Leadership and Management in Operations: A Case Study of ASDA

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within ASDA, a major UK supermarket retailer. It begins by differentiating between the roles of leaders and managers, highlighting their similarities and differences, and then delves into various leadership approaches, including system, situational, and contingency leadership, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. The report then explores different approaches to operations management, such as Total Quality Management, and assesses the importance of operations management in enhancing business efficiencies. It further examines factors influencing the business and critically evaluates the application of operation management, concluding with insights into how leaders and managers contribute to achieving organizational objectives within the context of ASDA's operations. The report uses ASDA as a case study to illustrate the practical application of these concepts.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Difference and similarities between the role of leaders and managers.......................................3
Different approaches of leadership:............................................................................................6
Critical analysis of the approaches: ............................................................................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
Different approaches to operations management........................................................................8
Importance of operations management and evaluate how leaders and managers enhance
efficiencies................................................................................................................................10
Factors that can influence the business and critically evaluate applications of operation
management applications b.......................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operations management refers to such areas in which the managers undertake various
planning to create the higher level of efficiency in business. Management is to be done regarding
converting the raw materials into the finished goods and motivating labour to deal in producing
the standards quality of the goods or providing the effective services. Thus, operation
management is necessary in managing the overall productivity in business and also manages the
organization resources for enhancing better productivity (Operations management- functions,
importance and nature, 2019). Present report is based upon the ASDA which is one of the
second largest chain of supermarket retailer in UK and such concept was founded in 1949. Due
to carrying the renowned brand image in market, they are engaged with around 1,65,000
employees carrying the business of ASDA at larger scale. At present, they are located in around
633 places carrying the chain of supermarket globally.
This report will cover the matters relating to the examining the different role of leaders
and manager in business and also its difference between the two. It also carries various models
and theories in context of different situation. It further demonstrated the role of leaders and
managers in the operation function of the organization. At last, it covers the matters relating to
examining the importances of the operation management and determining the procedure of the
leaders and mangers to meet the objectives of the organization.
TASK 1
Difference and similarities between the role of leaders and managers
Leaders are such person who carry the duties to lead the team or individual to achieve the
common objectives (Lee and et.al., 2017). They are in charge of certain duties in respect of
convincing people to attain the change in organization in better way and also helps them in
resolving the matters which they faced regarding accomplishing the particular task.
Managers are such person who are liable to control the business or group by taking right
decision which is useful for the company reputation (Northouse, 2018). They are also
responsible for supervising and controlling the activities which is undertaken by employees or
also managing the interest of the employees at work place to retain their interest in longer time
period.
Similarity between the managers and leaders:

 Vision: They both rely on same vision in the organization regarding setting the specific
goal which they had to achieved within the set time period. Leader vision is to be set
some planning and then follow it and managers vision is to be followed the leaders
visions and provide them basic amenities to fulfil the visions (Mahajan, 2019).
 Communication: To achieve the common objectives, they both carry the effective
communication skills regarding sharing their ideas and thought with each other in respect
of working in right directions (Similarities between Leadership and Management, 2020).
Illustration 1: Similarities between Leadership and Management
Source: Similarities between Leadership and Management, 2020
Difference between the leaders and managers
Particulars Leaders Manager
Traits Leaders carry the soft
management skills and also
carry the duties regarding
motivating staff to work in
groups and also help each
other at work place (Hayes,
2018). Leaders must be
presentable to present their
views and thought to staff in
They carry the hard
management skills in
organization and also lead the
employees in better manner.
They carry adequate
knowledges and also familiar
with the advanced technology
working to bring more positive
changes in business.

clear and understandable way.
Roles and responsibilities The role of leaders is to be
helps employees to adapt the
changes in right way and also
take critical action in respect
of facing issues between the
employees in violating the
ethical norm of the company.
The responsibility of the
leaders is to empower them to
choose their own way to
accomplish the activity. This
helps in sustaining the interest
of employees for longer term.
The main role of the manager
is that they must verify the day
to day working in the business
and also responsible to hire the
right employees to attain the
task in right way. They are
also responsible to plan the
day to day allotment, so that
work is to be accomplished in
accurate manner (Zheng and
et.al., 2019).
Authority and power Leader carries the power
regarding providing the
achievement or rewards to the
efficient employees which
attained the task with quality
work (Willis, Clarke and
O'Connor, 2017). They also
carry the power to set the
timeline for their employees,
to use it for completing the
work within the stipulated time
period.
Manager carries the authority
to oversee all the department
working and also take strict
action, when they feel that
employees are not working as
per the set directions.
Examples As ASDA is the supermarket
chain, thus the role of leaders
is that to bring innovative
ideas and thoughts in business
The role of mangers in ASDA
is to hire the skilled and
knowledgable person who
belong to the particular field in

and also motivates employees
to adapt the changes in better
way.
which they are hiring. So, that
they can understand the work
in right manner.
Different approaches of leadership:
The business is succeeded, if they apply the authentic use of various approaches and
theories of leadership in business. In case of ASDA, to achieve the goal in business, they had to
use various leadership approaches which are stated as:
System leadership: In this theory, leader had to work according to the set systems so that
they cannot bring any changes in their existing working style. It also helps employees to work in
the set pattern which is provided by the company to achieve the objectives within the set time
period (Slack, 2018). This is useful for the leader or manger of the ASDA in respect of providing
direction to the employees regarding working under the set procedure and also it helps them in
following their duties and responsibility in better way.
Strength:
 By applying this theory in business, it helps in carrying the efficient planning and also
manages the environmental changes in right way.
 It results in bringing uniformity in business through undertaking the right decision
regarding attaining any task.
Weakness:
 It is impossible for the employees to work in the set directions. As employees demand
changes at work place thus, in such case this theory is not useful (Fullwood and Rowley,
2017).
 The major weakness is that this theory not work as per the changes in environment and
thus they are backward in their working system in respect of not adapting the changes.
Situational leadership: This theory is mainly adapted by the leaders in respect of
adapting accurate strategies depending upon the particular situation. As leader had to plan their
strategies depends upon the situation as different planning for different situation. In case of
ASDA, the leaders had to prepared themselves to overcome from the particular situation through
carrying their back up plans (Ul-Hameed and et.al., 2019). It carries following strength and
weakness of choosing this approach as:

Strength:
 This theory is easy to adapt and also bring positive results at work place through building
the strong relationship between the employees and also the work is to be completed
within the set time.
 By adapting this theory, it results in building the awareness among leader.
Weakness:
 It is not useful for providing the long term needs, as the leaders had to undertake their
planning on instant bases and if it is not successful, than this approach is not considered
to be good.
 As if the leader work with the situation leadership, then employees had no option to turn
back, they are forced to stick to particular things.
Contingency leadership: Contingency refers to something that can be happened at any
time or also it is unpredictable as the changes mainly occurs from the external factors (Mohanty,
2018). In case of ASDA, the role of leaders is mainly based on finding their own way as the
planning and strategies which they made to attain any task is not useful under this approach.
Strength:
 This theory is dynamic in nature as it bring changes in the company existing policies
which results in growing the productivity in the business and also increasing the retention
of employees at work place.
 By applying the contingency theory in business, it results in enhancing the decision-
making skills of the managers and leaders in business.
Weakness:
 It carries to be the complex approach as employees not easily adapt the changes in better
way.
 It results in reactive in nature as it is tough for the manager to apply this situation to bring
changes in their working criteria.
Critical analysis of the approaches:
In context of business, there are various situations arises at any time and thus it can be
handled by both leader and manager through adapting various planning and strategies. In the
above point, the discussion is placed regarding the role of managers and leader and how they are

different from each other. Thus, in this some situations are discussed in which the role of leader
and manager are examined and it carries as:
 Lack of Employees retention: As this is one of the major issue which is faced by ASDA
regarding retaining employees in business. As the reason behind lack of retention is that
there is not attractive working environment or no moral ethics or higher growth
opportunities in business. This results in affecting the reputation of the ASDA and in
such manner, the leader and manager both had to make some changes in their working
criteria (Fullwood and Rowley, 2017). In respect of leaders, they use the situational
leadership theory, in which they personally interact with the employees and identify the
reason behind leaving the office. Through this manner, it helps in getting the accurate
reviews regarding the reason behind leaving the office. For managers, they use the
system leadership in which they change their policies to recruit new and trained staff to
accomplish the task in better way.
 Changes in Technology: Technology is the biggest platform which helps business to
grow the business at global market and also increase the profitability through this
perspective. Thus, changes are mainly undertaken in respect of adapting new strategies to
attract large number of customer. But the issue examined in respect of not adapting the
changes in technology by the employees as they are familiar with their exiting work and
thus not ready to make changes in their working styles (Ul-Hameed and et.al., 2019). In
such case the leader of ASDA use the system leadership theory in which they motivate
employees to work according to the set system and the role of manager is to use the
contingency theory, in which they appoint the trained person to instruct and guide staff to
work as per the new set changes.
TASK 2
Different approaches to operations management
Operational Management is the different type of administration of business which looks
at improving and creating good sort of efficiency in an organization (Kumar Mangla,
Bhattacharya and Luthra, 2018). Generally, operational management in an organization used to
look converting raw material and labour into finished good and service as efficiently as possible,
so that organization used to maximize the profit in an organization. There are many types of

Operational management model which are being used by organization to carry out operation of
their organization. Some of operational management models are as follows:
Total Quality management: Total quality management is the process in the organization,
which looks at improving the efficiency of the business in the organization by the way of
eliminating different type of error which are present in different operation of organization. Such
as manufacturing, Supply chain management etc. This model in general used to consider all the
party liable for improving the quality of final product and service. There are many different
principle and elements of TQM on the basis of which different activity are performed in an
organization. Some Principle and element of TQM are as follows:
PRINCIPLE
 Customer focused: Store Manager in organization at the time of implementing TQM has
to drive different activity in the organization in such a way that it used to focus on
customer need in the market.
 Integrated: TQM in the organization used to integrate all the process of the business into
one larger process in the organization. Store Manager has to make sure that there is good
coordination in an organization (Mishra and et.al., 2019).
 Communication: TQM used to facilitates a free flow of communication in an
organization. As Store manager in the organization has to clear different instruction very
clearly to different employee.
ELEMENT
There are many different type of element of TQM, which need to be consider by Asda at the time
of implementing TQM in an organization. Different Element of TQM are as follows:
Ethics: It is the first element, which used to highlights that Asda has to make sure that
they are concerned with variety of good and bad situation in an organization. Also all the
organization should develop a business ethics which provide guidelines to all the employee in
organization.
Training: All the employee in the organization should be provided proper training about
the way work should be carry out in the organization. Organization has to make sure that they
build a good and skill full workforce in an organization.

Just In Time (JIT): It is another type of operational management model which can be
used in the organization. Just in time model is the model which used to look at successful
management of inventory in the organization (Salter, Salandra and Walker, 2017). Just in time is
the management system in the organization which used to look at aligns or organizing the proper
flow of raw material from supplier in the organization and scheduling different production in the
organization. This strategy help organization in improving efficiency of an organization and also
organizing different waste of the company in better way in the organization.
JIT used to cut down the inventory cost in the organization as organization do not has to
pay different type of storage cost in the organization. As raw material which are procure in the
organization are directly sent into manufacturing process rather than storing it in the ware houses
of an organization. There are some sort of requirement which also need to be fulfilled by Asda in
the organization i.e. steady production, high quality workmanship. Glitch-free plant machinery
and reliable supplier.
Kaizen: It is the operational management approach which looks at bringing the continues
improvement in the operation of the business by considering that group of small changes can
relate to major improvement in an organization. This model used to highlights that every
organization need to manage five element in the organization to improve efficiency of an
organization. That five element are Teamwork, Personal Discipline, Improved morale, Quality
Circles and Suggestion of improvement.
Importance of operations management and evaluate how leaders and managers enhance
efficiencies
Operational management is known as a back born of all the operation of a business in an
organization. As operational management used to bring variety of the benefit for the business in
long run of the business. Reason behind the same is that it used to enhance value of different
operation which is performed in the organization. At the same time operational management
alone can not enhance variety of things in an organization. Store manager and leader in an
organization also used to play a very crucial role to enhance the importance which is brought by
operational management in an organization. Some of the importance of operational management
in an organization are as follows:

Operation management in an organization help organization in achieving the
organizational goal efficiently. As operation management help organization in optimum
utilization of resources, which help company in producing larger number of product in
organization with same level of cost incurred. Store manager at Asda generally used to track the
manufacturing of product in the organization on regular basis and try to find out the deviation in
two period production. On the basis of same used to plan different activity (Papachristos and
et.al., 2018). At the same time leader in the organization used to pass on the guidelines to the
employee in the organization which they have to follow so that organization can optimum utilize
their resources.
Operational management approach also help organization in managing different wastage
in production system very successfully in the organization. As operational management approach
help organization in synchronizing different function of production in an organization. This help
organization in reducing cost of company product as well. Store manager at Asda, always used to
coordinate with the procurement and production manager about the different information which
store manager used to get from waste management manager in the organization. After that with
the help both used to make change in operational management to reduce the waste. Leader at the
same time in Asda used to motivate all the employee to reduce the wastage in production, as
employee are one who are least consult about waste.
Operational management in Asda also help organization in achieving the organizational
goal very efficiently in the organization, as it used to improve the efficiently as well as used to
bring variety of value for different organizational operation. Store Manager in Asda always try to
build a good coordination between the different department in the organization, which help
company in achieving the organizational goal very efficiently. Leader in the organization used to
provide different sort of training to employee in the organization. This help employee in
achieving personal and professional goal very efficiently in the organization.
Factors that can influence the business and critically evaluate applications of operation
management applications b
Asda used to operate in the market which is full of competition, as a result organization
has to plan all there activity by looking at the external business environment, so that they
become competitive in the market. At the same time there are many different type of external

factor which used to has a great impact on the decision making of leader and manager in an
organization and also on operation of organization. Some of the such factor are as follows:
Scarcity of raw material: It is one of the biggest factor which used to impact the
operation of the business, as scarcity of raw material eventually slow down the production of
organization and improves cost of company. This also impacts decision making of store manager
in the organization. As store manager has to make different changes in the marketing policy of
company, according to availability of product which can be offered in the market. Also they have
to coordinate with procurement department for applying alternate option in the organization.
Leader at the same time need to be more supportive to the employee as they feel uncertain as
operation of business generally used to slow down (Yang and et.al., 2017).
Cultural Values: This is the different type of belief and values on the basis of which
company used to plan different operation of the business. All the organization always try to
promote value of an organization in different offering of the company in the market. At the same
time organization also has to look at the need of the customer in the market. This used to create
impact on the operation of the business. Also, used to create impact on decision making of
manager and leader in the organization. As manager now has to take different action in the
organization in such a way that it used to create a balance between organizational value and
consumer need in the market. Also leader in the organization has to make different decision
about the different sort of training which can be given to employee in an organization.
Ethics: All the organization used to consider different ethics to carry out operation of
business in long run of business. As ethics at workplace used to bring a seance of discipline in
the organization (Reeve and Eduljee, 2019). At the same time non followence of ethics in the
organization use to create variety of issue in operation of an business. It also used to impact
decision making of store manager as they are more concern about bringing discipline by
introducing new policy. At the same time leader at the organization used to guide all the
employee about the way they have to carry out different operation ethically in the organization.
CONCLUSION
After going through the above report it has been summarized that leader and manager
used to perform variety of different performance in the organization. This eventually used to help
organization in proper management of organizational activity. After that report summarized that
there are many different type of leadership approaches such as system or situational leadership

approach. After that the report summarized that how organization uses this approach in different
scenario in the organization. After that report goes on to summarized that there are many
different type of operational management tool such as JIT and TQM. After that report summarize
different importance of operational management in the organization. In the end the report
summarized that factor like Value and Ethics used to create great impact on decision making of
manager and leader. Also on the operation of organization.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Fullwood, R. and Rowley, J., 2017. An investigation of factors affecting knowledge sharing
amongst UK academics. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Lee, D. and et.al., 2017. Ethical leadership and employee moral voice: The mediating role of
moral efficacy and the moderating role of leader–follower value congruence. Journal of
Business Ethics. 141(1). pp.47-57.
Mahajan, P., 2019. Women in Leadership: Comparing Developed (The UK) and the Developing
(India) Corporate Economy. Available at SSRN 3444165.
Mohanty, S., 2018. Individualized employee engagement or collaborative employee relations:
insights on leadership strategies to manage employees in the UK market. Problems and
Perspectives in Management. 16(3). pp.366-376.
Northouse, P. G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Slack, N., 2018. Essentials of operations management. Pearson UK.
Ul-Hameed, W. and et.al., 2019. The effect of integration between audit and leadership on
supply chain performance: Evidence from UK based supply chain companies. Uncertain
Supply Chain Management. 7(2). pp.311-328.
Willis, S., Clarke, S. and O'Connor, E., 2017. Contextualizing leadership: Transformational
leadership and Management‐By‐Exception‐Active in safety‐critical contexts. Journal of
Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 90(3). pp.281-305.
Zheng, Y. and et.al., 2019. Service Leadership, Work Engagement, and Service Performance:
The Moderating Role of Leader Skills. Group & Organization Management.
p.1059601119851978.
Papachristos, G. and et.al., 2018. Project management operations and building performance in
the construction industry: A multi method approach of applied in a UK public office
building. System Dynamics Society.
Reeve, S. and Eduljee, G., 2019. An Overview of Electronic Waste Management in the
UK. Electronic Waste Management. 49. p.101.
Salter, A., Salandra, R. and Walker, J., 2017. Exploring preferences for impact versus
publications among UK business and management academics. Research Policy. 46(10).
pp.1769-1782.
Soares, A., Soltani, E. and Liao, Y., 2019. The influence of inter-firm relationships on Supply
Chain Quality Management: A Survey of UK firms. International Journal of Global
Management Studies Professional (IJGMSP). 4(2).
Yang, Y. and et.al., 2017. An investigation into E-business service in the UK telecommunication
manufacturing industry. Production Planning & Control. 28(3). pp.256-266.
Online
Operations management- functions, importance and nature. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://commercemates.com/what-is-operations-management/#Importance_of_Operations
_Management_in_an_Organisation>

Similarities between Leadership and Management. 2020. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.knowswhy.com/similarities-between-leadership-and-management/>.