BTEC HND: Leadership and Management Theories in Operations

This essay analyzes and differentiates between the roles of a leader and a manager by effectively applying a range of theories and concepts. It discusses the differences in authority, focus, risk management, and skill sets between leaders and managers. The essay critically evaluates various leadership theories, including trait, functional, behavioral, and situational approaches, as well as leadership styles such as transactional, transformational, charismatic, pace-setting, and authoritative leadership, emphasizing their impact on organizational growth and employee productivity. This solved assignment is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study tools for students.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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M1. Analyze and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of
a manager by effectively applying a range of theories and concepts.
In one line, it can be stated that a manager possesses the authority to take any decision
while a leader takes the advantage from it. A leader has followers whereas a manager has
employees. A manager creates objectives or goals and a leader creates vision. The risk is
taken by the leaders and controlled by the managers. The skills possessed by the leaders help
to build relationships with peers and other people, whereas the managers build processes and
systems. The skills possessed by a leader is known as leadership style, whereas the discipline
possessed by a manager can be termed as management (Shah and Mulla 2013). The leaders
motivate and influences the followers through their leadership style, in order to achieve the
business objectives of the organizations, whereas a manager forms an important link between
the organization and its shareholders like employees, shareholders and others. The style
followed by a leader is transformational and the same is transactional from the viewpoint of a
manager. The leaders aim for the growth and development by the help of their leadership
style, whereas the manager through their management skills, try to achieve the desired result
required for the organization. A leader strives for effectiveness and a manager strives for
efficiency. A leader is necessary at all the levels of a business entity, but a manger may not be
required at all levels of a business house (Algahtani 2014).
D1. Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to
leadership in given contexts.
There are several types of theories and approaches in the context of leadership. There
is requirement of skills and qualities to connect with people. The theories of leadership help
to identify the basic needs and requirements of the people. The qualities or trait approach
states about the inborne quality of leadership abilities. In the functional or group approach,

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the leadership skills are learned or developed to become a leader. In the behavioral styles
approach, the focus is on the behaviors of the people who are in the leadership positions. In
the situational approach, the situation itself helps to identify the leader and its style. All these
theories have many subparts. In the context of leadership approaches, the transactional
leadership style attracts the self-interest of the followers of that leader to accomplish the
organizational aims and objectives, whereas a vision is created in order to transform and
performance of the people of the company (Dartey-Baah 2015). The inspirational or
charismatic leadership depends on the personal qualities or charisma of the leader. The pace
setters approach involves the communication, which plays a crucial part in an effective
leadership, in order to set the high standards of performance for the followers as well as for
themselves. In the authoritative leadership, the leader themselves command the policies and
procedures required to improve the productivity of the organization along with the
performance level of the employees. The various theories of leadership help the followers to
follow and ideologies them effectively and enhance their productivity skill. The approaches
of the leadership play an integral part in the growth of an organization as well as the society
where the leader serves or works (Baesu and Bejinaru 2014).

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References
Algahtani, A., 2014. Are leadership and management different? A review. Journal of
Management Policies and Practices, 2(3), pp.71-82.
Baesu, C. and Bejinaru, R., 2014. Leadership approaches regarding the organizational
change. The USV annals of economics and public administration, 13(2 (18)), pp.146-152.
Dartey-Baah, K., 2015. Resilient leadership: A transformational-transactional leadership
mix. Journal of Global Responsibility, 6(1), pp.99-112.
Shah, T. and Mulla, Z.R., 2013. Leader motives, impression management, and charisma: A
comparison of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. Management and Labour Studies, 38(3), pp.155-
184.