LCBB6003 - Leadership and Management: A Critical Review of ASDA

This report critically examines leadership and management theories in the context of ASDA stores Ltd, a British supermarket chain. It reviews various leadership styles, including trait theory, situational theory, and transactional management theory, and their application within ASDA. The report reflects on personal experiences working at ASDA, detailing the development of skills such as communication and decision-making through project leadership. It also addresses challenges faced, such as conflict resolution within a team, and outlines an action plan for continuous improvement, focusing on enhancing communication and decision-making abilities. The analysis is supported by references to relevant academic literature, providing a comprehensive overview of leadership and management principles in a real-world organizational setting.

Leadership and
management, theory
and practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
Brief introduction about the chosen organisation.......................................................................3
Theories of Leadership and management: -................................................................................4
Reflection ...................................................................................................................................6
Action plan..................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Leadership may be defied as the procedure which is implement by the management of the
organisation in order to lead, direct, motivate and influence the employees behaviour for
attaining the set objectives and goals of the firm in a very effective and productive way.
Leadership is being considered as the most important ability of an individual in order to persuade
the employees of the firm to perform in productive manner and contributes towards achieving the
pre defined objectives of the company effectively and efficiently (Gümüş, Arar and Oplatka,
2021). On the other hand, management may be defined as the activity of developing
organisational planning, mission and goals of the firm, organise all the resources in proper
manner and direct and control the employees for attaining the set goals. The concepts of
leadership as well as management has been applied in the organisation in order to manage all
functions of the company in a very effective manner and motivate the employees to perform with
full productivity. The following report is based on the ASDA company which is well known
British supermarket chain of UK. The following report is going to cover the brief overview of
the choose organisation and the review of leadership and management theories and models in
relation to the respective company. This report also covers the application of these theories and
model and the impact of leadership on the organisation. Furthermore, reflection is done which
covers the learning experience and development of the different types of skills while working in
the organisation and the action plan.
TASK
Brief introduction about the chosen organisation
For the completion of this report ASDA stores Ltd. Is selected, which is a well known
British super market chain of the UK. The respective company is a retail type company which
was founded on 19 of February 1949 by merging of the Asquith family retail business with the
Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire. The company was founded by Peter and Fred
Asquith, sir Noel Stockdale and the headquarter of the firm is situated in the Leeds, United
Kingdom. The organisation deals in the grocery, general merchandise, financial services and
various other services like ASDA mobile, ASDA money, ASDA living and George. The was
second largest supermarket chain of the UK in the year 2003 and 2014. The company provide
their services all across the globe. Along with this, the number of employees working in the

ASDA stores all across the globe is more then 160000 and all the employees are well trained as
well educated which provide quality of services to their consumers. The revenue of the firm in
the year 2019 is £22.90 billion and the operating income of the firm is £584.2 million. The
ASDA was acquire by the Issa brothers (Mohsin and Zuber) in the year 2021 along with this
Walmart is also the board member of the ASDA stores Ltd. The company also provide the online
services to their consumers which assist in increasing the loyal base of the consumer and profits
of the company.
Theories of Leadership and management: -
Different types of leadership as well as management theories is applied by the
management of the ASDA stores Ltd not only in motivating but also in inspiring the employees
so that they can carry out all the assigned task in a very productive manner and contribute
towards in achieving the set goals and objectives of the firm(Bekimbetova and Shaturaev, 2021).
Different types of qualities are posses by the leaders like effective decision making, personality
traits and many more which assist them in performing the functions in proper manner.
Combination of different types of leadership styles are adopt by the leaders of the ASDA
company that give assistance to the leaders in managing its employees. Different types of
leadership styles as well as management theories in context to the ASDA store Ltd has been
discussed below: -
The trait theory: -the trait leadership theory may be defined as a personality trait which
develops different types of qualities in a leader which enable them to influence the leaders to
perform in the best way. Focus has been paid by this theory on acquiring the different types of
personality traits and other characteristics which is needed for the implementation of the
effective leadership within the management. On the different types of personality trait like
specific behaviour pattern and many more the whole concept of this theory is depend which
assist them in dealing with the all the situations in a very effective manner. In context to the
ASDA company, this theory can be applied by the management in the operational functions of
the firm which states that having specific qualities doesn't means that leaders possess the
effective and strong skill. Different type of training and development programme has been
developed by the management of the respective company to their employees in improving their
skills and make them competitive and enhance their personality.

An important role is played by the leaders of the firm in implementing this theory within
the organisation. This theory state that leaders have some specific traits and characteristics which
make them different from others. The quality of handling the situation effectively, adopt the new
nature, motivates the employees, think out of the box and the emotionally stable assist them in
directing and leading all the employees in gaining the desirable outcomes.
Situational theory: - situational leadership theory can also be adopt by the ASDA
company in which they have opt the appropriate leadership theories in order to perform the
action according to the specific situations which give them assistance in dealing with the critical
situation effectively(Ingram and Salih, 2021). As the respective company operate their function
at the global level, so leaders have to take out the solution after analysing the situation in proper
manner so that they can handle the situation in best possible way. If the leaders of the company
are knowledgable as well as have the experience than they can opt the authoritarian leadership
style which allow them to take the decision as fast as possible and as per the situation. Whereas,
if the employees of the organisation is skilled and have the ability to handle the situation in
effective manner then democratic leadership style has been opt by the management of the
respective company. This style assist in taking the effective decision as per the situations.
The effective implementation of the leadership style in the different operational functions
of the organisation, assist the leaders in managing the actions as well as performance of the
employees by motivating them and developing different types of training development
opportunities. The situation is analyse by the leaders and then they guide the employees to work
as per the situation. In order to execute the appropriate leadership style leaders must have to
analyse the situation and then take the decision to appropriately handle the situation. The
effective leadership style assist the organisation in achieving all the set goals in a very effective
manner and before the deadline.
Transactional management theory: this theory of leadership and management assist
the the leaders the of the company in paying focus on motivating the employees through
appealing to their own interest(Northouse, 2021). The transactional leaders have the formal
authority as well as the responsibility in order to lead the whole company towards attaining the
common objectives. The direction which is provided by the leaders of the company have to be
followed by the employees. In context to the ASDA company, in order to motivate the staff
members the leaders provide the rewards as well as appreciation to their employees on the basis

of their performance. Transactional leadership style is opt by the leaders of the ASDA company
in which an effective working structure has been created by them and they continuously
communicate with their employees to make them aware about what the organisation exactly
want. In addition to this, all the consequences which can be face or associates with attaining or
not attaining the goals has been clearly covey by them.
An important role is played by the leaders of the company in effectively communicating
the strategies, policies as well as expectations of the organisation to their employees. The
performance of the workers is measures by the leaders on the basis of this reward as well as
punishment has been give to them(JIBREAL, 2021). Effective benefits motivates the employees
in order to complete the task in productive manner. So the motivation as well as the inspiration
make the employees able to perform effectively and contribute as more as towards the
organisation.
Reflection
I am working in the ASDA stores Ltd where, different types of opportunities as well as
challenges has been faced by me which assist me learning new things. After one month while
working in the organisation in the management give me an opportunity to lead project in which
the higher authorities of the company assign me different types of responsibility. Seniors give me
freedom to select the team in order to complete the project so I select the ten members with
different skills and knowledge and all have the good communication skill. Before starting the
task, I divide the whole work in my team according to their skill, knowledge, preferences and
interest.
Democratic leadership style has been adopt by me in order to complete the task. This
style provide freedom to each and every team member to present their opinion in front of each
other which increasing the chances of successful completing the project. This make all the
employees to actively participate the in the decision-making procedure of the firm. In order to
complete the project, I give freedom to all my team members to freely express their views and
thoughts. I feel very nervous as well as very responsible before starting the project and my
seniors show faith in me and give me such big responsibility.
During this project, different types of skills like effective time management, excellent
communication skill, good interpersonal skill, manage the load and many more has been

developed by me within me. A proper schedule has been made by me for each and every activity
which assist me and my team members in completing the task before the deadline. Along with
this, Belbin team model and situational leadership also adopt by me in completing the project in
proper manner.
Due to the miscommunication a conflicts has been arises between the two team members
which develops the problem for the other team members. They are not be able to concentrate on
the working. In order to overcome from this problem first I meet both the team members and
gave them an effective solution on which both are agreed, so that they can effectively
concentrate on their working. In the end we completed the project on time and my seniors
appreciate me for my excellent performance. Along with this, I also learned about the various
leadership styles with their advantages and disadvantages which is associated with them and I
also learned how to implement the these theories according to the situation.
Action plan
What I have to learn? What I have to do? How to measure
success? Target date
Communication skill
In order to improve this
skill, I start communicating
with my team members,
family members and
friends and share my
opinion and thoughts with
them. Along with this take
participate in the group
discussion which improves
my communication skill.
The success of this is
measure is measured
by my family
members, seniors and
team members. 18 May 2022
Decision making skill In order to develop this
skill I will take
participation in the
different workshops and
internship in the company,
The result of the
workshops in which I
take participation is
used to measure the
the success of
20 July 2022

so that I got the practical
knowledge of dealing with
the situation and take the
appropriate decision.
improving this skill
within me.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that an important role is played by the
leadership as well as management theories in guiding, directing and motivating the employees so
that they can do the assigned task with full productivity and attain the organisational goals. This
report conclude the different types of leadership style and their impact on the organisation. With
the help of these models all the organisational function can be run in a very smooth manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Gümüş, S., Arar, K. and Oplatka, I., 2021. Review of international research on school leadership
for social justice, equity and diversity. Journal of Educational Administration and
History, 53(1), pp.81-99.
JIBREAL, S., 2021. A Theoretical Difference between Leadership and Management. Sosyal
Bilimler ve Eğitim Dergisi, 4(2), pp.305-313.
Northouse, P.G., 2021. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Salih, A.M. and Ingram, B., 2021. Adaptive and sustainable leadership for event
management. Event project management—Principles, technology and innovation,
pp.152-170.
Shaturaev, J. and Bekimbetova, G., 2021. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL
MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND THE IMPORTANCE
OF EDUCATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. InterConf.