Argos Ltd. Leadership and Management Styles: A Comprehensive Analysis

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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
THE ARGOS LIMITED
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CONTENTS
TABLE OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................... 3
PART A - REPORT............................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 4
LO 1................................................................................................................................................ 5
INTRODUCTION OF THE ORGANISATION...................................................................................5
CHARACTERISTICS AND ROLE OF A MANAGER AND LEADER AT ARGOS LTD.............................6
ANALYSIS AND DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGER AND ROLES OF A
LEADER.......................................................................................................................................9
ROLE AND FUNCTION OF A LEADER & A MANAGER IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONAL CONTEXT...10
LO 2.............................................................................................................................................. 11
THEORIES AND MODELS OF APPROACH..................................................................................11
STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES OF THE APPROACHES IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS WITHIN THE
WORK ENVIRONMENT.............................................................................................................12
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND
APPROACH............................................................................................................................... 13
PART B – PRESENTATION............................................................................................................. 14
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 34
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................35
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TABLE OF FIGURES
FIGURE 1 ARGOS LOGO..................................................................................................................5
FIGURE 2 ROLE OF MANAGEMENT................................................................................................6
FIGURE 3 FUNCTIONS OF LEADERSHIP IN ARGOS LTD...................................................................7
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PART A - REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are very important factors in an organisation. It plays a very
essential role in vast departments of the organisation. In this assignment, the different
functions and role of a leader and manager are discussed here in the context of a retailer
company of the UK, Argos Ltd. At Argos Ltd, manager and leader perform a huge number of
tasks. These tasks are the best example of management and leadership theories and model of
approaches. This report includes the roles and functions of a leader and a manager in context of
the Argos ltd. Operational management is very important factor for improving productivity of
the organisation.
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LO 1
INTRODUCTION OF THE ORGANISATION
Argos Ltd is a very well-known British retailer firm. It is a limited company and a subsidiary of
the supermarket chain Sainsbury (Argos.co.uk, 2019). It was founded in 1972 by Richard
Tompkins at Buckinghamshire in England. It is providing services in the area of retailing the
products. It provides the facility of physical shops and online selling. Currently, it is providing
services in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom with more than 845 shops. It has a
total revenue of £4.1 billion (2016). More than 29,500 people serve here. Currently, it was
runn9ing under the management of John Rogers. It was also listed in the London stock
exchange (LSE) (Argos.co.uk, 2019).
FIGURE 1 ARGOS LOGO
Source: (Argos.co.uk, 2019)
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CHARACTERISTICS AND ROLE OF A MANAGER AND LEADER AT ARGOS LTD
A manager and a leader possessed may activities in an organisation. Management is the act of
getting together the capitals so that the desired objective can be achieved in an efficient and
effective manner (Herdman et al., 2017). Management focuses on improving productivity by
increasing the proper utilisation of resources so that the amount of wastage would be reduced.
It also works for reducing the efforts of workers so that they can increase the productivity of
the organisation by decreasing the labour input in calculation of the productivity. Management
makes strategies for achieving the goal. It also plans the policies and work schedule for the
workers for better performance of the organisation (Herdman et al., 2017).
FIGURE 2 ROLE OF MANAGEMENT
Source: (Herdman et al., 2017)
Manager possesses the following functions:
PLANNING: - this is the important function delivered by the managers of the Argos Ltd. In this
phase planning regarding the operations of the organisation was done. Managers make the
strategy for the future operations (Herdman et al., 2017).
ORGANIZING: - After planning, organizing is a very important task. Managers organise and use
the resources in an effective manner to fulfil the need of the organisation. It also consists
organizing of the staff of the organisation (Herdman et al., 2017).
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STAFFING: - It is the process of making availability of the working staff in the organisation. Here
managers have a very important responsibility towards the organisation for selecting an
appropriate person (Higgs et al., 2016).
DIRECTING: - Managers direct the leaders and workers for achieving the goal of the
organisation. This process is very important for the organisation as it decides the path to
success for the organisation (Higgs et al., 2016).
CONTROLLING: - Manager controls the organisation in every term. They provide the availability
of the resources in the organisation. Making availability of the human resources, raw material,
machines and other miscellaneous parts are the duty of the manager only.
A leader is one who inspires and motivates the team members for achieving the target. It leads
and controls the people. Leaders always focused on achieving the goal by following different
approaches and methods (Swensen et al., 2016). A leader possesses good convincing and
communication skill by which it handles the employees. Leaders play a vital role in the growth
of the organisation. A leader possesses good interpersonal skills by influencing and handling the
people. A Leader works with the employees so it requires an understanding of the situation of
the works and plan according to it (Swensen et al., 2016).
FIGURE 3 FUNCTIONS OF LEADERSHIP IN ARGOS LTD
Source: (Macdonald et al., 2018)
Leader delivers the following duties in the organisation:
EMPOWER PEOPLE: - the leader has the characteristics of empowering the employees. It
empowers the people for working hard to achieve the goals. It builds confidence in the people
for completing the task (Macdonald et al., 2018).
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INSPIRE PEOPLE: - leader inspires the people for the goal. By setting up own example it inspires
the employees. Leaders also motivate the team for working in a common direction for
achieving a common goal for the organisation (Bush et al., 2016).
LEAD CHANGE: - leaders are the person in the organisation who has the courage to take risks in
any situation so they take lead for any change or revolution in the organisation. It also helps in
making coordination between the organisation and the team members (Northouse, 2018).
SHARED VISION: - leaders always work as a communication bond between the organisation and
the employees. It delivers the vision to the employees in a creative way that every worker
should work in the direction of the vision of the organisation (Macdonald et al., 2018).
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ANALYSIS AND DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGER
AND ROLES OF A LEADER
A manager and leader have a slight difference in their functions and roles in an organisation. In
the Argos group, managers plan the goals and objectives according to the mission and vision of
the organisation whereas leader further sends it to the worker (Higgs et al., 2016).
Manager Leaders
Managers plan the objectives for the
organisation (Higgs et al., 2016).
Leaders influence the employees for achieving
the company’s objective.
Managers consult with the leaders for
discussing the policies of the organisation.
Leaders further share these policies with the
teams by having a sound communication.
Managers focus on the results and things Leaders focus on the procedure and the
people (Bush et al., 2016).
Managers express the duty to the workers
(Higgs et al., 2016).
Leaders motivate and inspire the employs for
the duties.
Managers generate new ideas and strategies
for the improvement of the organisation.
Leaders implement this strategies and ideas
into the work (Bush et al., 2016).
TABLE 1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MANAGER AND A LEADER
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ROLE AND FUNCTION OF A LEADER & A MANAGER IN DIFFERENT
SITUATIONAL CONTEXT
The appropriate actions taken by a manager and a leader in an organisation takes it on the path
of improvement. There are a huge number of leadership traits and style is available which are
followed by the organisations. Many management theories are also followed by the
organisations. In different situations in the organisation, managers and leaders take decision
according to the condition (Fiaz et al., 2017).
In Argos Ltd, an increase in the rates of the goods, logistics problems, rapid demands are some
situations in which proper implementation of the leadership and management theories are
necessary.
There are some management theories which are applied at the Argos ltd with the leadership
skills. These theories provide different results in different situation of implementation.
The contemporary theory is applied by the Argos; it deals with the condition of the increased
cost of procurement. In such a situation, managers can make the plans for strategies for the
selection of the supplier who provides the goods to the company. The leaders in Argos use the
skills to inspire the employees for adopting new technologies for reducing the working time (Al
Rahbi et al., 2017).
The classical management theory is used by the Argos. This policy is used by the managers of
Argos for improving the productivity of the organisation. Managers at Argos developed and use
new methodologies for this like KAIZEN. In this approach, participative leadership is applied for
taking equal input of management as well as leadership in the concern (Laub, 2018).
The behavioural theory in management is applied at Argos for considering the abilities and skills
of the employees. The leader uses transformation style of leadership for developing
communication in an efficient and effective way with the employees regarding the policies of
the management (Buch, and Kuvaas, 2016).
The contingency theory of management is centred to the variation in strategies regarding the
variation in the situations. In Argos, Leaders are very essential for influencing the employees to
make changes in the operations for meeting the challenges of the market. Managers and
leaders at Argos apply this theory for implementing changes in the operations according to the
situation (Laub, 2018).
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LO 2
THEORIES AND MODELS OF APPROACH
Different models and theories are applied by the leader for fulfilling the operational need of the
organisation. Some of the theories are applied by the leaders of the Argos Ltd.
System leadership theory is applied in Argos Ltd. By using this theory, the leaders take the
control over the workings of the employee and make them work according to the demands of
the organisation e.g. Argos wants to make changes in the supply chain management program of
the company so for it the supply chain management department of the organisation needs to
improve its working (Macdonald et al., 2018).
Situational leadership theory is a kind of leadership in which a leader's skills and capabilities
plays a very important role. By using this theory, leaders at the Argos influences the most
skilled and capable employee according to the situation, for completion of the task. This theory
helps the Argos ltd very most. Leaders chose their decisions according to the situation e.g.
Argos is now having problems in increased procurement cost by the supplier, so here
situational leaders can play a vital role (Burke, 2017).
By the use of contingency theory, the leaders at the Argos take a decision on the basis of
conditions. Contingency theory described that a successful leader is one who is able to analyse
the situations and then take any decisions. This gives freedom to the leader to choose the
appropriate employee for the task (Muller, and Turner, 2017).
All the above theories describe are used by the Argos organisation in different situational
contexts of the Argos ltd.
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