HSBC Operations Management: Leadership and Management Roles

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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION
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Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
LO 1................................................................................................................................................ 4
DEFINE AND COMPARE THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGER AND LEADER.........4
USING THEORIES AND CONCEPTS, ANALYZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROLES OF LEADER
AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGER.................................................................................................6
LO 2................................................................................................................................................ 8
ROLES OF LEADER AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGER IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS........................8
DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS.........................................10
EVALUATE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE APPROACHES WITHIN THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT........................................................................................................................ 12
LO 3.............................................................................................................................................. 14
KEY APPROACHES AND ROLES OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
OF HSBC................................................................................................................................... 14
IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN ACHIEVING THE BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................................................. 16
EVALUATING THE LEADERS AND MANAGERS REGARDING IMPROVING EFFICIENCIES OF
OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT IN MEETING THE OBJECTIVES OF HSBC..................................18
LO 4.............................................................................................................................................. 20
FACTORS OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THAT HAS AN IMPACT ON OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING OF MANAGERS AND LEADERS.................................20
ANALYSIS AND EFFECTS OF ABOVE FACTORS ON BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND WIDER
COMMUNITY............................................................................................................................22
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 24
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................25
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INTRODUCTION
Being an operations manager of HSBC, a report is conducted which will compare the roles and
functions of a manager and leader in an organization with the help of various theories and
concepts and these roles and functions would be applied to different situations in context to
HSBC. The assignment will also lay its emphasis on various leadership approaches applied in
HSBC by the operations manager also by evaluating their strength and weaknesses in the work
environment. The next half of the report would focus on the significance of operations
management in achieving the goals of HSBC and factors that influence the decision-making of
leaders and managers and also affect the business environment and communities.
HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a multinational company that provides
banking and financial services and is the largest bank in Europe and 7th largest in the world. It
has around 3900 offices in more than 67 countries serving around 38 million customers. The
company has its headquarters in London, UK and has provided employment to 235,217 people
till 2018.
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LO 1
DEFINE AND COMPARE THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGER AND
LEADER
INTRODUCTION
Every business has managers and leaders in the business so as to manage the activities and
motivate the employees to perform the activities of the business efficiently to achieve the
organizational mission and goals.
MANAGER: In HSBC, the manager plans, organize, directs and controls the activities of the
organization in order to achieve the desired objectives of the company effectively and
efficiently. The planned objectives are discussed with the leaders so that they help in the
achievement of the objectives along with their team (Molyneux, 2016).
LEADER: The leaders of HSBC are engaged in motivating, directing, supervising and inspiring the
employees to accomplish the tasks assigned to them effectively in order to increase
productivity and efficiently achieve the goals of the business (George, 2015).
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN HSBC
The roles of managers and leaders in the organization are different but they work for a common
aim, that is, the accomplishment of objectives of HSBC.
MANAGERS LEADERS
 The managers of HSBC plans the
activities and set objectives for the
company.
 Key managing activities are planning,
organizing, staffing, directing and
controlling (Molyneux, 2016).
 The managers at HSBC formulate the
strategies and plans and communicate
them with the leaders
 The managers in HSBC aim at the
 The leaders of HSBC motivate the
employees to achieve the objectives
set by the managers.
 Key leadership activities are: setting a
vision, motivating, empowering,
communicating, supervising and
productivity.
 The leaders encourage the team to use
the formulated strategies and follow
the plans in order to achieve the goals
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satisfaction of consumers by
providing them with effective
services and solving their issues.
 In HSBC, the managers are engaged in
providing direction to the employees
so that they work effectively.
 The managers of HSBC are task-
oriented (Molyneux, 2016).
of HSBC (George, 2015).
 The leaders of HSBC aim at the
satisfaction and productivity of
employees by motivating and inspiring
them to work as a team and creating a
good work environment for them.
 The leaders focus on communicating
the goals with the team members and
encouraging effective participation of
employees (George, 2015).
 The leaders of HSBC implements ideas
for the accomplishment of tasks.
COMPARISON OF ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS AT HSBC
The roles of managers in HSBC is to plan the activities for the organization, assign duties and
responsibilities to the employees, recruit and select talented personnel for the vacant positions,
control the activities of the employees by evaluating their performance and providing them
feedbacks, focus on the satisfaction of the customers and establish long term relationships with
them and thus, achieve the goals of the organization effectively (McCaffery, 2018). The
characteristics of the managers in HSBC include a positive attitude, integrity, problem-solving
skills, confidence, communication skills, intelligence, etc.
The role of the leaders in HSBC is to motivate, supervise, direct, inspire and encourage the team
to perform their best in the organization and achieve its objectives. The leader acts as a role
model for the team and encourages the involvement of employees in decision-making which
boost the morale of the employees and increase their productivity. The characteristics of
leaders in HSBC include communication skills, honesty, ability to inspire team, confidence,
maintain effective relationships, etc. (McCaffery, 2018).
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USING THEORIES AND CONCEPTS, ANALYZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
ROLES OF LEADER AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGER
Leadership and management play a significant role in the functioning of HSBC. The roles and
responsibilities of the managers and leaders are changes with the passing time in order to cope
up with the dynamic environment and changing needs and demands of the consumers as the
company aims to satisfy the consumers and increase productivity and profitability (McCaffery,
2018).
The role of leaders in HSBC focuses on four major pillars which are: Commitments, Integrity,
Loyalty and Hard work. These pillars help in motivate the leaders and make them competitive
to achieve the organizational goals. The role of the leader is to motivate the employees,
support them by listening to them, encouraging feedback from the employees, solving the
problems faced by them and providing them peaceful working conditions (George, 2015).
The functions of the managers and leaders in HSBC are different when determining the
functions of the organization which can be explained as follows:
PLANNING: The managers of HSBC formulate the strategies and policies; plan the activities to
be conducted in the business for the achievement of objectives. The leader, on the other hand,
motivates the employees and gives directions to follow the plans and policies communicated by
the managers in order to accomplish the desired goals (Penn and Pennix, 2017).
ORGANIZING: In HSBC, the managers are involved in organizing the structure and resources of
the company and the leaders are responsible the set structure and utilize the resources of the
organization with the help of their team to achieve efficiency and productivity.
DIRECTING: The function of the managers in HSBC is to facilitate direction to the leaders by
communicating the objectives, plans and policies formulated. The leaders focus on directing a
path to the team by encouraging them to follow the strategies and accomplish the set
objectives (Penn and Pennix, 2017).
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CONTROLLING: The managers of HSBC focus on comparing and evaluating the effectiveness of
the formulated strategies in order to attain goals effectively. The leaders in HSBC compares the
performance of employees with the set standards and provide feedback to the employees so
that actions can be taken in case of poor performance and efficiency can be maximized.
CONCLUSION
Thus, in HSBC, the managers and leaders have different roles and responsibilities which are
interrelated to each other and aims at maximization of profits in business and achieving the
satisfaction of customers to increase the goodwill of the business and become the largest
provider of banking and financial services globally(Penn and Pennix, 2017).
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LO 2
ROLES OF LEADER AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGER IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
INTRODUCTION
The roles and functions of the leaders and managers in HSBC are impacted on the basis of the
situation that occurs in the business. Therefore, the leaders and the managers have to take
actions accordingly in order to attain desired results in different situations (Ellison, 2018).
HSBC was facing so many challenges due to huge uncertainties and high risk in business relating
to European debt and fading future of Euro currency. This situation has an impact on the
stakeholders of the company which includes shareholders, customers, employees and the
environment. Managers and leaders play an important role in resolving things with effective
decision making. In this situation, HSBC uses contingency theory and thus, focus on altering the
existing strategies in order to reduce the debt (Steinhouse, 2017). Under this theory, the
leaders encourage the employees to adopt new plans and policies in order to achieve the newly
set objectives effectively and change the situation soon.
When the banking sector was facing technological disruption globally, due to the fast-changing
technology, HSBC also faced problem in the industry. It became important for the managers to
use the theory of management by objectives in the organization in which the changes in the
technology due to up gradation are managed by effectively implementing it in the business and
motivating employees to use the new and updated technology to ease the processes in
business and therefore, achieve optimization (Ellison, 2018).
In HSBC, the managers and leaders work together to resolve the problems that occur in
business. They use effective management and leadership theories which help in reducing errors
and maximizing profits. HSBC faces huge competition in business from other leading banks of
the world and thus, uses democratic styles of leadership in a business where the leaders involve
the participation of employees in decision making (Steinhouse, 2017). The ideas and suggestion
from the employees are encouraged by the leaders to find a variety of solutions and to choose
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the best one for implementation to solve the problem and achieve the goals of HSBC effectively
and thus result in the satisfaction of customers which is the ultimate aim of the organization
(Ellison, 2018).
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DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS
The different styles of leadership used in HSBC by the leaders to manage the employees and the
situations effectively are as follows:
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP: In this leadership approach, the leaders of the organization follow
different forms of leadership depending upon the occurred situation. Like in HSBC, the leaders
used contingency theory at the time of risk to the business from European debt. The leaders
also used a democratic style of leadership and engaged the skilled and talented employees in
the discussions so as to get a large number of ideas and thus, make quick and effective
decisions in order to face the stiff competition in the banking sector (Meier, 2016). Thus, it is
the demand of the situation that affects the form of leadership or management to be used in
HSBC.
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP: This form of leadership is used by HSBC and it focuses on both technical
and human factors that help in deciding the structure of the organization. The technical aspect
considers the scientific management theories and structuralism of the organization and the
human factors include communication with the employees, motivating and encouraging them
to work effectively and thus, fulfilling the needs and interest of the employees (Macdonald et
al. 2017). This leadership style is very helpful in achieving the satisfaction of employees and also
increase the productivity of the business by efficiently achieving the goals of the organization.
CONTINGENCY THEORY OF LEADERSHIP: The contingency leadership theory used at HSBC was
developed by Fred Fielder states that the effectiveness of the leader is dependent on the
control they have over the situation. Fielder believes that there is no best way to solve a
problem; the best solution depends on the internal or external factors of the situation. The
contingency theory in HSBC ensures that the leaders take evaluation and control measures by
rewarding or punishing the employees for their good/poor performance in order to enhance
their motivation to work better and solve the problems effectively (Macdonald et al. 2017).
PARTICIPATIVE STYLE OF LEADERSHIP: The democratic leadership style is the most widely used
approach as it involves the participation of competent employees in the business. HSBC also
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follows this leadership theory in business by involving the employees in making decisions when
the business suffers problems like rapid changes in the technology, high risk of increasing
European debt, etc. the ideas and suggestions from the employees are encouraged by the
leaders which result in increased motivation of the employees and also ease in solving the
problems suffered by HSBC (Tsolakis, 2016). The business can implement the best ideas into
business to attain the goals and lead to the success of the business.
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EVALUATE THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE APPROACHES WITHIN
THE WORK ENVIRONMENT
The theories and approaches applied to situations arising in HSBC can be assessed and
evaluated on the basis of their strength and weaknesses in the following manner:
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE: The situational approach used by leaders in HSBC is very
effective for the organization in some situations as the leaders do not have to follow a single
style which restricts the leader and the decision making process becomes slow. The leaders can
use different styles of leadership after analyzing the problem and understanding the situation
effectively and thus, can apply an approach which is best suitable to the business and would
give quick and positive results. This increases the efficiency of leaders in managing the situation
with smartness (Meier, 2016).
This styles of leadership also have a few weaknesses which include confusion in the minds of
the leaders at the time of the problem about which style to use and the leaders do not focus on
the long term needs of HSBC, they only concentrate on the current situations and solve them.
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP: This style of leadership is effective in HSBC as it focuses on the needs of
the employees which serve as motivation and they perform better than the expectations and
this approach results in the effective organizational structure. Apart from the above strengths,
this form of leadership has faced a challenge of quick decision making as the leaders consider
the ideas of the employees which delay the decision making the process and thus, leads to
inefficiency in the achievement of goals of the business (Macdonald et al. 2017).
Democratic styles of leadership: This is by far, one of the best approaches to leadership as it
involves the participation of employees at every level in the business which leads to motivation
of the employees and boosts their morale. Therefore, they try to give their best in the
accomplishment of the goals of the organization. With a large number of ideas gathered at the
time of discussions or meeting, the leaders can eliminate the less suitable ideas and can choose
the best idea to the problem. Thus, the leaders get a wide range of ideas to choose from, which
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