Unit 4: Report on Leadership and Management Roles at Marks & Spencer

This report examines the leadership and management roles within Marks & Spencer (M&S), a UK-based retail firm, focusing on their functions in various situational contexts. It defines and compares the roles of leaders and managers, highlighting their responsibilities in team management, operations, and communication. The report explores leadership theories such as situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency theory, discussing their application within M&S. Additionally, it analyzes key operational management approaches, including Six Sigma and lean manufacturing, and their impact on achieving business objectives. The analysis covers factors affecting operational management and decision-making at M&S, providing a comprehensive overview of leadership, management, and operational strategies within the company. The report emphasizes the importance of effective operations management in improving productivity, profitability, and employee efficiency, and the role of managers and leaders in driving these outcomes.

UNIT 4 MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
LO1.............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Define and compare different roles of leaders and managers played at M & S....................1
LO2.............................................................................................................................................2
P2. Role of leaders and functions of manager in various situational context.............................2
P3 Various theories and model of approaches at M & S............................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
LO3.............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Key approaches of the operation's management and role and functions of leaders and
managers.....................................................................................................................................5
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving the business objectives of M
& S Ltd........................................................................................................................................6
LO4.............................................................................................................................................7
P6 Factors affecting operational management and decision making at M & S..........................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The effective management of operations is necessary for organisation. This helps
firm to get a better share of various operations and meet the requirements of users in an effective
and efficient manner. It helps in better handling of various operations and improve overall
productivity and profitability of company (Slack, 2015). Apart from this, effective handling of
various operations improve work efficiency of employees in business firm. For this report,
Marks and Spencer is been taken as the organisation of context. It is the UK based firm, working
in the retail sector. This report will discuss role of various managers and leaders in organisation
and their roles and functions in various situations have been taken into consideration (Krajewski,
Malhotra and Ritzman, 2015). Various theories are also been taken into effective focus to
identify the key approaches of operations and importance of operational management and its
effect in the decision making.
TASK 1
P1. Defining and comparing different roles of leaders and managers played at M&S
The leaders and managers at M&S will play a crucial and vital role in development and
management of various operations of company. The leaders are persons or individuals who will
see through the different operations or tasks of a team in an organisation while managers will
look after effective handling of the various functions that helps the company to fulfil its
customers or client’s requirements in a better way. Other than this, the effective handling of the
various operations will help in the better management of the different operations of the various
departments, leading to the increase in productivity and profitability (Schönsleben, 2016).
Various roles and functions have been played by the leaders and managers such as:
factor manager leader
Team management They manage the team on the
overall departmental level.
They handle the team on the
projects level.
Operation's To manage and form the team
and team members.
They look after the guidance
of each team member to
perform the team.
functions Their major function is to
create a good and efficient
They will look after the proper
management of the business
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organisational structure that
will support the proper placing
of the business operations and
activities in much effective
way.
operations and actions and
guide their team to follow the
objectives in much effective
manner.
 They will act as communication channel in between higher authority and employees or
workers.
 They conduct effective and efficient analysis of various operations that are required to be
taken into proper consideration for effective rise of productivity and profitability.
 They will look after better handling of various problems or issues that occur in
organisation and affect productivity and profitability and will work on to find the
effective solution for it.
 They will look after the organising of the various training programs and the various
operations or measures that helps in the effective handling and improvement of work
efficiency of various team mates and employee's (Madsen, Falk and Suter, 2017).
Characteristics of the managers and leaders at M&S are as follows:
 Honesty: The leader or manager is required to be honest in his actions and work in order
to motivate its fellow employees and subordinates to work with integrity.
 Communication skills: The communication skills play a vital role in functioning of a
manager or a leader that helps company to meet requirements of customers and provide
business organisation with efficient and motivated employees.
 Confidence: Leader and manager must be confident enough to convey thoughts and
messages of himself as well as others that helps company to carry out its operations in a
better way (Heizer, 2016).
 Positive attitude:manager and leader must have a positive attitude towards work as it
will help him to gain a better productivity and meet requirement of company. Besides
this, positive attitude of leader or manager will motivate employees to work in a better
way with more dedication.
The leaders and the mangers of the cited firm will help in the better handling of the
various operations that helped in the effective rise in the different operations that helps in the
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better management of the business functions in the company. While the managers will do the
significant analysis of the various factors and elements that affect the business operations. Also,
they will act as the intermediate between the employee's and the higher authority at the business
enterprise. On the other hand, leaders will look after the effective execution of the various
business operations in the cited firm.
Both leaders and managers will see through the effective placing of the business
operations and activities that will support the proper management of the business operations of
the selected firm. This will support a good management of the business activities in much
suitable and effective way. Besides this, it also improves the proficiency of the selected
organisation.
P2. Role of leaders and functions of manager in various situational context.
The leaders and managers play a crucial role in the handling of the different operations of
the company that helps in better management of the various functions of the company. Besides
this, they will look after various operations which will help in effective management of different
operations that leads to better productivity and profitability of company. The managers and
leaders will play different but significant role in various situational context (Mérand and
Rayroux, 2016). Some roles and functions of leaders and managers of M&S are as follows:
Situation Function of manager Role of leader
Implementing change Here, the function of manager
is to develop plans and
strategies on how change will
be implemented.
Whereas a leader is
responsible for executing that
plan and motivating
employees to implement
change. Leader also guide and
direct staff to achieve aims
and objectives.
Maintaining quality- In this the manager function it
they assigns roles and
On other hand a leader role is
to monitor staff and provide
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responsibilities to employees.
They also develop plan and set
procedure that how quality
will be maintained.
creative way to ensure that
quality is been maintained
Increase in productivity Here, manager function is to
set goals and strategy on how
productivity will be increased.
They identify areas where
improvements can be made.
A leader encourages employee
and direct them to attain their
goals. Moreover, they find out
new ways and guide
employees to follow it.
P3, Various theories and model of approaches at M&S
Various theories and the model of approaches are taken into effective consideration. This
helps firm to meet requirements of customers and gain a better productivity in a very effective
manner. These theories and model of approaches will help in the improvement of the overall
operations of the company (Akalin, Huang and Willems, 2016). Some various theories that are
been adopted by the M & S to improve its profitability and productivity are as follows:
 Situational Leadership: The situational theory states that, the leader at the business firm
will look after in the changes of the leadership style at the company in order to have an
influence on the employee's. In the situational leadership, the work style of the leader and
the employee's changes continuously to meet the needs of others at cited firm. This will
help the leader to manage the constant changes that occurs at the cited firm. The
situational theory is the model of approach that will be taken into the consideration by the
M & S in the various situations to get better productivity and profitability. This will help
the leaders and managers to drive the operations of the company as per the situational
context of te organisation.
 System leadership: According to this theory, the various components of the system
works together in order to gain a better productivity and profitability. The System
leadership is an approach of the leadership model which considers the organisation as a
complex system with various interactions between the components or the departments of
the company (Pohl, 2014). At the cited firm, the systems may consists of the various
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components of the organisation such as employee's, machines, raw material, technology,
financial resources etc. the complexity of the system increases as per with the time and
helps the cited business firm to fulfil the requirements of the customers visiting the
outlets. This will lead to the better handling of the various operations and providing the
customers with better satisfaction level.
 Contingency Theory: The contingency theory of leadership is largely dependent on
various situations that will occur at the M & S Ltd. According to contingency theory, the
operations of the company are deeply dependent on the different contingencies or the
situations that are been taken into effective consideration by the management of the
company. The leaders and managers will use this theory to gain a better share of market
and improve the work efficiency of the employee's (Ochieng and et.al., 2018). The
conditions will change in regularly according the contingency theory, and the leaders and
managers at organisation will regularly look after the effective management of the
various operations to obtain and sustain the better productivity and profitability.
TASK 2
LO3
P4 Key approaches of the operation's management and role and functions of leaders and
managers.
Various key approaches of operation management are been taken into the effective
consideration that helps in the better management of the operations at M & S. These key
approaches help in the better handling of the various functions of the company and helps in the
improvement of the various operations that leads to the better productivity and profitability of the
company. Some major approaches that are been taken into the effective consideration are:
 Six Sigma: The six sigma approach of the operation's management is implemented in the
company to develop and manufacturing of the high quality products at M & S Ltd. It
includes the six level of the various quality standards that are been followed to develop
the operations that helps in the effective increase of the quality of the product or services
by M & S. This helps in providing the effective and good quality products and services to
its customers (Binz and et.al., 2014). This will help in the better development and growth
of the company and meet the requirements of the customers. It also helps the company to
improve its goodwill and generate a good amount of revenue to its investors.
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 Lean manufacturing: The process or the approach of lean management is been taken
into the effective consideration by the company or the organisation like M & S Ltd to
reduce the wastage of the various valuable resources that are been available or invested in
the cited firm by the stake holders, it helps in the effective handling of the different
operations and meeting the needs or demands of the customers. It includes the process to
avoid the overburdening of the various work stations which lead to the huge amount of
wastage of the resources. The approach of lean management helps in effective handling
of various operations by avoiding the overloading and effectively using the available
resources (Drent, 2015).
 Top quality management: The key approach of top quality management helps in the
effective handling of the various operations that helps in the better management of the
different operations in the company and fulfilling its requirements in a very effective
way. It will allow the cited firm to follow the various operational standards that are been
set up in the market and develop the goods or the services accordingly to meet the
requirements of the customers and gain a better productivity and profitability. Besides
this, the providing of the top quality helps the customer to choose the products and
services of the company over its competitors or rivals (Ahmad, Barmore and Swieringa,
2015).
 Just in Time(JIT) approach: the just in time approach helps in the effective handling of
the various operations that helps in the effective management of various operations and
finish them on provided time, that helps the cited firm to effectively manage the various
operations and meet the requirements of the customers in a very effective way. Other
than this, JIT helps in completion of the various operations of the company in the set time
constraint and get effective output. It doesn't involve the inventory management system
directly but lay a very deep and sustaining impact on the various operations of the
company (Rengi and Yani, 2016).
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving the business objectives of M &
S Ltd.
The effective execution of the various operation's management helps in the effective
handling of the various operations that helps the company to increase the productivity and
profitability. The effective operation's management will help in the better handling of the various
6

systems or the operations in the company and meet them in a very effective way. This help the
cited firm to carry out its various operations in a better and effective manner. The operation's
management plays a very crucial and vital role in the better management of the various
operations of the company and help it to maintain the various operations of the company (Binz
and et.al., 2014). It will lay the following impact on various operations of the M & S such as:
 Improvement of the production: The effective handling of the various approaches of
the operation's management helps in the effective handling of the various operations that
leads to the increase in the productivity of the company. The approaches like lean
management, JIT and total quality management helps in the improvement of the various
operations that leads to the rise in the production capacity of the company and helps in
the better handling of the different operations that helps in the effective meeting of the
customers needs and demands in a very effective manner (Ochieng and et.al., 2018).
 Effective generation of revenue: The better management of the various operation helps
in the better handling of the various operations that help in the effective handling of the
different operations that leads to the better management of the different operation's that
lead to the effective handling of the different operations that lead to the better generation
of the revenue in the M & S Ltd, that helps the cited firm to meet the requirements of the
stack holders and fulfil the operational needs of the company. Other than this, the
operation management will improve the overall profitability of the company and help it
to get a competitive advantage (Rengi and Yani, 2016).
 Increase the work efficiency of employee's: To effectively handle the operations and
manage them, the managers and the leaders at M & S will see through the effective
handling of the various operations of the company and meet them in an effective and
sustainable manner. The managers and the leaders will arrange the various training and
workshops that helps in the effective increase in their efficiency of the various operations
of the company to meet their requirements in a better way, enabling them to carry out the
various operation's at M & S.
LO4
P6 Factors affecting operational management and decision making at M & S
Various factors lay a very deep impact on the operational management and the decision
making at the organisation. This helps in the better management of the various operations of the
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company and meet the targeted goals to gain a better productivity and profitability. Some major
factors that affect the operation's management and decision-making are as follows:
 Effect on Resources: The resources plays a very vital role in the operations of the
company and meeting the gaols of the company. The resources will deeply affect the
various operations of the company such as sales, human resources, accounting,
production and technology used (Akalin, Huang and Willems, 2016). This factors deeply
affect the over all operations of the company and meet the requirement criteria of the
customers of cited firm. It will not only help the company to decide the effective
management of the resources and employee's available with the company, but also helps
the cited firm to get a better productivity and profitability. The lean management
approach of the company will lead to efficient measures that will reduce the wastage of
the available resources.
 Opportunities: This will not only help the cited firm to manage its budgets but also
helps the customers to identify the effective measures that will help the company to
increase its sales. The effective execution of the operations of the company helps the
company to get the better opportunities that will improve the performance of company.
This will allow the company to provide a better service to its customers. Also, this will
affect the decision making process that helps the company to effectively plan a better
business plan.
 Return of Investment: M & S Ltd will deeply focus on effective implementation of
various processes that will help the company to gain a better share of the market and get
an efficient return of its investments. This will help the company to gain a better
productivity and meet the requirements of the company as well as the customers. The
effective analysis of the various sources and approaches of the return of investments will
help the company to decide the better business plan in the future and identify the better
options for the investments (Rengi and Yani, 2016).
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the report it can be said that the effective management of the various
operations is very necessary for the better handling of the operations of the company. The report
deeply focused on the various roles and functions of managers and leaders in the organisation
and their roles and functions in various situations are been taken into consideration. Various
8

theories are also been taken into effective focus to identify the key approaches of operations and
importance of operations management and its effect in the decision making.
9

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Ahmad, N.N., Barmore, B. and Swieringa, K.A., 2015. Wind Information Uplink to Aircraft
Performing Interval Management Operations. In 15th AIAA Aviation Technology,
Integration, and Operations Conference. pp. 3398.
Akalin, G.I., Huang, Z. and Willems, J.R., 2016. Is Supply Chain Management Replacing
Operations Management in the Business Core Curriculum. Operations and Supply Chain
Management: An International Journal. 9(2). pp.119-130.
Binz, T., and et.al., 2014. TOSCA: portable automated deployment and management of cloud
applications. In Advanced Web Services. pp. 527-549. Springer, New York, NY.
Chiarini, A. ed., 2015. Sustainable Operations Management: Advances in Strategy and
Methodology. Springer.
Drent, M., 2015. EU-NATO Relations in Crisis Management Operations: The Practice of
Informality. In Managing Crises, Making Peace. pp. 91-110. Palgrave Macmillan,
London.
Heizer, J., 2016. Operations Management, 11/e. Pearson Education India.
Krajewski, L.J., Malhotra, M.K. and Ritzman, L.P., 2015. Operations management: processes
and supply chains. Pearson.
Madsen, H., Falk, A.K.V. and Suter, S.O., 2017. Improving efficiency in river management
operations using model predictive control. In 13th Hydraulics in Water Engineering
Conference. pp. 195. Engineers Australia.
Mérand, F. and Rayroux, A., 2016. The practice of burden sharing in European crisis
management operations. European security. 25(4). pp.442-460.
Ochieng, E.G. and et.al., 2018. Utilising a systematic knowledge management based system to
optimise project management operations in oil and gas organisations. Information
Technology & People, (just-accepted). pp.00-00.
Pohl, B., 2014. EU foreign policy and crisis management operations: power, purpose and
domestic politics. Routledge.
Raunio, T., 2018. Parliament as an arena for politicisation: The Finnish Eduskunta and crisis
management operations. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations.
pp.1369148117745682.
Rengi, P. and Yani, A.H., 2016. Management Operations Fishing Boats in the Village Chart
Sackcloth Bay Pasalaban District City West Sumatra Padang. Jurnal Online Mahasiswa
(JOM) Bidang Perikanan dan Ilmu Kelautan. 3(2). pp.1-12.
Schönsleben, P., 2016. Integral logistics management: operations and supply chain management
within and across companies. CRC Press.
Slack, N., 2015. Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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