Management and Operations Report: British Airways Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of management and operations within British Airways. It begins with an introduction and company analysis, outlining the airline's history, business, competitors, mission, vision, goals, and objectives. The main body of the report is divided into two tasks. Task 1 focuses on differentiating the roles of managers and leaders, applying Mintzberg's managerial roles, and analyzing leadership characteristics. It explores situational contexts, models, and theories, including system leadership, contingency, and situational leadership, within the context of British Airways. Task 2 examines approaches to operations management, the roles of leaders and managers in this context, and the importance of operations management for business success. It also investigates the impact of the business environment on operations and applications of operations management, concluding with a conclusion and references.

Management and
Operations
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Table of Contents
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INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Company Analysis...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Task 1.....................................................................................................................................2
Differentiating the roles between manager and leader......................................................2
Differencing role of leader & function of manager in British Airways............................2
Role of leader & function of manager in different situational context..............................3
Application of different models and theories of leadership...............................................3
Strengths & weaknesses of approaches to situational context...........................................4
Analysis of theories and approaches of leader in British Airways....................................5
Task 2.....................................................................................................................................6
Approaches to operations management & role leaders and managers..............................6
Importance & value of operations management in business success................................7
Role of leaders & managers in operations management...................................................8
Factors in the business environment impacting operations.............................................10
Way the factors affecting the business environment.......................................................11
Applications of operations management & factors impacting wider community...........11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Management is an art of managing, handling, supervising and controlling the business
activities in order to run the enterprise in efficient and effective manner. The Management
process is required as it helps in arranging the factors of production, organising the resources,
allocate the duties and responsibilities of employees so that business goals and objectives can be
accomplished successfully (Osunnuga, 2020). Operations generally mean managing the internal
activities of business it includes manufacturing, advertising, marketing and sales activities. The
project is based on Management and operation in which rile and characteristic of leader and
manager, functions of manager, different theories and models are applied including system
leadership, contingency and situational leadership (Amici and Cepiku, 2020). The report also
includes approaches to operation management and role that leader and manager plays in
Organisation and also the importance and value of operation management in achieving business
objectives is explained including the factors within the business environment that impact on
operational management and decision making by managers and leaders. The Chosen Company
for conducting this report is British Airways.
Company Analysis
History of Company
The British Airways is established in 1974 by merging with a two airline industry of UK,
British European Airways and British Overseas Airways Corporation. The headquarter of British
Airways is at Harmondsworth in London borough of Hillingdon which is near to Heathrow
Airport.
Business
British Airways is the business of airline and travel that offers services to people. The
main purpose of the British Airways is to fulfil and satisfy the needs and requirements of
customers by providing them better services that makes their journey memorable and beautiful.
Competitor
There are various competitors of British airways they are Kenya Airways, Air France,
Srilankan Airlines, Qantas, Air Canada and many other competitors.
Mission and Vision
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The Mission and vision of British Airways is to be the first choice and most exclusive
airline for the passengers. The Organisation wants to ensure that their customers must fly
confidently and the company act responsibly to take care of World they live.
Goals
The goal of British airways is to fulfil the customer needs and improve the margin
through generating new revenue streams.
Objectives
The objective of Organisation is to grow business and increase the profitability from third
part engineering, new online retail sites and in flight sales.
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MAIN BODY
Task 1
Differentiating the roles between manager and leader
Role of Manager and Leader
Manager is a person who coordinates and conducts various business activities in order to
accomplish the business goals (Nurhadi and Purnomo, 2018). The main motive of manager is to
supervise the overall activities of Organisation.
Role of Manager
The role of manager in British Airways is to perform various functions to run the business
smoothly and achieving the objectives and goal of enterprise. A good manager must have various
skills and knowledge such as honesty, communication skills, creativity, decision making skills,
empathy, confident and focused person.
Planning is one of the roles of manager which they perform in business activities. For
planning stage manager map the way through which they achieve particular goals. The main goal
of the manager is to improve the sales and profitability of British Airways.
Organising is the other role of manager which is performed in business, they organise the
team and materials according to their plan and strategies. The manager organises the activities
that includes granting authority and assigning work.
Role of Leader
Leader is a person who provides guidance and direction to their followers. They generally
lead the team and also look out the things which need to be improved in order to increase the
productivity and profitability of business.
Decision making is one of the roles which are played by leader in British Airways; they
take an effective decision for the betterment of employees and Organisation. The leader makes
an effective decision which helps in achieving the goals and objective of Company.
Vision is also a role that is played by the leader in Organisation. The leader of British
Airways frames a strategy that defines the clear picture of destination which employees have to
achieve (Arefian, 2018). It is the responsibility of the leader to define vision of the British
Airways so that staff can contribute their best in accomplishing the vision.
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Henry Mintzberg’s10 managerial role
The theory and model which is applied while defining the role of manager is Henry
Mintzberg’s, it defines their work life.
(Figure 1:Henry Mintzberg’s10 managerial role, 2020)
The Theory contains 10 managerial role into three section which includes Interpersonal
Contact, Information processing and Decision making. The Interpersonal Contact includes
Figurehead, leader and Liason. Information processing includes three roles which are Monitor,
disseminator and spokesman. The Decision making category includes entrepreneur, disturbance
handler, resource allocator and negotiator.
Characteristic of Manager and Leader
Characteristic of Manager
Focus on Employee Strength is the characteristic which good manager has their main focus
in on increasing the performance and efficiency of employees so that they can give their
productive outcomes (Griffin, 2016). The Manager of British Airways focuses on improving the
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strength of staff by providing them effective training and development programs through which
their skills and knowledge get enhanced.
Handle Business activities is also a characteristic of good manager as they manage and take
care of all the activities related to the functioning of business. The Manager has the quality to
handle the pressure well and work with efficient and effective manner.
Characteristic of Leader
Good Communication skill is a characteristic which is inbuilt in Leader, they have
impressive and fluent communication skills that attract the customer and employees and generate
an interest among them to listen the thoughts and opinion of leader. Due to effective
communication skills they clearly transmit their information to other people.
Influence is also a characteristic of good leader as they have a power to influence people
through emotional, cooperative and logical appeal. For making convince to people they requires
to create trust and emotional intelligence.
Differencing role of leader & function of manager in British Airways
There are basically five functions of manager which is given by Henry Fayol. First is the
planning function in which the goals and objectives are planned by the managers so that they can
achieve their task in an appropriate manner with proper planning. Second is the organizing
function in which whatever planned by the manager is organized in a systematic manner so that
everything can be performed orderly. Third is the command in which the manager commands
and guides the employees to perform the certain task in a systematic and strategic management
for achievement. Fourth is the coordination in which the employees coordinate with each other
while performing the team work to accomplish the common task assigned to them. V is the
controlling in Which managers are responsible to control the whole process of the project from
planning to coordinating so that it can be evaluated well. In the context of British airways,
managers are responsible for any new project to undertake the whole process of functions of
management from planning to controlling so that they can be able to achieve objectives in a
potential manager with proper efficiency and effectiveness (O’Neill, 2018).
British Airways is a big organization and it consists of both leaders and the managers
where they perform their roles and responsibilities in an appropriate manner. Characteristics of
the leader in British airways is that the leaders are knowledgeable and experienced who can
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guide their employees and inspire them by motivating them to perform the task assigned to them.
Functions of a manager in the company is that the managers are accountable to operate the
functions of Management such as planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and
controlling.
There are different similarities and differences among the role of leaders and functions of
manager in British airways. Talking about similarities then the leaders and the managers both are
responsible for the completion of the common tasks and both have the accountability to handle
the employees for better productivity. Talking about differences then the leaders have the
proactive nature and managers have the reactive nature in terms of change management and
initiation in any program (Hendricks, Deal and Helms Mills, 2019).
Role of leader & function of manager in different situational context
Situations with example Role of a leader Function of a manager
Situation-1: Change
Management
Change management is a
process in which
Organization define and
implement the change
within its process and
business activities.
The role of leader in change
management process is to
convince the employees to
participate in change
management process.
Planning is one of the
functions which is
performed by manager in
change management
process.
Example (Application to
your company)
In British airways, leader
ensures that the change
management process
implement in effective and
efficient manner without
facing any conflict and
The manager of British
Airways, identify the area in
which they need to adopt
change management
process. For Example,
Implementing latest
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issues. technology in reducing the
time of passengers and staff.
Situation-2: Decision
Making
It is an activity through
which individual make
choices by gathering
information, identifying
decision and assesses
alternative solution.
Decision making is the
process in which leader have
to make effective decision
related to the welfare of
employees and
Organization.
The Manager Organise the
activities in Company, they
make the decision and
ensure that everything works
according to the plan and
decision made by the
manager.
Example (Application to
your company)
The leader of British
Airways plays an important
role in making effective
decision related to the future
and career path of
employees.
Manager of British Airways
synchronizes and ensures
that everything works
according to the plan.
Situation-3: Communication Communication is the
process of transmitting the
message from one employee
to another.
The leader communicates
the information and ensures
that employees understand
the message clearly.
The Manager also
communicates the
information and opinions to
employees. For example,
they perform staffing
activities so if there is any
vacancy they pass the
information to their staff and
other people.
Example (Application to
your company)
The Leader of British
airways ensure that their
In British airways, manager
perform staffing activities in
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staff must understand the
roles and responsibilities
clearly in order to
accomplish the target easily.
order to select the best and
suitable candidate that can
give their best in
accomplishing the goals and
objective of Organization
(Yeo, Ren and Ren, 2016).
Situation-4: Conflict
Management
Conflict management is the
situation arises when an
issue arises between
employees related to work
or any other activities. It
arises due to dissatisfaction
among employees.
Leader plays an important
role in managing the conflict
between staff. They ensure
that conflict many not arise
in the Organisation.
The Manager coordinates
the different activities
together and brings all
employees together by
creating an efficient
relationship among them.
Example (Application to
your company)
In British airways many
conflicts arises due to which
their performance and
working environment get
influenced. To solve the
conflicts, leaders plays an
important role to handle the
issues among employees and
employer.
The Manager of British
Airways ensures that
employees and employer
must have efficient
relationship so that they can
work collectively and give
their best in achieving the
business goals.
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Application of different models and theories of leadership
Situational leadership theory can be defined as the manner of adjusting one of the
management styles in order to adapt as per the needs and requirements of the situation and the
team or an individual. It says that the leader must adopt the leadership and management style so
that it can suit the team member and the situation as well for better competitive advantage. In the
context of British airways, leaders are trained and develop in adopting the situational leadership
styles so that they can modify their management style according to the circumstances they are
facing with the team for better resolving out the issues and for the proper management (Elliott,
2020).
System leadership theory can be defined as the framework which is conceptual in nature
and is based upon the principle that instead of performing each and every function in an
organization in an individual manner, rather it is important to interconnect the functions for
better coordination and systematic management in the company. In the context of British
airways, leaders and managers have created the relationship among their various departments in
an organization so that they can help each other towards any problem and resolve it as a team by
adopting the proper system and communication flow in the company.
Contingency theory can be defined as the concept which the leaders have to follow while
handling the organization in order to face different types of circumstances such as the leader
must be effective in one situation or the another and it is important to know for the leader that
how to deal with the situation because a leader can be effective in one circumstances and
ineffective in other and therefore it is essential for The reader to carry out their characteristics as
per the needs and requirements of the circumstances they are facing while managing the
organization and their employees. In the context of British airways, it is a large organization and
thereby different types of circumstances can arise in the company and therefore leaders are
managing by following the contingency theory to properly fit the resolving nature for one
situation or the another (Santana, Valle and Galan, 2019).
Strengths & weaknesses of approaches to situational context
Situations Strengths of the
approaches
Weaknesses of the
approaches
In the context of
working environment
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