Management and Leadership Roles in Amazon: A Comparative Analysis

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes leadership and management in Amazon's operations.

Management and Operation
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................8
LO4................................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Reference list.................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
Management plays a significant role in the functioning of the organization. It conducts
operations to identify the problems within the organizational structure and devises strategies,
policies and procedures to address the same. On the other hand, leaders help in bringing
revolutionary changes in the structure and functioning of the organization. Leader’s helps to
implement the changes brought about by the management and motivates employees to work
towards the achievement of the organizational goals. This report highlights the need for
management and leaders in company and briefly differentiates their areas of operation. It also
throws light on various approaches to leadership namely the situational, system and contingency
approach.
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LO1
P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
Amazon is one of the most affluent service providing organisations. In the following segment,
the manager and leaders’ roles are going to be compared. In accordance with different
researchers, a manager is that person who takes care of such responsibilities that are associated
with organising, leading, planning and controlling of tasks in all parts of the organisation (Reina
et al., 2018). On the other hand, a leader is such person who takes care of a particular project
and makes the entire team productive throughout the project conduction time. In the following
segment, a comparison is provided.
Similarities between the managers and leaders
There are a number of significant similarities in the functionality of the managers and the leaders
of the organisation Amazon. The main job of both the leaders and the managers is to allocating
resources, managing the people, managing operations and the workforce to maximize the
productivity of the organization (Huang and Feeney, 2016). The main operation of a leader is to
check the people who are working in the ambience and providing productive results to the
organisation. The leaders provide directions to the team members and the managers provide
directions to the leaders in order to finish the project within time with the help of the employees
(Bens, 2017).
Difference between Managers and Leaders
Managers Leaders
The managers make sure that the overall goal
of the organization is being met in a proper
manner.
The leaders make sure that the people who are
working in the premise are following orders to
meet a particular goal.
The managers focus on the process of
management to avoid issues in work premise.
The leaders focus on the people working in the
organization to make sure that there is no
organizational conflict.
The managers are responsible for managing the The leaders are the main people who make sure
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entire workforce in a proper manner. that the workforce is being aligned in a proper
manner.
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LO2
P2: Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in a
different situational context
Stable
Some situations demand changes in the internal part of an organisation and in those cases the
managers and the leaders have to make precise alterations (Bolden, 2016). If the changes are not
being done properly then the management has to make modifications after proper analysis and
evaluation. The changes and related development needs to be made after proper kind of
situational analysis where the mangers and the leaders have to perform accordingly.
Slow-to-moderate
If the issues in the organization are lying between least to moderate level then the possibility of
implementing and adapting the changes magnifies as well. If the resources are rare and the
possibility of minimizing the issues is evident as well then this type of leadership style is
necessary to be taken into consideration. If the resources are rare then the possibility of
managing issues are going to be minimized as well.
Fast Changing
If the issues faced by the management in the organization are being changed in a faster manner
then it is an alarming state for the management. In this situation, the management has to take the
matter on a serious note and make changes in accordance with the necessity in order to make
better kind of management and keep the segment productive (Pulakos et al., 2015).
Leader’s Roles
There are different kinds of styles that are being followed by the people who are working as the
leaders in the Amazon segment. The majority of the cases it is seen that the issues are being
handled in directive style, achievable style and participative style. The directive style gives the
role of performing in accordance with the organizational requirement and giving direction. The
participative style involves the leaders to different aspects.
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Managerial Roles
There are many roles of a manager and in this case, the managers have to make proper
amendment in the system but doing planning, classification and leading to the project
accomplishments (Rezvani et al., 2016). The mangers of the organisation Amazon has to make
sure that they have allocated the work to the precise person and they have worked in accordance
with the requirement.
P3: Apply different theories and models of approaches, including situational leadership,
system leadership and contingency
Leaders and managers in the organization need to adopt different theories and models in order to
lead and motivate the employees in the organization. There are different approaches of
leadership that can be used in different organizational setup. These approaches are leadership are
situational leadership, system leadership and contingency model.
System leadership is one of the effective leadership approaches that can be used to solve the
problems at Amazon, UK. The system leadership model is effective in solving the problems that
arise among the employees between the different departments. This theory helps the leaders and
managers to understand the complexities that arise among the installed system through major
phases namely, input, output, and transformation unit (Northouse, 2018). One of the major
responsibilities of the manager is to solve the problems among the departments, which help in
smooth flow of work and timely attainment of the goals. Using the system leadership approach
will help the manager at Amazon to deal with the inter-departmental problems effectively. Apart
from the positive aspects of the system leadership method, the shortcomings of the method are,
this method violates the operations in the organization due to failures. In addition to this, this
method does not let the mangers think in an analytical perspective.
A business organization has to operate in different situation and due to this reason; managers and
leaders have to change their leadership methods and styles to suffice the needs of the situation.
Amazon being a multi-cultural organization may encounter different problems in different period
and leaders using this leadership style will be able to motivate and lead the employees in an
effective way. Situational leadership can be termed as change in leadership style according to the
need of the situation (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The positive aspect of the situational leadership
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theory is it helps leaders to motivate the employees correctly in changing situations. Through
using situational leadership, it becomes easy to achieve the goals in changing scenario. On the
contrary, the negative aspects of using situational leadership theories are that it confuses the new
employees in the organization, which is negative factor on employee motivation.
The Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership concentrates on the specific traits of the leaders.
Using this, the managers and leaders of Amazon would be able to lead and motivate the
employees in an effective manner. The contingency model can be used in any kind of
organizational setup and this is the biggest strength of the model (Fiedler, 2015). The model is
very flexible in nature and helps the leaders to guide the employees in the correct direction,
which directly helps in the attainment of the goals. In addition to this, using the contingency
method, leaders are able to understand their traits, which help them to adopt the leadership traits
and increase the productivity of the employees. The negative impact of using this approach is it
takes the opinions of the employees, which might confuse the leaders while taking decisions.
Delay in making correct decisions by the employees will question the leadership qualities of the
leaders in a situational context.
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LO3
P4: Explain the key approaches to operation management and the role that leaders and
managers play
Operation management plays a vital role in the success and growth of the business organization.
In order to ensure effective management of operation Amazon.com Inc adopts the following
approaches:-
Supply Chain Management-The Company aims to manage its supply chain for effective
operational management. The company does so by enabling its buyers and suppliers to access its
IT assets and adopts the policy of automation in its operation (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). The
company has its warehouse located near the metro cities and has various mini warehouses; its
entire inventory is internally optimized. They are equipped with five different and unique storage
areas and uses pick and pack robots and employees to put out products instantly during the
delivery.
Inventory management- It aims at managing the inventory at the optimal level. Amazon uses
Just-in-time inventory management approach. The company uses the method of immediate
shifting, as soon as the products reach the centre of the company; it is shipped for the fulfilment
of the customer’s order. In order to maintain the optimum level of ordering and holding, the
company trains the employees of its warehouse to address the orders placed by the customer
promptly by staying connected to the main database centre through mobile computers (Sekaran
and Bougie, 2016). The company also manages its inventory on the online platform to reduce the
inventory cost while satisfying the demand of the market.
Location strategy- Amazon uses this strategy to manage its operation efficiently. The company
aims at maintaining warehouses or production units at locations, which are closest to its potential
customer (Chang, 2016). It helps the company save on its transportation cost and thereby
increase the productivity of the organization.
Structure of products offered- Amazon uses latest and advanced technologies to ensure that it
is operating smoothly. Advanced information and communication technology is used by the
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organization to ensure that its retail services on the online platform is running smooth and
customers finds it convenient to use.
Modification of process and capacity- This approach aims at optimizing the production
capacity of the company. Amazon uses the automation process of ordering and acceptance to
increase the number of orders accepted by the company’s system (Laudon and Laudon, 2016).
Since the online retail units are the main centre of operation of the company, it uses the
automation technology to accept many orders simultaneously.
Managers and leaders play key roles in enabling the organization to inculcate the above-
mentioned approaches in their structure. Managers frame strategic policies for the same, they
analyze the situation in the market and take necessary decisions regarding the implementation
and adaptation of new approaches towards the management of operation. On the other hand,
leaders help to encourage the employees and other staffs of the organization to adopt the new
approaches and method of operation into their activities. Without management, the company
cannot identify the right kind of approach for the management of their operation on the other
hand in the absence of leadership, even if the management comes up with the perfect approach, it
will fail to implement the same.
P5: Explain the importance and value of operation management in achieving business
objectives
Operation management is the process of managing the activities concerned with the process of
manufacturing and production of the organization. It plays a key role in determining the ability
of organization to achieve the objective of the business.
The importance of operation management is as follows:-
Productivity- Operation management helps to improve the productivity of the organization by
enabling the organization to identify the area where it lacks and thereby helping the management
take necessary measures to improve the same. It measures the efficiency rate of the managers
and employees of the company, as the major focus of this discipline is to measure the
effectiveness of the resources in achieving the objective of the organization. Through proper
operation management, Amazon.co Inc can frame strategies to improve the performance of its
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employees, as it would help it measure the contribution level of its employee in the acquisition of
the market goals and thereby frame strategies to improve the same for achieving the objective of
the company.
Reliability and stability- Operation management helps to make the operation of the company
stable and more reliable. Amazon has its own team of experts to handle the technological
resources of the company. Through operation management, the company can easily understand
the default in its operational structure and take necessary measures to solve the same. It would
help the company operation become smooth and eliminate the risk of the event of its winding up
(Musalem et al., 2017).
Continuity – Operation management plays a vital role in the continuity of the business of the
Amazon.com Inc, as it is the main centre for the entire operation of the organization. It ensures
that the products and services manufactured by the company are in accordance with the
preference and demands of the customer. It also ensures that the employees and other senior
staffs of the organization are participating well in the functioning of the organization.
Quality management-Operation management helps the business organization to manage the
quality of its operation and thereby helps the company to achieve specialization in its operation,
aiding to the process of achieving the business objective by the company (Jena et al., 2016).
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LO4
P6: Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon the operational
management and decision making by leaders and managers
A number of factors need to be taken under consideration. They are:
Corporate Social Responsibility
Amazon gives a picture of itself in a proper manner and they provide better remedies to the
environmental pollution related matters the resources are employed in a proper manner so that
the return on investment gets magnified (Ni and Van Wart, 2015).
Sustainability
The management needs to take care of the issues that are being faced by them while they are
implementing the resources. The rate determines whether the company is harming the
environment.
Stakeholders
The external and internal stakeholders are one of the most important parts to be taken into
consideration and it is important for the management to make proper kind of assessment in order
to minimize the threats related to loss of stakeholders (Zavyalova et al., 2016). Amazon has to
make proper amendments in order to maximize the potential.
There are some issues that needs to be managed, they are:
Time management
Positive Impact- the deadline achievement intrigues rapidly in the working environment.
Negative Impact- if the deadline is not being followed then the possibility of having issues are
going to be nullified as well.
Distribution and control of the organization
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