays on the M&S Ltd organization situation. Leader has to
understand what kind of method is suitable to task. According to this concept those leaders are
more effective who are able to adopt style as per the situation (Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and
Schönberger, 2017). For example, if M&S Ltd leader suffering with team members issue then in
this condition they adopt autocratic leadership style and make decision self.
4

System leadership theory- System leadership allows the leaders in M&S Ltd organization
to generate conditions where workers at all level execute productively to their potentiality. This
theory in contrast can be characterised by two distinct and interrelated which are I) collaborative
and ii) crosses boundaries. Organizational, professional and virtual extending M&S Ltd leaders
beyond the limits of responsibility or authority.
Contingency leadership theory- The contingency theory emphasizes the importance of
M&S Ltd leaders’ personality and situation in which leader perform. They outline two styles of
leadership- Task motivated- M&S Ltd leader motivate team members to accomplish their task on
time. They provide all relevant resources to employees to complete job.
 Relationship- motivated- Leader motivate workers to maintain good or healthy
relationship with team member which is necessary to achieve their goals and objectives.
6) Strength and weakness of theories and approaches-
Every theory and approach have their own strength and weaknesses.
Strengths- M&S Ltd leader adopt situation theory because of its strength.
 Situational approach is a practical method which is easy to learn and applicable across a
variety of settings. Leader easily can adopt it according to situation.
 It is prescriptive and define how leader of M&S Ltd should act to accomplish leadership
effectiveness.
System leadership- M&S Ltd leader adopt this leadership because of few qualities-
 It increases M&S Ltd adaptability to environmental changes. Company is studied as an
entire, not through parts.
 The focus is on accomplishing the person as well as whole organizational goals.
 This is adaptive and dynamic in nature, which make it stronger.
Contingency leadership-
 Contingency theory provide data on leadership, which is useful to M&S Ltd in
developing leadership style (Hugos, 2018).
 It has survived over the decades as a valid or trustable approach.
Weaknesses-
Situational leadership- This type of leadership has limited flexibility. M&S Ltd leader adopt
can't adopt it every situation.
5

 Short-term view- A situational leader may be viewed as conflicting and hard to anticipate
by members of M&S Ltd.
System leadership-
 This may be not always practical and get delay during decision making.
 Its nature of inter dependence relationship with M&S Ltd members is not defined.
Contingency theory-
 Complex- It is complex method for M&S Ltd leaders. During lake of time they may
ignore analysis of all these variables.
According to Harwood, (2017) all these leaderships theories are improved leader’s performance
and increase M&S Ltd productivity.
7) Conclusion and recommendations-
Leader and mangers of M&S Ltd organization take all decisions. Without them company
can't function properly. Their decision-making power not only develop their skills but also
increase company or employee’s productivity. For future growth they should have to take
employees suggestions while making something. Provide all require resources for develop
qualitative products and services. Distribute goods into market which are more effective compare
to competitors.
TASK 2
1) Introduction of operation management of M&S Ltd and key approaches-
Operation management of M&S Ltd- Operation management is an area of M&S Ltd
organization management that they concerned with designing and managing the procedure of
production or redesign business operation in manufacturing of goods and services. Company has
given improved form of production and developed better production. Operation department of
organization use the newest technology during manufacture.
Key approaches- M&S Ltd operation management follow different approaches-
 Six sigma-Six sigma’s is an approach for enhancing the quality of operations
management of M&S Ltd by reduce the errors, defects, cost and saving time. It is
primarily method for high developing or manufacturing of organization products and
services. It only works on quality or department managers get support by senior
executive.
6

 Just-in-time- M&S Ltd use this inventory strategy to develop skilfulness and decrease
waste through receiving products only when they need them during production process,
which decrease cost of inventory. This is more important to forecast demand accurately.
2) Roles and responsibility of managers and leaders-
Role of manager- Management of resources- M&S Ltd manager manage available resources to produce
qualitative or quantitative products and services.
 Financial management- Operation manager of M&S Ltd plays a key role in budgeting,
controlling costs and manage organization financial status. Their management of supply
or other resources helps to minimize the cost of production.
Leader role- Require at all level- Leader of M&S Ltd organization is required at all level of company.
It is important for getting co-operation in plans formulation.
 Representative of organization- They are the representative of the M&S Ltd. Leader has
to present seminars, conferences, meetings etc.
Responsibility of manager- Support- Manager of M&S Ltd always provide their support to employees. Staff should
be comfortable asking for advice and raising issues with manager.
 Care- Manager of M&S Ltd care about their employees. They develop a healthy or safe
working environment.
Leader responsibility- Motivation- Leader of M&S Ltd motivate members to do their work more effectively.
 Communication vision- Leader vision organize all employees’ efforts. They
communicate with them and ask about their issues.
3) Importance and values of key approaches-
Importance-
Six sigma- It is a quality measure approach (Six Sigma, 2016). Process mapping is utilized by six
sigma which is a process of M&S Ltd flowchart to enable to documentation of business method
(Hitomi, 2017).
Elimination of variation and waste- Six sigma techniques can be used for elimination of waste
of M&S Ltd and variation in business process.
7

Source: [Six Sigma, 2016]
Value of six sigma-
Training providers- There is no governing body of M&S Ltd organization six sigma. So, who
have knowledge of six sigma can provide a certification & training.
8
Illustration 1: Six sigma

M&S Ltd organization side- M&S Ltd hires those employees who have knowledge of six
sigma. They should have a clear meaning about its deployments.
Just-in-time approach and Importance - The just-in-time inventory system is a management
planning which aligns raw-materials orders from suppliers according to manufacturing
schedules. M&S Ltd use this strategy to raise efficiency and waste by receiving products as per
their requirement in production, which reduce organization inventory cost.
Value- M&S Ltd like to use just-in-time because it seen as a cost-efficient method of stock
holding. Purpose of it to minimise products amount that is organization hold at any time.
4) Manager and leader role in improving operational efficiencies-
Operational efficiency is the capability of M&S Ltd to deliver products and services to its
consumers in the most cost-effective way with high quality of goods.
Manager-It is the responsibility of manager that they create such planning which help to
meet organizational goals. Quality control- Quality of products is the main objective of M&S Ltd. Manager take
care about good and dependable goods which pleases consumers (Ahuja, 2017). It's a
longer than just assuring that organization services meet objectives.
 Inventory control- Inventory is difficult system of M&S Ltd. Operation manager oversees
inventory system, which determine management of inventory. Manager create strategy to
control organization inventory or meet company objectives.
Leader- M&S Ltd leader also responsible for improving operational efficiency to meet
organizational objectives. Scheduling- It is working process of an activity which is assigning for accomplish the
goal of M&S Ltd. This is the method of arranging, controlling activity involved in the
production. Leaders done scheduling for the increase efficiency of the organization.
 Constant planning and development- It includes the informational, interpersonal and
effectiveness of M&S Ltd sub units. With the help of constant planning company will be
update for increasing results and satisfaction for the innovative ideas or accomplish
organization objective.
9

5) Impact of external business environment on operational management decisions by manager
and leader-
The business environment gets influenced by external factors which affects the M&S Ltd
operations and decision-making part of company. The various factors are political, economic,
social, technological, environmental or legal (Anderson and et.al., 2018). The leaders and
mangers of organization must ensure that policies or strategies must be ethical and not mislead
the political environment of country.
Political-legal factor- The political factor of environment related to government law of business,
business-government relation and political situation of country. Rules & regulation set the dos
and don’ts of M&S Ltd. Leader and manager of company frame such decisions which follow
government laws. Beyond it they can't perform their work.
Economic factor- Economic dimension of M&S Ltd is the overall status of in which M&S Ltd
operates. Impact of this for business are inflation, interest rates or unemployment. It affects the
demand of products. Manager or leader decide to produce those products which increase their
economy.
Social- Customs, mores, values and demographic characteristics of society in which M&S Ltd
operates (Ciambrone, 2018). Manager or leader provide those products & services which
maintain the value of society. The socio-cultural must be well studied by manager or leader.
Technological- It shows the methods available for changing resources into products and services.
Manager or leader of M&S Ltd must be care about technological factor. Investment must be
accurate in new technologies or adaptable to them.
6) Evaluation of application of operation management to manage factors-
M&S Ltd influenced by various factors which may be external or internal. Political,
economic, social or technological are few factors that impact business environment. Managers
and leader try to reduce their negative effect on organization and increase productivity.
According to (Cressler and Mantooth, 2017) political planning of government create boundary
for business, but if M&S Ltd wants to expand their company at wide level they have to build
strong relationship with government of country. The organization produces such kind of products
that maintain dignity of society. To reduce the impact of technical environment manager and
leader both must invest their time or money which manufacture qualitative goods in minimum
period. Business owner can't control the external factor facing by economy of M&S Ltd.
10

Develop strong policies and administer all policies. Managers or leader communicate effectively.
Develop goal for all employees at different levels (Harrison and Lock, 2017). They provide
wealth of information, aid numbers for free legal. These kinds of few steps reduce the impact of
external factors.
7) Conclusion and recommendations-
M&S Ltd is a growing organization of retail sector. Company adopted different key
approaches like six sigma’s, just-in-time to improve productivity. Managers and leaders play
various role at different level and fulfil their responsibilities. Report concluded that external
environment make impact on business or operational management. Quality control or scheduling
are those factors which important for accomplishment of organizational objectives. To improve
performance and get future benefits company has to create effective business policies, provide
modern technologies during manufacturing, produce those goods and services which maintain
dignity of society. The main target of M&S Ltd to increase productivity and develop working
process. To achieve both targets' manager or leaders communicate with employee’s time to time
and ask them about suggestions & issues.
11

12

13

14