Analyzing Management & Leadership Operations at Ilford-on-Sea Ltd

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the management and operations of Ilford-on-Sea Limited, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers within the company. It evaluates the challenges faced by the company in differentiating between leadership and management roles, particularly concerning workforce management in a secured contract for renovating 100 units for Decent Homes. The report examines the application of leadership and management functions in different scenarios, such as completing a test unit under pressure and managing subsequent units after a successful initial completion. Furthermore, it applies various leadership theories and models, including situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency approaches, to the Ilford-on-Sea Limited context. The report also discusses the key approaches in operations management, the roles played by leaders and managers, and the importance of operations management in achieving business objectives, while considering the issues faced by the company's management. Finally, it assesses the factors within the business environment that impact decision-making and operational management by leaders and managers at Ilford-on-Sea Limited.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Based on the scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited, evaluation of what is the major
problem faced by the company in terms of differentiating the role between a leader and the
role of a manager.........................................................................................................................4
P1. Generic definition and comparison of the different roles and characteristics of a leader and
a manager for the identification of where the problem lies based on the managing director of
Ilford-on-Sea Limited..................................................................................................................4
Task 2: The factor identified as major problem facing Ilford-on-Sea Limited was managing
their workforce. To manage the secured contract of renovating 100 units of Decent Homes for
London, apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in this context......................6
P2: Using Ilford-on-Sea and Jarvis Construction group as examples, examine how the role of a
leader and the function of a manager apply in different situations of working under pressure to
complete the first unit as a test and in a situation of managing other units where the
completion of the first unit was successful..................................................................................6
P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency using Ilford-on-Sea Limited as an example....................................7
Task 3: Demonstration of an appreciation of the role played by leaders and managers in the
operational functions of a company and examination of the part effective management and
good leadership might have played in Ilford-on-Sea Limited for leading and managing the
workforce for successful completion of the secured contract.....................................................9
P4. Explanation of the key approaches in operations management and the roles played by
leaders and managers focusing on the scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited..................................9
P5. Explanation of the value and importance of operations management in the achievement of
business objectives bearing in mind the issues faced by the management of the company
Ilford-on-Sea Limited................................................................................................................11
Task 4: Demonstration of an understanding of the relationship prevailing between
management and leadership in a contemporary business environment.....................................12

P6. By looking at the predicaments of the manager of Ilford-on-Sea Limited, assessment of the
factors within the business environment, which impact upon the decision-making and
operational management by managers and leaders...................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................14
Reference list.............................................................................................................................15

Introduction
The effectiveness in the operations of a company or an organization has a huge dependence on
the leaders and managers in the company or organization. Leadership and management are two
most important and essential factors in a company. Leadership is in important in a company as it
helps in the achievement of the goals and objectives of a company along with maximizing its
efficiency. Management plays an important role in a company, as it helps in arranging the factors
of production of a company, along with helping in the assembling and organization of resources.
It also helps in integrating the resources of a company in an effective manner. Leadership is a
part of management. This report discusses about the management and operations of a business
named Ilford-on-Sea Limited, operating from the eastern end of London. It also helps in
evaluating the roles, responsibilities and functions of a leader and manager along with evaluating
how their efficiency helps an organization in its operations.

Task 1: Based on the scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited, evaluation of what is the major
problem faced by the company in terms of differentiating the role between a leader and the
role of a manager
P1. Generic definition and comparison of the different roles and characteristics of a leader
and a manager for the identification of where the problem lies based on the managing
director of Ilford-on-Sea Limited
According to the present scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited and the behavior of the managing
director of the company, the managing director is not sure if he is a leader or a manager due to
which there was arising a continuous misunderstanding among the workforce. The main issue in
the company is regarding the management, monitoring and controlling the workforce of the
company. It is true that a manager requires being a good leader in order to be successful, but in
the present scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited, it is not possible for the managing director of the
company to play the roles of both the leader and the manager. Due to this, it is important to
understand the roles and characteristics of a leader and manger clearly.
Leader – A leader is a person who commands and leads a group of people, an organization or a
whole country (Kruse, 2013). A leader can also be referred to as a person who influences people,
rather a group of individuals, towards the accomplishment of a desired goal or predetermined
objective. A good leader must possess certain characteristics and features such as honesty,
optimism, decisiveness, awareness, etc. A leader has the duty of providing continuous
supervision and support to the group that he or she is leading.
Manager – A manager is a person who is responsible for controlling as well as administering a
group of employees or an entire organization (Oplatka, 2016). He or she is an individual who has
the charge of a certain subset in a company or particular set of tasks within the company.
Managers often have a staff or group of people who report to them. A manager can also be called
the supervisor or the controller, as he or she is the person who has the responsibility of
supervising and controlling a group of people. A manager should possess the traits of
accountability, patience, prioritization, and cultural affinity.
The roles and characteristics of a leader and manager are quite similar to each other. This is
because a manager is also a good leader and a leader can also become a good manager in the

future. According to Verboncu et al. (2015), there are various similarities that prevail in the roles
and characteristics of leaders and managers and they are the following –
 Both leaders and managers must be empathetic and compassionate by nature
 Both leaders and managers must be possessing a positive attitude and approach towards
their own work and towards their subordinates working under them
 Both leaders and managers must be honest and truthful. Honesty is basic criteria of being
a good leader and good manager. The actions of leaders and managers along with their
motives must be honest.
 Another similarity between a manager and a leader is patience. Both leaders and
managers must be patient in order to manage and monitor the activities of the group of
individuals they are leading or guiding.
 Both leaders and managers must possess the characteristic and attribute of good decision-
making. Making correct decisions is important in case of both leaders and managers.
 Lastly, both leaders and managers must possess good communication skills.
However, there are various differences between managers and leaders (Day et al., 2014). They
are –
Leader Manager
 A leader generally has an active, positive
and optimistic outlooks towards achieving
the goals of a firm
 A manager usually possesses a passive
attitude towards the achievement of the
goals of a firm
 A leader is an agent of bringing about
changes
 A manager generally prefers maintaining
the status quo
 A leader generally has a singular approach  A manager usually prefers working with
people and staff
 A leader creates an idea, vision or a
visualization
 Managers do not do so. They create goals.
 Leaders are responsible for taking risks  Managers are responsible for controlling
risks

 A leader builds bonds and relationships by
playing the role of a coach
 A manager builds processes and systems by
playing the role of a director
 A leader may not necessarily be a good
manager
 All managers require being a good leader
in order to become a prosperous and
successful manager
(Source: Covey, 2017)
Task 2: The factor identified as major problem facing Ilford-on-Sea Limited was managing
their workforce. To manage the secured contract of renovating 100 units of Decent Homes
for London, apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in this context.
P2: Using Ilford-on-Sea and Jarvis Construction group as examples, examine how the role
of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situations of working under
pressure to complete the first unit as a test and in a situation of managing other units
where the completion of the first unit was successful.
According to the case study Ilford-on-Sea has been taken their one of biggest deal from Jarvis
Construction group. This has to complete by Ilford-on-Sea and to do so their leadership quality
needs to improve. There are different types of roles of a leader within the organizational task.
Roles of a leader:
 Required at every stage: Leadership is an important function at all stages of management.
At the highest stage, it is key to work together to formulate plans and guidelines (Little et
al., 2016). At the medium and lower stage, it is necessary for the interpretation and the
execution of strategic plans.
 Representative of the company: It is said that a leader is the representative of Ilford-on-Sea.
Leader must be concern of conferences, seminars, general assemblies and more. The role of
the leader is to communicate the motto of the company to the external public. The leader is
also a representative of the department which he/she leads.
 Solicits all the support: A leader is one kind of manager and also a position holder of Ilford-
on-Sea who supports all team members. The position holder can do it through the
personality, experience, maturity and intelligence, which can give a position of the company.

A leader must bring suggestions and, also develop them into business plans and
programmers.
 A friend, a philosopher: A leader should possess three-dimensional features in its
personality. Leader can be a good friend to employees by sharing opinions, wishes and
feelings with them (Shin et al., 2017). A leader can be a philosopher who uses his
experience and intelligence to guide his staff as time demands.
Roles of a manager:
 Planning: Planning phase is the fundamental step for any kind of project whether it is major
or minor. The manager must plan the program and provide the strategy how to perform the
task with all necessary information, and even the manager must build a backup strategy if it
does not work.
 Staffing: In simple terms, the staffing means to group people in different teams with
assigning them different tasks. If team members got some disputes within the team, then
members must report to team leader (Wu et al., 2017). This issue must be forwards to the
manager in order to solve it.
 Leading: One of key responsibility of the manager is to guide employees in every kind of
situations to avoid organizational conflicts. The manager of Ilford-on-Sea has to guide the
employees hence they have a clear knowledge about the objectives.
P3. Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency using Ilford-on-Sea Limited as an example
Situational leaderships and contingency model are the part of six key leadership theories that has
been developed in early 20th century. These theories stated that the managers of an organization
choose their leadership styles on the leadership situations. Managers of an organization adjust
their motivational approaches and decision making process based on some factors. Those factors
are organizational structures, types of job, characteristics of working staffs and personal
preferences. In order to discuss these theories here in this assignment Ilford-on-Sea has taken as
an example. As Ilford-on-Sea facing huge pressure in their current project which has been
assigned by the Jarvis Construction group. These theories can make the management team of
Ilford-on-Sea to work more fluently and efficiently.
Fiedler’s contingency leadership model

Fred E. Fiedler’s contingency leadership model centers on belief that there’s no best possible
way for managers to lead an organization. With different situation of the organization develop
different leadership style needs for the managers (McCleskey, 2014). There are three different
elements that state by a leader’s positional control. Those three elements are, Task structure,
Leader relations, positioning power.
Harsey-Blanchard’s situational leadership model
This model of Situational leadership is completely based on the task behavior and relationship
behaviors within the organization. In the year of 1988, Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey published
their joint project “Management of Organizational Behavior”. In this project they declared that
the leadership is totally based on the skills not personality. In order to determine appropriate
leadership styles in a proper situation, leader of an organization must determine the level of
maturity of his/her followers in terms of relationship regarding the specified task. Once the
maturity level of the employee identified, and then the managers can verify appropriate
leadership styles: selling, telling, participating and delegating. In terms of Ilford-on-Sea, this
company also used this model for generating proper leadership strategies within the organization.
Figure: Harsey-Blanchard’s situational leadership model
(Source: Vandayani et al, 2015)

 Selling: This leadership style also reflects the high task/higher relationship behaviors. The
leader of an organization encourages two ways of communications and also assists the
organization to build motivation and confidence in the working staffs. On the other hand
leaders still have their all responsibilities and decision making control of the organization
(Chuang et al., 2016). Selling style of this model is best matched along with moderate
follower readiness level.
 Telling: This leadership style reflects the high task/lower relationship behaviors. The leader
of an organization provides specific direction and clear instructions. Telling style of this
model is best matched along with low follower readiness level.
 Participating: This leadership style reflects the high relationship/lower task behaviors. With
this type of style model, follower and the leaders share all the decision making process.
Participating style of this model is best matched along with moderate follower readiness
level.
 Delegating: This leadership style reflects the low relationship/lower task behaviors. Here
this model is totally appropriate for all the leaders where the followers are set to accomplish
the particular task. Delegating style of this model is best matched along with higher follower
readiness level.
Task 3: Demonstration of an appreciation of the role played by leaders and managers in
the operational functions of a company and examination of the part effective management
and good leadership might have played in Ilford-on-Sea Limited for leading and managing
the workforce for successful completion of the secured contract
P4. Explanation of the key approaches in operations management and the roles played by
leaders and managers focusing on the scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited
Operations management refers to that area of management, which is concerned with the
designing as well as controlling of the production process and the redesigning of the business
operations in the production of products and services. The present scenario of Ilford-on-Sea
Limited shows that the operations management of the company is very weak. This is mainly
because the managing director was the only person in the company and there were no specific
leader or manager in the company. The managing director was also not sure whether he was a
leader and a manager (West et al., 2015). Due to this, various operational issues aroused in the

company. Another major reason for the operational problems in Ilford-on-Sea Limited was that
the managing director of the company had a vast experience in sales, marketing and customer
experience. However, he did not have any experience in operations management.
There are different approaches to operations management, with the help of which various
operational problems can be overcome. In order to overcome the operational issues in Ilford-on-
Sea Limited, the following approaches can be adopted –
 Six sigma (operations theory) – Six sigma refers to a disciplined, data-driven
methodology and approach for elimination of defects in a process, starting from
manufacturing up to the transactional and from a product to a service. This is done by
driving towards 6 standard deviations between the closest specification limit and the
mean.
 Total quality management or TQM – TQM is another operations management approach
developed during 1950s that describes the attitude, organization and culture of a company
that strives towards providing customers with goods and services, which satisfy their
requirements.
 Kaizen – Kaizen refers to the exercise of continuous improvement and reduction of the
defects and issues in processes, operations, goods and services, etc. due to continual
assessment of processes and elimination of problems due to continual improvement. Queuing theory – The queuing theory is a mathematical method, which analyzes the
delays and congestions of waiting in a line (Oostra, 2016). It examines all the
components waiting in the line to be served such as service process, arrival process,
number of system places, number of servers, number of customers, etc. It helps in
improvement of traffic flow, efficient shipping of orders from warehouse, faster services
to customers, etc.
The present scenario of Ilford-on-Sea Limited shows that there is no specific leader or manager
in the company and the managing director plays the role of both the leader and manger.
However, leaders and managers have different roles to play in the present scenario. They are as
follows –
Role of a leader –

 Taking collective responsibility of the employees
 Bringing in cooperation among employees by eradication of lack of coordination
 Management of the workforce
Role of a manager –
 Leading role in the management of personnel and raw materials of the company
 Evaluate and assess the purchases, supplies and inventories
 Performing tasks related to HRM, such as hiring employees, planning their development
and overseeing the tasks assigned to them
 Arranging for various sources to raise finance
P5. Explanation of the value and importance of operations management in the achievement
of business objectives bearing in mind the issues faced by the management of the company
Ilford-on-Sea Limited
The value and importance of operations management is huge in the achievement of business
objectives. There are different functions of operations management, each of which helps a
company in the accomplishment of its objectives (Giest and Howlett, 2014). This is especially
important in the present scenario and operational issues faced by the management of the
company Ilford-on-Sea Limited. The value and importance of operations management in the
achievement of business objectives of Ilford-on-Sea Limited through the eradication of the issues
faced by the company are –
 Transformation of input into output is the major function of operations management. The
effectiveness of workforce, collective responsibility, good coordination among
employees, availability of finance, etc. helps in the transformation of inputs (raw
materials) into outputs (finished products). Operations management plays a
transformational role in supervision and administering of a company’s inputs such as
staff, managers, other human resources, information, buildings and machineries,
production processes, technologies, etc. The transformational role played by operations
management and the importance of operations management in transformation will help in
overcoming the existing issues of Ilford-on-Sea Limited and leading them towards the
accomplishment of the objectives of Ilford-on-Sea Limited.