Leadership and Management Roles in Operations: A Samsung Case Study

This report delves into the critical distinctions between the roles of leaders and managers within an operational context, utilizing Samsung as a case study. It explores the core functions of leaders, emphasizing strategic direction, vision-setting, and resource allocation, and contrasts these with the managerial functions of planning, organizing, and controlling. The report examines various leadership styles, including transformational, transactional, and team leadership, and their application in the context of Samsung's operations. Furthermore, it analyzes the impact of situational, systems, and contingency leadership models, demonstrating their relevance to operational management. The report also highlights the importance of effective management in adapting to dynamic business environments, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, and stresses the importance of strategic planning, management information systems, and adapting to new technologies. The report provides a comprehensive overview of leadership and management concepts within the context of operations management, emphasizing the importance of adapting to changing circumstances and employing effective leadership strategies.

Management And
Operations
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………3
LO1 Describe about the difference between the role of leader and the function of a
manager………………………………………………………...................…………………3
LO2 In a particular context, apply the roe of a leader and the function of a
manager.....................................................................................................................................5
LO 3 Within the operation function of an organisation, demonstrate about the appreciation of
the role of leaders and managers………………………………………………………….......7
LO4 Within the contemporary business environment demonstrate an understanding with
respect to the relationship between leadership and
management…………………………………………………………………………......……9
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………11
2

INTRODUCTION
Operation management can be defined in the manner that it is related with the
planning, organising and oversee it in the context of production, manufacturing or the
provision of services. In an efficient manner, ensuring an organisation turns inputs into
outputs as it is delivery focused. There are two key terms which precisely defines the
operation management. (Szász, L. and Seer, L., 2018). These are named as supply chain
management and logistics. In this report, the analysis has been done on the traits of the leader
and a manager. The analysis has also been done on the dissimilar theories and models of
approach which includes the situational leadership and about the approaches towards the
operation management. The research has been done on the importance and value of operation
management towards achieving the business objectives. The research has also been done on
the factors within the business environment which impacts upon operational management.
The chosen organisation is Samsung. It is the company which is a South Korean
multinational conglomerate which is headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. With reference
to the year 2020, it is the company which has the 8th highest global brand value. This is the
company which was founded by the Lee Byung-chul in the year of 1938 as a trading
company. The group has been diversified into different areas which includes the food
processing, textile, insurance, securities and retail over the next three decades. Samsung has
entered into the electronics industry in the year of 1960s and later in the ship building and
construction industries in the further years. These areas further leads towards the subsequent
growth of the company. According to the Samsung founder, the meaning of the name of the
company is “three stars” The word represents something very big, numerous and powerful.
Whereas stars means that the everlasting or eternal like stars in the sky.
LO1 Describe about the difference between the role of leader and the function of a manager
Role of leader: To provide the clear and compelling direction to their team members,
it is the most important role of a leader. Leaders must make sure that all the acolytes must
understand, embrace and work towards achieving those objectives.These provide energy,
allocation attitude and celebrate the advancement towards achieving company targets, setting
new goals and also provide required resources to their team members. Leaders always
prepare a definite strategy for the growth of company’s future and they share their vision and
set the objectives for their employees accordingly so that they will contribute towards the
3

future of the organisation. Kim Hyun Suk is the perfect example of it who is the CEO of the
Samsung company.
Role of manager: There are primarily majorly four functions of the manager. It includes the
planning, organizing, and controlling. Managers need to work to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of their employees, processes, projects and organisation in the whole form with
the support of four functions. It act as the figurehead for the organisation and also as a good
spokesperson for the purpose of always infusing motivation into their team members.
Jungbae Lee is the good example of Manager. He act as the general manager in the
organisation.
Characteristics of Leader: Great leaders always possess certain kinds of qualities and
leadership skills also. It includes integrity, ability to delegate, communication, self-
awareness, empathy, courage and respect. Integrity is the factor which plays a very important
role as well as act as the potential blind spot for the organisations. Ability to delegate takes
the responsibility of direct reports, facilitate teamwork and also provide autonomy for the
good decision-making power. Through good communication skills its easier such a large
team of the organisation. Self –awareness gives the opportunity to analyse about their strong
and weak points which is very important for accomplishing the vision of the organisation.
Gratitude is the quality which leads a leader towards the higher self-esteem, reduced
depression and anxiety.
Characteristics of Manager: The manager strongest point is about its experience. Because
this quality act as the advantage in supporting their team members and always create a spark
in them(Schultz, and et.al., 2021).Their knowledge and time management skills also makes
them very different at the organisational level. These qualities inspires the employees of the
organisation.
Difference between manager and leader
The main difference between manager and leader is that leaders have people to follow them
while manager have people to work for them. A successful business need to have a strong
leader while a manager have a strong team so that they can work for them in a defined
manner. Leaders have role to create vision for themselves and managers have to create goals
for their team and people who are working for them. Leaders have tendency to take risks and
managers have to control risks for their organisation.
4

In the overall manner, leader focus is on the vision of the organisation and which they wants
to achieve it in the compulsorily manner. While manager focus is on achieving the targets and
objectives needs to be accomplished in the positive manner by their team members.The type
of leadership has been followed by the company are transformational, transactional and team
leadership. Through the transformational leadership, it causes the change in the individual
and social systems. It creates a kind of valuable and positive change in the followers with the
aim of developing the followers into leaders. In the case of transactional leadership, it
majorly focuses on the role of supervision, organisation and group performance.
Within the organisation when this type of leadership has been implemented then the major
focus is on the specific tasks and use rewards and punishment to motive the employees.
Under the team leadership, there is no differentiation between the leader and the team
members. It majorly focuses on the contribution from the side of each team member which is
to be critical for the organisational success(Machalek, and et.al., 2020). When the leader
deems for the necessary then this approach provides for taking the corrective action. With the
blend of all these three types of leadership the organisation has to be run into the effective
manner.
From the perspective of management, within the organisation focus is on the CEO system
regarding the strategic planning. Now mainly focused on the American practices and their
operations relied on the Japanese management practices. Within the organisation,
management information system has been established regarding the information. This system
is basically for the purpose of providing the information pertaining to the functioning of the
business.
LO2 In a particular context, apply the roe of a leader and the function of a manager
A leader is like the figurehead for their organisation which follows to reach
organisational goals and aims of it. He leads the organisation in the proper manner by
motivating and inspiring them for achieving their goals in terms of the growth of the
company as well as for their career perspective also(Dubey, and et.al., 2017). Leaders take
initiative towards the improvement of the performance and increases the efficiency of their
skills also. They set the new direction for the organisation according to the changing period
of time with the technological advancement. The main function of the manager is that he is
5

the individual who leads a group with the particular task and schedule in the organisations.
To develop strategies and implement it into the positive manner, there are many managers at
the different level of organisation it is the primary function of the manager. They also take
active participation in managing their team and maintain each level of employees into the
proper manner. Managers also lead the employees performance and measure them to get
better. In the different situations, manager and leader takes their responsibility according to
their period of time and act accordingly in to the strategise manner (Dralle, H., 2015).
In the pandemic situation, for standing their company into the international market in the
stronger manner, the leader have made changes in their way of working and plan the things
into different manner so that they can attract the customers on a large scale.
Their kind of planning results into the different type of execution. Manager of the company
takes the responsibility towards the company and plan accordingly for their team members. In
this pandemic situation, where everybody is doing work from home then manager has to
stand strongly for handling such a large team because of the reason that its very difficult to
check on every employee that whether they are doing their work into the proper manner or
not. In the different situations they have to change their planning and strategise it into the
result-oriented manner. Because every situation demands different kind of strategy ,
execution and planning for it. With the changing period of time sometimes they have to make
changes into their personality so that their team members can accept it and always be ready
for the new kind of change into it.
 Situational Leadership: Under this kind of leadership, in every type of situation in
which they encounter it provides them with the highest probability of success. Those
situations are the function of the task that needs to be performed which is related to
the task-related ability and willingness of the follower identified to perform it(Santos,
G. and Correia, G., 2015). The leader responds on the situation with one of the four
leadership style is that where it is on the basis of the objective assessment of the
parameters and with the support system of responsibility of successfully influencing
the follower. The four styles of leadership which includes telling, directing. Next is
about the selling, coaching. Then about the participating, facilitating and last is about
the delegating, empowering. This can be applied into the organisational context with
the requirement of different kinds of situation which requires different kinds of
reactions and planning towards it.
6

 Systems Leadership: This is the kind of leadership which is the set of skills and
capacities. It can be used by the organisation or an individual which can be used to
catalyze, support the process of the systems-level changes. It combines the collective
leadership, and the systems which evaluates the innovation and action towards the
large and decentralised work. This is the kind of leadership which is the initiative for
making the changes into the different levels of system. It can be implemented into the
organisation through convene and commit parameter(Shibin, and et.al., 2020). With
the support of observation and the learning ability the changes can be made
effectively. Through the engage process and energise it into the effective manner the
results can be achieved. Every action needs to be taken with full responsibility then it
can be implemented in the fast pace manner. And the last thing is about which is
necessary it includes review and revise process through which mistakes can be
analysed into the proper manner.
 Contingency Leadership: Under this kind of leadership where it suppose that the
leader’s influence is chance or not in terms of nature or the leadership style suits the
particular situation. This theory depicts that where an individual sometimes be
ineffective in another situation and can be a effective leader in one circumstance. In
terms of the workplace there are various factors which influence the effectiveness of
the leader(Sniady, and et.al., 2015). Different leaders have their different leadership
styles and will respond on these variables in different ways. That’s why leaders must
acknowledge that their success partially depends on their circumstances with the
addition of their personal skills.
LO3 Within the operation function of an organisation, demonstrate about the appreciation of
the role of leaders and managers
The main addresses to operation administration which include Six Sigma, lean
production theory and queuing theory. Six sigma is mainly used for the process improvement
for the purpose of improvement of quality of output (Dobrzykowski,and et.al., 2016). The
focus of the lean production is on reducing waste which leads towards the maximizing
productivity.
Samsung follows the approaches to improve its management and operations. Six sigma has
been implemented into the Samsung company and it added as the purpose to upgrade the
innovations and improve the SEC’s competitive place at the global market (Hardy, K. and
7

Comfort, L. K., 2015). The focus on the people that to infuse innovation at the front side in
the development and design of products. In terms of marketing, manufacturing of products
and the growth of the workforce. Samsung also takes efforts towards the lean production
which takes it to the next level.
It is the company that has the resources and the scale of a huge multinational. It also involves
in the decision-making of a small innovator and attacker. Lean production is that kind of
approach to the management which majorly focuses on the cutting out waste, while ensuring
about the quality (Zhu, and et.al., 2016).This kind of approach which can be applied to the all
aspects of a business from design, production to distribution. This kind of production majorly
aims for making the business more efficient and to be more responsive towards the market
needs. Next theory is about the queuing where it is a kind of mathematical study of the
formation, function and congestion of the waiting lines. Queuing situation involves two parts.
Someone or something that requests a service. Which is usually refers towards the customer,
job and request. The company has also implemented this kind of theory where it can be used
in tablets of the company. So all these kinds of theories have been implemented by the
company for the purpose of giving the first preference towards the growth of the company as
well as into the innovation in the company.
Just in time: It is a theory which is based on an inventory system which is a management
strategy(Uhlig, and et.al., 2015).According to production schedules where raw material
orders from suppliers. This inventory strategy has been employed by companies for purpose
of increasing efficiency and decrease waste by receiving goods as they need it for production
process. It results into reduction of inventory costs. This is a method which is required by
producers in terms of forecasting demand in accurate manner.
TQM: It is a framework related to management which is based on belief that an organisation
can build long term success by having all its members. It is from level of low level workers to
its highest ranking executives. It has focus on improving quality and also delivers the
customer satisfaction.This is required by organisation for purpose of continuous improvement
Their focus is on process improvement over long term rather than emphasizing short term
gains.
The importance and value of operation management towards achieving the objectives
which has been explained in the following manner:
8

With the effective operation management, it helps in the employee engagement and it also
describes the roles and responsibilities within an organisation(Baruch,and et.al., 2016). No
matter the kind of situation has been faced by the organisation but everything has to be fall
into the plate in terms of employees workflow efficiency and also about the company’s
production which remains unaffected. With respect to the Samsung company, where the
company devotes its talent and technology for creating superior products and services which
contributes towards the better global society. The company has sets high values on its people
and also on its technology so that the best outcome can be received. Here the operation
management plays a very important role because the kind of execution which is expected by
the company with a high value, it can only be received through proper planning and strategy.
And the operation management is all about the planning, strategy, supervise, controls,
production and manufacturing of products.
The kind of products produced by the company are very high valued which needs proper
planning and execution through which best results can be achieved. While producing the
products if any stage or an parameter has been missed out then it becomes very challenging to
produce the desired product(Reid, R. D. and Sanders, N. R., 2021). Because all the process
needs technical skills where one single mistake can turn around the overall situation.
Operation management is the parameter which ensures about the every kind of aspect due to
which chances of mistakes happening has been reduced. It details about the each and every
step taken by the team and also shows about how it can be achieved into the simpler manner
within the specified period of time. Its very important for every type of organisation to
understand the value and importance of operation management because it act as the root
parameter for the field of manufacturing and production. Operation management is not only
important for the company but it is also important for the employees because the kind of
work process adopted by the company also creates a positive impression in the minds of their
employees. In this way, the trust has also increased of their employees towards their
company. So operation management is very important in terms of every aspect at the
organisational level.
LO4 Within the contemporary business environment demonstrate an understanding with
respect to the relationship between leadership and management
There are some certain factors within the business environment which impacts on the
operational management and the decisions making by leaders and managers
9

Economic factors: This is the major factor which needs to be taken into consideration.
Under this factor, it includes interest rates, tax rates, policies and government activities. After
the production of products it needs to evaluate that how much charge has been done on the
products in terms of taxes(Shivley, and et.al., 2016). The company has to also take care about
the government activities so that they can accordingly target their market and made changes
in their planning.
Political Factors: The company has to analyse about the corruption level in the country so
that they can think into the strategise manner that how their products will get success on the
larger scale. They have to take care about the tariff charges and also about the trade control
parameters so that they can earlier made amendments in their target markets. Because its very
challenging to control the country after the deal has been done and it can also degrade the
status of the company.
Employment Law: This is also very important parameter within the business environment
because if the leader makes any changes with respect to it then they have to consider about
the policies and laws related to the employment(Caiado, and et.al., 2018). Employment law
is very important for the organisation because it is the kind of written parameter on which the
decision has been taken for the selection of the employee. Its very important to consider it
because if any negative changes has been implemented then it can offend the employees of
their organisation. So its very important to take care about it.
Freedom of the press: Within the country, if the freedom to the press has been given on the
larger scale then its important to analyse that any information which has been leaked by the
company it can be beneficial or act as the negative parameter in the international market. So
its very important that company should remain confidential in terms of their documents and
in terms of the important information also.
So these are the factors within the business environment which can influence the operation
management and decision making of the leader and manager.
CONCLUSION
Operation management plays a very important role at the organisational level.
Because it defines the planning, strategy, execution, control, supervision of the
manufacturing and production process. And it can be successfully implemented at the
10

organisation level with the proper time management and the effective skills used by the
employees. At the organisational level, it is very important to analyse about the role and
characteristics of the leader and manager. It is also very necessary that to consider about the
role of leader and function manager in different contextual situations. There are different
kinds of theories and approaches which can be implemented into the organisation for the
desired execution. At the organisational level, there are different approaches which is related
to the operation management and these can be implemented with proper planning. So its very
important to understand the value and importance of operation management in terms of
achieving their objectives. Also there are some factors within the business environment
which can influence operation management and also about the decision making of the leader
and manager.
11

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Caiado, and et.al., 2018. Measurement of sustainability performance in Brazilian
organizations. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 25(4),
pp.312-326.
Shivley, and et.al., 2016. 1210 Management of dairy bull calves on US dairy
operations. Journal of Animal Science, 94(suppl_5), pp.581-581.
Reid, R. D. and Sanders, N. R., 2021. Operations Management An Integrated Approach.
Uhlig, and et.al., 2015. Spacecraft operations. Springer Vienna.
Zhu, and et.al., 2016, September. Performance evaluation of the approaches and algorithms
using Hamburg Airport operations. In 2016 IEEE/AIAA 35th Digital Avionics Systems
Conference (DASC) (pp. 1-10). IEEE.
Hardy, K. and Comfort, L. K., 2015. Dynamic decision processes in complex, high-risk
operations: The Yarnell Hill Fire, June 30, 2013. Safety science, 71, pp.39-47.
Sniady, and et.al., 2015. Communication technologies support to railway infrastructure and
operations. DTU Fotonik, 10.
Shibin, and et.al., 2020. Examining sustainable supply chain management of SMEs using
resource based view and institutional theory. Annals of Operations Research, 290(1), pp.301-
326.
Hu, and et.al., 2019. Degradation of agricultural drainage water quantity and quality due to
farmland expansion and water-saving operations in arid basins. Agricultural Water
Management, 213, pp.185-192.
Silverajan, and et.al., 2016, December. Enhancing lightweight M2M operations for managing
IoT gateways. In 2016 IEEE International Conference on Internet of Things (iThings) and
IEEE Green Computing and Communications (GreenCom) and IEEE Cyber, Physical and
Social Computing (CPSCom) and IEEE Smart Data (SmartData) (pp. 187-192). IEEE.
Santos, G. and Correia, G., 2015. A MIP model to optimize real time maintenance and
relocation operations in one-way carsharing systems. Transportation Research Procedia, 10,
pp.384-392.
Dralle, H., 2015. Surgical assessment of complications after thyroid gland operations. Der
Chirurg; Zeitschrift fur Alle Gebiete der Operativen Medizen, 86(1), pp.70-77.
Dubey, and et.al., 2017. Sustainable supply chain management: framework and further
research directions. Journal of cleaner production, 142, pp.1119-1130.
Machalek, and et.al., 2020. Mine operations as a smart grid resource: Leveraging excess
process storage capacity to better enable renewable energy sources. Minerals
Engineering, 145, p.106103.
Schultz, and et.al., 2021. Corrigendum to Characterization of historical methane occurrence
frequencies from US underground natural gas storage facilities with implications for risk
12