Leadership and Management in Operations: Theories, Roles, and Examples

This report delves into the distinct roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, emphasizing their significance in organizational success, particularly within the context of Amazon. It meticulously compares leadership and management styles, highlighting key differences and illustrating their practical application. The report explores various leadership and management theories, including transformational, contingency, trait, classical, and behavioral theories, analyzing their relevance and impact. It also examines the application of these theories in different situational contexts, providing examples of how leaders and managers adapt their approaches. Furthermore, the report discusses key approaches to operations management and the roles of leaders and managers in achieving business objectives, with a specific focus on Amazon's operational strategies. The analysis extends to examining the importance and value of operations management in meeting business goals, providing a comprehensive understanding of leadership, management, and their combined effect on organizational performance.

Management and Operations
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Table of Contents
Introduction.....................................................................................................................................3
P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager?..........4
Following are theories of leadership and management which are listed below:.............................8
P2: Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts?........................................................................................................11
P3: Apply different theories and models or approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership, and contingency?.........................................................................................................13
D1 Analysing and Evaluating the Different Theories to Leadership........................................14
P4: Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play................................................................................................................................16
P5: Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives?.....................................................................................................................................21
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................25
References.....................................................................................................................................26
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Introduction
This project document is constructed in the context of use about the role of leaders and managers
in the organization. As, it is very essential because it assist the organisation in increasing its
productivity and helps in proper growth of the business operations of the organisation. This
report also includes the study on Amazon, which is an American company and focuses on the
activities of e-commerce and artificial intelligence situated in Washington. The following report
will also include the role of leaders and functions of managers which improves the employee’s
efficiency and productivity. The various important theories related to management and
leadership styles are been defined in the context of Amazon operations management.
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P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager?
Role and characteristics of manager and leaders.
Managers and leaders are both strong pillars of a business. A business needs both to grow at
higher level. Managers apply strategies that people in the organization do works for them and
leaders want that people follow then for work not doing work for them. There are some
characteristics of a strong leader such as:
 must have honesty and integrity.
 Must be vision oriented person.
 Must have strong inspiration.
 Ability to challenge the situations.
 Must have strong communication skills.
Amazon is a successful business entity because of its strong managers and leaders. Its operation
team leaders work hard for smooth running things. Various tasks are played by the leader in
business entity like overseas day to day activities, ensure support to team, create qualified work
force. Apart from this manager are also plays vital role in organization such as execute a vision,
direct day to day efforts, construct work rules, processes, set standards, always employee
focused, set better perception and behaviour. Manager is a wider term than the leader. It covers
the leaders under itself or can say that it superior than the leaders. Without the strong leaders and
inspirational manager’s amazon can't grow in market (Vaiginienė, et. al., 2018).
Key Differences Between Leader and Manager
Leader and manager plays a very essential role in big organisations such as Amazon, as
they are the one who motivates the workers, gives them support to their men to work readily, in
the getting things done for the organisation in effective manner. Thus, In Amazon there is a
multilevel chain of manager that is a crucial connection for the business and the interested
organizations, i.e. workers, persons getting goods from stores, suppliers, owners of company,
government, society, and so forward, out, on (in time). He is the one who acts basic to do with
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managing purposes, uses. Key amounts, degrees, points are different Between Leader and
Manager in Amazon. Leaders of big organization like Amazon have great influences upon their
subordinates in regard of their work for a specified goal, whereas a manager is the one who is
liable to manage the overall activities of the business (Shin, Y., et. al., 2015).
 Leader in Amazon having great reputation has to feature the attribute of foresight
whereas, the manager at lower levels contains intelligence.
 In Amazon leaders is required to set directions, whereas, a manager is required to plan
the overall details.
 Manager in Amazon takes visualization while a leader alleviate it.
 leader has people of a particular group while the manager has the employees f the
organisation.
 A manager confront fight in the organisation. Whereas, a leader exercise fights as an
asset.
 Leaders encourage changes, but Managers respond to the occurrence.
 leader reorient people, while a manager manage workers in the organisation.
 leader endeavour for the changes in the organisation in a positive manner. Conversely,
the manager formulates the steps to direct the employees on a right path.
 The leader focuses on the people of an organisation whereas, manager focuses on the
Process and Procedure of the organisation.
 A leader intent at the development and minutiae of his mates where a manager intent at
implementation the last outcome.
Managerial and leadership role by applying management theories.
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Management theories can be defined as the set of unstimulated concept that escort the managers
in managing the amazon management. Theories are a subtitle to squire employees to powerfully
link to merchant goals and apply constructive ways to unzip the said.
There following are the four general management theories:
1. Frederick Taylor – Theory of Scientific Management.
2. Henri Fayol – Administrative Management Theory.
3. Max Weber - Bureaucratic Theory of Management.
4. Elton Mayo – Behavioural Theory of Management (Hawthorne Effect).
These theories applied by the managers for its better performance. Every manager does not use a
individual theory while applying a plan of action in the office. A sequence of concepts
anticipated on the workforce are utilised by the managers. The favourite management concept
used at the work are unconnected theory, contingency theory and system theory. Theory X and Y
that addresses administration plan of action for motivation of the employees is moreover
enforced to gain the productiveness of the individual. Apart from that for better leadership the
theories also applied to leaders. The condition usually has a greater consequence on a leader's
whoopee than the traits followed by him. This is considering while attribute may have an
awesome steadiness over a time period, they have little consistency enormousness situations.
This is why a number of leadership scholars think the Process Theory of Leadership is a more
accurate than the Trait Theory of Leadership (Shin, Y., et. al., 2015). Various forces will stupefy
these four factors. Examples of forces are:
• Your relations with your superiors.
• The abilities of your followers.
• The casual leaders within your organisation.
• How your organisation is formed
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Following there are two magisterial approaches of management i.e. hard and soft
management which are summarized as below:
The hard management that prepares plans, set up structures and evaluates and monitors
performance. The hard management involves the following points which are listed below:
 Knowledge of customer taste and preferences
 Performance measurement
 Domain knowledge of functional
 Organisational structural knowledge
The soft is the people friendly management based on emotions. The soft management involves
following points which are listed below:
 Motivating each other
 Making a culture of trust and respect
 Communication
 Knowledge of politics
 Building and leading an effective team
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Following are theories of leadership and management which are listed below:
Leadership Theories Descriptions Management
Theories
Descriptions
Transformational Transformational
leadership is the new
style of leadership
which concentrates on
how the leaders can
make positive
modifications and
valuable alterations in
the followers. In other
words, leaders’
emphasis on
“transforming”
opposite to assist all
other and the
organisation as a
whole. Amazon
management use this
theory to transform
the employees and
teams in which they
achieve their goals
and targets in an
effective manner.
Management by
objectives
The management by
objectives is one of
the important models
of management theory
in which objectives
are set and clearly
stated by the
management for the
whole organisation.
This model helps to
Amazon to manage
their objectives and
these objectives
should be achieved by
their workforce in an
effective manner.
Contingency This theory of Chaos This theory states that
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leadership states that
an effectiveness of
leader’s is liable upon
with what leadership
style suits to the
condition of the
market. Amazon uses
this theory to make
leadership profiles for
organizations in
which a specific style
can be matched with
situations that have
proven to be
successful.
each and every
company aspect some
disruption or chaos
action during
operative business
operations of the
organisation. This
chaos theory is best
for Amazon where the
administration wants
to support their
workers and are
prompt to face any
type of quibbling
problems within or
outside the
organisation.
Trait Traits leadership
theories identify the
specific traits
personality that
distinguish leaders
from non-leaders.
This theory is best for
the Amazon because
its business operations
is distributed all
around the world and
therefore the
Classical The classical theory of
management is
basically based on the
principles that in the
organisation worker or
employee only have
economic and
physical needs rather
than social needs. This
theory is best suited to
Amazon where the
management is only
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workforce
productivity will be
easily controlled and
managed by this
theory.
concerned about the
productivity and not
any other wants of the
employee.
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P2: Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a
manager apply in different situational contexts?
The role of managers and the role of the leaders makes the entire work of an organisation in the
desirable way towards attainment of goals in an effective manner. There are various different
traits and style of leadership as well as various different purpose of management which assist the
management in the effective functioning of the entire organisation. Amazon is facing the tough
competition from their competitors in regarding the services and products which are offered by
the competitors in the reasonable prices in the market. To improve this situation the management
of an organisation should implement the utility of management and effective ability of leadership
to increase the sales and revenue for the organisation. Hence, it advise that managers are
autocratic in the formulation of their methods whereas the leaders are democratic in their
conceptualization (Vaiginienė, et. al., 2018).
The management of Amazon used several different theories of leadership which implicit with
theories of management make the organisation grow its operations in effective and efficient way.
The sales and marketing department of Amazon organisation uses various different management
theories along with the leadership style to increases the sales of goods and services in the market
of competition (Shin, Y., et. al., 2015).
Following table are shown the situation in which different management and leadership
theories are applied:
Situations Management and Leadership theories
applied in the given situation
1. A new goals or tasks are assigned by the
top management to the manager where the
manager gets the work finished by group
Management Theories are applied in this
situation:
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members in a peculiar period of time. Classical theory
Contingency theory
Leadership theory applied in this situation:
Behavioural theory
Goal or task-oriented theory
2. To enhance the goodwill or reputation in
the market, the management of an
organisation should focus on retaining the
productive and efficient employees in the
organisation and motivate them also.
Management theory applied in this situation:
Classical theory
Contingency theory
Leadership theory applied in this situation:
Action-oriented leadership
Transactional leadership
3. The top-level management has decided
and manage training and development
program for their employees so that they
can more productive and efficient towards
attaining the goals and objectives.
Management theories applied in this situation:
Contingent theory
Management by objectives
Leadership theories applied in this case:
Transformational theory
Leadership traits theory
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