Analysis of Leadership and Management at Marks & Spencer (M&S)

This report provides a comparative analysis of leaders and managers within the context of Marks & Spencer (M&S), a leading multinational retailer. It explores the distinct roles and functions of leaders, who focus on motivating and inspiring employees through styles like transformational leadership, and managers, who supervise and control the workforce using approaches like bureaucratic management. The report highlights the differences in their responsibilities, such as leaders offering strategic direction and executing strategies, while managers monitor performance and set goals. Ultimately, the analysis concludes that leaders and managers have varied roles critical to the company's success, with leaders providing direction and managers ensuring tasks are completed effectively. Desklib offers a variety of solved assignments for students.

Unit 4 Management
and Operations

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Compare and contrast the differences between a leader and a manager.....................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Operations management can be referred to as something which is chiefly concerned with the
planning, supervising and organizing in relation to manufacturing, production and provision of
services. It is a process which is concerned generally with managing the operations as it helps in
managing, supervising and controlling the goods, people and services effectively. Every
organization which is involved in such management is required to make sure that there are
managers and leaders who are effectively ensuring its production in terms of maintaining quality,
customer satisfaction, competitive advantage and revenue enhancement (Covey, 2017). The
company chosen for this report is Marks & Spencer, which is a leading multinational retailer
which is headquartered in London. It was founded in the year 1884 and deals in selling clothing,
food and home products. This report will cover the difference between leader and manager by
using appropriate theories.
MAIN BODY
Compare and contrast the differences between a leader and a manager.
M&S is the largest multinational company which deals in retail sector in UK. It follows the
flat organizational structure wherein there are limited levels of the management between the
front line workforce and administrative level. There are leaders and managers who works in the
company and plays their individual roles and have their characteristics.
Meaning and Role of leader:
It is an individual which is mainly involved in motivating the people so that
organizational goals can be achieved. A leader is a person who has power to monitor and control
person’s performance. There are different leadership styles which may be used by the leaders
such as directive, authoritative, democratic, etc. M&S may follow transformational leadership
style which can be mainly applied in the operations management. The skills as well as abilities of
employees are monitored closely by leaders and also in this, the leader of M&S encourages,
motivates and inspires the employees in order to create change and encourage innovation so that
the growth and shape of the business is ensured (Szostak and Sułkowski, 2021). There are
various roles which a leader plays which are discussed below-
 Offers direction: It is an essential role wherein the leader is involved in communicating
the clear as well as persuasive direction. The leader of M&S is involved in creating the

strategies so that it can contribute to the future growth and it then communicate with
other members to follow it by way of guiding them.
 Execute the strategy and monitor the result: It is very essential that the strategies are
framed and executed and the leader of Marks and Spencer is mainly entrusted with a role
in executing the strategy by way of formulating plan so that a team can work in
accordance with it. The leader also monitors the result of every member so that they are
being prepared in advance to make proper changes or adjustments in strategy (Shao,
Wang and Herman, 2018).
Manager and its role:
It is an individual which is mainly involved in supervising and monitoring the workforce
and also offer them directions so that effective contribution is made by people in achieving the
business goals. There are various styles of management which may be used by them in order to
effectively manage the working of company. The managers of M&S may follow bureaucratic
style wherein they can ensure that the rules, task and procedures are being followed in
accordance with organizational structure of company (Anand, Vidyarthi and Rolnicki, 2018).
The role of manager of M&S are discussed below-
 Monitoring performance: A manager in M&S is entrusted with the task to keep an eye
on the progress of workers and monitor them so that proper guidance is provided to them
and the track of it is provided so that the goals are achieved in an appropriate manner.
 Setting goals: The manager is also engaged in a role to set pre-determined goals for
employees and also communicate them so that they are involved in working on it. The
manager of M&S also creates such environment in which a clear line of communication
is made and goals are communicated to the workforce (Elenbaas and et. al., 2017).
Difference between:
Basis Leader Manager
Meaning A leader is a person that is
engaged in influencing the
subordinates so that objectives
and goals are accomplished.
A manager is the one who is
entrusted with managing the
organization and is also responsible
for coordination, planning, directing
as well as controlling workforce.
Change It is involved in promoting the It is engaged in making reaction to

changes in the organization. a change in company.
Aim The leader is aimed mainly
towards the growth and
development of the firm
(Walker, 2021).
The manager is aimed mainly in
attaining the goals and objectives of
company.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from this report that the leaders and managers have varied roles and
functions to play and their distinction varies on the basis of their role in company. A leader is the
one which provides directions to the employees while a manager is the one which assigns the
duties and makes sure that it is done on time. It is not concerned with how work is done rather it
is concerned only with whether work is done or not. But a leader is influences the working by
providing them proper directions and strategies.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anand, S., Vidyarthi, P. and Rolnicki, S., 2018. Leader-member exchange and organizational
citizenship behaviors: Contextual effects of leader power distance and group task
interdependence. The Leadership Quarterly. 29(4). pp.489-500.
Covey, S., 2017. 8.1 Leader Versus Manager. Career Skills for Surgeons, p.143.
Elenbaas, H.A., and et. al., 2017. Navigating interim management roles: From peer to leader and
back. Nursing management. 48(6). pp.46-51.
Shao, B., Wang, L. and Herman, H.M., 2018. Motivational or dispositional? The type of
inference shapes the effectiveness of leader anger expressions. The Leadership
Quarterly. 29(6). pp.709-723.
Szostak, M. and Sułkowski, Ł., 2021. ARTIST, CREATOR, MANAGER, ENTREPRENEUR,
LEADER: HOW SOCIETY PERCEIVE THESE IDENTITIES?. Economics &
Sociology. 14(2). pp.209-221.
Walker, R.W.R., 2021. THE CONNECTING LEADER AND MANAGERIAL STANCES AT
WORK. The Connecting Leader: Serving Concurrently as a Leader and a Follower,
p.191.