Analyzing Leadership and Management Functions in Contemporary Business

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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
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Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
REPORT 1....................................................................................................................................... 4
LO1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGER......4
LO2 THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGER...........................................6
REPORT 2..................................................................................................................................... 10
LO3 APPRECIATION OF THE ROLE LEADERS AND MANAGERS PLAY IN THE OPERATIONS
FUNCTION OF AN ORGANISATION...........................................................................................10
LO4 DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT IN A CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT..........................................13
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................15
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Managers and leaders can be taken as the key strengths for any organization in current
dynamics as they facilitate the positive change and help in making better results. These people
generally have their personal working style which is basically based on some already developed
theories, models and concepts (Slack, et al., 2010). So, with the benefits from these people i.e.,
leaders and managers the aim of this particular unit is to make people understand the different
concepts and practices related to the leaders and managers. Afterwards, the unit will try to
illustrate the concept of the operations with the perspective of both; process and as a function
in an organization.
These all the concepts and theories will be described with the case of Joan Pearson who
has the background of working in the military on a rank of major and now she is Head of the
production department at Soft Company. Joan is facing several issues in synchronizing his style
of working in the army with the current people and she is losing her enthusiasm. It can also be
said that she is facing issues in adjusting her management style with the new working system
and operating the production of mobile units at the company.
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REPORT 1
The leaders and managers are two different entities of any business and they have the
role to make their people attain the desired results and achieve the new levels of success with
their support. The leader’s roles and functions of managers are also two different dimensions
of the business and hence to understand these, the present report will try to underpin some
knowledge below:
LO1 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND THE FUNCTION OF A
MANAGER
According to Rickards and Moger (2017), leaders are the people who have the courage to
lead and make people achieve their needs first. The leaders have several roles in general which
have to be linked with their characteristic traits like enthusiasm, dedication, motivation, skills,
knowledge, and ability to take risks and lead others with complete support. Some of the
general roles of the leaders are:
Setting a clear vision – leaders are the people who have the role to put all people together and
share a clear vision with all of them in order to reach the destination and achieve the common
goals. Leaders are also responsible for informing all the subordinates with correct information
(Lunenburg, 2011).
Motivating employees – this is one of the major roles of the leaders, they are basically involved
with the teams to keep their motivation level high and hence work in accordance to the needs
with efficiency. Employee motivation is also helpful in making the best results for the
employees personally as well as professionally.
Guiding and supporting employees – enhancing motivation is a different thing and providing
them with the support and guidance required are different which is also involved in the roles of
the leaders to overcome from the intermediate challenges and reach the goals (Thorpe, 2016)
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Building morale and dedication – except the professional dedication and motivation, building
the ethical morale to work is also a necessary aspect and hence the leaders have to establish
that in the employees
Inspire trust – with the help of proper guidance, support, skills etc. leaders can inspire trust and
build significant relationships with their teammates. Inspiring trust results in several benefits to
the businesses and hence this is also an effective role of the leaders
Execute strategy – with proper planning and techniques, leaders have the capability to execute
the plans of the management effectively and hence this is also a basic role of them
Act as the representatives – in any failure or success, they are the people who take risks and
hence they act as the representatives to others for any tasks assigned to them (Thorpe, 2016)
Resolve the conflicts – intermediate challenges and conflicts are also a part of any business and
hence leaders have the role to overcome from them and implement strategies that these can
be reduced in future
While, in contrast to the leaders; managers also have some crucial functions in any business
which are presented below:
Planning – developing future plans are an initial task for a manager to grow with the dynamic
markets rather it is small or a big project. The manager has to plan, the schedule, blueprint of
the work, assign tasks and provide them with the necessary details
Organizing – after planning, organizing the plans is also necessary with the duty of the manager
first to allocate the tasks to each and every one and try to organize the work according to the
schedules and needs (Tutorials Point, 2019)
Staffing – simply, staffing means recruiting and selecting people for the tasks which might be
done internally, externally or through the third party. The manager needs to do the tasks in
accordance with the necessities in the plans and he is solely responsible for making this
successful (Lunenburg, 2011)
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Directing/leading – just like leaders, managers are also responsible for directing the people
towards the direction of success and achievement of the goals
Coordinating – making people work collaboratively will be the best thing that any manager or a
leader wants to see and this is their role as well as function to make that happen and work by
coordinating with each other’s
Reporting – keeping updated with the information and situations is necessary to operate in
markets and managers should involve proper and frequent reporting of people to him and
himself to upper management so that the flow can be maintained
Budgeting – as mentioned, allocating the resources rather financial or not is the function of a
manager and for this, he/she should plan according to the needs and avail the resources to the
staff members with proper budgeting (Tutorials Point, 2019)
Controlling – after implementation of the tasks and plans, controlling them is also necessary in
case of an emergency and hence with the help of properly planned controlling techniques by
managers, this can be possible (Lunenburg, 2011)
With respect to these roles and functions of the leaders and managers, the current case
of the Joan states that she is facing problems in collaborating with the people and linking her
style of management and leadership with them (Thorpe, 2016). Since, she is from the army
background and a normal organization works not in a complete leaned manner and hence there
is a need to enforce some of the above-mentioned roles and responsibilities of leaders and
managers like defining the clarity, vision, collaboration, organizing and controlling etc. which
can help her out of this situation. At present, these things are slightly lacking and hence with
the help of some effective roles and practices, Joan can maintain effective management within
Soft Company.
LO2 THE ROLE OF A LEADER AND THE FUNCTION OF A MANAGER
Leaders and managers are the people who have the responsibility to maintain the
efficiency and effectiveness in the operations and succeed in every situation that is present in
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the organization. The different roles and functions of the leaders and manager with respect to
Joan Pearson case in Soft Company are:
Relationship building – at any instance of time, organizations need people who have significant
relationships and team working approach which is lacking with the leadership of Joan. She can
impose some initial group activities and introductory sessions that can help in knowing each
other (Thorpe, 2016)
Planning – like every leader or manager, planning needs to be done strategically and in this
case, Joan in Soft Company can firstly plan effectively to make the tasks clear and then involve
them in them rather than just seeking for the proper collaboration from each and every one
Conflicts – at the time of conflicts, leaders and managers have to resolve it as soon as possible
in order to make the dedication towards work rather than on any other situation
Team building – in any situation to make a new project or create any new results, team building
activity is necessary that has to be done under the guidance of the leader and manager and
here, in this case, Joan can create new teams in his department so that the proper team
building activities can be performed (Mujtaba, 2013)
Risk assessment – analyzing and monitoring the work of all the people in teams needs proper
analysis and risk assessment in terms of all necessary aspects like collaboration, quality
management, resource allocation, task completion etc. Joan can use her previous skills in order
to reduce the risks that might occur and create a safe and wellbeing environment for all
Production and its control – leadership and management skills have a significant role in the
development of the sales and profits which is directly related with the production and control
systems where the role of leader or a manager can be very helpful in making the best results
(Metcalf and Benn, 2013)
In this scenario, it can be said that the actions of Joan Pearson are below the level at
present but can be enhanced with the help of using some theories and models of leadership
and management shown below:
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Situational leadership – this type of leadership is for those people who are dynamic in nature
and can transform themselves in accordance with the situation and its needs. The leaders who
are capable of changing themselves according to the situation are seen as more powerful and
hence in a situation of Joan also, she can use this situation leadership style in the production of
mobiles so as to get several benefits (Mujtaba, 2013).
Advantages
 Making the best results in different situations
 Enhances the competency of the team with complete guidance and support
Disadvantages
 Needs lots of knowledge of different situations
 Chances of confusion within different situations
Systems leadership – this approach enables the leaders to develop highly professional situations
where people at all levels can work with potential and high efficiency. It is basically a Human
Resource principle work that establishes good leadership, organizational strategy, design
processes and systems design (Metcalf and Benn, 2013). So, in this case, and since she is the
head of the production department, Joan can enable systems leadership so that everyone can
work in accordance with the needs and directions of the management.
Advantages
 Enables high productivity and efficiency
 Gives a systematic way to work in departments like production
Disadvantages
 Need proper planning and control systems
 Needs a dedicated team that follow all the rules and regulations
Contingency theory – this theory of leadership defines that the state of the leader or his actions
is contingent and is basically based on the needs and situations despite focusing on any best
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style of leadership. The theory focuses on the situation rather than on the best styles. In this
theory, for Joan has several benefits as she is from a different background and facing challenges
in synchronizing with the people of the team (Mike and Kaplan, 2014). So, she can utilize that
and make the best use of the theory to make random results.
Advantages
 The theory enables a wide range of options and facilities for the best of situation
 Helpful in understanding the needs and act accordingly rather than just focusing on
utilization of the best results
Disadvantages
 Needs risk-taking behaviour for the different situations to act accordingly
 Requires lots of knowledge and collaboration of people to work on new directions
Chaos theory – According to this theory, the leader tends to be nonlinear and unpredictable so
that he or she can make surprise results with the help of some scientific knowledge and skills.
The most basic unpredictable phenomena involved in this theory can be based on electricity,
gravity, chemical reactions etc. So, here, in this case, Joan can use this theory for its efficient
production systems and deliver the best results with the synchronization of all the team
members.
Management by objectives – Basically, it's a planning and controlling system which is guided by
the superior and subordinate together define the business objectives and design targets to be
achieved by everyone. Management by objectives relates to my perception of people to reach
new standards and achieve the target for the betterment in future. Joan has the opportunity to
design the objectives and management roles according to each other to gain these benefits.
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REPORT 2
LO3 APPRECIATION OF THE ROLE LEADERS AND MANAGERS PLAY IN THE
OPERATIONS FUNCTION OF AN ORGANISATION
The leaders and the managers are the people who have several roles and
responsibilities that have to be completed in accordance with the aims and objectives of the
company. Especially in terms of functions like sales, production, manufacturing etc., one of the
most important areas that are handled by the managers and leaders are the operations
management. This is basically a set of tasks that need to be performed on a regular basis in
order to attain the best results. The leaders and managers are responsible for making these
operations management more effective and potent with the help of some effective techniques,
approaches and methods. In the present case, the role of Joan in its production department is
to get the best possible results with the involvement of the following techniques and theories.
THEORIES OF OPERATIONS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Six Sigma – it is one of the most successful and widely used ways of making things more
accurate or error-free. The use of the six sigma techniques very high accuracy and skill sets in
order to follow the procedures and steps that can reduce the errors below 99.9999% (Pepper
and Spedding, 2010). with the help of using six sigma, one can achieve high precision and
reliability and in case of Joan Pearson’s department, she can get the error free results that can
enhance the efficiency of the overall team and hence individuals.
Lean production – this is a theory that defines the waste management techniques so that the
waste can be reduced and the utilization of the resources can be done to their optimum level.
With the help of lean management or production system, the electronic waste that is produced
from the manufacturing of mobiles can be reduced to a maximum level which will also reduce
the costs to the company at a significant level (Jasti and Kodali, 2015). Joan can also utilize this
theory in his practices that can define her leadership qualities to the teammates and enhance
her value in the organisation that can be helpful in working effectively with each other.
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Queuing theory – the operations management requires a stepwise or procedural approach to
complete the tasks and proceed towards the next but with the numerous tasks that need to be
completed at the same time, there is a need to have a predetermined way or theory that can
help in prioritizing the tasks according to the needs, rather on time basis, first come first serve,
high priority etc. So, there is a theory named the queuing theory that defines the priority of the
tasks and hence is useful in managing the time without wasting it in intermediate tasks.
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT APPROACHES
Despite the several theories available to implement the operations management
practices effectively there is a need to have some approached that these theories can be
implemented properly and made effective results. Some of the most widely used approaches
are:
Total Quality Management (TQM) – total quality management is the way that enables high
quality in the products and services that are delivered to the end customer. The quality
management system approach starts from the beginning that is from procurement of the raw
materials to the processing and final production that can be checked and monitored on several
criteria to make the best and high-quality products and services for the customers (Goetsch and
Davis, 2014). TQM is widely used at present as it is simpler and highly cost-effective as it uses
the same technique but more effectively.
Just-in-Time Inventory – this is considered as the pull approach for the manufacturing processes
worldwide and is very helpful at the times when the sales requirement is high and need high
production for balancing the same. With the help of smooth flow in inventory management and
productions, the overall results can be enhanced. It is basically utilized by the automakers,
electronic device producers etc. Joan has to use this technique if she wants to synchronize with
the needs of the markets and hence will facilitate some strategic results for her and her team
members.
The concept of continuous improvement (Kaizen) – with the changing dynamic needs, there is a
need to have some dynamic models that can drive the positive changes on regular basis and
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hence comes the continuous development approach which is started in Japan with the need to
make frequent changes, they came up with the solution to personally change regularly and lead
towards positivity. Kaizen is a necessity that not even industries but also in a person’s life can
be very helpful in facilitating the best possible changes (Kato and Smalley, 2012). The case of
Joan also needs to have frequent changes in the leadership and management techniques so
that she can enhance the productivity and lead her team towards the success in future by
changing and removing the incompetence’s and errs.
OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS
Operations management involves some regular processes that need to be delivered in
accordance with the needs and hence has to be properly planned and managed by the leaders
and managers of any firm shown below:
Control and Distribution Systems – operations management is the task of basically controlling
and managing the processes and distributing the systems for the best (Silberschatz, et al., 2018)
Transformation of raw material into finished goods/services – getting the raw materials and
transforming them into the final finished goods are included in the operations management
and hence is also a major function of the OM
Process design – the processes of the OM starts with the designing of the processes in order to
make the best results in further implementation and plans for the overall operations
management (Silberschatz, et al., 2018)
Capacity management – operations management basically defines the modes to enhance the
capacity and make the best possible results through its management. Capacity management is
rather confused with the only increment in the capacity but it is actually the proper utilization
of the resources and skills to balance the required capacity to an optimum level
Logistics and inventory management – since all the tasks are related with the operations
management in any organisation and two of the most primary tasks are logistics and inventory
management that is done by the several routine processes of the OM
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