Analyzing Leadership, Management, and Operations at Burger King

This report provides a detailed analysis of management and operations within Burger King, a leading multinational food chain. It explores the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting the differences in their responsibilities and key qualities. The report examines the application of leadership roles and management functions in various situational contexts, including stable, slow to moderate changing, and fast-changing environments. It further delves into different leadership theories and models such as situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency theory, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. The analysis also covers various operational and management approaches utilized by Burger King, including Total Quality Management, Just-in-Time Inventory, and Lean Manufacturing. Finally, the report emphasizes the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives and identifies factors within the business environment that influence operational management and decision-making at Burger King. This comprehensive overview provides valuable insights into the strategic management and operational practices of a major player in the fast-food industry.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
P1 ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS.............................................4
P2 APPLICATION OF ROLES OF LEADERS AND FUNCTIONS OF MANAGERS IN DIFFERENT
SITUATIONAL CONTEXT..............................................................................................................7
P3 DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP.........................................................10
P4 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT AT BURGER KING...........12
P5 IMPORTANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN ACHIEVING BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES...............................................................................................................................14
P6 FACTORS WITHIN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT WHICH INFLUENCES THE OPERATIONAL
MANAGEMENT AND DECISION MAKING.................................................................................16
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................20
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INTRODUCTION
It is crucial for an organization to manage its operations efficiently as it reflects significantly
on the efficiency, productivity and profitability of the company. There are various elements
associated with the management and operations which should be considered by an
organization to operate its business efficiently. This report demonstrates the different
dimensions of management and operations such as roles of leaders and managers and
difference between them. It also elaborates the different approaches to management and
operations and importance and value of operations management in attaining different
business objectives. It further covers the relationship between leadership and management
in the contemporary business environment.
The case study of ‘Burger King’ is adopted in this work to understand and analyse the
different elements associated with the management and operations. Berger King is one of
the leading multinational food chains. It was established in the year 1953 as Insta Burger
King. It serves in different countries of the world in more than 1500 locations. This report
probes the different aspects of the management and operation associated with the Burger
King.
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P1 ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS
Leadership, as well as management, is essential for an organization to achieve the different
business objectives. Leadership may be defined as an art of motivating a group of people to
achieve a common objective. A leader leads its team members and motivates them to
achieve the organizational objectives. The main objective of a leader is to enhance the
efficiency and productivity of the employees so they can perform their assigned roles and
responsibilities efficiently (Kok and McDonald, 2014).
Management is defined as the organization and coordination of different business
objectives in order to achieve business objectives. It is a process which deals with the
controlling of different available resources. It is very important for an organization to
manage its different business activities efficiently. A manager manages the different
available resources so that business operations can be accomplished efficiently (Long, 2017).
There are different roles of leaders and functions of manager in an organization. The
responsibilities of both leaders and managers are different from each other.
ROLES OF LEADERS
Leaders play various roles in order to achieve the organizational targets. Key roles of a
leader are:
 Providing direction
 Align people
 Motivating team members
PROVIDING DIRECTION
A leader establishes the vision and encourages employees to achieve it. Leaders develop
effective strategies to achieve the different business objectives. It is the responsibility of a
leader to make team members capable of handling different changes and issues efficiently.
ALIGN PEOPLE
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A leader aligns the employees to form a team in order to achieve different targets. A leader
assigns the roles and responsibilities of its team members according to their skills and
capabilities.
MOTIVATING TEAM MEMBERS
The motivation of the employees is very important for the improvement of their
performance. A leader motivates employees in order to enhance their efficiency and
productivity. A leader adopts different techniques to motivate the team members.
ROLES OF MANAGERS
A manager performs the different roles and responsibilities which are important to operate
different organizational activities. Key roles of a manager are:
 Planning
 Organizing
 Coordinating and Controlling
 Staffing
PLANNING
One of the important functions of a manager is planning. A manager sets goals and
operational plans. It is the responsibility of a manager to allocate resources and submit a
budget for the plan.
ORGANIZING
A manager develops a structure of plan so that it can be accomplished efficiently. Managers
of Burger King organize the resources and utilize them efficiently to achieve organizational
objectives.
COORDINATING AND CONTROLLING
A Manager coordinates with employees to accomplish the different organizational tasks. It
is the responsibility of a manager to monitor the performance of the employees. Managers
control the different organizational activities in order to avoid a different kind of issues.
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STAFFING
Staffing is also one of the significant functions of a manager. Managers of Burger king focus
on the staffing of the employees in order to accomplish the different organizational tasks.
Managers assign roles and responsibilities to their employees according to the skills and
capabilities.
Characteristics of leaders and manager are different from each other. The key qualities of a
leader are visionary, passionate, innovative, imaginative, personal power, flexible and
passionate. The qualities of a manager differ from those that of a leader. The key qualities of
a manager are rational, consulting, problem-solving, authoritative, stabilizing, deliberate
etc.
Managers and leaders of Burger King perform their roles and responsibilities in an effective
manner. Both leaders and managers coordinate with each other in order to achieve
organizational task efficiently.
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P2 APPLICATION OF ROLES OF LEADERS AND FUNCTIONS OF
MANAGERS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONAL CONTEXT
Leaders as well as managers play an important role in handling different situations. The
situation of accompany influences operational management of a company at a great extent.
There are different types of situations which can influence the roles and functions of leaders
and managers. There are different organizational situations which includes stable situation,
slow to moderate changing situation and fast changing situation (Hill, et al. 2014).
STABLE SITUATION
Under the stable situation, an organization does not need to any kind of the change in its
current business strategies. In this situation, a company follow its current business as it is
effective in delivering the desired results. Managers and leaders of a company perform their
task in order to operate business operations smoothly.
SLOW TO MODERATE CHANGING SITUATION
In slow to moderate changing situation the situation of organization changes slowly in the
initial stage and changes moderately. In this situation, a company changes its strategies
according to the situation.
FAST CHANGING SITUATION
As the name indicates in this situation a company changes its strategies very fast in order to
respond effectively different changes.
Leaders and managers of Burger king play important role in handling the different
situations. Currently, Burger king belongs to slow to moderate changes. The fast food
industry is facing a different kind of changes which reflects significantly on the roles of
leaders and functions of managers.
The functions of a manager such as planning, leading, organizing, controlling, coordinating
also get influenced due to organizational situations. Burger King is facing slow to moderate
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changing situation, therefore, functions of Managers change accordingly. The manager of
the company develops their strategies according to slow and moderate changes. Managers
controls, coordinate and organize according to demand of the situation.
Leaders also play an important role in different situations. Leaders of Burger King adopt a
different kind of leadership styles in order to handle different organizational changes
efficiently. Different types of leadership style adopted are:
 Directive style
 Supportive style
 Participative style
 Achievement- oriented style
DIRECTIVE STYLE
Directive leadership style provides guidance regarding what should be done and how to
implement it. This style is effective as the subordinate has a locus of control, lack of
experience, need for clarity etc. (Nahavandi, 2016).
SUPPORTIVE STYLE
This leadership style focus on the needs of the employees. In this leadership style a leader
behaves friendly with its team members. Leaders provides support to their team members
whenever they needed in doing their assigned roles and responsibility. A supportive leader
attempts to minimize the stress and frustration of the employees.
PARTICIPATIVE STYLE
In participative leadership employees also participate in the decision making. Leader
encourage its team members to share their ideas and thoughts so that effective decision can
be made. Leaders of Burger King adopt this style to manage its operations.
ACHIEVEMENT- ORIENTED STYLE
In this leadership style a leader focus on the achievements. A leader appreciates the good
performance of the team members.
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Leaders and managers of Burger King make the decision according to the situation. Leaders
and manager consider different factors associated with the current situations (Nahavandi,
2016).
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P3 DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS OF LEADERSHIP
There are different theories and models of leadership which can be adopted by the
company to lead it, employees. There are different types of leadership theories can be
adopted by a company (Avolio and Yammarino, 2013). There are different types of the
leadership approaches that can be adopted by a leader are:
 Situational leadership
 System leadership
 Contingency theory
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Binchard and Hersy proposed Situational leadership is 1969. It is one of the widely used
approaches which can be used to lead the team members. According to this theory, a
leader or manager should adjust its style to fit the development level of employees a leader
is trying to influence. A leader should make the decision according to the demand of the
situation. This leadership approach is beneficial for a leader to handle a different kind of the
issues. Leaders of Burger King adopt this approach to manage its operations efficiently
(Otley, 2016).
SYSTEM LEADERSHIP
System leadership can also be adopted by a leader to leads it team members in order to
accomplish different organizational operations efficiently. System leadership is one of the
most esffective leadership approaches to control and execute the different organizational
functions. Under this leadership theory, a leader lead and control the team according to the
demand of the company or a particular task. This leadership approach can be adopted by
the managers and leaders of Burger King to operate its business to lead the team members
according to demand of the company (Thompson and Glasø, 2015).
CONTINGENCY THEORY
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Contingency theory focuses on the significance of the personality of a leader and manager.
The managers and leaders of the Burger King can adopt this strategy in order to leader the
team members (Mahadevan, 2015).
There are different strength and weakness of the all the above mention mentioned which
should be considered by the managers and leaders in order to lead the team members to
operate the different business operations. System theory is an effective method to manage
the different operations such as production, sales, marketing etc. There are different
strength of this approach which can makes it beneficial for a company. It helps company in
different functions such as managing and controlling. One of the weaknesses of this
approach is that it need to be executed properly in order to achieve desired results.
Situational leadership can be considered as one of the best approaches to handle the
different type of situation which can affect the business operations of a company to a great
extent. It One of the major limitations of this approach is that it crucial for a leader to
possess different skills in order to make the decision according to the situation. Contingency
theory is also an effectual method to enhance the efficiency and productivity of the
company.
Leaders and managers of Burger Kind consider the merits as well as demerits of the above-
mentioned approaches in order to lead the team members to deliver better results
(Mahadevan, 2015).
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P4 DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT AT
BURGER KING
There are different approaches which can be applied by a company to operate its business
smoothly. Burger King also adopts different approaches in order to enhance its efficiency
which ultimately leads to enhancement in the profitability of the company. Key approaches
to operation and management are :
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Total quality management is an effective approach to manage different organizational
operations efficiently. This approach focuses on the customer satisfaction and long-term
success of an organization. In this approach, all the members of a company participate in
improving products, services and process. There are eight principles of total quality
management that are customer focused, process centred, total employee involvement,
integrated system, continual improvement, strategic and systematic approach, fact-based
decision making and communication. Burger Kind adopts this method to improve its
products, process and services in order to achieve customer satisfaction. Employees of
Burger king put their efforts to achieve customer satisfaction (Oakland, 2014).
SIX- SIGMA
Six-sigma is set of tools and techniques to improve the process. It is a disciplined and data-
driven approach for eliminating defects. This approach focuses on the improving the quality
of outcome by identifying and minimizing defects in the manufacturing process. Burger king
adopts the approach to reduce defects in its manufacturing process. Company minimizes
the defects in order to improve the quality of the result.
LEAN MANUFACTURING
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