Leadership, Management, and Operations: ASDA Case Study Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of leadership and management within the context of operations. It begins by differentiating the roles of leaders and managers, emphasizing their distinct functions in guiding and executing a company's vision. The report explores various leadership theories, including situational, system, and contingency leadership, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and applicability to real-world scenarios. It then examines key approaches to operations management, such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and Queuing Theory, highlighting how leaders and managers can leverage these methodologies to improve efficiency and productivity. Furthermore, the report underscores the importance of operations management in achieving business goals and enhancing market goodwill, incorporating a PESTLE analysis of ASDA to illustrate the impact of external factors on business operations. The report concludes with an evaluation of how different factors in operations management influence the business environment, providing a comprehensive overview of leadership, management, and their impact on operational success.

Management and
Operations

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
M 1 analyze and differentiate role of leader and function of manager........................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................3
P 3 different theories of leadership..............................................................................................4
M 2 strength and weakness of different approaches to situations...............................................5
D 1 analyze and evaluate different theories of leadership...........................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................6
P 4 key approaches to management of operation and role played by leaders and managers......6
P 5 Importance and value of operation management...................................................................7
M 3 leaders and mangers can improve efficiencies of management...........................................8
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................8
P 6 Pestle Analysis of ASDA......................................................................................................8
M 4 how these factors affect the environment of business..........................................................9
D 2 evaluate factors of operations management and impact on the environment of business. .10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is the administration of business practices to create the highest level of
efficiency possible within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labor
into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Asda,
is a British supermarket retailer, headquartered in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The company was
founded in 1949 when the supermarket owning Asquith family merged with the Associated
Dairies company of Yorkshire. This report includes topics such as role of leaders and managers,
difference between them. Theories of leadership, approaches to operation management and its
importance with pestle analysis of the company.
M 1 analyze and differentiate role of leader and function of manager
Role of leader is to set the vision of the company and guide the employees to the path whereas
function of manager is to make sure that everyone is working according the vision set by the
leaders of the company.
LO 2
P 2 Roles of leader and functions of manager applied in different situations
Both leaders as well as managers of the company are important for the company. They
have different styles of management which they comply according to the intensity of the
situation. ASDA is a British based organization where they provide different range of products to
the consumers. Management styles of the leaders and managers of the company helps them to
assess situations and control them (Lubbe and Potgieter, 2018).
Labor turnover-
This aspect is present in almost every organization and it can affect any nature of
business. In order to gain the benefit of competitive advantage it needs to be solved in a quick
manner. If the turnover of labor is high in the company then it will create more issues such as
decreased brand image, reduction in the quality of goods delivered. In order to improve the
condition steps are taken with the help of best style of management by the leaders and managers
of the company so that issue can be rectified in an efficient manner. Leaders of the company
prefers that style of management that can easily solve the issue and help the company to enhance

its quality of service. Motivation and guidance is given to employees so they feel that they have
the support of the managers. This also helps them to reduce the level of errors they commit and
because of that they are able to gain confidence. Managers feel that rewarding them on the basis
of their performance will motivate them and they will retain for a long period of time. Different
employees has a different type of level of satisfaction. It is up to the manager of the company to
fulfill it. Providing benefits and remedies will help the company to reduce the level of labor
turnover.
Conflict between employees-
There can be various and different reasons which leads to conflicts between employees
such as confusion in between task, some of the employees are getting discriminated, issues in
communication. To solve this leaders of the company assign the task to a group of people so that
they learn to work as a team. This way they will interact and communicate with each other
through which they will learn more about each and understand the way of working. This will
help to solve the problems (Akalin, Huang and Willems, 2016).
Level of productivity-
The level of productivity is not meeting the expected mark set by the company. If this
issue is not rectified then company won’t be able to reach success. In order to improve the
productivity leaders and managers of the company needs to conduct a training program for their
employees. This program will help them to enhance their skills and abilities and when the
process of training is complete then they will be able to achieve their goals and objectives.
P 3 different theories of leadership
Theories of leadership works as a guideline and framework for the company. Some of
those theories are
Situational leadership-
These type of leaders works and change their style of leadership according to the
requirement and demand of the situation. They can work as autocratic, transformational or
democratic whichever suits the condition of the situation. In order to make this theory work
leaders of the company needs to keep in mind that they must have followers and their trust over

them. This theory also has a downside and that is it works only for short term and completes the
requirement of the task for the time being.
System leadership-
This theory states works on the interdisciplinary belief. It state that leaders of the
company puts all of their effort to make the environment work friendly. This will create a system
where different level of departments can work together with each other. The purpose of this
aspect is improve the coordination and relation of the organization internally. This theory is
beneficial as it helps the employees to cope up with the changes so that goals of the organization
can be achieved. Although sometimes this theory don’t turn out to be effective as it takes time to
implement a system and for the organizations who maintains their operations on a small scale it
is not suitable for them (Ravinder and Kollikkathara, 2017).
Contingency leadership-
This theory states that the style of leadership followed by the leader must be effective in
the situation. Other than this it also states that no individual theory has the power to be suitable
across all conditions. It is up to the leaders of the company to implement and use it. A leader is
considered as contingently effective when they are able to mold their style according to the
situation. It states that success of the leader is related with not only his abilities but more
importantly the role he plays in the company. This theory is beneficial because it can be easily
predicted and more focus is given to the situation under this theory. Decision making is done
easily by the managers. On the contrary it is complex in nature and consumes a lot of time and
many of the companies do not prefer this theory (Ferguson and et.al., 2019).
To conclude ASDA has the option to choose the style of leadership according to the
condition they are dealing with.
M 2 strength and weakness of different approaches to situations
Both the leaders and managers of the company have strength and weakness it depends on
how effectively they use their strengths and how they overcome their weakness marks the
success of the company.

D 1 analyze and evaluate different theories of leadership.
According to the theories of leadership no one style of leadership is effective for every
situation which is the reason why company needs to change it according to the situation.
LO 3
P 4 key approaches to management of operation and role played by leaders and managers
Six Sigma-
This aspect works with a fid set of tools which helps companies such as ASDA to
improve their process of working. With the help of implementing this aspect the company has
been able to enhance the quality of their output. They can easily detect the defects in the stage of
by which they can take out the factors which helps them to decrease the level of variability. It is
based on a approach which is statistical which helps to manage the quality. company works on
making steps and wait for them to have some value so that they can attain their target. For
example reducing pollution or carbon and reducing the cost of factors if they do reduce it then
consumers will be able to get their products at less cost and this will increase their level of
satisfaction. Other than this the model of Six Sigma helps the company to focus on obtaining
most of the returns from the output they have produced and delivered. Strategies of leaders are
supported and managers of the company works in a passionate manner. Decisions can be easily
taken with the help of this approach as it has the ability to assess the strategies on a continuous
basis so that it can be evaluated which rules out the chances of working on assumptions which
are wrong (Huang and et.al., 2018).
Lean Manufacturing-
With the help of this aspect the company is able to reduce the wastage to minimum as
possible with keep all the factors in mind that the productivity cannot be affected. In order to
minimize the waste there are many steps that are taken such as managing the work of labor so
that can work with flexibility in work load. Also they need to work according to the demand and
needs and wants of consumers so that they can be satisfied. This approach believes in adding
only those things which can add value. This process was made by Toyota and due to its success
many companies implements it in their culture (Saucedo-Martínez and et.al., 2018).

Queuing Theory-
The approach of this theory is to work on the mathematical aspects on the basis of time
consumed in waiting in lines. With the help of this model estimated time in line can be predicted.
This will help the company to make their network of distribution sorted and reach the point of
equilibrium. In some cases it is fundamental, in order to use this model successfully ASDA
needs to understand the thought process of their customers. People don’t wait when the line is
too big and other keep switching and some of them who do not have the patience may leave the
line. Company needs to consider these as many of the people leave as many stores of the
company has big queue outside it. This needs to be solved in order to get more sales and revenue.
Six sigma will help ASDA to highlight the defects and remove them so that they can
work without obstacles. This way leaders and managers of the company can ensure that
efficiency of the company will improve and they will be able to achieve their objectives
successfully.
P 5 Importance and value of operation management
This aspect helps the company to reach their goals by improving their productivity. If the
company is able to implement it then they will be able to improve their goodwill in the market.
There are some approaches which helps the company to attain it.
Total quality management-
This aspect helps the company to focus on enhancing their quality of products on a
continuous basis with keeping the values into consideration so that expectations of customers can
be met. According to this approach every member in the company plays a significant role
irrespective of their designation. This states that everyone involved from top to low level of
management is working for improving the quality of product and services.
Just in Time-
This strategy helps the company to minimize the level of waste by setting up the right use
of raw materials. Other than this with the help of this company can also decrease the cost
incurred in maintaining the inventory. To achieve this company needs to predict the demand and
according to that set the right amount of inventory. Stock must be maintained so that when the

demand increases company must be able to dispatch their products. If ASDA do not have
suppliers on which they can rely on then this strategy won’t work out. In order to achieve their
mark with this strategy they need to maintain the level of production and work with employees
who are skilled. It helps to increase the flow of product while reducing the level of production.
Other than this there is a huge difference in the manufacturing cost of the product as all the
unnecessary elements are eliminated. It also reduces the cost as the level of maintain the
inventory is reduced. The only negative aspect of this factor is that if the suppliers cannot
provide materials at short notice then it won’t be successful (Ferguson and et.al., 2017).
Kaizen-
This aspect states that in order to achieve goals company must work on improving on
continuous basis. It includes people who may be CEO or a worker. Many sectors such as
banking, healthcare, government etc. uses this method. It gained recognition because it was
launched by Toyota and they made it successful. It will change the way that the company works
but that will only be beneficial for the company.
M 3 leaders and mangers can improve efficiencies of management
There are many theories such as Six Sigma, queuing theory and lean manufacturing
which helps the leaders and managers to improve the efficiency of work and achieve their
objectives.
LO 4
P 6 Pestle Analysis of ASDA
Political Factors-
These factors are concerned with the interference level of government in the business.
ASDA has been hit hard after the issue of Brexit and their level of employment has been
reduced. Other than this company needs to keep in mind the uncertainties which can take the
business down such as any natural calamity or war. There are benefits to it when the political
factors of the country are stable (McGuckin and et.al., 2017).
Economic Factors-

These factors are concerned with the level of employment, rate of taxes, level of income,
standard of living maintained in the country. These factors needs to be analyzed because on the
basis of these factors the company is able to set the prices of their products. At the time of
recession in 2008 company took the advantage of the time as no one had the money to buy
expensive products and the company offered their products at a very less price.
Social factors-
ASDA supplies the products for FMCG products and this line deals with changing trend.
In UK the population of retired people is more and they do not mind to earn extra income. This
made company think and they started recruiting people who are retired. This has helped them to
increase their product line irrespective of its nature.
Technological Factors-
Advancement and up gradation of these factors has made it easy for the company to
handle their operations. These factors have made it possible for the company to sell their
products online. Due to this the business of the company has increased as now they are able to
reach a large no. of people.
Environmental Factors-
ASDA is working on these factors so that they can show their support in making the
environment a better place. They have invested in their stores in order to reduce the level of
carbon emissions released from them so that there is no harm from there side and there stores can
be considered as energy efficient.
Legal Factors-
These factors are concerned with laws, rules and regulations related to legal aspects
which not followed can impose strict actions against the company. Company needs to do a
thorough analysis so that they do not break any laws which can affect the business of the
company (Gibson and Parkman, 2018).

M 4 how these factors affect the environment of business
These factors helps the company to save and prepare from the upcoming threats and
make them ready to grab the opportunities which can help them to achieve growth. These factors
will help the company to work under the guidelines and work for the future so that any trend
comes in the market will be set by the company.
D 2 evaluate factors of operations management and impact on the environment of
business
The factors of operation management states that business to assess their quality and
improve it on a continuous basis so that they are able to satisfy their consumers and meet their
expectations.
CONCLUSION
From the above studies it has been concluded that in order to improve their quality company
needs to change their way of working and implement new strategies in their culture so that they
can achieve their goals and objectives. The initiatives taken by the company such as helping
retired people and working for the betterment of the environment is increasing their brand image
and increase the level of employee retention. In order to beat the competition in the market
company needs to take the help of these approaches. Tesco is the leader in this segment and they
are in that position for a very long time which is why ASDA is facing difficulties but with the
help of right planning and strategies the company can take over their place easily.
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