Leadership, Management, and Operations Analysis - ABF Report

This report delves into the intricacies of leadership, management, and operations, using Associated British Foods PLC (ABF) as a case study. The introduction establishes the significance of operations management, especially within a global food processing and retail company like ABF. Task 1 meticulously compares the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, examining their functions in diverse situations, including decision-making, risk-taking, problem-solving, and team building. It further explores leadership theories and models, such as situational leadership and contingency models, as applied within ABF. The report also analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of different leadership approaches. Task 2 focuses on key approaches to operations management, the roles of leaders and managers in this context, and the importance of operations management in achieving business objectives. The report assesses factors within the business environment affecting operational decisions, evaluates how leaders and managers can improve operational efficiency, and analyzes the impact of various factors on the business environment and the wider community, specifically in the context of ABF. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and insights gained throughout the analysis.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS ........................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a manager and leader......................3
b) Roles and functions of a leader and manager in different situations.................................5
c) Theories and models of leadership in different situations within organisation..................6
d)Comparison between a role of leader and function of a manager by apply theories..........7
e) Evaluate the strength and weakness of different approaches in various situations............8
f)Critically evaluation of different theories to leadership......................................................9
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................9
a)Explaining key approaches to operations management and the roles that leaders and
managers play.........................................................................................................................9
b)Explaining the importance and value of operation management in attaining business
objectives..............................................................................................................................11
c)Assessment of factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision making by leaders and managers ..............................................11
d)Evaluation of how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational
management to successfully meet the business objectives...................................................13
e) Analysis of how different factors affect the business environment and wider community13
f)Critically evaluate application of operation management and factors that impact on the wider
business environment for ABF.............................................................................................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is relating to primary activity of manufacturing. This helps the
organizations to explain the change of state of physical goods. It is a part of the company where
it concerns with the transformation of wide range of inputs into the expected outcome by
maintains required level of quality. In addition, management is a procedure that combines and
converts different resources in the operational activities that can add value in the services. In the
present scenario, operation management concept is changing with the time. It is considered as a
set of activities which assist in careful planning, organizing, leading and keeping control over the
organizational operations. This defines the importance of operation management which is
required to handle the operations in an effective manner (Brandon and Mullan,2013). The
present research is based on operation and management and its importance for which Associated
British Food PLC (ABF) is taken into consideration. It is a British multinational food processing
and retail company of the UK. The selected organization is world’s second largest producer of
yeast and sugar. In grocery sector, ABF is the major manufacturer related to private and branded
label grocery products. Primark is its retail division and it has 325 stores in different nations such
as UK, US, Belgium, Ireland, etc. Objectives that will be highlighted under the current research
are like difference between role of a leader and function of a manager, roles of both in various
situations and relationship between leadership and management in a contemporary business
environment of ABF.
TASK 1
a) Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a manager and leader
Associated British food PLC includes a group of individuals includes a leaders and
manager. In that there is two main players who plays a main role are a manager and leader. Both
players have different roles and characteristics within firm that are discussed as below-
Comparison Leader Role and
characteristic
Manager Role and
characteristic
Definition Leader is a person who sets a
new vision for the team which
is followed by them.
Manager is that person who
guides, controls and instructs
the members of a group as per
the values that have been

developed.
Personality styles Leaders have a unique
personality as they have an
analytical and innovative skills
so they create new innovative
ideas and adapt new
challenges for improvement in
the organisation. Also, they
have a high level of
imagination power and ability
to take risk.
Manager is a problem solver as
well as having capability to
manage the things within firm
in an effectual manner. He
creates a healthy working
environment and manage the
scare resource in an effective
manner (Hakseve and Render,
2013).
Approaches to tasks Leaders solve the problems by
developing new and effective
solutions (Childe, 2011). They
not only put efforts alone in
finding a solution but they
encourage other team members
to resolve the issues.
Manager develops various
methods, policies and
procedures to build a strong
team. These are combine and
apply within the organisation
to attain goals and objectives
Orientation They are people-oriented. They are task-oriented.
Focus The leader is mainly focused
on guiding and leading the
team members (Bessant and
Lamming, 2013).
The manager is mainly
focused on coordinating work
among team members.
Risk Approaches Leader is a risk taker. Manager resist in taking risks
within organisation.
Styles It includes mainly
transformational, participative
and consultative leadership
styles.
It mainly includes
authoritarian, transactional,
autocratic, democratic and
consultative management

styles.
Role in decision-making
process
Leader do not get fully
involved in decision-making
process.
They have full participation in
the decision-making process.
b) Roles and functions of a leader and manager in different situations
The roles and functions of a leader and manger are different in various situations in the
Associate British Food PLC among which some of them are as follows-
Situations Roles and functions of leader Roles and functions of
manager
Decision-making process The situation arise relating to
decision-making process in
the Associated British Food
Plc. in which they have to
make tough decisions t Leader
contributes maximum efforts
in the whole process.
When there is a tough situation
occur within the cited firm.
Manager not contribute highly
in decision-making process to
resolve that particular
situations (Karlsson , 2016).
Risk taking The cited food company takes
risk for expansion of its
business by merger and
acquisition with other
competitors firms. Leader
supports by taking risk with
regard to expansion of its
business with the Associated
British Food PLC.
In the situations of merger and
acquisition of cited firm the
manger does not supported to
expand the business . They
suggest not to expand as the
idea is not beneficial for them.
They refuse to take risk..
Problem solving The leader solved-situation in
very different perspective
when the cited food company
faced various issues. They
solve retention problem by
Manager tackles the problem
by developing HR policies and
strategies. These are
Implemented within the cited
food company to motivate the

simply look at the situations
and create new ideas to
resolve it. Along with this,
they also resolve issues by
influencing and motivating the
team members in a desired
manner (Kuruppuarachchi and
Perera,2010).
employees towards work.
Team building Leader plays the role in team
building in that so, they
inspire the team members by
developing new skills and
knowledge.
Manager have to just focus on
manageing and completing
tasks within team.
c) Theories and models of leadership in different situations within organisation
In Associated British Food PLC, there different situations occur in which theories and
models of leadership are applied. Some of these are as follows-
 Situational leadership- These situational models of leadership are applied in the
behavioural sciences. It enables the leader to encourage individuals in the cited food
company. This is effective, easy to understand and simply applied in a firm. Also, this
model is effective as it matched with the requirements and qualities of team members.
This will help the leader of Associated British Food PLC to accomplish the task by
support, resolve problems and also,coordinate the work.
 System leadership- The system leadership theory is applied within organisation when
there arise a social problem (Alderton and Saieva, 2013). In that situation, they need a
specific leader to solve these problems by influencing the members to make progress and
attitude towards social change.
 Contingency Model- This model apply by the cited food company in that situation in
which they have to attain effectiveness in the group by leadership. The situations is
evaluated by the leader and constructing on paper by match among leadership and

performance of the organisation. The favourable situation is assess by three factors are
relationship among leader-member, task structure and position power.
d)Comparison between a role of leader and function of a manager by apply theories
The leader play its role and manager perform its function by effectively apply theories
within the Associated British Food Plc. There is a difference between a leader and manager that
are discussed below-
Role of a leader when theories apply Function of a manager when theories apply
Trait theory: This trait theory believes in that
people are born or made with various attributes
that play a role of leadership within the firm.
The attribute include in it are sense of
intelligence, creativity and responsibility. This
are mainly focus on identification of variety of
personality attributes that are connected to
successful leadership over different situations.
This are mainly focus on the characteristic of
leaders in that there resultant in their
effectiveness. This are applied when there are
different problem occur with difference in the
traits.
Behavioural theory: After some limitation in
the trait theory, there is an another theory
develop in which it mainly focus on leader's
behaviour rather than mental, physical and
social attributes. This are categorised into two
the first leader who focus on task and another
is leader who are concerned with the people.
The role of this leadership is that it needed a
strong attribute with positive attitude towards
Chaos theory: This theory is mainly deal with
the uncontrollable and non- linear things that
are impossible to control as well as predict
situation such as bad weather and negative
stock market etc. Therefore, in the context of
Associated British food Plc control some
situation and remains are uncontrollable. It is
used by the manager of cited organisation to
manage the complexity level.
Human relations theory: This theory is
mainly focus on those factors that are related to
the human. This mainly emphasizes on
motivation, leadership and personnel
behaviour within the cited food company. The
manager apply this theory to know the desire
of human to fulfil them so, they put more
efforts towards firm's goals and objectives.

its responsibility and duty within the
organisation. Also, these theory suggest that
particular behaviour is different from leaders
to non-leaders. The main goals of is that to
create leadership.
e) Evaluate the strength and weakness of different approaches in various situations
Trait theory
 Strength- Trait theory have some strength it support the real society image by fulfilling
their needs and it deliver the data about personnel behaviour perform in various situations
 Weaknesses- The major weaknesses is that it predict the situation and these are not true
in each situations of personnel behavioural within the organisation. It develop critical
difference among personnel behaviour and become difficult to measure human behaviour
when individual overreact in some situations.
Behavioural theory
 Strength- There is two mainly strength of behavioural theory is that its supports those
idea in which leadership attribute can be acquired through experience. Along with this,
this theory is focus on behaviours that is easy to collect data by research which provide
clear evidence. This theory assist the employer to change negative attitude of individual
before it harm the organisation by financial and non- financial rewards.
 Weakness- The major weakness of this theory is that for those manager within the
organisation have not adequate knowledge for applicability of behavioural theory. These
may be failure in various culture situations.
Chaos theory
 Strength – The Chaos theory apply in modern science and technology.
 Weaknesses- The major weakness of this theory is that it choose input factor and this are
relies on dynamic in information.
Human relations theory

 Strength – The strengthen of this human relation theory is that it predict human behaviour
powerfully and able to reduce cost and increase rewards. This expand knowledge of all
individuals by familiar them with the current updates.
 Weaknesses- The major weakness is that it focus on only human requirements and it
apply within the firm for manipulating the individuals .
f)Critically evaluation of different theories to leadership
Situational theory- The situational theory does not define clear information to its
subordinates that how they will transfer from lower development level and change commitment
with the time. The theory is not focus on democratic element of personnel for leadership and
also not provides proper guidance to its leaders for implementation of these theory into practice.
In addition to this, the leader feel uncontrollable for analyse the condition of working within the
cited organisation before decision-making.
System leadership theory- This theory develop and increase a number of chances in
developing conflicts and various disputed within the firm. This are beneficial only where there is
a hierarchical structure of the organisation and if it apply in these structure there will be a slow
communication among members. It develop various hurdles in attain the goals of a firm.
Contingency theory- By applying this theory its is successful in some situation and short
fall in various situation as it not coordinate with other standard leadership. There is lack of
information about what would be leader do when there a particular situation exist in the
workplace. This is not flexible as it difficult to interpret and apply in various situations.
TASK 2
a)Explaining key approaches to operations management and the roles that leaders and
managers play
Majorly, there are three kinds of key approaches to operation management that use by
ABF in business. These are Principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), Just-in-Time
Inventory and the concept of continuous improvement (Kaizen). In these three approaches,
leader and manager of cited company are playing various roles which are as follows:

Total Quality Management (TQM): It defines as a constant attempt by management to promote
and get better the processes and systems to make sure the excellent quality products. With the
help of this concept, it develops various kinds of procedures and systems in A BF for getting the
customers feedbacks and uses that information for the further development of the business.
Initiation and execution of TQM needs great efforts to plan and do research to bring the
improvements in several business areas. In this context, managers of cited organizations
understand various TQM practices before using it (Role of Managers in Total Quality
Management. 2017). To implement this, it has required huge investment and proper budgeting
techniques. In this context, managers of ABF have arranged and allocate budgets for TQM
execution at the starting of each financial year. Another role of managers in this area is acting as
a facilitator at the workplace where they can assist employees at the time of implementation of
TQM. They have developed various training programs for personnel where they can know how
to use it to deliver excellent quality products.
On the other hand, leaders of ABF have played several at the time of execution of TQM
at workplace. First role of leaders in this direction is increasing involvement of departments in
understand the working of TQM and its execution. For this, they have determined those
departments where this system can be used to develop and offer quality food item. Second role
play by leaders in cited organization towards using TQM approach is developing an interest of
employees in to understand why its implementation is important along with its benefits. Another
role play by leaders of ABF is monitoring because selected operation management approach of
organization has a dynamic process which has needed to be supervised by management. It has
helped in to make sure about whether it will assist in attain business objectives or not.
Kaizen: This term derives from Japanese language which means continuous incremental
improvement. It is mainly use for bring the enhancement in processes and people of the
organizations. In ABF, managers have played various roles in which one is introduce it as a
corporate strategy (Ferraro,2013). Company has adopted it as a tactic where different strategies
have prepared by management to bring the continuous improvement in the procedures and
systems to deliver quality services. Second role of managers of cited firm has allocation of
resources for bring the constant development in many operational areas. Along with this, they
have developed policy and carry out audits for attain Kaizen goals.

On the other hand, by considering the role of leaders of ABF in Kaizen operation
management approach is facilitating employees to work together. They have leaded the team in
the right way to attain objectives. Along with this, they have provided information and assistance
to personnel regarding how to use Kaizen operation management approach to deliver expected
quality food items to the customers.
b)Explaining the importance and value of operation management in attaining business
objectives
Operation management is one of the strategic functions of every organization. It plays an
important role in the direction of attain organizational strategies and meeting business objectives.
In the case of ABF, the following approach has highly considered by the management to attain
business objectives. Explanation of its essentialness and value of operation management for cited
firm in achieving trade objectives (Loorbach,2010). It help them in a systematic manner for
producing food products and services according to the customer's taste and preferences. Along
with this, it handle the products and service by managing its cost, quality, speed and flexibility.
The operational management play a significant role because of two main reasons. Firstly, is that
it enhance the productivity capacity that leads to enhancement in financial position of the cited
organisation. Secondly, is that it supports the organisation through make priorities of its
customers in a competitive world. It helps the firm in managing the things by make usage of
scare resources in the production process. The mangers of operations is responsible for difficult
task are planning of purchasing, scheduling, quality and material management (Our businesses.
2017). So, the importance of this operation management is highly demand of various
organisation due to some major factors. The main factors are advancement in technology,
increase in competition and people are more educated.
c)Assessment of factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision making by leaders and managers
There are major factors that affect the operational management and in decision making
process by a leaders and manager of the ABF (Koontz,2010). The major factor are mainly
categories in various form that are discussed below-
Internal factors

 Value system- The function of operational management according to the ABF 's culture,
values and rules. These various rules and regulations that is frame by the cited firm have
to be follow by the all members. The function of each department in also perform as per
the various rules and regulation of the company. Financial variable- The various financial aspect affects the operational management and
its functions of the ABF (Khan, Kellerer, Kozu and Yabusaki, 2011). These factors are
the financial policies, procedures and firm's financial position and its capital structure. Internal relations- The relationship among all the levels of the management in the firm
and employer and employee relations are dynamic that is difficult to coordinate. The
cause and effect relationship of stakeholder is highly impact on the function of cited food
organisation.
External factors
 Suppliers- The person who are mainly responsible in supply the raw material and inputs
resources to operational department is known as suppliers. These play a major role in the
management of operations (Jabbour, Sousa Jabbour and et, al., 2013). They assist the
cited firm in supplying the inputs on right time if, they not supply on right time means it
will create hurdles in the production process. They ensure that the function is run
smoothly by supply raw material on time when the firm needed.
 Competitors- The competitor of the ABF have a great impact on the operation
management. To maintain a brand image they should properly monitor and evaluate the
rival company's strategies and procedures. It help them to make improvements in its
strategies by modify the existing methods or develop new strategy.
 Political factor- These are impact on the cited food company due to change in rule and
regulation of government. These firm are operated in different countries so, they are
highly affect as they are operate across boarders ( Dima,2010.). These rules and
regulation is related to taxation, restricted goods and services across boarders and tariffs.
 Economic factor- The economic factors are highly impact the country conditions are in
favourable and unfavourable economic situations. There are two economic factors are
micro-economic and macro-economic. Micro-economic include size of market, supply
and relationship among suppliers and distributors etc. whereas, macro-economic factors it
include interest rate, fluctuation in exchange in exchange rate and consumer saving.