Leadership, Management and Operations: Sainsbury's Case Study Report

This report delves into the core concepts of leadership and management, comparing the roles and functions of leaders and managers within an organizational context. It examines how these roles apply in diverse situational contexts, including change management, product launches, performance management, and addressing low productivity and motivation. The report further explores and applies various leadership theories and models, such as situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency approaches. A significant portion of the report focuses on the application of these concepts to operations management, emphasizing its importance in achieving business objectives and assessing the factors that influence operational decision-making. The report uses Sainsbury's as a case study throughout, providing practical examples and analysis.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
Define and compare the roles and the function of a leader and the manager........................3
Examine how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational
context....................................................................................................................................5
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency....................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................11
Explain the key approaches to operations management with the role of the leader and the
manager................................................................................................................................11
Explain the importance and the value of operations management in achieving business
objectives..............................................................................................................................12
Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision-making by leaders and managers....................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Management defines as the system in which all the business activities is formulating with
the proper planning, staffing and directing and controlling the human resource of an organisation
in order to achieve the profitability in the organisation(Gorman, 2016). Operations are the
internal working of the organisation and run their business in a effective manner and help the
organisation to expand their market size in to new market. Sainsbury is the chosen organisation
for this report an it is the second largest chain of supermarket in the United Kingdom. It is
established in 1869 by John James Sainsbury's. This report will cover the functions and role of
the manager and the leader. It also analyse the role of leader and function in different situational
context. Furthermore, it also explain the different theories and approaches of leadership and also
explain the various key approaches to operations management. It will also explain the
importance and values of operation management in achieving business objectives.
Define and compare the roles and the function of a leader and the manager.
A leader is one who rallies people to move forward for the better vision and perform each
task in the goal oriented manner. It will work to convert the vision in to reality while putting
people first. It will also concern with inspiring the people and taking charge of them that they
will move in the one direction to achieve the common objective. Sainsbury is complete their
desired task within a set time frame with the help of excellent leaders.
The manager is one who is responsible for managing and controlling all the department
and guide the employees for their betterment in a specific goal(Fontainha and et. al., 2017). It is
concern with the daily functioning of the department in a effective manner and leads the
employee to work with their full potential in order to achieve the business goal. Moreover, the
manager is responsible for the actual result and their consequences. Sainsbury is doing their
business in a pre-defined manner to achieve the business goal with the help of potential
managers.
Roles of a Leader and the manager
Leader Manager
 A leader is the decision maker in the
organization that take the top level
management.
 It is responsible for framing the polices
for the smoothing an proper functioning
in the business.

 A leader can not complete any task
individually, they have to delegates the
various activities in order to achieve the
business goal.
 The Manager is one who assign the
responsibilities of the various task on
the basis of employee skill and
knowledge.
 A leader is the influencer who can
make the effective strategies to
motivate the employee in the
organisation to perform the each
function in effective manner.
 It is concern with controlling the
functions of management (planning,
staffing, directing and controlling).
Roles of a leader which are explained through the application of a Adair's model that is
explained as follows:
 Achieve task: It is the duty of the leader to formate the various activities in such a
manner so that they can achieve the organisational goal with the accomplishment of
several task.
 Develop and maintain healthy team: When the leader emphasis on creating the string
team, it will leads to have the greater level of efficiency in order to perform better and
develop the organisation.
Leader in Sainsbury are building the strong team in order to attain the various objectives
of the business with the consideration of attaining higher profitability.
Characteristics of a leader and the manager
Leader Manager
 A leader must be self-aware with their
own positive and negative point and
improve themselves in accordance to
make itself perfect.
 A manager should have the effective
public speaking so that they can
influence other for attaining their
business goal.
 A leader should show some empathy to
their employees by placing itself in
employee's shoes and understand their
 A manager should have the capability
to handle the workload and resolve the

view. issue in a effective manner.
 A Leader should have the good social
skills so that they can make the good
bond with the employees.
 Manager build a work culture of mutual
trust so they each operation can be done
in a effective manner.
Functions of a Manager:
Various function of manager is explained as follows:
 Planning:It is the process of thinking beforehand so that all the activities are performed
with the accomplishing of organisational goal. It is the duty of the manager to conduct the
planning in order to run the business.
 Organising: It is the function of the manager to allocate all the necessary task so that
they can perform that in an appropriate manner by knowing the duties and responsibilities
of the employees.
 Directing: It is the process of giving continuous training and guidance to the employees
so that they can complete their assigned work in an appropriate manner. Manager must
focuses on performance management of the workforce in order to improve their
performance.
 Controlling: It is the aspect of measuring the actual results with the desired result in
order to identify the gap between the activities. Manager must understand the various
aspect of the business and do the necessary changes.
In context of Sainsbury, manager is focusing on the various function so management so
that each aspect will be performed in an appropriate manner and employees also enhanced their
efficiency.
Examine how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational
context.
Manager and leaders play an vital role in every situation and help the organisation to
generate higher sale in their business. They perform the effective market research and analyse
the various business strategies and make a better combination to offer the quality product and
help the company to generate higher revenue. Role of manager and leader in different situation
are explained as follows:

 Change management- It is the technique of implementing some thing new in the various
process or coming up with the new business plan. This would be a difficult process in
managing the change in the business operations. Leader should take the decision with the
consideration that each employee will able to work in a systematic approach and can
easily adapt the new practices(Engelsberger and Greiner 2018). Manager should focuses
on learning and training of the employee for the adapting the change in the organisation
by learning the new techniques and methods of business. Sainsbury also can set the
example by effective conducting of change management in their operations.
 Lunch of the new product- It is point where a firm is launching the new product in the
target market by doing the market research. Leader should make the plan in order to
increase the sale of the product by make effective marketing strategies and selling
technique. Manager also emphasis on the assigning the task according to the skills and
competences of the individual. It is the risky process in which firm should make the
backup plan for easy recovery. Sainsbury can generate the high sale by doing effective
market study while launching new product. It will enhance the profitability of the
business.
 Performance management- It is the management tool that help in evaluation of employees
work. The main aim of performance management is to create an environment where
employee can work with their full potential in order to achieve the business goal. It will
help the organisation to get the potential employees in the organisation (De Guimarães
and et. al., 2019). Performance can be assess when the manager do the proper evaluation
of employee working and give the appropriate training by using advance technique and
various method for the improving the performance of the employees. Sainsbury is the
growing organisation which can earn the higher profit with the help of effective and
efficient functioning of the employees.
 Low productivity: It is the situation in which an organisation tends to have the low
efficiency in attaining the objectivity of the business and minimize the chances of getting
higher success in the large market. Leader and manager play an significant role in the
success of the company and responsible for smooth running of the business. They can
influence the employees for their better working so that it increase the chances of getting

success. For instance, If the leader is not framing the accurate policies then it directly
affects the productivity of the employees as they can not known with the action plan.
 Low motivation: it is the aspect which enhance the performance of an individual as it is
the integrated aspect that influence the individual for their better working. Employees are
not giving their best in attaining the organisation goal due to less motivation given my
leader and the manager in order to operate various operational activities. For example,
When the manager is not maintain the employee relation nor managing the reward
management within the organisation so that It leads to reduce the performance of
workforce in attaining the organisational goal.
Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency.
Leadership theories defines the characteristics, behaviour, attitude of an individual who
posses to become a leader. It identifies the ways and paths to which any individual becomes and
acts as a leader in the organisation. Leadership theories plays a very important role in the
formation of a leader. Some theories of leadership such as situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency are discussed below:
 Situational leadership: Situational leadership theory says that a leader should modify
his style based on the situations prevailing at a particular time in the organisation. A
leader should also act according to the performance of his or her team highlighting in
their work performing in the office(Benjankar and et. al., 2018). The theory includes four
key areas of leadership backed by two major components that is leadership style and
growth degree of the team. They key areas are Telling, Selling, Participating and last is
Delegating better known as S1, S2, S3 and S4 in the model. In S1 the leader directs the
decisions, objectives, goals, targets to the team and the team member is required to
follow the leaders guidance strictly. In Selling stage the leader directs the objectives and
goals but on the other hand gives an opportunity to the team to present their views in the
form of suggestion before finalizing on the decision. The leader here sells his plan and
coaches to the team. The third in the row is S3 that is Participating. As the name suggests
participating,the leader in the team participates with his members in finalizing the
decisions and leaves the rest on his followers. Here the leader motivates and supports the
team. The least includes S4 that is Delegating stage. In this last stage the leader delegated

all the rights to taker decisions to his team members and gives no or less guidance to
them. The leader only sets the long term goals for each member in a team.
Situational Leadership Theory
 System Leadership: This model of leadership allows the leaders to build such
circumstances in which all the levels of management people can perform their task in an
effective and efficient way. This includes a system change at mass level action, the
leaders supports the action, creates and enable them into existence. They do not inhabit
publicity for their self. The situation requires a collaborative efforts which deals with
complex issues including huge business expenses. CLEAR framework is used for the
change in system where this leadership theory is applied. CLEAR stands for Convene,
Look, Engage, Act and Review.
 Contingency Theory: Contingency refers to a situation which can arise in the near future
for which an individual has no idea. The theory states about the quality of a good leader
whose abilities and traits are not rigid rather changes sometimes at the time of
contingency (Behl and Dutta, 2019). The theory explains that a leader cannot be effective
in all the situations. He can be effective in one situation or may be ineffective in another
situation. It describes that a leader does not have a single best way to lead and strive in all
conditions. The contingency circumstances can be analysed by measuring three different

factors such as Leader and member bond, Structure of a task, and the designation
competency.
Sainsbury adopts Situational theory of Leadership in the organisation. The
leaders are not stick to one trait rather modifies their style based on the situations which helps the
organisation in solving the various issues in a better and in efficient way. The company follows
all the four components of the theory as sometimes the leaders of Sainsbury directs the decisions,
objectives to the team sometimes they sell their ideas and plans or participates with the team and
sometimes they delegates the responsibility and authority to their teams based upon the
situations.
CONCLUSION
This is concluded form the above report that Management and operations play important
role in maintaining the profitability in the organisation. Leader make the comprehensive plan for
the smooth running of all the business activities. A leader should be a good influencer who can
influence their employees in the organisation. Company will use the situational theory in which
they can adopt the leadership style according to the situation so that problem can be solved
easily. Manager will take the right decision and analyse the market their need while launching of
new product. This will help in generating higher profit in the organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Behl, A. and Dutta, P., 2019. Humanitarian supply chain management: a thematic literature
review and future directions of research. Annals of Operations Research, 283(1),
pp.1001-1044.
Benjankar, R. and et. al., 2018. Dam operations may improve aquatic habitat and offset negative
effects of climate change. Journal of environmental management, 213, pp.126-134.
De Guimarães and et. al., 2019. Antecedents, mediators and consequences of sustainable
operations. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Engelsberger, M. and Greiner, T., 2018. Dynamic reconfiguration of service-oriented resources
in cyber–physical production systems by a process-independent approach with multiple
criteria and multiple resource management operations. Future Generation Computer
Systems, 88, pp.424-441.
Fontainha, T.C. and et. al., 2017. Public-private-people relationship stakeholder model for
disaster and humanitarian operations. International journal of disaster risk
reduction, 22, pp.371-386.
Gorman, M.F., 2016. A “Metasurvey” analysis in Operations Research and Management
Science: A survey of literature reviews. Surveys in Operations Research and
Management Science, 21(1), pp.18-28.
Grant, D.B. ed., 2016. Logistics, Supply Chain and Operations Management Case Study
Collection. Kogan Page Publishers.

INTRODUCTION
In an organisation, Operation are the process of various department and their functional
areas. Management is concern with the proper planning, organising, staffing and controlling the
people and process in the organisation(Sheibani, 2018) Sainsbury is the chosen organisation for
this report, It is retailing company which deals operates supermarkets in United state. The
company is founded by John James Sainsbury. This report will cover the key approaches of
operational management with the role of leader and the manager. Furthermore, It will explain the
importance and values of operational management in achieving business objective and also
analyse the various factors that impact the business environment and influence the decision-
making of the leader and the manager.
Explain the key approaches to operations management with the role of the leader and the
manager.
There are various business model which help in getting the things done in a approached
manner and help the company to generate the high profit through effective use of various
operational tools in the company (Rajeev and et. al., 2017). When the organisation make the
best use of their valuable resources, It will benefits the organisation to generate higher profit and
volume sale in the marketplace. Various approaches of operation management are as follows:
 Just-in-time- It is the strategic tool that is used in various business operation and help in
cost cutting and reducing the wastage of resources and initiate the overall organisation for
the effective use of various resources. This approaches says that purchase the good which
it is needed for the further production of goods. Do not store the raw material in the
warehouse and this will help in cost reduction of warehousing. It is best way of inventory
control in the market. It is the approached method by which material can be used in a
effective manner and Sainsbury can use set the best inventory management by using Just-
in-time and make the effective use of resources.
 Six sigma- It is the management tool that emphasis on the improvement in various
business activities and help the organisation to achieve the business goal. It identify the
fault and errors in the production process and eliminates them for the better output. It
uses the quality management method like statistical methods to check the quality of

product(Oriade and et. al., 2016). Manager ensure that each production unit is running
with full control and they are keep check the performance of the employee and make the
change according with the aim that each task will be done in effective manner and help
the organisation to generate higher. Sainsbury can do their production on larger scale and
manufacture quality product by regular checking at all stage of production.
 Total quality management- It is the management approach which help in providing the
quality product to the potential customer and attract the large group of customer. It is the
continuous process which eliminates the faults and errors from the manufacturing of
good, supply chain management and improve the customer experience. Manager give the
proper training to their employees in so that they can work with proper efficiency and
manufacture the high quality product. Sainsbury should practice for implementing best
method in manufacturing high quality product.
Explain the importance and the value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
Operations management refers to the process of formulating plans, strategies and polices
for to business and also help in control the process and people in the organisation with their
effective performance (Ng, Henshaw and Carter, 2017). It will help in proper functioning of all
the business activities and lead the organisation to achieve the business goal. Leader make the
comprehensive plan and the strategies for the employees and their performance. Manager assign
the all the duties in such a manner that all the work can be easily accomplished with the right
approach. There are various factors which explain the importance of operation management are
given below:
 Optimum utilization of resources- It is important for every organisation to use the
resources( raw material, machinery and employees), in a effective manner so that they
can be fully utilized. Leader make the vision and move the predefined goal in to reality so
that employee will work in a systematic manner and complete their specific job role and
contribute to the growth of the organisation. Manager implement the strategies according
to the objective of the company and guide every employee in work in such a way that
resources of the company can be fully utilized. Sainsbury is working on global level and
it is very important to use the company's resources in a effective manner that will
increase the overall efficiency of the business operations.