Leadership and Management Concepts Report: Walmart Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management concepts, using Walmart as a case study. It begins with a comparison of the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, followed by an examination of how these roles apply in various situational contexts, such as introducing a new product and employee engagement. The report then delves into the application of various leadership theories and models, including Situational Leadership Theory, System Leadership Theory, and Contingency Theory. Key approaches to operational management, such as Lean Production, are discussed, along with the roles of leaders and managers in these approaches. Finally, the report determines the significance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives and identifies business environmental factors that influence operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers. This report showcases the practical application of leadership and management principles in a real-world business setting, offering valuable insights into effective organizational practices.

Leadership and
Management Concepts

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Compare the various role & Characteristics of Leaders & Manager ....................................3
P2 How Role of a Leader & Functions of Manager apply in various situational contexts.........5
P3 Apply various Theories & Models of approach ....................................................................6
P4 Key Approaches to operational Management & role need to play by Leaders & Managers
.....................................................................................................................................................8
P5 Significance & value of operations management in context of business objectives ............9
P6 Business Environmental Factors that affect the operational Management & decision
making by the Leader & Managers ............................................................................................9
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management concepts are essential for the development of the business operations.
There are various management concepts use such as Planning, organisational, staffing, directing
and controlling are necessary to accomplish all the organisational goals. Management concepts
are useful to maintain each and every activities and operational of the organisations and apart
form this, leadership also prominent for the success of the organisations. Through appropriate
leadership, organisations easily complete regular operations. For this report, Walmart
organisation is considered that is a American Multinational organisation which main deal with
retail sector. This organisation founded in 1962 and headquarter in Bentonville, US. The prime
motive of this report is to analyse the comparison of various roles and characteristics of leaders
& managers and examine that how roles of leader and manager useful in various situations.
Apart from this, apply different theories and models and also discuss the key approaches of
operational management. Lastly this report, determine the importance and value of operational
management to obtain the business objectives.
TASK
P1 Compare the various role & Characteristics of Leaders & Manager
Leader
Leader is the one who give proper direction and also guide their team members to
complete daily task in a appropriate manner. A effective leader inspire each and very member an
also help them to balance their performance on the regular basis. Leader also support and aid to
improve their efficiency level (Babbar and et. al., 2017).
Manager
Manager consider the important part of the whole organisation system. Manager mainly
help to conduct all the management activities like plan, organise, direct, monitor and coordinate.
All these management activities help to accomplish the over all objective of the organisation.
Compare the Role of a Leader & Manager
Leader Manager
 The leader of the Walmart use their
innovative skills to obtain the
 Manager main perform their tasks on
the basis of the working situations and

objectives of the organisation. The
main role of the leader is to concentrate
on the efficiency and productivity of
the team member.
 Leader of the Walmart is vision
oriented and try continuously to
achieve the organisation vision.
 Leader of Walmart is responsible to
development of each and every team
members so that they can contribute in
the success of the organisation
(Bendell, Sutherland and Little, 2017).
 The main role of leader is to make
work and task more interesting so that
all the team members engage with their
work and also enjoy their work.
also apply many useful strategies and
practices to obtain the business
objective.
 Manager mainly concerned to the
process oriented and manager of the
Walmart bind by many authoritative
roles.
 Manager directly responsible for the
development of the organisation and
help to obtain the organisational
objectives.
 The main role of Walmart manager is
to motivate team leader so that all the
leader easily connect with their job role
and also help in decision making.
Compare the Characteristic of a Leader & Manager
Leader Manager
 The main characteristic of the Walmart
leader is that they must be very flexible
in every situations and also very
adoptable to new and specific
conditions.
 Leader of the Walmart must know how
to communicate effectively with their
team members so that leader can easily
influence them.
 Leader of the Walmart need to be a
good risk taker so that he or she can
 The one of the main characteristic of
the manager of Walmart is maintain the
communication process and also be a
good listener so that manager easily
focus on every employees issues and
help them to resolve.
 Manger of the Walmart must know
how to manage the time effectively and
conduct every managerial activities on
time (Choi, Chan and Yue, 2016).
 Manager work like risk avoider and

easily create new process and balance
the existing one.
 Leader need to have a good leadership
quality so that leader can effectively
support and inspire the team and also
help their team members to take every
challenges.
help in risk minimisers. Manager also
accountable and responsible to give
proper instructions to their
subordinates.
P2 How Role of a Leader & Functions of Manager apply in various situational contexts
Leader and Manager both are playing prominent part in the success of the organisation.
The role of a leader is crucial because leader is the single person who are responsible to
maintain and improve the employees movements and performance. The functions of the manager
of the Walmart is very essential because manager is responsible to manage over all performance
of the organisation (Grabner, 2019). There are three situations are considered which determine
the role of leader and the function of manager of Walmart are discussed below-
Introduce a new Product
To introduce a new product is very challenging for the organisation and because it take
lots of efforts and planning. Walmart is about to introduce a new product so that organisation
want to launch new product in various areas and also use various promotional strategies so that
this product easily identify by the people. So to introduce a new product, the role of the leader
and the all functions of the manager are given below - Role of a Leader – To introduce a new product, Walmart need to a person who have a
effective leadership quality and power so that he or she can conduct the good
coordination among employee’s who are part of this new product. Leader can responsible
to keep update them with the relevant information about the new product and provide
their support and also help employees in every situation so that employees feel
comfortable in their working condition.
 Functions of a Manager - Manager of the Walmart is responsible to perform all the
management functions. Manager need ton prepare a plan about the new product and also
implement this plan. Manager allocate all the duties and responsibilities on the basis of
department and also provide all the appropriate information about the product to the

leaders of all the department. All the managerial activities are important for the launch
the new product of the Walmart.
Employee Engagement
This is also consider the crucial situation that need to maintain the organisational
structure of the organisation. Employee engagement is necessary because it help to improve the
productivity of the organisation (Guha and Kumar, 2018). The role of leader and the functions
of manager are essential which are given below- Role of a Leader - The main role of the Leader of the Walmart is to create good
relationship among all the employees of their team so that team members easily engage
and also feel completable ton perform their task collectively.
 Functions of a Manager – The main function of the manager is to understand the whole
situation of the organisation and also prepare effective policies, programs and activities
which help to improve the employee engagement.
P3 Apply various Theories & Models of approach
There are various theories and models which help to obtain the good outcome for the
Walmart organisation. The explanations of the various theories and models which Walmart
organisation consider are as fol owes-
Situational Leadership Theory
This theory is given by the Paul Hersey. The other name of this theory is “ Hersey-
Blanchard Situational Leadership theory”. This theory work according to the situations as per the
organisational context. This theory contain 4 leadership style which are adopt by the Walmart.
The discussion of these leadership style are given below- Telling – In this first style, Leader of the organisation discuss with the employees about
the task like what to do and how to perform any particular task. Leader need to tell share
each and every working conditions so that it make clear on employees mind that how
they can work on their respective task. For example, Walmart leader provide all the
guidelines to their team members so that employees will do their work in an appropriate
manner (Johnston and Marshall, 2016). Selling - In this leadership style, leader of the organisation mainly responsible to create
the specific role and objective for the others and they can also sell to the other people so

that company can get the full cooperation's. The main role of the Walmart leader is to
explain and persuade. Participating- This leadership style is all about sharing and facilitating. Leader of the
organisation need to share all the appropriate details with their team members and also
provide them good facilities to do their work effectively. For instance, this kind of
leaders give chance to their team members so that they can participate in organisational
decision making activities.
 Delegating- In this leadership style, leader mainly use the method “ Letting Other to
Do” . Leaders give less information and details to their team members so that employees
can use their extra efforts to understand the work and after that leader can ask them time
to time about their opinion and which help in decision making (King, 2018) .
System leadership Theory
According to this theory, leader of the Walmart must be capable to generate a suitable
conditions where employees can improve their productivity level. In this theory a leader should
be able to balance and also train their team members so that they can become capable to work in
a systematic way which help the company to achieve their working task on specific time without
any latency. This theory consider some set of skills and abilities that mainly utilized by the
employees which help to make some changes. System leadership theory include three elements
such as combines collaborative leadership, coalition building and last system that useful in
innovation and few set of actions in huge decentralized organisation network. Walmart use this
theory so that organisation can easily analyse and implement few interdisciplinary systems that
demonstrate result that basically involved in the actions (Lagstedt and Dahlberg, 2018).
Contingency Theory
This theory proposed by the Fiedldr's. This theory refer that there is not a particular way
for leading and also conducting a business operations and also making any judgement. This
theory focus on internal and external action to use contingent and dependent approach. Walmart
organisation contingent leader mainly utilise their self leadership approach and style as per the
situation. Contingent leaders are capable to adopt effective strategies and take good decision on a
specific situation.

P4 Key Approaches to operational Management & role need to play by Leaders & Managers
As per the carry out various operational activities its necessary to use some approach
which are basically use of the leader and manager of the organisation. The explanation of key
approaches to the operational management and the role of leader and manager of Walmart in
this are discussed below-
Lean Production
This is consider the most useful approach to the operational management of the
organisation. Lean production is contain as a systematic and structured production process that
decline the wastage of the resources. Walmart organisation production process is really efficient
that help in produce the more output in exchange of the less inputs. The main role of the leader is
to coordinate and support those team members who are involved in the production process of the
organisation (Low, et. al., 2019). Manager of the organisation can plan , organise and monitor
all the production activities and manage all the records of the employees and labour.
Operational Management
It is contain as an administration of the organisation in which organisation perform
business practices and generate the more effectiveness that possible within organisation. The
main responsibility of operational management is transmit material in to products and services in
a effective way. Leader of the organisation consider all the operational activities which helpful in
management of the team members. Manager of the Walmart proper maintain all the records and
specific information of the employees and prepare a effective strategy and also use specific
policies which help the employees so that they can easily manage all the working operations.
Just-In-Time
This approach also known as JIT and consider as a useful inventory management
methods. This approach contain labour, raw materials and manufacturing products that re-filled
and also scheduled that help to arrive material and labour on time when need in the
manufacturing process of the Walmart organisation. The main motive to use this approach is that
it useful to improve the effectiveness and reduce the wastage by receiving the products when all
the employees needed in the manufacturing time. Walmart leader provide direction to team
members so that employees work effectively. Leaders also help to manage inventory data so that
leader can easily enhance the efficiency and decline the wastage of resource and inventory.

Total Quality Management
This is a practical approach that specify long lasting success of the organisation through
customers satisfaction. Each and every employees can participate in the entire process of
improvement and follow culture of the organisation. Walmart mainly concerned in this approach
because this approach aid to increase the over all quality of the employees and also improve the
standard (Lu, et. al., 2016). Leader of the organisation necessary to manage the quality of the
team members so that all employees can do their task effectively. Organisational manager use all
the managerial functions to maintain the quality of leaders and employees both in direct and
indirect manner.
P5 Significance & value of operations management in context of business objectives
Operational Management is necessary for every organisation because it manage all the
operational activities and also support to obtain the business objective. Operational management
of the organisation help to determine the time and budget system which aid in improve the
organisational system. The manager and leader of the Walmart pay significant role to achieve the
business objectives of the organisation.
Proper utilization of Resources
The value of operational management is more in context of organisation because it help
to optimising the useful resources. Leader and manager of the Walmart generate various useful
techniques that help in reduce the wastage of resources so that organisation easily manage all the
resources which will lead to accomplish the objective of business operations.
Customer Satisfaction
Through proper operational management organisation can provide high level of
satisfaction to their customers. Organisation give high quality products to their customers with
suitable price which will help to enhance the brand image globally and also help to create the
effective customer base. Manager of the organisation manage all the business operations even in
critical situation and manger and leader motivate their employees so that employees can work in
every working and changing environment conditions (Pardey, 2016).
Inventory Management
Operational management consider the inventory management process which help to
balance the usage and wastage of the inventory. Manager of the organisation concerned to save
the material and all the resources so that organisation easily manage the inventory. Organisation

focus on the demand and supply of the products and then prepare the plan of inventory and
resources usage.
Product Quality
Its necessary to improve the quality of the product. Leader of the organisation focus on
the quality of the products and time to time check the quality parameters of the products.
Manager of the organisation analyse that which product specially liked by the customers and also
consider that which product disliked by the customers so that Walmart do some modification so
that people will like the products (Reid and Sanders, 2019).
Capacity Management
To manage the capacity is essential for manage of organisation. Manager and leader are
responsible to direct all the employees in a right manner so that they can increase their
capabilities and perform best to obtain the business objective of the Walmart. This approach is
supportive and also useful for the betterment of the employees and also organisation.
P6 Business Environmental Factors that affect the operational Management & decision making
by the Leader & Managers
There are various factor which influence the operational management and decision
making of the leaders and manager but in context of Walmart , social and technological factors
of business environment considered. The description of these factors as per the operational
management and decision making of leader and manager of Walmart are given below-
Analysis of Social Factor
In social environmental factors, age, religion, culture, taste preference, buying behaviour
and customer buying habits includes. Walmart is a largest organisation which operating their
business all over world so that organisation need to show their concern in each and every
operational activities which can help in decision making of manager and all departmental leader
of the organisation (Seetharaman, et. al., 2016). Due to uncertainty of covid , organisation
experienced many ups and downs in their business. Quick changes in technologies influenced the
buying behaviour of the people and introduction of E- commerce , people are more active to buy
products and easily get the product in their home. Walmart provide good quality products and
services and also focus o their priority and preferences which will help to increase the revenue of
the organisation.
Analysis of Technological Factors

Technological factors includes all the technological advancement and modification. In
this time technologies are taking a massive place and cover all the market. Through various
technological platforms and digital marketing channels like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,
Twitter , you tube and other platform help to enhance the marketing of the Walmart so that
company expand easily their market one location to another location. With the help of
technologies, organisation can track all the activities of their customers and also consider that
which products mostly used by the people. Technologies help to maintain the payment activities.
Through software, people can easily quick payment of their shopping (Turner and Baker, 2018).
All these factors affect the operational management and also influenced the decision
making of leaders and managers of the Walmart organisation directly. With the help of social
factors, manager and leader can determine and make all the changes as per the customer
requirement and preferences and though technological factors , managers and leaders easily
make strategy for promot their organisation products and services nationally and internationally
(Wu, et. al., 2017).
CONCLUSION
According to this report it can be analysed that operational management concepts and
leadership are essential for the success of the organisation. There are 5 specific management
concepts like plan , organise , direct, control and coordinate are prominent in each and every
operational management activities. There are various theories are used to improve the over all
operational activities inside and outside the organisation. Situational theory and system theory
are beneficial for the welfare of the organisation. There are various role and responsibilities
which leaders and managers of the organisation need to play which help in demonstrate the right
direction to the employees. Total quantity management and Just-In-Time approach are
appropriate for the operational management. Lastly this report found that social and
technological factors are affect more to the operational management and decision making of
leaders and managers.

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