A Report on Leadership, Management, and Operations at Marks & Spencer

This report delves into the crucial roles of leadership and management within the context of Marks & Spencer (M&S), a prominent retail brand. It differentiates between leadership and management, emphasizing the leader's role in inspiring and providing vision, and the manager's role in achieving daily goals and objectives. The report explores various leadership styles, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, and their application within M&S. Furthermore, it examines key approaches to operations management such as Total Quality Management (TQM), benchmarking, and lean manufacturing, highlighting their significance in achieving competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. The document provides examples of leadership and management functions, demonstrating how these principles are applied in practice within the organization, making it a valuable resource for understanding the interplay between leadership, management, and operational excellence in the retail sector.

Management and Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
When an individual transforms his idea or thought into actually functioning business with
help of some more individuals then he is said to be a leader and an entrepreneur. No organisation
or group can withstand barriers or roadblocks unless and until there is a leader or manager
present in the team. This report aims to provide information about the responsibility and
obligation of the manager within the company. Their importance is reflected in different tasks
and activities of the organisation. Marks and Spencer is a retailer brand operating in UK and
known for its diverse variety of products and services. There is a huge impact of leaders and
managers when considering the operations and their management in the organisation. This report
helps in discovering the different approaches to operations management and the various factors
of business environment which will be affect these.
TASK 1
P1) Feature and responsibility about the leader and manager
Management and leadership may sound like two sides of a coin but these are quite
different in some aspects. The leader is a person who guides and informs individuals about the
purpose of functioning and the basic aims and objectives of the company. M&S has to have a
leader who would inspire and motivate other individuals so that functioning and operations are
not interrupted. On the other hand, manager is a person who works for meeting the deadlines or
to accomplish daily goals and objectives (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra, 2013). The role of a
leader is to guide individuals at every point of time while functioning in the organisation. The
characteristic of a manager is to order while the leader inspires his followers to take on a job or
action.
The basic quality of a leader is to develop a vision which is to be followed by the entire
organisation for gaining excellence. This vision can be long term and short term depending on
the need and requirement of the organisation (Dale, 2015). On the other hand, manager doesn't
have the ability to provide a vision or perspective to the subordinates. Being a completely
distinct process, the roles and responsibilities of a manager are clearly defined. The leader has
his own type of governance. There is no liability or duty which forces the leader to choose a
particular style of leadership. The role of the leader is to develop strategies which bring in
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innovation while the manager has to follow the set of methods which have been applied for daily
operations (Bookbinder and Dilts, 2016).
As mentioned before, leaders are required at every stage of the organisation. M&S cannot
function properly without the presence of a leader. He has to solicit support and bring in the
much needed cooperation and support amongst the staff members and employees so that any
decision or change can be managed and implemented effectively. Furthermore, leaders play the
role of a philosopher or guide that has to bring back the morale or enlighten employees with their
knowledge and experience (Brown, Bessant, and Lamming, 2013). The maturity, intelligence
and wit has to be shared with the employees so that they can enhance their learning and give
their best in the company. On the other hand, managers have to be highly skilled when it comes
to planning and organisation. This management helps in defining the different operations and
responsibilities to the subordinates.
The manager also has a characteristic attribute of solving problems quickly. They have
the ability to develop solutions irrespective of the nature of problem so efficiently that no
customer or client would be dissatisfied with the functioning of the organisation. M&S would be
grateful to such managers who strive for the betterment of the organisation in all sorts of
circumstances (Wisner, 2016).
P2) Examples of role of a leader and function of manager
Leadership roles vary from being formal to informal depending on the demand of the
situation. In M&S, there has to be a leader assigned for some important business functions. The
basic traits of a leader include empathy, passion, confidence, vision, positive perseverance
towards a situation, etc. The leader plays the role of a supervisor when it comes to developing a
strategy (Mahadevan, 2015). For instance, the CEO of M&S will have to be a supervisor
especially in situations when business decisions have to be taken. If the company is facing crisis
like recession or inflation then CEO or the organisational head will take responsibility as a
supervisor and implement respective decisions to make the company survive in that particular
situation.
On the other hand, the manager has different personality traits. Basic functions of a
manager include planning, organising and leading the employees or subordinates under his/her
jurisdiction (Schönsleben, 2016). For example, the daily goals of M&S are fixed i.e. to reach the
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minimum sales target. The sales manager has to plan out the activities of his sales team and then
implement these strategies accordingly amongst the team members. It will further bring in more
effectiveness and the probability of achieving the goal increases (Talk, 2016). However, leader
has to play the role of a visionary in situations when organisation doesn't have a path to follow.
For example: M&S suffered acute losses and there is no hope of recovery for the employees. In
such a critical situation often people lose their trust in the company and try searching other
options. The leader plays his role of a visionary and establishes a thought that significant
recovery is possible by taking necessary steps. He doesn't loose hope and neither does he make
other loose the same (Slack, 2015). Hence, a vision is obtained by the company which helps in
facilitating respective goals and objectives.
Recruitment and selection is a crucial organisational process. The manager has a very
important function in this process. He has to staff the right candidates who deserve the respective
position and power in the organisation depending solely on their capabilities and skills. For a
large scale organisation like M&S, it is important for the manager to follow his ethical
functioning and bring in best candidates so that productivity is not hindered. It also helps in
securing the future of the organisation which is to accomplish the respective goals and objectives
(Ruiz, Ruiz and Martínez, 2011). All these facts and information depict that the role of a leader
and function of a manager go simultaneously and are equally important for the organisation's
benefits and welfare.
P3) Theories and models of approach
There are different leadership approaches that are used in M&S for giving proper
directions and instructions to the subordinates. Along with this it aids for giving proper
leadership to subordinates that are working in the company. It is required that strategic and
innovative practices are used in the company so that proper directions can be given to people that
are working in the firm (Bethel, 2012). Three most common approaches that are used in the
company are as described :-
Situational leadership:
The type of leaders or managers that have the ability to adjust or make their style of
governance fit for the organisation so that development and progress are guaranteed are
considered as situational leaders. These individuals keep on changing their styles depending on
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the situation they are facing and depending on their thinking process. The basic purpose of this
continuous change is to meet the basic need and demand of followers and the related
stakeholders. M&S can experience situational leadership when there is selling and coaching
which means that in performing daily activities. This implies that the manager can portray this
kind of leadership in the organisation whenever required (Sharkey and Eccher, 2010). The style
of delegation and development in this style totally depends on the needs and requirements of
followers.
Systems Leadership:
When working in an organisation, there are wide range of individuals belonging to
different cultural and social backgrounds. This creates a corporate kind of social community in
the premises of M&S. There are trends and pressures of the society and these communities over
the leader. The style which helps in steering such groups and communities in such a way that no
negative influence is experienced by the followers is systems leadership (Rosen, 2014). Effective
and significant collaboration from the side of followers is gained by the leader because he/she is
capable of handling different kinds of pressures and deflections in the social presence.
Contingency Leadership:
Contingency is kind of a random and quick decision or strategy which is used by the
individual for coping with the facing situation (Schneider and Schröder, 2012). This kind of
leadership is completely based on the perseverance of leader towards a particular instance. It can
happen in case of M&S that leader would be efficient but the working environment would not be
structured or simplified for executing tasks. These kinds of leaders are impersonal and place a
strategic functioning in the organisation so that effectiveness can be achieved.
TASK 2
P4) Key approaches to operations management
Operations are merely business processes which are applied for getting the desired
outcome in the form of product and service. M&S has to perform operations management for
getting their desired product or service delivered to the customer. There are different parameters
on the basis of which customers make the decision whether to buy a product or not. These
include quality, quantity, price and the brand name (Northouse, 2012). These all are an outcome
of effective operations. Hence, there have been certain approaches defined by key theorists and
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philosophers for gaining command over the different business operations and for attaining a
competitive advantage in situations of severe competition. These have been mentioned as
follows:
Total Quality Management:
Total Quality Management or TQM is a master or prime operations management
approach which involves making improvisation or changes unless the best quality product or
service is not developed. The basic necessity of this approach is to develop an atmosphere or
environment in the organisation in such a way that entire processing is based on quality. The
only aim of this approach is to provide an impressive commodity to the clients in any situation
(Müller, Geraldi and Turner, 2012). Despite of the fact that high quality goods are considered as
costly, but there are great benefits when visualising the long term effects. Once installed, TQM
system helps in conquering competition and brings in more effectiveness for M&S like
organisations to achieve sustainability.
Benchmarking:
There must be several standards and policies which have been defined in the industry for
the organisations to follow. Benchmarking is the process in which company shall compare and
adjust its products and services according to the standards and performance metrics which have
been devised by international standard organisations like ISO. These principles have been
developed for encouraging ethical practises and safeguarding the customers from unethical
activities of business enterprises (Small and Rentsch, 2011). M&S can inculcate benchmarking
as the chief process of operations management for gaining customer satisfaction. Through this
approach, the company can gain the indication whether its products and services are in
accordance with industrial standards or not.
Lean Manufacturing:
Lean manufacturing is the process of developing a systematic environment in which there
is minimum waste generation. This implies that a keen observation is kept on the manufacturing
and production of goods and services so that there is less amount of waste produced by the
operations. The benefits of this approach is less amount of strategic approaches for waste
management. This implies that company will not have to spend a significant amount just for
eliminating waste. Furthermore, an advantageous value is added to the goods and services with
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help of this approach of operations management. There are seven types of waste which are
reduced through lean manufacturing. These include:
 Transport
 Inventory
 Motion
 Waiting
 Overproduction
 Over-processing
 Defects
All these kinds of waste are managed and reduced significantly through lean
manufacturing. Hence, operations management can be performed by M&S can use
aforementioned three approaches.
P5Explainatio about the significance of the operation management
The mentioned concept is a process of managing the company related activities and
function in such manner so as determined in a criteria by which set objective can attain in an
effective manner. In this process, management design, execute and control of operation that
convert resources in a desired good and services (Chiaburu, Dia and Pitts, 2011). The major
objective operation management is to design and control the process of production within
business. With assistance of this process, firm can set all functioning of business in such manner
so as determined objective can easily attain within a time period. Marks and Spencer firm can
easily attain its objective to gain the highest profitability and market share by adopting effective
operation management approaches and implement in the business. Following are some major
value and importance of this mentioned concept in the cited venture- Improve productivity- With assistance of operational management approaches, firm can
easily better the fruitfulness and quality of entity performance. In this manner, company
various approaches of operation management can use to improve the quality of working
in the business operation which assists in increasing overall productivity of business. Overcome the wastage and extra cost- With assistance of operation management,
additional wastage and cost of the production can overcome and improve the efficiency
of working in the business. Operation management generally used in the production and
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manufacturing process so by use of units approaches, firm can reduce the extra expenses
and wastage of materials. Proper utilisation of resources- With assistance of operation management, all resources
of business can efficiently used by the employees so it can be said that this mentioned
aspect aids in improving the utilisation of available resources.(Farndale, 2014) Control over business activities-In this operational management process by proper
allocation and utilisation of resources firm can able to effective control and monitor the
each activities of business (Chiaburu, Dia and Pitts, 2011). Meet customer expectation-Operation management assists in improving the quality of
product and services of the Mark and Spencer. Hence if quality of commodity increases
then customer can automatically attract toward firm. This will help in improving brand
image and meet the expectation of the customer in the market
 Develop competitive advantage- Operational management assists in increasing the
competitive advantage of the business because with help of these approaches, firm can
assists in improving the productivity of business and design effective production. This aid
aids in developing company’s completive advantage of the organisation through which
firm can gain highest profitability in the market.
P6 Assessment of the components of business environment that influence operational
management and decision making of the manager and leader
Marks and Spencer is the world largest retail corporation in the UK which deals with the
clothing, home products and luxury food products. It main aim is to deliver the high quality of
customer good and attract them. It objective is to gain effective profitability and market share e
in the market. It is a global company which largely influenced by various components of
business. While cited venture operates its business at global level then it needed to consider
various factor of business environment. Manager of cited venture have to consider these forces
while it takes any decisions related to business (aur and Haase, 2015). Following are some major
components of business environment which considered in decision making process-
 Employees- Employees are major component of business environment which have
to consider at the time of decision making process. The entire growth and success
of Marks and Spenser is largely depends upon the performance of personnel’s so it
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is very important for manager to keep satisfied and retain them within business
entity (Bonanni and Cafazzo, 2014). They are largely interested to taking effective
rewards, salary, effective working conditions and policies. While cited firm takes
any decision related to company’s policies, structure, practices then they have to
involve their participation in the business decision making process.
 Customer- Customer is another major factor of the business environment who
requires high quality of product and services in the reasonable and affordable
prices. They are interested in effective offers, discounts, high quality of products
etc. They requires regular update about the product and services thus company
should always deliver the right information about the goods and services. While
corporation takes any decision about the existing product prices, distribution,
features etc then they have to communicate with customer and taking their
consideration in the business decision making process.
 Suppliers- They are those people who render the raw material, semi finished goods
to corporation. As Marks and Spencer is customer product based company like
food, clothing, home ware product etc thus in order to manufacture these product
firm required high quality of raw material (Dextras-Gauthier, Marchand and Haines
2012). Hence it can be said that cited venture largely depends upon the suppliers so
it should take their consideration in the business decision making process. They
required timely payment and effective order of large amount and they also curious
to know the financial condition of firm.
 Government- Government is major business environment component which can
largely affect the business decisions. Cited venture have to consider governmental
rules, regulation, taxation policies, business norms, legislation at the time of
operation and business decision making process. Firm can keep satisfied
government by following all rules and regulation and by pay fair taxation according
to financial performance.
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CONCLUSION
Operation management is very essential aspect for the organisation through which it can
manage and control the business activities and function and attain the desired objective within a
time. It has been also concluded from this report that manager and leader is very essential asset
for company by which firm can achieve its set target. In the absence of manger firm cannot
operate and manage the business. There are various approaches of operation management like six
sigma, lean production etc through which firm can improve the quality of production and
manufacturing cost and overcome the wastage and additional cost incurred in the business.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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