M&S Ltd: Leadership, Management, and Operational Management Report

This report analyzes the roles of leaders and managers within the operational management framework, using Mark and Spencer Ltd as a case study. It begins by comparing the characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting their differing focuses, approaches to risk, and responsibilities. The report then explores the application of these roles in various situational contexts, such as risk-taking, decision-making, problem-solving, team building, and conflict resolution. Furthermore, it delves into different leadership theories and approaches, including trait theory, behavioral theory, situational leadership, system leadership, and the contingency model, assessing their practical applications. The report also examines key approaches to operations management, emphasizing the importance of operations and management in achieving business objectives, and assesses factors within the business environment impacting operational management and decision-making. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of leadership, management, and operational strategies, relevant for business students.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.......................3
P2 application of roles of leader and functions of manager in different situational context.......5
P3 application of different theories and models of approaches..................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role played by leaders and managers.........7
P5 value and importance of the operations and management in achieving business objectives.8
P6 Assess the factor within the business environment that is impacting upon operational
manage net and decision- making ..............................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The day to day activities that are performed by any company are known as operations.
There is a process by which all these operations are required to be performed in an manner by
which it is possible for the company to achieve the highest level of efficiency and that process is
known as operational management. this report is prepared for Mark and Spencer Ltd which is a
multinational retailer dealing in various products (Arnold and Loughlin, 2013). The role of
managers and leaders will be discussed in this report in respect of operation management. The
various approaches and theories that are applied by them for the achievement of the objectives
will also be discussed in the report.

TASK 1
P1 Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
Marks and Spencer Ltd is a British multinational retailer having its headquarters in
London. It was founded in 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. The main areas in
which the company deals are home products, food products and various apparels. The number of
employees who are working with the company are around 82,904. the organisational structure
followed by the company is flat organisation structure. In this there are limited levels which are
there between administrative level and front line employees (Barratt, Choi and Li, 2011). With
the help of this structure employees can be motivated towards good decision making which will
in return be beneficial for the company.
The person who performs the task of leading a group of people and who has superior position to
influence the employees and can also motivate them will be a leader. Whereas a manager is a
person whose main functions are in relation to management of the people and company by
controlling and administering all the activities that are undertaken in the organisation. The role of
both can be compared in the following manner :
Basis of comparison Roles and Characteristics of
leader
Roles and characteristics of
manager
Focus There main focus is on
achievement of the targets by
leading the people of the group
in that manner.
The main focus of managers is
towards management of the
activities and by doing so
ensuring that stability will be
achieved.
Approach to risk Leader are always ready to
take all the risk that come in
their way while performing a
task.
Managers are always working
towards avoiding the risk in
any manner they can.

Responsibilities The main responsibility of
leader to motivate and inspire
people towards achievement of
targets.
Management of all the
activities that are performed in
an organisation is their main
responsibility.
Orientation They include people in their
process of achievement of
goals so it is said they are
public oriented.
Managers orientation is mainly
towards fixation of targets and
than attaining the set targets
and objectives.
The role of leaders and managers can be understood by applying various theories which are
described below :
Role of leaders :
Trait theory : in this theory it is specified that there are various qualities which a person possess
from birth which means there are inborn qualities and they help that person towards achievement
of success in leadership roles. The various qualities that are present includes intelligence,
determination and sociability which are required by a leader to perform their work (Brandon and
Mullan, 2013).
Behavioural Theory : this theory says that the qualities of leadership can be learned by a person
and they are not required to be some inborn traits. According to this the behaviour of a person is
studied and than according to that the capabilities of that person will be determined. By
following this process his chances of success will also be determined which will finally result in
success of M & S Ltd (Chin, 2010).
Functions of managers
Human relations theory : this theory states that in order to achieve the targets it is required that
there should be good relations which are required to be established between the various
employees and management. Due to this reason it will be necessary for the managers to work
towards building good relations.
Chaos theory : change occur in every organisation and it is always not possible to control those
changes as some of the changes are inevitable (Cho and Dansereau 2010). Due to this reason it
is required that managers should be prepared in advance in relation to the changes that may occur
so that they can deal with those changes in an effective and efficient manner.

P2 application of roles of leader and functions of manager in different situational context.
There are various situations that arise in mark and Spencer and role of leaders and
managers in those situations can be understood in the following manner :
Risk taking : various types f activities are there are which are required to be performed in an
organisation and in performing those there will be some or the other risk that will be involved in
it. So it will be the responsibility of both the leader and the manager to look after those risks. As
leader is concerned in relation to the group which he is leading so he will look into the risk that
will arise in respect of that particular group whereas manager is responsible for whole
organisation so they will have to deal with the risk that will be occurring in all the activities that
will be carried out in M & S.
Decision-making : the task of the leader is to inspire the members of his team in order to achieve
the set targets so for this purpose they will be needed to make policies and strategies and for that
purpose various decisions will be required to be made so it can be said that he will be responsible
for his team only. Manager is required to make decisions in relation to all the matters that are
related to the organisation and his decisions will be the one that will decide the success of M & S
so it is necessary that the managers should possess the appropriate amount of skills that are
needed to make the correct decisions (Dekker, Bloemhof and Mallidis, 2012).
Problem solving : it is almost impossible to eliminate the problems that arise in a company in
complete sense but it is possible to reduce them or to find ways in which they can be solved. For
this purpose it will be needed that managers and leaders should make the policies in respect of
the problems by identifying the problems that may arise in the near future so that the goals and
objectives can be achieved in an effective and efficient manner. For this it will be needed that
leader should build the policies in respect of their team which will be followed by the team
members only and managers will formulate the policies for the whole organisations which will
be followed by all the departments in M & S Ltd.
Team building : as it is said that it becomes all the more easier to achieve the objectives and
targets if the work is performed in team manner. Due to this reason it will be needed that team
spirit should be encouraged in the company in which employees should be asked to work in team
as by this they will be able to help each other and also will be able to perform the work in a
better manner (Haider and Riaz, 2010). So it will be needed that leaders should build team spirit
in their team and manager in all the departments of the company.

Conflict resolution : when many people work together than the chances of the conflicts are
increased and as M & S is a big company in which different kinds of people work together so
there will be high chances that conflicts will arise. It is necessary that these conflicts are resolved
as otherwise they will have an adverse impact on the company. So for this it will be required that
leaders and managers should resolve the conflicts that arise in respect of the areas regarding
which they are concerned.
P3 application of different theories and models of approaches.
There are different theories and approaches that are available in case of leadership. Some
of them are described below :
Situational leadership : there are various situations that keep on arising in the company and due
to this reason it is required by this approach that main focus should be provided towars
adaptation of different situations and because of it this style is called as adaptive style of
leadership. In this all the aspects that are present in the company are identified and together with
it all the qualities of the members of team are also identified by the leader and than on the basis
of it the best possible style of leadership is chosen which will be able to bring the maximum
amount of profits to the company and also it will be possible that all the objectives are achieved.
With the help of it the skills of all the persons will be enhanced and their capabilities will be
utilised in an effective manner (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013).
System leadership : it will be needed that a proper understanding in respect of systems should
be developed and for the achievement of this it will be required that all the linkages and
interactions that exist in an organisation between different components are required to be
examined. The company will be able have an advantage due to this because by creating an
understanding of the systems appropriate leadership will be developed.
Contingency model : according to this model there are various situations that arise in a company
and all have different way to take into account the various situations so it is required by the
leader to take them into consideration in an effective manner. For the achievement of this it will
be required that all the leaders should should possess different kinds of skills so that they will be
able to deal with the different situations (Kuruppuarachchi and Perera, 2010). In this they can use
various approaches and theories that are available with them which will bring an additional
advantage to the company as all the operations of the company will be performed in an effective
and efficient manner.

In this manner all the approaches will be applied by the leaders in the different situations that
will be arising in the company.
TASK 2
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role played by leaders and managers.
Operational management is very important for the achievement of goals and targets of the
company and for that purpose various approaches are there. Basically there are two approaches
that are present which are dynamic approach and system approach. Dyanamic approach is the
approach in which it is possible to make changes according to the situation and plans. This
approach is generally used by leaders when there are prospective changes that may occur in the
organisation in near future and as in this changes can be made as the situation demands so
leaders prefer this approach in this scenario (Lin and McDonough, 2011). If the organisation is
used to changes and they keep on happening frequently in the company than it will be required
by the managers to use this approach. For the purpose of evaluation of market elements system
approach will be required to be applied. Together with the other elements that will be affected by
this approach profitability of the company will also be affected. In case of operations
management leaders play an important role as while managing their work in the day to day
operations they will look to it that whether the operations that are being performed are done in
the proper manner or not. Whether they have faced any problem while working on it and if there
are any problems that have been detected than it will be required by the leaders to make the
required changes in the plan so that the set targets and objectives can be achieved. He will make
changes in the team on the individual basis or in combined manner as will be required by the
situation. It will be needed by the managers that as they are taking care of all the operations of
the organisation so they will be required to make the changes that will be needed by all the
operations of the company. By making the required changes they will ensure that no problem is
left in the functioning of the company and functions are going on smoothly. All this is needed as
if any problem that is detected and than also remains unsolved than it will not be good for the
company. M & S will have to bear the losses that will arise due to those unsolved problems and
this will prove to be very harmful for the company (Mayer, Kuenzi and Greenbaum, 2010). It
was due to all these reasons only that all these approaches which have been discussed above are
required to be undertaken so that it will be possible for the company to achieve the targets and

objectives that have been set earlier and to improve the efficiency of the company. There are
certain other approaches also that can be used for the purpose of achievement of efficiency
which are lean production, total quality management, just in time approach and continuous
improvement. They all will also focus on improvement of the operations and achievement of the
targets of the company.
P5 value and importance of the operations and management in achieving business objectives.
Every company is required to follow the operations management as it is important in
order to achieve the objectives and attain success in the company. The advantage of this is also
received by M & S as with the help of this it is able to achieve the objectives and also will be
able to achieve the effectiveness in the operations of the company. By using this system all the
activities that are required to be performed will be done in the correct manner and also in the
sequential manner and by doing all these things it will be possible that the risk involved in all the
functions performed will be reduced due to this (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2011). With the
help of it material and labour will be converted into goods and services and by this more
efficiency will be achieved in the performance of the company. The process of the operational
management that will be performed will be different for the company as the work performed by
all the companies is also different. the goals of the company will be achieved by this as it will be
using human resources and by this the objective of human resource will also be achieved. The
resources that are available with the company will be utilised in the most efficient way possible
and with the help of this it will be possible for the company to reduce the risk involved and by
this there will be an overall development of the company (Müller and Turner,2010). The
company should use all the approaches that are available so that effectiveness and efficiency can
be achieved by M & S Ltd. There are various factors that affect the progress of the company and
they are also required to be given the due amount of importance so that the efficiency can be
achieved.

P6 Assess the factor within the business environment that is impacting upon operational manage
net and decision- making
Their are so many work that have to bee perform in the organisation. The oration work is
the most important factor that have to be manage by the company. By the operation management
the company will benefiting the finished good for sealing in the market. That product have been
manufactured this department. The company have to make the effective decisions for the
operation department.
Their are two person they are manager and leader. The manager have to manage the work
of the organisation. But when the oration work in the topic then the operation work have to be
manage by the manager. There several factor that will need to do the operation in the
organisation (Salahuddin, 2010). These are as follows:
Financial resource: in this there are so many resource that have to purchase in the organisation.
They have to need the monetary found to purchase the resource for the operation work in the
organisation. So the manager have to make the manage of that financial resource in the
organisation.
 Raw material: The raw material is very much needed for managing the finish goods in the
operation department. The raw marital can be the Sammy finished geodes that will be
processed in the operation department they they will be converted in the finished goods.
This is also purchased by the the financial resource.
 Labour: Every company have need of the labour they are also known as the worker of the
organisation. They have to make effective management of the labour because they have
to perform the task. Without their help the company can not be able to make the finished
good. The manager have to make the proper management of the labour in the
organisation.
 Machine: this is the computerised thing which have been made by the humanness. This
will help in resuming the work of labours in the operation department. That will help in
making the effective productivity (Schyns and Schilling, 2011). But this is machine this
need the financial resource they need electricity to perform the work. They have to be
manage by the human been only. This is also the important thin winch is need in the
organisation. That have to be manage by the company.

CONCLUSION
It is being concluded by the project that all organisation should have the proper
management process so that the operations of the organisation. Operations management is very
important for any organisation to manage the operations of the company properly so as to have
an effective production. As we know population is rising so as the demand is rising the
operations of a company also should also be improved. The internal and external factors also
effects the company's operation which are to be taken care of. Its is being concluded that what all
effects a company will face in working an environment where it is being effected by it. The
company should make strategies and policies to initiates the operation of the country very
properly. So Marc and Spencer needs to look after all these steps of the operation management
stated in this report. This will help the company to have a command over the overall operation of
the company. It is very important for Marc and Spencer to concentrate on the operations of the
company to excel in its field.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
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directive leadership theories: Examining intellectual stimulation in male and female
leaders across three contexts. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 34(1).
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Barratt, M., Choi, T. Y and Li, M., 2011. Qualitative case studies in operations management:
Trends, research outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of
Operations Management. 29(4). pp.329-342.
Brandon, C. J and Mullan, P. B., 2013. Teaching medical management and operations
engineering for systems-based practice to radiology residents. Academic
radiology. 20(3). pp.345-350.
Chin, J. L., 2010. Introduction to the special issue on diversity and leadership. American
Psychologist. 65(3). p.150.
Cho, J and Dansereau, F., 2010. Are transformational leaders fair? A multi-level study of
transformational leadership, justice perceptions, and organizational citizenship
behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly. 21(3). pp.409-421.
Dekker, R., Bloemhof, J and Mallidis, I., 2012. Operations Research for green logistics–An
overview of aspects, issues, contributions and challenges. European Journal of
Operational Research. 219(3). pp.671-679.
Haider, M. H and Riaz, A., 2010. Role of transformational and transactional leadership with job
satisfaction and career satisfaction. Business and Economic Horizons. (01).
pp.29-38.
Krajewski, L. J., Ritzman, L. P and Malhotra, M. K., 2013. Operations management: Processes
and supply chains (Vol. 1). New York: Pearson.
Kuruppuarachchi, D and Perera, H. S. C., 2010. Impact of TQM and technology management on
operations performance. IUP Journal of Operations Management. 9(3). p.23.