Factors Impacting Operational Management: A Unit 4 Management Report

This report delves into the relationship between leadership and management within a contemporary business environment, focusing on factors that influence operational management and decision-making. It analyzes key elements such as corporate culture, values, ethics, and corporate social responsibility (CSR), along with stakeholder expectations. The report explores the dimensions of the business environment, including the interplay between leadership and management in the context of CSR, culture, values, ethics, and sustainability. It examines the importance of these factors, providing examples and highlighting their impact on the wider community, including environmental and social dimensions, as well as the ethical considerations of globalization. The report also discusses the role of operations and stakeholders within CSR, emphasizing the significance of ethical considerations and responsibilities towards various stakeholders. The provided content is a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter.

UNIT 4: MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
LO4 Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between
leadership and management in a contemporary business
environment

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The learner should be able:
 To assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by leaders and
managers
 To do the analysis and evaluate the different
factors that affect the business environment and
wider community

TASK in the ASSIGNMENT
WORKSHEET
4.0 Factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers
(Assess and analyse how these factors impact upon operational management and decision-making
by leaders and managers and wider community)
Corporate Culture
Corporate Values
Corporate Ethics
Corporate social responsibility
 Expectations of stakeholders
(Identify the stakeholders of Fruitapeel and state their expectations)

(Different dimensions of contemporary
business environment:
The relationship that leadership and
management have in the context of corporate
social responsibility; culture, values, ethics
and sustainability.
The relationship with stakeholders and
meeting stakeholder expectations in the
context of encouraging, developing and
sustaining entrepreneurship and
intrapreneurship)

Leadership and management in Contemporary
Business Environment
• In today’s global environment, organisations need to be
increasingly receptive to change, responsive, more
flexible and less structured
• The organisations are always dependent on the skills of
the senior management to get the right plan and
directions to act accordingly.
‘the job of leading company has never been more
demanding, and it will only become more
challenging amidst the global dynamism businesses
face today’ (also cited in Bertocci, 2009:3).

Operations and Business Environment
Corporate Culture
Corporate Values
Corporate Ethics
Corporate social responsibility

CORPORATE CULTURE
 Corporate culture is a fundamental part of a company and it can be
said to represent the character of a company (Schrader and Self,
2003).
 The values, beliefs, assumptions, ideologies and ways of doing things
are in essence when corporate culture is defined (Linnenluecke and
Griffiths, 2010).
Naturally, companies represent their own distinct corporate cultures
that vary according to, for instance, country context, the age or history,
size and industry of a company.
 As organizational culture defines the proclivity and ability of a
company to conduct business operations either responsibly or
irresponsibly.
 Organizational culture is described by Robbins & Coulter as the
shared values, beliefs, or perceptions held by employees within an
organization or organizational unit.
 Because organizational culture reflects the values, beliefs and
behavioral norms that are used by employees in an organization to
give meaning to the situations that they encounter, it can influence
the attitudes and behavior of the staff .

Corporate Values
Core values are what support the vision, shape the culture and reflect what the
company values. They are the essence of the company’s identity – the principles,
beliefs or philosophy of values.
Many companies focus mostly on the technical competencies but often forget what are
the underlying competencies that make their companies run smoothly — core values.
Establishing strong core values provides both internal and external advantages to the
company:
Core values help companies in the decision-making processes. For example, if
one of your core values is to stand behind the quality of your products, any
products not reaching the satisfactory standard are automatically eliminated.
Core values educate clients and potential customers about what the company is about
and clarify the identity of the company. Especially in this competitive world, having a set
of specific core values that speak to the public is definitely a competitive advantage.
Core values are becoming primary recruiting and retention tools. With the ease
of researching companies, job seekers are doing their homework on the
identities of the companies they are applying for and weighing whether or not
these companies hold the values that the job seekers consider as important.

Corporate Values
Importance of Values
Provide understanding of the attitudes,
motivation, and behaviors
Influence our perception of the world around
us
Represent interpretations of “right” and
“wrong”
Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are
preferred over others

Corporate Ethics (MORAL CODE)
The broad area dealing with the way in which a
company behaves towards, and conducts business
with, its internal and external STAKEHOLDERS,
including employees, investors, creditors,
customers, and regulators. In certain national
systems minimum standards are required or
recommended in order to eliminate potential
conflicts of interest or client/employee
mistreatment

EXAMPLES OF SOME VALUES AN
ORGANISATION CAN EMBRACE.
 Accountability – Acknowledging and assuming responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and
policies. It can be applied to both individual accountability on the part of employees and
accountability of the company as a whole.
 Balance – Taking a proactive stand to create and maintain a healthy work-life balance for workers.
 Commitment – Committing to great product, service, and other initiatives that impact lives within
and outside the organization.
 Community –Contributing to society and demonstrating corporate social responsibility.
 Diversity – respecting the diversity and giving the best of composition. Establishing an employee
equity program.
 Empowerment – Encouraging employees to take initiative and give the best. Adopting an error-
embracing environment to empower employees to lead and make decisions.
 Innovation – Pursuing new creative ideas that have the potential to change the world.
 Integrity – Acting with honesty and honor without compromising the truth
 Ownership – Taking care of the company and customers as they were one’s own.
 Safety – ensuring the health and safety of employees and going beyond the legal requirements to
provide an accident-free workplace