Analysis of Leadership and Operational Management at Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and operational management within Marks and Spencer. It begins by defining and comparing the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, emphasizing their responsibilities towards the organization, employees, and customers. The report examines how leadership and management functions apply in various situational contexts, particularly within the competitive clothing and fashion industry, and how Marks and Spencer can leverage strategies like product and market development, innovation, and technology. It then applies different leadership theories, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, to evaluate the company's management processes and performance. Furthermore, the report explains key approaches to operations management, such as product design, quality management, and supply chain management, and highlights the roles of leaders and managers in achieving operational efficiency and business objectives. Finally, it assesses the factors within the business environment that impact operational management and decision-making, providing a holistic view of leadership and management practices at Marks and Spencer.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.......................................................................................................4
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,Systems
leadership and contingency.........................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play..............................................................................................................................6
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by Leaders and managers....................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Leadership having a great significant in the success of each and every business
organisation. They provide long term vision and mission and long term objectives to the business
and also provide a future direction to the company. They also motivate their staff in order to
attaining organisational goals and objectives (Lindström, et. al., 2012). A leader is a person who
having effective control over the various business functions and management for the future. The
present report based on the Marks and Spenser which is one of the leading fashionable clothing
company. They provide a wide range of product range in menswear, womenswear, child-wear,
and so on. The main purpose of this report is to analyses and evaluate different approaches of
leadership and theories which can help to increase the efficiencies in the business operations. It
also explain the operational and management concepts which can help to achieve organisational
goals and objectives in a effective manner (Cruz and Marques, 2011).
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
There are various roles and responsibilities which can be performed by the manager and
leader in a business organisation. They are responsible to make strategic decisions which can
help to provide competitive position in the market. The manager and leader are also make and
involved in the major decision making which can be related with the strategic level, operational
level and tactical level. Marks and Spenser is operate their business in the United Kingdom
which required an visionary leadership and effective management which provide edge over the
competitors (Moghaddam and et. al., 2011). These roles can be:
Roles and responsibilities towards organisation
A manager of Marks and Spenser having various roles which as given below:
Planning: This is one of the major function where the leader of the manager is to make long term
business plan for the company. As the manager of Marks and Spenser they required to sustain in
the market in order to provide high quality products in the market. They also determine new
market opportunities in the UK and try to grap these opportunities for their future growth and
development.
Organizing: There are various functional department within the cited business organisation
which required different types of resources and authority. This is the role of a manger is to assign

appropriate resources so that they can perform their task in a effective manner (Woo,and Lee,
2011). For example, Marks and Spenser wants to launch a new clothing chain the semi urban
areas. Manager is responsible to provide all their resources and achieve their desired goals and
objectives.
Staffing:The staff of the company are too valuable for each and every business unit. Because
they help in to achieving organisational goals and objectives. There are various function which
are related with the HR department but must be design and formulate HR strategies.
Roles and responsibilities towards employees
This is the another major role which is related with the employees of the cited business
unit. This is the responsibilities of the manager is to provide all required facilities to their staff so
that they feel confident. The manager of the cited business entity is required to share firm's
vision and mission with their team which can help to motivate of their employees. It can help to
increase company's productivity and performance which can leads to increase profitability of the
frim which is a common goal for every business organisation (Niknam, Meymand, and Mojarrad,
2011).
Roles and responsibilities towards customers:
Customer is one of the focal point of the business. Therefore each and every business
organisation is change their approach and focused on the customer and its changing need. It is
the responsibilities of the company is to provide high quality products and services to their
customers. It can leads to increase the customer satisfaction level and create a ideal image of the
business unit.
TASK 2
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
Marks and Spenser is one of the most credible and popular clothing brand in the United
Kingdom. The company is have more than 800 stores in the country apart from that they also
hove large number of international stores in various countries like India, Turkey, Russia, Greece,
France, Poland and so on. There are large number of loyal customers due to their quality and
value of their money (Bahmani-Firouzi and Azizipanah-Abarghooee, 2014). But, in the present
era, clothing and fashionable stores industry is more competitive and complex. There are various

competitors such as Aldi, Asda, Tesco etc. which can provide tough competition to the cited
business firm. It can leads to reducing market share and profitability of the company in the UK
market. Therefore, it is major role of the manager is to make aggressive marketing strategies
which can help to provide competitive edge in the market. There are various marketing strategies
which can help to increase sales revenue of the company and provide consistent growth to the
firm (Kumar and Chandrakar, 2012). For example, they can focused on the product development
where they can launch new products on the regular basis. They can also used market
development and focused on the new and emerging market which can provide more
opportunities. There are various emerging market such as India, China where the population is to
large and provide large market to the Marks and Spenser. Because after Brexit the economic
slowdown of the country is having large impact on the demand of the goods and services. It
reducing the business growth of the cited company which is not good for them. The emerging
market having a huge marker with an attractive consumer income as compare to developed
countries. Innovation and technology played a important role in the growth and development of
the business organisation. The manager of the cited business organisation required that to use
these technology in to their operational process which can help to increase efficiencies and save
money. For example, they can use information technology in to the overall system which can
help to integrate all stores, distribution centre, supply chain etc. it can provide a facility where
the staff of the company can share information and data with each other at any time. Apart from
that, there are various information which is related with the customers and its data, sales history,
financial information and so on (Mohammadi and et. el., 2013). It is provide a data storage
facility to the firm where the company can store these data and also assessable to the staff. It can
increase the decision-making process of the Marks and Spenser. Further, there are various
promotional tools which can help to promote firm's product and services in cost effective way.
Today the role of social media in the promotional campaign have a great significance. These
tools can be involved Facebook, You Tube, Instagram etc.
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,Systems
leadership and contingency.
The marks and Spenser company applied the many theories and model but three model and
theories is very impotent first theory is define the company management process. The theories is

define the company position in the organisation. The model of the leadership evaluating the
company profit level and income level in the company.
Situational leadership theories: These theories determine the life cycle of the project
management. The life cycle of the management is define the conceptual project, definition of the
project, planning and implementing of the project, evaluating the project and clean-up the project
in the organisation. This model developing thee leadership program in the organisation. This
theory define the power of the leader in the organisation. The model identify the leadership style
and performance level of the leader. Model is define the directing and supporting of the leader.
System leadership: this theories define the systematic plan in the organisation. The leadership is
the single and individual person of t5he organisation. The leadership has a personal power for
creating and evaluating the management process. Leader of the company is most important part
of the company for managing the planing, organising, controlling and staffing the company
employees in the organisation. This model determine the company task and variety of the
situation. This model focus on the brand of the product and controlling power of the leader. The
systematic leadership is the part of the organisation to create the management process including
the planing of the project, organising the group of the people, controlling the effective
environment in the organisation. The systematic leadership define systematic approaches.
Leadership contingency: The contingency theories define the many factor of the leadership
including the technological factor, supplier and distributes factor, consumer interest group,
customers and competitors, government and union of the group. The contingency approaches
define the image of the organisation. This approach determine the leader position power in the
organisation. This model define the company structure in the organisation. The organisation has
only one leader that plan the organisation objective and goal and implementation the project.
This model identify the leaders position in the organisation.

TASK 3
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play.
Operational management is a systematic process where the raw material are converting in
to finished products through man, machine and other resources with the high level of efficiency
and reducing the cost of production. In such process the role of manager is ensure the maximum
operational efficiency in the business activities and effective utilization of firm's resources(Ruiz-
Alvarez and et. al., 2012). Apart from that they also make sure that they can increase profitability
of the firm for a specific time period. In the context of Marks and Spenser there are various
operational activities which can be performed by the manager.
Design of clothing products: This is one of the most critical part of the business which
is related with the designing of the product which is offered by the company. Customer needs are
change over a period of time which required to change firm's product as well. For this, the
manager of Marks and Spenser can conduct market or customer research so that they knows
customer needs and taste. So that they can make their products accordingly. Apart from that, they
can also get feedback from the existing customer and improve their clothing design and quality.
Quality management: This is one of the key aspect for any business which can help to
increase customer loyalty (Holmes and et. al., 2011). The manager of the cited business required
that to use an effective quality management which can improve product quality. There are
various tools and techniques which can be used by the company in order to meet the quality.
They already having minimum quality standard which must be meet by the Marks and Spenser.
Supply Chain management: SCM is another critical aspects which is related with the
acquiring goods from the suppliers to the distribution to end customers. Marks and Spencer
having large number of suppliers which are related with the domestic as well as the international
level. There are various clothing products which can be imported from India, Bangladesh, China,
Turkey. This is the responsibilities of the company is to make sure that they can provide their
goods at right time whenever is required (Li and et. al., 2011).
Location strategy: Location played a prominent role in the success and sales volume of
company. This is one of the major decision-making in the selection of appropriate place for
store. For this manager can chose a strategic location which can help improve sales revenue of

the firm. They can chose those location where customer footprints are more which can be located
at urban and semi urban areas.
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives.
Operations management is concerned with the planning, organising and monitoring of the
production process, manufacturing. It is focused on the product delivery and ensuring that all
inputs of the organisation are converting in to output in a efficient manner without compromising
with the quality of products (Zhang and et. al.,2014). There are various significance for the
Marks and Spenser:
Adding value in the supply chain: Supply chain is having a large role in the firm's in
the delivery of goods at the right time. The manager of Marks and Spenser are required to make
an effective supply chain which can provide gods delivery at the right time to the end customers.
If the product not reach to the customer which can reducing the customer satisfaction level.
Improve productivity and efficiency: There are various tools and techniques which can
be used by the manager in order to increase productivity and efficiency of the company. For this
the manager of the cited business organisation is required to provide training and development to
their staff on the regular basis which can help to increase productivity and efficiency of the firm
(Lindström and et. al., 2012). Apart from that, they can also control on the cost and make sure of
maximum utilization of firm's resources in the firm.
To support various functions: This is another importance where the manager of the
cited company can focused on the different functional divisions such as marketing, HR, finance,
Accounting, production and sales. For this they can use various communication tools such as
video conferencing, email etc. so that they can communicate with and coordinate organisational
activities in a effective manner.
To gain competitive advantage: It is important for the company is to make effective
marketing strategies which can help to provide competitive position in the market. They can
create their core competencies in terms of process, system, quality, product uniqueness, customer
service or others. It can help to increase competitive position in the market (Cruz, and Marques,
2011). Apart from that they can also use various marketing mix in order to get competitive
superiority in the market. For example, they can offer their products lower cost as compare to
other firm's.

To provide better services to customers: Customer service is one of the critical aspects
in the business. For this they can make concentrate on the customer feedback and try to improve
their products and services. It can help to increase in the customer satisfaction level which can
leads to create a sound image of the company in the market.
TASK 4
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision-making by Leaders and managers.
It is essential for a manager is that to identify and determine those factors which can be
influenced of the business and its decision-making. These factors are not controllable for the
manager so that they can assess these factors and overcome the potential risk on the business
(Moghaddam, and et. al., 2011). These factors can be included that:
Political factors: This is one of the key factor which is related with the political stability
and business policies of the company. It can effects the business decision-making which can be
done by the manager. UK government is stable which can provide consistency in the business
policy which is good for the cited company.
Economical factors: This is another factor which can involved various economic
elements such as employment situation, interest rate, GDP growth rate, inflation etc. These all
factors are favourable in the UK as compare to other European countries. It can help to make
their decision-making in a effective manner.
Social factors: In this factors the population size, social trends, fashion, education level
and disposable income can be included. For example, UK per capita income is approx. $40000
which is much higher as compare to others. It can provide a good opportunities for the Marks
and Spenser (Woo and Lee, 2011). United Kingdom also a education hub of hub where large
number of young come for study. This is also provide a opportunities for the company to sell
their products to them and increase revenue of the business.
Technological factors: This is another factors which is related with the technology and
innovation. In the present era, technology having a great role in the success of the business. It
can help to reducing cost of operations and increase the profit of the business unit. In the context
of Marks and Spenser. The manager of the company can use various technological tools like
Social media platform where they can promote their products and services in a effective manner.

Environmental factors: Today the customer is more aware towards the environmental
and climate issues. These are the sensitive issues in the today's business environment. Therefore,
each and every business organisation is focused on these elements and try to overcome the
environmental hazards. For example, the firm's can be used eco friendly packaging. It can help to
create a ideal image in the society (Niknam, Meymand and Mojarrad, 2011).
Legal factors: There are various laws and legislation which can be influenced the
managerial decision-making and business performance. These laws can be environmental laws,
competition act. Minimum wage rate act etc. it is the responsibilities of the company should be
followed these laws in a effective manner.
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report it has been concluded that leadership played a vital
role in the business. This report explained about the different roles and responsibilities which can
be performed by a manager in order to achieve their desired goals and objectives. The report also
discussed about the various leadership approaches and theories which can be used by the
manager with the organisation. There are various functions which can be related with the
decision-making, control, planning, operations and so on. In the end, the report has been
concluded that various external factors which influenced the managerial decision-making and
business performance of the company.

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