BTEC Level 7 Strategic Management and Leadership Report - Asda

This report delves into the intricate relationship between strategic management and leadership, using Asda as a case study. It explores the connection between strategic management and leadership, analyzing the influence of various management and leadership styles on organizational decisions. The report examines leadership styles, including autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire approaches, and assesses their adaptability to different situations. Furthermore, it evaluates the impact of management and leadership theories on organizational strategy, and formulates a leadership strategy to support organizational direction. The report also addresses the methods for reviewing current leadership requirements and planning for future leadership development. Finally, it discusses leadership skill development in a specific context and evaluates the usefulness of the methods used to plan leadership skill development.

Strategic Management and
Leadership Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ..........................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Relation between strategic management and leadership..................................................3
1.2 Impact of management and leadership style on the decisions of organisation.................5
1.3 Leadership style and its adoption towards different situation..........................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
2,1 Impact of the theories that management and leadership has on organisational strategy..8
2.2) Create a leadership strategy that supports organisational direction..............................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
3.1) Use appropriate methods to review current leadership requirements...........................11
3.2) Plan for the development of future situations requiring leadership..............................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................15
4.1 Development of leadership skill for a specific context..................................................15
4.2 Usefulness of methods used to plan the development of leadership skills.....................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................18
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management exists as a procedure that leads the management to achieve its
goals and objectives by managing the resources for an organisation. It also involves to set their
objectives and monitoring the competitive environment for the organisation in order to analyse
the internal organisation and to ensure that management implement strategies in all units of the
company. On the other side, leadership skill refer to the strength and abilities that individuals
demonstrate and motivate individuals to accomplish organisational goals in short intervals. This
report is written from the perspective of Asda which is operating their business in retail industry.
It is a British Supermarket chain that operates its business among the overall world and its
headquarter is situated Leeds, West Yorkshire (Van Knippenberg and et. al., 2015). Along with
this the existing report highlights on link between strategic management and leadership style and
impact of management, leadership style on strategic decision of company. Moreover, this report
also highlights the impact of selected theories on management and leadership on organisational
strategy. To formulate leadership strategy for supporting organisational function and operation in
right direction and to select appropriate methods to review existing leadership requirements will
also be covered in this report.
TASK 1
1.1 Relation between strategic management and leadership
In the present scenario, majority of the organisation are performing their work at global
level. This refers that communication is a key factor for Asda to manage their work at multi-
national level. Leadership and management are the key factors that leads management to
implement an transparent communication channel in all departments of organisation. Further, the
management and leadership are inter-relate with each other but the roles and responsibilities of
both this style are separate from each other (Van Grembergen and De Haes, 2018).
The main motive to implement strategic management in the organisation is to arrange all
resources at a similar place. So it is simple for the organisation to perform their work by using
minimum resources and to get maximum benefits and results form the available resources in the
organisation. In simple words strategic management develop roadmap which is followed by the
units and departments of organisation.
Difference between leadership and management

Basis Leadership Management
Purpose In the context of Asda,
leadership perform their work
to inspire individuals for
achieving their goals.
The main motive to implement
management factor is to
perform the functions as per
the plans of organisation.
Power The main motive to implement
leadership style is generating
trust among the individuals or
workforce of Asda.
Large number of employee's
are performing their work in
the Asda to complete all
operations. So to control them
management perform a crucial
role in organisation.
Formulation Leadership style and method
are based on principle and
guidelines.
Management focuses on the
policies and procedures to
manage their work.
Interconnection between strategic management and leadership- Asda operates large
number of superstores in various cities of the organisation. Therefore, it is mandatory for
management to generate better relation and coordination between leaders and managers. In the
context of leaders they are important for strategic management work because an effective leader
gather the individuals and motivate them to achieve Asda goals and objectives with a easy
approach (Tihanyi, Graffin and George, 2014). Moreover, it is not states that leaders only
approach to complete the functions of a company. But management also perform similar work to
complete the work of organisation by delegating and dividing the right task to right person and it
also monitor that the functions of organisation are completed in decided time period.
The primary reason that demonstrate the link between leadership and management is that
leaders are able to make long term vision for the organisation. But they are beneficial only if the
management monitor its work and move them towards the goals of organisation. On the other
side develop strategies provide tools to Asda management for enhancing the performance of
organisation.

Flexibility is the another reason because the present world is not fully static and in the
modern economical conditions are developed from various tools, as it is performing their work at
international level. Along with this the situations and circumstances faced by Asda in the are
changing in day to day operations (Thamhain, 2014). The main benefit with dynamic plans is
that it is easy for management to make or adopt changes according to the market situation.
Strategic management is performing to work as per the plans and their execution which
leads the organisation to get better results. Their are large number of functions are managed and
controlled by Asda. Therefore, to get better results from all of them it is essential for organisation
to make plans and them implement them. Due to which the sale of Asda products will be
increased in the future.
1.2 Impact of management and leadership style on the decisions of organisation
According to the general concept and understanding of organisational operations and
functions it is analysed that, leaders helps the organisation to manage and lead people according
to the guidelines and principle. Like Asda develop better value among all the individuals to
perform their work and to get best results by following them in appropriate manner. The main
concept represent that leaders are the persons that bring changes for organisation and the
manager develop activities that assists workforce to remain for longer period.
As per the existing market conditions, decisions works as the major aspect for the success
of leader. This determines that with an effective judgement individuals and Asda management
are able to enhance their work productivity and profitability for longer period. Whereas, large
organisation which are deeply concerned with understanding, developing and searching
leadership as it play a vital role to develop high performance teams. So to achieve high success
in the market leader and managers takes responsibilities to acquire and develop better products
and services for the organisation (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015). Impact of leadership and
management style on the decision of organisation are as follow: Autocratic style of leadership- In the context of Asda, autocratic leaderships style helps
the organisation to perform their work according to the power and decisions that are
decided by authorities. It impact on the decision of organisation by demotivating the
employee's to perform their work. Like if the management is forcing employee's to
perform their work more than regular working hours. Then it impact on the productivity
of employee's. Moreover, top authorities decisions are also affect by the leadership style.

Example- Autocratic style helps the organisation to implement centralised structure for
the functions of Asda. Collaboration between departments- All the departments and function of Asda are
related with each other. This governs operations which are performed by management
must consider as per the circumstances and situations of other decisions. Example- if the
HR department of Asda decided to recruit more employee's then its decisions must be in
favour of other departments because new recruited employee's perform their role in
finance and marketing teams (Rigby, 2014). So it is mandatory for the authorities of Asda
to formulate decisions that generates team leadership among the members of
organisation. Empowerment- Asda leaders follow democratic style in all of their stores which are
operated by them, The main aim to make decisions according to this policy is to make
more focus on productive results for better targets and achievement of the objectives. To
take fast action and quick decisions leadership style immediately helps the leaders for
making better decisions. Laissez faire style of management- Employee's are the key aspects of organisation as it
helps the organisation to make better decisions by utilising their experience. This
determines that workforce engage in operations of Asda on routine basis. So in order to
generate decisions according to the policies and procedures laissez faire style leads the
management to complete its work in appropriate manner. In the present scenario, all style
are suitable for those organisation to impact their work in minimum time period. Further,
it also work to make variety of outcomes (Qi and Ming-Xia, 2014).
 Persuasive style for management- Autocratic style for management and persuasive style
work to enhance the performance as per the final decisions which are used to make
choices according persuasion of subordinates. Employee's convince their managers for
analysing benefits that help decision maker to generate profits for longer period.
Moreover, it is more effective for organisation because all decisions are not supported by
employee's. So to make it is essential for management to generate results and to make
decisions for longer period.

1.3 Leadership style and its adoption towards different situation
Behind the success of any organization lies an essential part of its leaders. A leader who
is respected and followed by all employees, who acts as a guide to explain works, acts as a
motivator when morale of employees is low and most importantly leads the employees towards
the organizational goals and objectives. The success of an organization is strongly correlated
with the effectiveness of its leaders and different leadership styles followed by them. Though
there is a wide categorization of leadership styles on different parameters, the broad three
categories based on authority are explained below:
Autocratic Leadership: This kind of leadership style relies on command and
compliance. The autocratic leader commands and the same must be followed by his or her
subordinates. The norms and policies are made without the participation of subordinates and are
enforced for fulfilment of organizational goals and objectives. This style lacks innovation in the
system and there is only one way communication i.e. top to bottom. Such leadership processes
are followed in traditional factories, mines, or other laborious work arrangements where
employees are not specially cared for and are easily available (unskilled or semi-skilled labour).
Considering the case of ASDA plc, the company is involved in various businesses such as
supermarkets, financial services, telecom, food delivery etc. where it also provides distribution
solutions (Nijstad, Berger-Selman and De Dreu, 2014). The company owns and manages 25
depots for distribution across UK. For this, it has a regular requirement of delivery personnel and
management staff. Such case requires usage of Autocratic Leadership style by the manager or
leader as the nature of the tasks are simple and does not require modifications. Also, the
implementation of decisions is very speedy, as the upper management need not gain opinion
majority from subordinates to decide. Thus, from the points discussed, it can be rightly said that
autocratic leadership style will prove beneficial to management of ASDA plc in the scenario
discussed.
Democratic Leadership: This leadership style is contrary to the one discussed above,
unlike autocrats, a democratic leader fosters participation of his subordinates and then a decision
is taken and implemented. The leader respects the different opinions of different employees and
this also helps the organization in innovating its products, designs or processes followed in the
system. Also, the decision making process is slower through this style as opinions of all the
personnel have been taken care of and it requires time to arrive at decisions. Considering the case

of ASDA plc, one of its segments is financial services which provides offering of loans, or
investment advice to its clients. The task is customized in nature and must be done with skills of
executive as well as the senior manager. This calls for the application of democratic leadership
style in the system for providing best results.
Free-Rein Leadership (Laissez-Faire): This leadership style is often followed among
the highly professional work organizations. Here the leader's role is limited to specifying goals
and objectives and providing resources to the subordinates. It is on the discretion of the
employees on how they want to use the resources or how they want to work with their clients.
The decision making power solely lies with the subordinate. This leadership style is often used to
lead or manage high skilled employees such as researchers, doctors, chartered accountants,
analysts etc. ASDA plc has its own fashion clothing brand by the name of George (Mintz and
Stoller, 2014). The fashion brand requires employment of good and innovative designers to
manufacture top of the line clothes, for management of professional designers can be done in an
efficient way if Free-Rein leadership principles are applied, as it liberates the employees to
deliver organizational results in their way of working.
TASK 2
2,1 Impact of the theories that management and leadership has on organisational strategy
Asda involve large number of employee's to complete there work efficiently, it governs
that there are various task are performed by management which enhances organisational profits
and it efficiency to capture more market area. Autocratic, democratic and Laissez-Faire
leadership are some style which are adopted by the organisation to perform their work. From the
perspective of leadership style it is adopted only by authorities of Asda. To manage leadership
style it is essential for organisation to recruit professional persons. So the goals and objectives of
the management are developed for longer period, in this the main role of leader is to consider all
task according to strategies which enhances the organisation to gain competitive edge in the
market (Miloloža, 2015).
Impact on organisational strategy
Leader who adopts effective styles such as democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire as it
leads management to perform their work as per management style, there are various skills and
traits are also followed by Asda leaders. Due to which more success is achieved by management

and it is easy for them to stay for longer period. Example- To boost the morale of employee's it is
essential for leaders to put better dedication towards work due to which individuals and teams
perform their work in better way. Self discipline, emotional intelligence, introspection of self
activities etc. are some methods for self-leadership. It determines that to support the strategy
democratic style is required as it plays an important role for management (Men, 2014).
Autocratic leadership style is the another factor for management and the teams to manage
and complete there work according to roles and responsibilities. Individuals perform their work
which is decided by them to manage work and to generate better results for organisation. It
governs to make better strategy it is essential for them to enhance its work possibilities by
managing all resources for organisation. Leaders are those persons which are responsible for all
the task that are performed by management. Therefore, leaders are also responsible for the
formulation of strategy and complete whole work according to this policy.
Illustration 1: Source(https://www.educba.com/management-styles/)
Persuasive management style leads the management to make effective strategies which
is used to generate long term benefits for organisation. Asda is performing their work at global
level so it has to manage their work at various organisational levels. In the context of
organisational level, leaders are required to influence all departments by considering their
cultural norms, rewards and recognition activities, plans, programs and communication. With the
implement of all such actions and plans (Mellahi and et. al., 2016). This is easy for management
to complete their work and to increase Asda profits by making strategy in effective manner.
Democratic style is beneficial in both context whether it is management or leadership.
The major benefit of management through democratic style is to make vision, inspiration, team

building and coaching of individuals to perform their work for generating better payoff through
using better innovative tools in the organisation. On the other side, the current business
environment is too dynamic. So it is essential to make changes in the strategy as per managing
the changes in organisation (Marsh and Farrell, 2015).
In the last, all the theories related with management and leadership style are not perfect, it
contains their own advantages and drawbacks. A good leader and manager follow specific
characteristic that is used to make function and position as per the organisational chart. In the
present scenario, all leaders needs to increase work performance as per the leader. It is also
recognized by leadership to perform their work at high standards at international level.
2.2) Create a leadership strategy that supports organisational direction
After analysing the several theories it is clear that ASDA has implemented various
leadership theories in order to deal with the situations. Herein, many leadership strategy builds
which supports a business direction that are considered as follows:
 Need to develop a strong culture: In order to accomplish the objectives of an
organisation it is essential for a leader to develop a strong as well as positive
workplace culture within an organisation. All levels of workers require to involve in
this which helps in taking the business forward in a systematic manner. For creating
a better environmental workplace of ASDA, a leader plays an important role which
will focus on team work, better coordination, strong relationship as well as top level
management supports. In leadership strategies a leader need to prepare a clear
vision and mission statement in order to provide a clear direction to their followers
or employees which will enable them to achieve a future goals effectively and
efficiently (Lazar, Thompson and Demiris, 2014).
 Influencing nature: As the leadership strategy must be required for influencing the
behaviour of employees where they focus on linking their personal goals of
individual with the organisational objectives that helps in motivating to them
towards the accomplishment of objectives of ASDA. This will result in high
performance, effectiveness and productivity as well as reduce the turnover rate of
employees.
 Give with right level of authority: It is considered as a most important strategy to
incorporate the transformation style in a business organisation like ASDA where

leader can encourage their team members towards the accomplishment of targets. In
this, workers requires to be given some level of authority that will help in setting
their heads high towards the attainment of goals and objectives.
 Avoid threats and weaknesses: By using a appropriate strategy of leadership a
company ASDA can work on converting threats into opportunities with a aim of
converting into their strengths as well as focusing on minimising or reducing the
weaknesses also (Inkinen, Kianto and Vanhala, 2015). This will assist in
accomplishing the goals in a desired manner and able to take a competitive
advantages in the marketplace.
 Use of contingent approaches: While setting a leadership style it is essential for the
company to provide the ability to leaders towards the making use of contingent
theories. When a company ASDA facing challenges from external as well as
internal environment it is essential for leaders to apply contingent approach in order
to forecast future as well as making appropriate decisions towards the
organisational achievements.
 Developing trust and beliefs: It plays a vital role for ASDA management while
making leadership strategies in order to provide high value to their employees as
they are considered as an assets of a business. Without the workers a company can
not grow or expand their operational activities and unable to accomplish goals as
well as objectives so it is the responsibility of leaders to develop a trust on workers
that encourage them to work better for facilitating better organisational direction.
To make belief and trust, a leader should be honest, friendly and close to their
followers as well as more consistent towards their work and employees which helps
in accomplishing organisational goals effectively (Hebert and Hauf, 2015).
TASK 3
3.1) Use appropriate methods to review current leadership requirements.
Leader is a person who have capability to influence their team members or can lead a
group of individual's in an effective manner. As leaders provides motivation to their followers by
getting them a clear objectives and workers plays important role by giving support their leaders

for building a better leadership style. There are various methods which are used to review the
leadership requirements in the company like ASDA. Some of these are as follows: 360 degree feedback approach: It is considered as a process in which workers get
confidential reviews form the people who are working around them such as managers,
peers, subordinates, direct reports as well as customers. The main aim of this approach is
to show some strengths as well as weaknesses of an individual or business which may
involves a questionnaire for the purpose of self assessment (HAßLER, Major and
Hennessy, 2016). This kind of feedbacks will assist in reducing the weak areas and
develop strengths of ASDA. Management by objectives: It is widely used as a common approach which helps in
reviewing the requirements of leadership as well as management strategies as it is also
known as a MBO. It is termed as a management system that is used for linking the
organisational objectives with individual performance as well as development by making
effective involvement of all management levels. In the context of ASDA, the top level
manager should set entire objectives and communicate with lower level in order to
complete within a specific time period. Management by objectives is commonly an
attractive system that facilitates an opportunity for workers to take high responsibility as
well as make a huge level of their contribution towards the accomplishment of
organisational goals and objectives.
 Black and Moulton's managerial grid: It is considered as a most important method for
analysing the leadership requirements. As per this model, style of leadership and
managerial are viewed on the mainly two basis such as concern for result and concern
for people. In the concern for results a manager of ASDA can diverts their all energy
towards the achieving the targets within a specified time period and it is shown on the
horizontal axis of grid (Hambrick and Quigley, 2014). Whereas, concern for people
shows that the employees of an organisation and their requirements are important for the
manager which is presents on the vertical axis of grid. This kind of grid also known as
the matrix of managerial grids.