Report: Leadership and Management in Aston Martin's Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management within Aston Martin, a luxury car manufacturer. It begins by defining operation management and its importance in achieving organizational goals. The report then delves into the roles and characteristics of leader...Read More

Management and
Operations

INTRODUCTION
Operation management refers to the business pattern or activities and administration in
order to develop the high level of efficient possibilities within the organization. Along with this,
operation management team members always try to attempt balance cost with higher revenue in
order to achieve their desired business goals and objectives in an appropriate manner. On the
other side this can be said that this is the area of management which is always focusing on
controlling and designing process of production business operations in order to accomplish the
customer requirements effectively (Boyd and Dougherty, 2016). This respective report is based
on Aston Martin which is the British self-directed manufacturing business of luxury sport cars. It
was formed in the year of 1913 by Lionel Martin and this is headquartered in Gaydon, UK.
Along with this report will discuss about several roles and characteristics of leader and manager.
Functions of manager within the organization. Apart from this appreciation of the role leaders
and managers plays in the functions of an organization will get covered. At last, understanding of
the relationship between management and leadership in the company business environment will
get covered effectively.
TASK 1
P1. Several roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
According to the competitive business environment of an organizations managers and
leaders are the effective people who always work as an important tool for the company. That's
why they perform their every task in a several ways within the organization. According to their
working performance they are able to achieve organizational goals and objectives in a particular
way.
Leader: It is an individual who always affect the team members and group of people in
order to accomplish the company's goals. Leader has capability to fulfil company requirement
with their effective performance and manage organization effectively. In reference to the Aston
Martin, leader play an essential role and helps their team members for completing their task

within the given period of time. Therefore, this can be said that leader is the effective part of
every organization.
Roles of a leader:
Needed at all levels: As per this leadership is the good function at all stages of company's
operation systems. On the basis of this leader play an effective role in order to make unique plan
and policies for making better organization in a proper way.
Representative of the organization: Leaders is play the role of representation of the
company so that he can represent the different seminars, general meetings etc. with the help of
this he can communicate lots of people as well as outside the people effectively.
Goal oriented: As leader is very effective part of every organization so that he has the
ability to achieve desired goals of the company in order to coordinate with team members or
other people so that he can meet the requirements of people with in the organization.
Characteristics of a leader:
Positive attitude: Leader has positive attitude to achieve goals of the company. With the
help of this good character leader can behave positively in front of their team members and
group as well. This positive attitude of leader influence the higher authorities of an organization
effectively.
Communicative ability: The ability of communication shows the good skills of
leadership. That's why leader require to able to communicate with people within the organization
to motivate them for achieving their specific target.
Manager: It is a person who is responsible to conduct group of task and subset of an
organization. Manager has a lots of staff members who always report to manager. Therefore,
manager controls and manage their company situation in an effective manner. In context to the
Aston Martin, manager is responsible to follow all the instruction from the higher authorities in
order to assign particular task to their employees (Ellitan, 2017).
Roles of a manager:
Technical skills: Manager of an organization must play their technical roles with the help
of this he can use several kind of tools and techniques in order to manage company's system.
Human skills: It is the ability to work of manager, according to this role manager can get
better people in order to work with them properly.
Characteristics of a manager:

Manager has good characteristics because they are knowledgable and able to
communicate with people to accomplish targeted goals and objectives.
Difference between manager and leader of Aston Martin
Basis of comparison Leader Manager
Authority and power Leader can enhance the
working efficiency of
employee's
Wherein, manager of this
selected organization assign
work to its employee's.
Subordinates According to this leaders of
this organization have so many
followers as employees
(Situational leadership. 2019
Available through [online]).
Manager of Aston Martin
have different subordinates to
make their company
effective.
Behavioural characteristics Leaders of this company
always encourage their
employees in order to motivate
them at higher level.
Manager plays very essential
role so that good behaviour
influence company people in
a positive way.
Management functions: There are different type of function of management which are given
below:
Planning: It is the elementary role of management which deals with future plan of action
in advance to achieve pre determined objectives.
Organizing: In this process, financial, human or physical resources are involves in order
to make good relationship with people to achieve company's goals.
Controlling: The main aim of this function is to minimizes the conflicts and make
effective plan to control operation of management (Eraki, 2015).
Directing: It is the kind of managerial function in which leader and manger of an
organization follow different styles like communication, motivation, supervision in order to
attain future goals of an organization.

Leadership traits:
These are personal qualities that effectively shapes the leader like honestly collaborate,
empathy and listen properly to understand the term of company.
Effective communicators: Leaders have ability to communicate properly with their team
members as well as resolve their problems effectively.
Long term thinkers: Leaders have the vision for an organization in order to make it
famous in front of the customers so that they can think innovative idea and able to implement
properly.
Self motivated: Leaders are self motivated and also able to attain organizational goals in
the attractive way.
Democratic leadership style:
It is the very effective style of leaders in which they can run their team functions
smoothly. With the help of this they can develop several ideas and thought in order to make good
decision of an organization. Therefore, this style of leadership is require instant changes in the
business environment. On the other side this can be said that this style facilitate the
communication process and motivate people in order to know their perception and thoughts
effectively.
TASK 2
P2. Role of a leader and function of a manager applicable in different situational context.
Aston Martin is a independent manufacturer company in UK which is traded at the
London stock exchange. This company is dealing with the product of luxury cars and goods and
serves their product across the world. This organization has 3,000 number of employees who
operates this organization's functions effectively. But according to the the present time there are
different kind of competitors of this company so for this Aston Martin should follow several
strategies and techniques of business. For making this organization better managers and leaders
thinks about new ideas to make this company different they have applied their thoughts for
ach9ieveing proper goals. Whereas, leader of this company plays various kind of function and
role motive their team members as well as encourage their working efforts. For this they adopt
latest technologies and strategies (Fan, Liu and Zhang, 2015). With the help of this manager and

leaders can face the tough competition within the market place and able to reduce conflicts from
the team members. This is all because they have aim to reach their company at higher level.
Therefore, the roles of manager and leader are applicable in the different situation, those are
listed below:
Employees grievances: This situation generate within the company, because employees
have queries or complaints about the workplace than manager of Aston Martin resolve their
issues and conflicts in order to make them happy. Wherein, leader also play very essential role
that hears their problems and give them helpful solution so that this process can reduce the
chances of misunderstanding within the workplace. Therefore, in situation manager and leader
played effective role and functions within the company.
Interpersonal conflicts: When all employees works together in the team than they
always have various type of issues so that in this condition manager and leader of this company
give resolution of their conflicts in order to help them. In this situation employees involved in the
different conflicts. But for satisfying them leader and manager of this company encourage them
and guide as well so that they can easily cope up with their colleges and co-workers properly.
Therefore, manager or leader plays essential function in the different situation of employees.
As per the above discussion it has been analysed that manager and leaders both effective
aspect for every organisation who helps their team members and encourage them effectively. in
reference to the Aston Martin, leader is very helpful aspect for this who always focused on their
team members and always try to reduce their issues within the workplace.
P3. Different theories and models of approaches including systems leadership and contingency
as well as situational leadership.
As leadership is the very best quality in every organisation so that leader controls every
operation and functions of the organisation in order to encourage people within the working
place. In reference to the Aston Martin, leaders follow several kind of approaches in order to
make their organisation effective and achieve targeted goals (Han and et. al., 2017). They also
focuses on the every department of this company. There are some approaches which all are used
by Aston Martin, listed below:
Situational leadership: This approach of leadership is a supportive dimension of
companies. According to this the subordinates of Aston Martin needs to be support in order to

achieve their goals at higher level. Therefore, leaders are able to evaluate employees
performance like how they are working and how they perform their task within the organisation.
Contingency leadership theory: According to this theory leaders can communicate or
interact with lots of people within the organisation. This approach is used by subordinates of
company in order to guide their leaders so that they can easily motivate their employees in a
proper manner. It is a kind of twofold processing in which leader analyse their knowledge and
skills.
System leadership theory: This is an attractive approach which helps the leaders of
Aston Martin as its provide good culture in the working place for every employees. With the
help of this leaders can manage their company's functions and operational activities by
motivating other people. Therefore, it is effective for employees because in this they can get
effective learning skills with the help of system leadership theory in a proper manner.
Therefore, these are very essential theories and aspects of this company. On the basis of
this leaders can motivate their employees and guide them in order to achieve their goals in an
appropriate way.
Manager and leaders will practice according to these theories:
Managers and leaders are the useful assets for each organisation just because they are the
effective or energetic part who always develop the different ideas and implements on their
strategies in a proper way. With the help of situation leadership they can work effectively by
getting full support from their higher authorities. As per the contingency theory manager and
leaders both are able to face any kid of situation to achieve particular target. On the basis of the
system leadership theories leaders are able to focus on their employee's performance and also
encourage them towards the work in a perfect manner.
TASK 3
P4. Key approaches to operation management and role of managers and leaders play.
Operation management: It is the business practice in order to develop higher level of
possible efficiency within the working place. It is involved in the different type of
responsibilities in order to make business operation and production process of particular goods in
an appropriate manner. With the the help of this companies are able to meet different type of

resources which all are helpful to fulfil customer requirements that is planning, organising,
directing, controlling and so on. Therefore, operation management is the effectual tool and
procedure of business organization activities. It follows two types of functions, which are listed
below:
Production function: It is the core value and combination of different goods which
covert goods in to finished goods effectively (Idris, 2016).
Transportation: In this goods are well prepared in order to transfer from one place to
another with the help of organisation.
Therefore, operation management is linked to leaders and managers of the organisation.
This is because without both operation and function of any company do not work properly.
According to this whole system of operation and management can be take care by the leaders and
managers. Here, both leader and managers are responsible in order to keep resources within the
company and make their organisation effective.
Just in time approach: Just in time approach is type of management system or strategy
that mainly focuses on the raw material orders from the manufacturer directly within the time of
production. This approach is very much useful for every company in order to reduce their
wastage from product as well as inventory cost. In reference to the Aston Martin, leaders are
using this approach with the help of this they can assign work to their employees and they
finished their work within the given period of time this is much effective process by which
employees can increase their working speed effectively.
Total quality management: It is the function of every organisation in which employees
are able to improve and change their ability to work on the basis of demand goods and services
in which customers will find the specific value of the product. On the other side Aston Martin,
used this approach in order to enhance customer's loyalty and their faith towards the luxury cars.
So that it is helpful for reducing wastage from material and make effective cars in a proper way.
There are few things from this approach which is used by this company, given below:
Role played by the manager: Leaders played important role as they focus on their
company's material like they reduces wastage material from the product and adopt different tools
in order to make company's functions innovative.

Role played by the leader: Manager is also important aspect of every organisation they
helps their employees in order to keep make them happy and give them different types of
benefits in order to achieve their desirable goals effectively.
Kaizen theory: This theory involves in order to analyse the opportunities, issues
developing solutions and resolve them effectively. Generally it solves the issues of companies
like inadequacy in the workplace and so on. In reference to the Aston Martin, some time they
faces different types of issues in the process of manufacturing product of this company so that
company can get solution of their issue from this theory that's why it is effective in an
appropriate manner (Ma and Sun, 2012).
P5. Significance and values of operation management in order to achieve objectives of business.
Operations management is the procedure which is linked with production and aims at
enhancing the overall productivity of company while simultaneously reducing the wastage. With
reference to Aston Martin, the manager who is assigned to take care of this aspect ensures that
high quality offerings are accessible to customers by focussing upon the quality and overall cost
of operations.
Importance of Operations Management
The significance of operations management in Aston Martin is given as follows:-
Significant decrease in overall cost: Operations management is an optimum technique
with the help of which cost pertaining to wastage can be significantly reduced. In this relation,
the manager of Aston Martin make use of innovative and creative ways so as to eliminate the
additional and discretionary cost, thereby, also enhancing quality of vehicles manufactured. The
leader within this company motivate employees by imparting them training so as to increase their
knowledge base and competence.
Enhancing productivity of company: Productivity is given supreme importance in every
company. With respect to Aston Martin, manager emphasize upon this concept to ensure timely
execution of activities. Further, leader of this entity develops a healthy working environment to
motivate the workforce, thereby enhancing overall productivity.
Significance of Operations Management in facilitating business success
By way of approaches, namely, Six Sigma, TQM and JIT, leadership and management
within Aston Martin ensures desirable implementation of the process of operations management.
This leads to reduction of overall operational cost and increment of organisational productivity.

When effective approaches and techniques of operations management are used, this leads to
business success and provides assistance in timely accomplishment of goals.
Importance of operation management:
 Operation management includes in the several kind of programmes such as planing,
organizing, directing and controlling, monitoring the elements of the company. It also
manage everyday activities within the company.
 It changes and improves the overall function of an organisation so that they can evaluate
the value of products in a better way. As per this company manager sets the target to their
employee's after that they are able to focus on their work perfectly.
 Operation management is the combination of overall activities within the business
market. It also contributes in order to develop new and different product to achieve goals
and objectives in an effective manner. It focuses on the optimum utilization of resources
in a perfect way.
TASK 4
P6. Several factors in the business environment that effect on the operational management and
decision making through managers and leaders.
Business environment is the collection of all internal or external cause that affects the
business practices effectively (Nayak, 2015). But some times internal or external factors can
influence each other than together affects the business operations. There are internal or external
factors which influence business are given below:
Internal factors: It refers to those factors which occurs in the working place within the
organisation. There are few internal factors, have been listed below:
Human resource: It is an important aspect of every company because these are helpful
for companies in order to increase their future development and growth in a proper manner. In
context to the business environment company wants to achieve competitive advantages so
manager and leaders help company to fulfil their aspect. That's why it influence the decision
making of leaders positively.
Owners(Share holders): These are the effective assets of the firm who can be individual
, person within the workplace. In reference to the Aston Martin, leaders and managers prepare

effective tools and techniques in order to accomplish their goals but in the environment of
business it can be difficult for them that's why they can get affected by factors.
External factors: These factors mainly occurs from the outside of the organisation, there
are few factors which are given below:
Legal factors: In order to identifying the business entity globally than legal factors plays
very important role. This is because with this factor company is able to apply different kind of
rules and legislation on their company's functions effectively. In reference to the Aston Martin
they make their better quality of factors but for this manager and leader make few strategies in
order to apply laws within the marketplace. Therefore, they can get affect in a positive way so
that this increase the employees working efficiency (Plesser and et. al., 2014).
Technological factor: At present world, technological factors growing rapidly because
of new techniques within the marketplace. In context to the Aston Martin they are using new
technologies in their manufacturing process of luxury cars, so that this process attracts customer's
a lot in an effective way. For this manger and leaders also play good role as they provide training
to their employees so that they can get higher motivation and works accordingly. Therefore, this
factors bring new and unique ideas for the company in order to achieve goals in the competitive
advantages. It's affect leaders and mangers in a positive manner.
CSR: Corporate social responsibility also known as the sustainability and capitalism of
the business which is a types of international private business in order to self regulate in an
effective manner. It also determine the internal organisational policies in order to give
satisfaction to their employees within the industry in an effective manner.
Culture of CSR: According to the organisation this can be said that it is the root and
main factor of company which generally flow from the leadership within the perfect way. But
some times company culture can also involves in the working environment, goals and
expectation in order to achieve proper goals. On the other side there is core values which is also
known as the social responsibility for making effective strategies in the firm.
Values: In order to make proper values CSR plays an very important role in order to
understand the effective positive perception which is regulated by the some government
authorities, shareholders, suppliers and so on. On the basis of companies they can make better
and effective strategies for gaining better outputs.

Ethics: According to this company has good impact on the social economy by which
they can attain their goals in a particular manner. As per the business ethics they can evaluate the
proper ethical problems and issues in order to overcome them and make proper solutions to
achieve goals.
As per the above discussion company can get their goals easily. On the basis of this they
are able to gain effective and proper output so that they can develop good strategies and manager
or leaders of the organisation can get affect in a positive way and also makes better outcomes for
the future growth. So that they can sustain for long period of time within the market in an
effective manner.
CONCLUSION
According to the above representative report it has been analysed that, operation and
management is the business practice in order to generate higher level possibilities of achieving
development for future in an appropriate manner. In reference to the the Aston martin it has been
analysed that leaders and managers are the effective aspect of this organisation which played
different kind of role and function in an effective manner. Along with this different type of
approaches also helps company in order to fulfil their desired target. At last business
environment also very effective or essential part of an organisation which affect the functions of
leader and manager so that they can apply several technologies and legislations in an effective
manner.