ASDA Report: Leadership, Management, and Operational Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership, management, and operational functions within ASDA, a multinational retail company. It begins with an introduction to ASDA, its history, and its position in the retail market. The report then delves into the distinct roles of leaders and managers, highlighting the differences between leadership and management, and the importance of both in achieving organizational goals. Different leadership theories, such as contingency and situational theories, are explored in the context of various organizational situations, including fast dynamic, slow, and stable scenarios. Strengths and weaknesses of different leadership and management approaches are also evaluated. The second part of the report focuses on ASDA's key operational functions, including production, manufacturing, financing, marketing, and human resources. It details the roles and responsibilities of managers in these operational areas, such as framing strategies, planning, product design, and forecasting. The report concludes with recommendations for improving leadership and management practices within ASDA, emphasizing the need for innovation, adaptability, and employee motivation. The report is a valuable resource for understanding the application of leadership and management principles in a real-world business environment.

Management and
Operations

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations play an important role in development of a business
enterprise (What is operations Management? 2019). Process of management refers to getting
work done with the help of others. Operation management defines as the management that is
related with controlling and designing the resources within the organisation (Slack and Brandon-
Jones, 2018). Both managers and leaders plays an essential role in an enterprise. To study this
report, ASDA a multinational retail company has been taken. The study is undertaken to
understand the contribution of both leader and manager in improving the performance of an
enterprise. The following report will also cover the theories and approaches of leadership that
assist in rising organisation’s efficiency.
TASK 1
1.Introduction of the organisation.
To study this report ASDA, a global food retailer company has been taken. It was
founded by Peter and Fred Asquith and is having its headquarter in Leeds, London. The
company deals in food products and later extend to financial services. It has promoted itself
under the slogan “Save money, Live better”. It is the third largest supermarket chain in Britain.
2.Role of leader and manager, highlighting leadership and management.
It is very important for an organisation to have leader and manager for better working of
an enterprise. A leader is defined as a person who motivates other employees in order to
accomplish the objectives of a company. They by creating a vision among employees inspire
other employees to turn vision into reality. They are the risk taker in the organisation as they
always tend to do some innovative task (Gibson and Parkman, 2018). A leader in ASDA is
responsible to prompt the employees so that they execute with their best ability and are able to
handle the risky situation which are hampering the growth of an organisation.
A manager is defined as the individual which is accountable for controlling the business
operations of an organisation. They are always focus on the objective of company and do all
possible measure to achieve the same. They always try to avoid risk taking situation. A manager
of ASDA is responsible to plan the function of an organisation in a manner that improve
profitability of an organisation.
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Leadership and Management performs crucial role in performance of an organisation.
Leadership refers to motivating individual or group towards accomplishment of goals and
objectives where as Management refers to the number of function performed within an
organisation (Saucedo-Martínez, and et. al., 2018). It always act as the backbone for the
company. There is a difference between Leadership and Management which is mentioned below:
Leadership Management
 Leadership refers to the skill of leading
others.
 It lays emphasis on inspiring the
individual to do a task.
 It aims at enhancement in the working
environment of an organisation.
 Management refers as an art of
organising and coordinating business
activities in an efficient manner.
 It lays emphasis on managing the
activities properly.
 It is focused on making stable
performance of the company.
3. Different roles of management and leadership in application of different organizational
situation, supported by theories and concepts.
A leader refers to a person in an organisation who has the ability to influence and
motivate other subordinates where as on the other hand managers are the one who help in taking
the decision of an enterprise. Manager and leader plays a different role in different organisation
according to the situation. Different situations that take place in ASDA are as follows:
 Fast dynamic situation: This is the situation where changes takes place in a fast speed
according to the market condition. The main reason for the occurrence of this situation is
the large number of competitors in the market. In such type of situation, it is very
complex to manage the work accordingly to changing environment and also for the
manager to understand the demand of employees. At that time, leader of ASDA didn't
have plenty of time to inquire with other employees for the decision (Schönsleben,
2018). So the decision taken here will be autocratic. In this situation Manager need to
assign different task as well as different shifts for fast completion of work.
 Slow situation: It defines as the situation that usually arise due to change in the demand
of market. Change normally occur due to taste and preference of customers. In this
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situation manager and leaders of ASDA have enough time to discuss the situation with
the employees. The decision taken here is democratic. This type of decisions are always
in the favour of growth of the company.
 Stable situation: It defines as the situation which are not affected by any change in an
organisation and always maintain stability. At the time of stable situation both managers
and leaders get affected. As leaders of ASDA will not have the opportunity to motivate
the employees.
The theories of management which are could be implement to deal with various situations are as
follows:
 System management theory: This theory believes which the success of an enterprises
rely upon interrelation among various business activities perform by company. If one
system in organisation fails the other would definitely be hamper (Kapadia, Dong and
Yang, 2018). The role of manager of ASDA is to look after the changes and make plan
according to the same for efficient working.
 Scientific management theory: The main focus of this theory is on improving the
efficiency of every individual in an organisation. The role of manager of ASDA is to
identify the situation and modify the task of his workers to enhance their productivity.
The theory of leadership applied in different situation are as follows:
 Contingency theory: This theory basically focus on variables which are related to the
environment and also help in determining which style of leadership suits best in every
situation. If such type of situation is face by the company then at that time leader is
required to change the manner in performing the decisions of the company.
 Situation theory: This type of theory is used by the leader when company want to alter
the style of leadership as per the situation. If situation is fast, the decision taken by leader
of ASDA will be autocratic and if situation is low, decision taken would be democratic
(Choi, Wallace and Wang, 2018).
4.Strength and weakness of different approach of leadership and management
 Contingency theory
Strength Weaknesses
This is an effective leadership approach as it This approach is very complex when used in
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make changes according to change in policies
of organisation.
practice and it is reactive in nature not
proactive.
 Situational theory
Strength Weaknesses
It is one of the best theory as it emphasizes on
the flexibility of a leader.
It express short term strategies as it always
focus on the current scenarios.
 System theory
Strength weaknesses
In this approach there is a involvement of team
so it is very easy for the individual to identify
the leader among all.
This approach is complicated and time
consuming as compared to other approaches
and also involve lot of risk.
Conclusion from the above task:
As discussed from the above task, it can be summarised that the role of leader and
manager are very important in every organisation. The role varies according to the change in
situation. Operational decision also require to be change according to the situation. It is
suggested that both leaders and managers must work together in making the decision with
regard to the business enterprise. This will help to increase the motivation of employees and also
they get proper direction to achieve the goals.
5.Conclusion and recommendations.
It has been observed that both managers and leader plays a significant role in
organisation’s success. The role of leaders and manager of ASDA varies as per the different
situation. Different leadership style is used at different situation to build a effective environment
where employees feel satisfied in working. Some recommendations are required for the efficient
working of both leader and manager. Some of them are mentioned below:
 Both Managers and leaders must be very innovative and creative.
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 They must be ready to adopt the changes if required in the organisation with long term
vision of achievement.
 With the introduction of new monetary plans company can encourage its employees to
work better
TASK 2
1. Operations of ASDA
It is very important for an organisation to increase the efficiency and effectiveness as
without this it would be very difficult for an organisation to survive. ASDA, being a
multinational retailer has to perform various operation to survive properly in the market
(Kapadia, Dong and Yang, 2018). The various operation preformed by ASDA are
manufacturing, production, purchasing etc. Key operations performed by ASDA are as follows:
 Production: It defines as the process of converting raw material into products and
services. ASDA with the help of market expert are able to covert the raw material into
finished goods and then send to the customers
 Manufacturing: It such type of process various goods are made in the company itself
with the purpose of selling it to desired customers. In ASDA, manufacturing activities
include supply chain, product development etc. The managers must look after the
manufacturing of each product whether it is designed according to the preference of
customers.
 Financing: It defines as the process by which company is able to manage the money. It
involves the activities like investing, saving, borrowing etc.
 Marketing: In such type of activity, various product of company are sold in order to
promote the brand. ASDA performs various marketing activities in order to make
consumers aware about the product like online adds, website etc.
 Human resource: It is the work of the department to manage the employees in such a
effective way that both individual as well as organisational goals are achieved.
2 Key operational functions with roles and responsibilities of managers
The managers of ASDA have different roles and responsibilities that is helpful in the
performance of an organisation (Liu, 2019). As per change in plans and policies, managers has
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to change their style of working and make workforce to perform activities in correct direction.
Some operations functions are as under-
Framing strategies- There are different activities which has to planned such as selecting
supplier for raw material, raising finance, etc. for smoothing running of business. It is
responsibility of manager to frame strategy through which they are able to use resources
optimally. Manager of ASDA are responsible for selecting sources of finance, time of credit, etc.
which makes synchronisation in organisational activities.
Planning- Planning is the basic and prime function of management. It is duty of
managers of ASDA to plan ways through which cost can be reduced and best quality product can
be provided. ASDA is big organisation, so there is requirement of planning related to activities
of various department to get positive outcome (Ferreira, Simchi-Levi and Wang, 2018). For
instance: finance manager is responsible to plan for budget required for marketing of new
products and services. This assist in conducting commercial activities within specified budget
and time.
Design of the product- Design of product is one of the most important decision which
has to be taken by managers of ASDA. There are many competitors in retail sector, so design of
the product has to be attractive through which targeted consumers can be attracted. Colour
combination, size of product, price, etc. are finalised by top level managers of ASDA. If design
of product is not in accordance to target consumers, then they are not ready to purchase it or
avail it. Managers has to analyse market and then take decision regarding designing of product is
taken.
Forecasting- Forecasting means to make an estimation regarding some specific futuristic
outcome. In business, a manger takes various decisions such as forecasting sales, finance
requirement, etc. in this case managers of ASDA has to analyse external market and then
decision has to be taken. For instance: in current market, there is frequent change in demand of
consumers, so it is responsibility of managers of ASDA to understand what changes has to be
made through which sales and brand image can be maintained.
3 Key operational approaches to operations management and their value
It is one of the important concept which has to be considered by mangers of ASDA in
order to maintain synchronisation in activities of various department. There are different
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approaches with the help of it, concept of operations management is clear. Some approaches
used by ASDA are discussed as under-
Six Sigma- It is the statistical tool that is used to reduce possibilities of defects in
products and services. In the process of six sigma, there is requirement of measurement,
validations and improvement activities (Guha and Kumar,2018). This is the technique which is
important for ASDA because it assist in maintaining quality of products and services. With the
help of six sigma, there is reduction in process cycle time between production and delivery of
product and services. There is reduction in defects in industry, so cost can be maintained. This is
the best way to maintain profits and cost ratio for ASDA. re- working of workers become less
because departmental head at ASDA have regular contact with workers through which they are
aware about progress rate of project.
Total Quality Management- This is the process through which actions are taken to detect
errors and taking actions to reduce possibilities of issues in manufacturing process, supply chain
management. This assist in improving consumer satisfaction by providing them best quality
products and services. In this technique, in case of negative impact on manufacturing process
then concern person is accountable for it. This makes workers to perform activities in best and
effective manner (Lee, 2018). There are eight principles of total quality management which
implement it to get positive outcome. Principles are process- centred, customer focused, total
employee involvement, integrated system, continual improvement, etc. At ASDA, there are
different departments such as marketing, sales, research and development, etc. So with the help
of total quality management best quality product with minimum possibility of defects can
provided to consumers.
Just in Time- This is another and one of the most effective approach of operations
management that could be employ by manager to improve organisation’s efficiency. Under this
approach a scheduling take place to manage the delivery of raw material from suppliers.
Advantage of this is that it helps in maintain the cost of getting raw materials. This could be use
by ASDA to reduce the cost of getting raw material from suppliers. This ensure delivery of raw
material at the time of when production takes place. Timely delivery of raw material is very
crucial as this help in better satisfy the needs of consumers.
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4.Evaluation of impact of external business environment factors affecting decision making
PESTEL analysis is done by the company in order to evaluate the external environment.
It is a tool used to analyse the macro environmental factors.
 Political factors: These are the factors which are concerned with the government
policies. Like wise Brexit impact can be seen on the working of ASDA as it has impact
on the profitability of the organisation (Davidson and Olsen, 2019). When such type of
factors occurs it affect the decision of both manager and leader in context of business. As
they cannot control such type of factors.
 Economic factors: It includes interest rate, tax rates etc which has a impact on the
economy (Feng and Shanthikumar, 2018). Managers and leaders cannot take decision
without considering economic factors because these factors affect the buying behaviour
of employees.
 Social Factors: These are such type of factors that exist in a society. Understanding the
social factors help ASDA to introduce new product in the market. ASDA should work in
a way that benefit the employee as well as organisation.
 Technological factors: It refers to the innovation in equipment which are used by the
organisation in order to promote business. ASDA must look after the technologies in
order to compete from other retail sectors in UK (Erez and Hsu, 2018).
 Environmental factors: It defines as the factors that have a impact on the growth and
operation of a business. In ASDA, company is trying to implement some of the friendly
products of packaging that are harmless for society.
 Legal Factors: This factors include the rules and regulation which company must follow
as to trade properly (Fettermann and et. al., 2018). Such factors affect to the decision of
leader and manager of ASDA because they first need to analyse the legal procedure of
company and it would take lot of time for implementation.
5. Improvement of operational efficiency to meet business objectives.
Operation management plays a crucial role in every organisation. To improve the overall
efficiency approach used by ASDA is Total quality Management (TQM). By making use of this
approach ASDA is able to maintain the productivity. Recommendation require in this context is
that manager must look after the operations of business properly.
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6.Conclusion from present task
As per the above task it can be concluded that managers perform different role in
operational function. It also include various approaches that help in rising up the quality of
product. Through PESTEL analysis external environment is analysed and one came to know
which factors stands to be positive or negative for the company.
CONCLUSION
As per the above discussed report it has been concluded that operation management plays
crucial role in success of an organisation. To perform various function both manager and leaders
contribute in development of an organisation. This study has defined theories which will help
leader of ASDA to perform effectively in organisational context. This report has discussed about
the operational manager and the role played by them regarding the decision making. Different
approaches are there such as six sigma, Lean production and TQM are also discussed in context
of ASDA, to improve quality of product which is manufactured.
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