Leadership, Management, and Operations in Brakes Group

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management roles within Brakes Group, a food distribution company. It defines and compares the roles of leaders and managers, applying various theories such as trait, behavioral, and contingency theories to differentiate their functions. The report examines situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency approaches, assessing their strengths and weaknesses in different work environments. It explains key approaches to operations management, emphasizing the importance of leaders and managers in achieving business objectives. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of the business environment on operational management and decision-making, concluding with a critical evaluation of the application of operations management within Brakes Group. Desklib offers more solved assignments for students.

Unit 4- Management and Operations
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
LO1.............................................................................................................................................................4
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.......................4
M1 Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by effectively
applying a range of theories and concepts...............................................................................................5
LO2.............................................................................................................................................................7
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts..................................................................................................................................7
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership, and contingency.....................................................................................................................9
M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the
work environment..................................................................................................................................11
D1. Critically analyze and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts.................................................................................................................................................12
LO3...........................................................................................................................................................13
P4. Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play
...............................................................................................................................................................13
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives......15
M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management to
successfully meet business objectives....................................................................................................16
LO4...........................................................................................................................................................17
P6. Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision-making by leaders and managers.............................................................................................17
M4. Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider community.........18
D2. Critically evaluate the application of operations management and factors that impact on the wider
business environment............................................................................................................................19
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................20
References.................................................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
This unit introduces different roles and characteristics of the managers and the leaders that help
the organization in achieving the targets. The difference in the working of the leaders and
managers are discussed in detail in this unit. It gives a better understanding of the roles and
functions of leaders and managers in different situations that arise in the company with the help
of different theories and the approach models. The operations management in an organization is
discussed along with the key approaches that are used are discussed in detail. The effect on the
working and decision-making of the operational management is assessed along with the factors
that affect them due to the role and functions of leaders and managers. The organization has
taken for better understanding this unit is Brakes Group which is a food and distribution
company for the catering industry and operates through more than 20 different distribution
centers in the UK.
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LO1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
The different roles and characteristics of leader and managers come under different basic
concepts of the management.
Leaders:-The leaders lead and motivate the individuals who work for achieving targets of the
organization. In a big organization like Brakes Group responsibility of the leaders is more as
they are the ones who help in motivating and guiding different groups of the people and thus
helping in eliminating the pressure of the work that builds due to the workload.
Managers:-The managers assign the work to the employees and works towards accomplishing
the objectives of the organization. The managers first assign the work and then make sure that
the work is completed within the given time. It is the work of the management to assign work
and get the work done in any condition.
The roles and characteristics of the managers are similar with few differences only and both of
them work hard to accomplish the goals of the organization. The comparison of the roles and
characteristics of the leaders and managers is done below:-
Managers Leaders
Major work is planning and implementing
the work.
Leaders help in organizing and influencing to
get the work done.
Managers focus on getting the work done Leaders motivate employees to work for
accomplishing the targets.
Managers focus on giving directions to the
group to get the work done.
Leaders help in providing directions to the
employees so that they do not face problems in
getting the work done.
Managers have to be great leaders along
with great management skills.
Leaders are motivators and they possess the
ability to influence people to work harder to
accomplish the goals and objectives.
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M1 Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by
effectively applying a range of theories and concepts.
The leaders’ roles as well as managers’ functions are very important in the management process
to accomplish the goals of Brakes Group. The managers and leaders help in providing guidance
to the employees for achieving various objectives of the goals. The managers are the important
personnel that are involved in the business activities. The role of leadership depends on the
various traits and skills that the leaders need to possess in their personality for providing great
leadership (Rahim, 2017). The leadership theories include trait, behavioural, and contingency
and the important points that are necessary for leaders are shown in the table below:-
Trait Theory Behavioural Theory Contingency Theory
It relies on the efficacy It relies on the behaviour of
employees
Relies on the task nature as
well as the leader personality
that varies from one another.
It emphasizes the quality of
the personnel
It emphasizes on getting the
work done using different
styles like laissez-faire and
being democratic
It emphasizes that there is no
systematized way to get the
work done.
It is task oriented. It is people-oriented Depends on the leader
personality and nature of the
task.
The functions of the managers include the planning, organizing, coordinating as well as
controlling. Planning function helps the organization in listing all the actions that are required
to complete the task and helps in performing all the activities for achieving objectives.
Organizing function of managers helps in organizing different techniques and tools to get the
work done by the employees. This function of management helps in achieving the target in a
proper managerial way. Coordinating function helps in coordinating the team members for
doing the work that is allotted to them and the coordination can be done via the help of various
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skills of communication for proper implementation of work. Controlling is important for getting
the work done with the help of proper strategy formulation and also keeping an eye and
monitoring the work that is allotted to different members of the team.
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LO2
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
In the management process of the Brakes Group, they apply various strategies and efforts to get
the work done in time. The functions of management help in formulating strategies along with
diverse styles of leadership, which together assist in increasing the effectiveness in implementing
the strategies in various situations in context to the Brakes Group.
Leadership approaches-
Situational approach-According to the situation that prevails in the organization this theory can
be applied. The situations can be affected both by internal and external factors and all the
situations are considered and accordingly, the policies and strategies are changed to get efficacy
in the work done.
Relationship-oriented approach-According to relationship-oriented approach in the Brakes
Group, the task series is focused along with the sequence of the task and get everything
systematized and the standards of the firm are maintained.
The various situations faced by the Brakes Group can be sorted out with the help of the different
theories of management that are discussed below:
Contemporary theory-For raising the aspiration of the employees this theory is used by the
Brakes Group leaders for letting them know what they can do and what they are doing. This
theory helps in achieving the goals of the organization.
Management by Objectives-It is a theory which helps the management team of the Brakes
Group to get the productive work done in a cool way and achieve the target step by step. Only
that work is assigned by the managers to their employees who can be done by them in time.
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Classical management theory-With this theory, Brakes Group management can get the work
done in the situations that arise and can be handled with the physical and economic needs. The
management can provide incentives as well as extra-hour pays which motivate the employees in
achieving the goals.
Behavioural theory-Specific behaviour and skills of the leaders are studied in this theory which
helps in leadership and are the best determinants of their success as a leader.
Contingency theory-This theory depends on the nature of the task as well as the situation. All
the issues related to the changes in the situation in a company can be dealt with the practice of
this theory.
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P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership, and contingency.
Situational leadership-
The managers, as well as the leaders, apply different styles and theories for effectively getting
the work done and situational leadership. In the Brakes Group, this theory can be applied when
there are problems among different departments of the company. For example, if the
management and marketing departments have problems among them, then the leaders have to
interact and communicate with both the teams and resolve the problems at the initial stage itself
so that the problem does not rise and the working is not hampered nor the profit of the
organization is hampered.
Task approach-Various methods of working are discussed as well as the employees are guided
and this helps them work according to the given process.
System leadership-
In this type of collaborative leadership theory, it helps in cooperating and endeavoring various
variations. This type of leadership facilitates the operations management and provides
effectiveness and efficiency that is provided and is kept in mind for this type of system
leadership. The organizations' management and operations are benefitted with the system
leadership.
Task approach- This particular task helps in working in the organization effectively and
efficiently.
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Contingency leadership-
In this type of leadership, the situations, as well as the leaders' personality, are considered. It
emphasizes more on the theory that the success of leaders totally depend on the effectiveness of
the given pattern that the situation demands from the leaders (Girard and Girard, 2015).
Matching the leadership styles effectively with the situation that is there in the organization and
handling the situation accordingly is the main objective of this type of the theory.
Task approach- The personality of the leaders in handling certain situations at work are
considered in this approach. This approach emphasizes the way the leaders handle the situation
that arises in the company with their skills and personality.
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M2. Assess and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations
within the work environment.
The different approaches to a situation that is there in the work environment are as follows:-
In case of Systems approach-In, this type of approach a particular system is followed by the
leaders and the whole work is done with the help of that system and keeping in mind the system
of the work. Strengths-The leaders formulate the strategies on their own and they make the
employees cooperate to implement them, so there is no chance of manipulation. Weaknesses-
Employees are not given importance and they do not have any knowledge regarding the
strategies or the changes that take place in the company and this approach may create differences
between the employees (Klenke, 2016).
In case of Situational approach-This approach clearly relies on the relationship between the
followers and the leaders and works according to the situation. Strengths-In this approach the
leaders and managers adjust their work accordingly and emphasizes on impacting the groups in
the organization. Weaknesses- In this particular approach there is communication neglect
within the groups which is a big disadvantage for this type of approach.
In case of Contingency approach-This task completely depends on the personality of the
leader. Strengths-The leadership skills along with the personality of the leaders are emphasized
for this particular approach and it helps in all the difficult situations that arise in the workplace.
The weaknesses-the weakness of this approach is that sometimes things cannot be done with the
help of personality, it is important to keep in mind the system as well as the situations to get the
work done.
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D1. Critically analyze and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in
given contexts.
In this fast-paced work environment, it has become important that the leaders should be effective
and efficient enough to handle the groups. There are various leadership theories like trait,
behavioural and contingency which are used by the management team of the organizations
(Shockley-Zalabak, 2014). These different theories help the leaders select the ways to deal with
the group. The leaders consist of various qualities such as confidence, knowledge, leadership,
honesty, integrity, accountability, etc. In the food industry that supplies to different caterers, the
management has become very important which involves the perfect leadership. It has become
very important for managers to get the work done from the staff in time as there is a lot of
wastage that can occur if the required target is not accomplished within the given time (Yang, et.
al., 2014). The managers need to formulate strategies to increase the production and the
managers of any organization try to obtain specific ends. The situational approach in leadership
has encouraged the leaders and managers to deal the staff and help in making different
workgroups in the organization.
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