Leaders and Managers: Roles, Functions, and Impact on Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, comparing their functions based on effective concepts and theories, including Fayol's five functions of management and Mintzberg's managerial roles. It examines how these roles are applied in different situational contexts within an organization like Bentley, considering stable and changing environments. The report also delves into the application of various leadership theories such as systems, situational, and contingency leadership, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, it explains key approaches to operations management, the importance of operational management in achieving business objectives, and the factors impacting operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers, concluding with an analysis of how these factors affect the business environment and community.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
LO1...................................................................................................................................................4
P1- DEFINING AND COMPARING THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DIFFERENT
MANAGERS AND LEADERS...........................................................................................................4
M1- ANALYSING AND DIFFERENTIATING THE ROLES OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS
FUNCTIONS BY THE EFFECTIVE CONCEPTS AND THEORIES.........................................................7
L02..................................................................................................................................................10
P2- EXAMINING THE EXAMPLES HOW THE ROLE OF LEADERS AND MANAGER FUNCTIONS ARE
APPLIED IN THE DIFFERENT SITUATIONAL CONTEXT................................................................10
P3- APPLICATION OF THE DIFFERENT THEORIES ADN MODELS DO APPROACH INCLUDING THE
SYSTEMS, SITUATIONAL AND CONTINGENCY LEADERSHIP.......................................................13
M2- ASSESSMENT OF THE DIFFERENT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE DIFFERENT
APPROACHES THAT ARE USED WITHIN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT........................................15
L03..................................................................................................................................................16
P4- EXPLANATION OF THE KEY APPROACHES TO THE OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ADN THE
ROLE THAT THE MANAGERS AND THE LEADERS PLAY..............................................................16
P5 IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT TO ACHIEVE BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES................................................................................................................................18
M3 HOW CAN LEADERS AND MANAGERS CAN IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT TO MEET THE BUSINESS OBJECTIVES..................................................................19
P6 FACTORS IN THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THAT IMPACT ON OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
AND DECISION MAKING BY THE LEADERS AND MANAGERS.........................................................20
M4 ANALYSING HOW THESE FACTORS AFFECT THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT AND COMMUNITY
.......................................................................................................................................................21
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CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................23
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INTRODUCTION
One of the essences of the individuals that are used to inspire others and getting prepared to
do so is termed as the leadership. The operations of the organizations are being managed by
the leaders and the managers and in order to increase the profit-making capacity of the
organization in the long term, strong efforts are being made by them. It is essential that the
workforce of any organization needs to be respected and motivated. The role of the managers
and the leaders are quite differentiated from each other which are being compared in this
report. The role of the leaders, as well as managers based on the different theories and
concepts, are being analysed.
The strengths and the weaknesses of the different approaches of the situations within the work
environment are being accessed with respect to the Bentley organization which is one of the
British car manufacturer companies. Some styles of leadership like the situational leadership,
systems leadership and the contingency leadership are being explained. The key approaches to
management of the leaders are being also explained along with their role in improving the
efficiencies of the organisation. There are some factors that impact the operational
management and the leaders and managers decision-making ability within the business
environment which are also accessed in this report.
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LO1
P1- DEFINING AND COMPARING THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
DIFFERENT MANAGERS AND LEADERS
LEADERS- An individual whose vision is to work with a team and have a long-term vision for
the organizational and the attainment of the goals is referred as the leaders who consistently
motivates other sand use to come up with new ideas (Klapp, 2017). The leaders establish the
strong relationship with their team and build trust among the colleagues and their vision is well
communicated.
MANAGERS- The individuals whose motives are to look after the right functioning of the
systems of the organization so that the desired outcomes can be attained within specific time
duration are referred to as the managers. They supervise and control the things to manage
them in the manner they were meant to be (Lawrence, 2017). The order of the project or the
tasks is being maintained by the managers and they convey this to the employees. The
managers ensure the quality of the projects delivered.
COMPARISON OF THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MANAGERS AND LEADERS
ROLES/CHARACTERISTICS LEADERS MANAGERS
PERSONALITY With positive work attitude,
they influence others and acts
as role model for the Bentley
Problem-solving personality
and goal-oriented mindset
DIRECTION The outer environment of
Bentley is being analysed and
long terms goals are decided
(Donate. and de Pablo, 2015)
Focuses on the processes by
which the goals of Bentley can
be attained
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VISION Long-term orientation Short-term business goals
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT They improve the Bentley
employees skills through
personal interaction with
them
They manage the people with
a focused approach to attain
specific goals of Bentley
(Shin, ET AL. 2015)
CONTROL The control of the Bentley
projects and employees given
to leaders
The control of the
organizational goals
attainment is in the hands of
managers
ORGANIZING Allocates effective resources
for carrying out the
operations
Effectively uses the resources
that are provided by the
leaders
COORDINATING They coordinate with the
employees and senior
management (Kerzner and
Kerzner, 2017)
They communicate with the
team leaders and employees
The leaders of the Bentley are effective and always try to the see the opportunities that are
bung missed by the other individuals. The current status rules and policies of the organization
are analysed by them and new policies are being implemented. Some of the other roles of
leaders include-
 Having a strong belief in the ideas presented by the others
 In order to get the things right breaking the rules
 In order to increase the work efficiency of the Bentley motivating the different
employees and creating a positive environment (Bolman, and Deal, 2017)
 Creating a broader picture regarding the vision and attaining it
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 During the times of hurdles tries to seek the different opportunities
 Shaping up of the new paths for the Bentley and tries to find some better ways of
accomplishing the tasks
 Challenging the status quo of the Bentley
Whereas, the roles of the Bentley managers is to keep the work in order that was decided for
effectively attaining the objectives of the organization (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). Some strict
rules that are set up by the company are followed by the managers and the current procedures
and the instructions are not at all challenged by the managers which makes them time efficient.
Some other roles of managers include the following-
 Making the short-term goals and thereafter works on their attainment
 Accepting the status quo of the Bentley
 Minimization of the different risks in the projects
 Allocating the different duties to the employees (Goleman, 2017)
 Establishment of the company procedures and rules
 Creating discipline among the employees and instructing them to work towards the
organizational goal
Thus, the contribution of both leaders and managers are essential for the growth of the
organization as both of them in their own ways plays an effective role in the success of the
Bentley Company.

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M1- ANALYSING AND DIFFERENTIATING THE ROLES OF LEADERS AND
MANAGERS FUNCTIONS BY THE EFFECTIVE CONCEPTS AND THEORIES
According to the Henry Fayol, there are majorly five functions of management that the mangers
of the Bentley organization apply and are focused towards the relationship between the
personnel and management in order to creatively solve the problems. These functions include-
Planning- A good plan is the first requirement for the successful managers of the Bentley in
which they actively participate along with the other employees. During the effective planning,
the different available resources and flexibility of the individuals must be taken into
considerations (Edward, 2017).
Organizing- the manger’s must well organize the organization with the help of the staff, raw
materials and sufficient capital which will lead to the good working structure.
Commanding- Effective orders and instructions are given by the managers to the employees so
that they get the clear understanding of what they actually need to perform. With the help of
the regular audits, the successful managers of the organization clearly communicate and base
their decisions (Dumez, 2018).
Coordinating- The managers establish a strong coordination amongst the different activities for
the better functioning. The motivation is being stimulated and the discipline among the group
dynamics is established by the effective coordination (Lamond, 2015).
Controlling- the managers lastly verifies the work that everything is going according to the pan
or not by the comparison of the results and standards, preventions and corrections measures
and establishing the performance standards.
In order to effectively differentiate the roles of leaders and functions of Mintzberg Theory has
been given in which the roles of managers are being clearly organized. These roles include -
carrying out the negotiation, maintaining the customer relations, allocating the resources,
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establishing the information networks and monitoring the work. These roles are classified
majorly into three different categories-
INTERPERSONAL ROLES-
 Figure Head- The relationship with the clients and the customers are maintained by
welcoming dignities and taking them on lunch
 Leader- Influences the workforce to attain specific goals, resolves their problems and
effectively utilise the company resources (Dumez, 2018)
 Liaison- The leaders establish strong contacts with the government, trade organizations
and other companies for the smooth functioning of the Bentley
INFORMATIONAL ROLES-
 Monitoring- Scanning of the current processes of the Bentley and analyse its present
performance. The different aspects of the business are monitored by the managers as
they might wrong (Gronseth, ET AL. 2015)
 Disseminator- With the help of effective communication and interpersonal skills the
information by the leaders are directly passed to the employees who are being
extracted from the clients by the managers.
 Spokesperson- The important information by the leaders is being shared with the
suppliers of media by gaining the complete knowledge. The progress of the team is
being communicated to the outsiders.
DECISIONAL ROLES-
 Entrepreneur- Leader must possess problem-solving and creativity skills so as to handle
projects successfully (Pigé, 2017)
 Disturbance Handler- The leader must effectively handle the situations like strikes and
chaos if occurs in Bentley to avoid the conflicts
 Resource Allocator- Effective planning and utilisation of the resources is done by the
managers of the Bentley
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 Negotiator- The managers possess strong negotiating skills to deal with the different
clients that provide raw materials (Miner, 2015)
The managers and the leader's roles sometimes get confused but there are some differences
amongst them that help in the better understanding of the roles which are as follows-
 The managers of the Bentley are made by their virtue of position whereas the leaders
that are made are on the basis of their personal qualities
 The leaders aim at satisfying the employees but the managers just focused towards the
organizational goals (Areal, et al. 2016)
 Different unique and innovative ways of work are being created continuously by the
leaders. Whereas the processes that are learnt by the managers form the other are
being imitated by them
Apart from these different roles the manager setups the goals for the Bentley which needs to
be accomplished in a limited time and leaders try to paint their visions in a picture and impacts
the employees positively to attain the vision.
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L02
P2- EXAMINING THE EXAMPLES HOW THE ROLE OF LEADERS AND MANAGER
FUNCTIONS ARE APPLIED IN THE DIFFERENT SITUATIONAL CONTEXT
The manager's functions along with the roles of the leaders can help in the attainment of the
objective is the organization. There are different types of situations faced by the Bentley
organization based on which the roles of the leaders and the functions of the managers might
vary. Some of the situations of the Bentley organization are depicted below-
STABLE SITUATION
In order to adapt the different economic changing situations, changing regulations and the
competitor's activities it is essential for the Bentley to adapt to the changes. When the
company is in a stable situation it is not necessary to implement the change immediately in the
organization by the managers. The changes that are required can be implemented in the long
term and they can also be implemented in some phases by the managers (Mackenzie, ET AL.
2018). The reactions of the managers and the leaders to motivate and encourage the
employees are also stable rather than sudden in these situations.
SLOW TO MODERATE CHANGES SITUATION- Under the slow to moderate changing situation
the changes that are required by the Bentley have to be done in the near future by the
managers and leaders. The effective strategies are included in the plan by the managers and
the employees are being informed about the required changes by the leaders which are not
being sudden but needs to be implemented in a time-bounded manner (Kark, et al. 2015). The
whole systems are being efficiently designed by the managers so that the employees' can find it
easy to mentally adjust themselves to the technically changing process of the Bentley.
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FAST CHANGING SITUATION- The changes required under the fast-changing process of the
Bentley must be done immediately. With the fatly changing technology by the various
competitors of the Bentley in the market, these technological developments can be forcefully
imposed on the employees that ultimately act as a threat to the competitors of the Bentley. It is
essential that the in order to develop new products in the company the research and the
development strategies should be done in a focused manner (Morse and Spiliopoulos, 2018).
This can help the Bentley to regain its market share in the lesser time duration. Motivational
theory must be used by the leaders under such situations
SITUATIONAL CONTEXT- INCREASING PRICES PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES AND OTHER RAW
MATERIALS
The situational context that has been focused on this assignment and is focused by the Bentley
Cars is the gradually increasing prices of the raw material and the production cost of the cars.
This can be categorized as the slow to moderate changing situation of the organization. It has
been noticed that the cost of the various products that are required to manufacture the cars
like the iron, steel is getting increased that might negatively impact the production of the
organization (Oreg and Berson, 2015). The biggest competitors of the Bentley like the BW and
the Jaguar Motors are able to maintain their pricing strategy well and hence they can gain
competitive advantage under such conditions.
Under such condition, the contemporary theories can be applied by the managers to effectively
manage the increased prices by effectively communicating with the suppliers of the company to
reduce a large number of costs. Whereas, the leaders apply the theory of motivation in order to
motivate the employees of the organization to work hard and boost their morals to face the
challenges and work accordingly. Classical management theory is applied by the managers to
increase the effectiveness of the Bentley and they also adopt the different policies and
strategies to enhance the production with respect to the employees (Kerns, 2015). Whereas,
the leaders in such case tries to involve the employees in the decision-making process along
with the managers to easily identify the customers.
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