Analysis of Leadership and Management in Unilever's Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. It begins by comparing the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders, highlighting their differing approaches to achieving organizational goals and handling various situations. The report then delves into key leadership theories, including behavioral theory, Fiedler's contingency theory, and the Hershey and Blanchard leadership model, evaluating their strengths and limitations. Furthermore, it explores the importance of operations management, examining how leaders and managers influence decision-making and respond to environmental factors. The report concludes with a discussion of how different leadership styles can be applied in various scenarios within Unilever, offering insights into effective management and operational strategies.

Management and Operations

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
ACTIVITY 1 ...................................................................................................................................3
Impact of leaders and managers in the Unilever company.........................................................3
Analysing the role of manager and leader in different situations ..............................................5
Theories of leadership.................................................................................................................6
ACTIVITY 2 .................................................................................................................................10
Meaning, key approaches and importance of operation management .....................................10
Assessment of factors within business environment which affects the operational management
and decision making by managers and leaderhip main theories or styles of lead.....................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is concerned with planning and organising production process in the
most efficient way. It is basically managing the resources that are required for producing goods
and services of an organisation (Hill and Hill, 2017). The present report is going to discuss the
impact of leaders and managers in Unilever, a British-Dutch consumer goods transnational
company headquartered in London, Netherlands and Rotterdam. A section of the report will
highlight the comparison between roles and characteristics of manager and leader. A range of
theories and approaches of leadership will be discuss in this section. Further, the section will
cover the value and importance of operations management.
ACTIVITY 1
Impact of leaders and managers in the Unilever company
A leader is a person who posses the ability of influencing and inspiring people to move
into a particular direction by setting a clear vision for achieving a common goal. This ability of
influencing a group of people in the organisation is called as leadership skill (Storey, 2016).
A manager is a person who manages the different managerial functions such as planning,
organising, directing, coordinating and controlling the activities of Unilever. Manager get things
done by others in the most effective and efficient way.
Comparison between a leader and manager regarding their roles and characteristics
Criteria Leader Manager
Meaning A leader is an individual who
influences a bunch of people in
achieving a common goal.
a manager is a person who
manages the operational
activities of Unilever.
Aim A leader motivates and
inspires a group of people by
establishing a goal vision.
a manager controls and is
concerned with getting things
done by others at right time in
the most efficient manner.
Role in bringing innovation The leader is characterised by
innovation while leading a
group. They are constantly in
a manager is characterised by
administering the activities of
his team. It copies its
3

search of opportunity of
standing out from crowd by
differentiating themselves.
behaviour and managing style
by observing other' s
competencies.
Focus Leader focuses on its
members.
Managers focus on the system
of the organisation that is
ensuring proper protocol is
followed in carrying out
business activities
Style Leaders who follows
democratic style while leading
a group.
Managers are mostly of
autocratic in nature (Mom,
Fourné and Jansen, 2015).
Nature a leader tries to energise its
members in the organisation.
Managers tries to bring
stability in the organisation by
following company's policies
and rules.
Team members Group members of leader are
called as followers.
Team members of managers
are called subordinates.
Role in training and
development
Leaders themselves directs its
team members, teach, mentor
and coach them for their career
development and groom them
for efficiently performing their
duties.
Managers motivates its
subordinates for participating
in different training programs,
conferences etc.
Theories Contingency theory,
situational theories are applied
by leaders for lading team
members by reacting
appropriately with different
Managers applies scientific
and administrative theories for
managing people in
organisation. Administrative
theory guide managers by
4

situations. stating that proper discipline,
harmony, division of labour
etc., must be maintained for
achieving organisational
objectives and being for
efficient in operational
activities.
Analysing the role of manager and leader in different situations
Managers and leaders acts differently in different circumstances. Both have different
positions in the organisation. A manager acquires position by the way of authority while a leader
acquires it through leadership skills, trust, honesty etc. Unilever, being such a vast organisation
deals with very dynamic situations in the business environment in which leader and manager acts
as per their nature. Managers administers the operations in Unilever while leader focuses on
changing the attitude of its followers for achieving a common goal (Maymand, Alvar and
Alikhan, 2016). This can be understood by taking some instances that are given below:
 Whenever a conflict arises amongst the employees of Unilever, manager and leader uses
different approaches towards solving the issue. Manager will focus on abiding the rules
and policies framed out in advance for solving any disputes in the organisation, taking
control of the situation.
A leader uses situational leadership approach where it will act according to the situation's
requirement and will lead its group that best meet the need of situation. It will try to understand
the reasons behind such conflict, it will try to understand the perceptions of different parties
involved in dispute, will personally talk to them and make them understand negative
consequences of such conflict on employee's performances.
 When Unilever wants to bring a change in its organisation structure or needs to change its
operational structure. Such changes are strongly resisted by the employees in company
because of fear of losing their job, disruptions in the routine jobs, increased job
responsibilities etc.
5

A manager in such situation have the authority to impose the required changes on the
face of employees as he focuses on controlling activities by applying autocratic management
style. A leader on the other hand, motivates employees by explaining them the benefits it is
going to deliver to organisation and to the employees by using servant style of leadership where
it focuses on well being of its team members, it ensures that personal goals are effectively
matched with organisational objectives.
 For bringing effectiveness in teams, a leader applies directive leadership style where it
provides training, coaching mentoring to its team members for achieving a common
target. It manages the operations of its team members, monitors their performances,
motivates them in participating the tasks etc. A manager is focuses on integrating the task
and activities for brining the efficiency of the Unilever for achieving the organisational
goals and objectives.
Theories of leadership
There are different leadership theories that are discussed below:
Behavioural theory: This theory focuses on the behaviour of a leader. The theory
emphasis on studying the behaviour of leader in a specific condition or a situation and impact of
leader's behaviour on the workforce in Unilever. It says that leadership traits can be learned
overtime. The theory has two most common studies from Ohio and Michigan Universities. Both
the studies focuses on employee and task oriented styles of leadership. This theory promotes the
idea that leadership traits could be acquired through continuous development and experience. It
helps in understanding the behaviour of leaders and their direct impact on their followers (Renko
and et.al., 2015).The theory gives importance to employees and task relationships. The biggest
limitation of this theory people learn the qualities of leadership does not necessarily mean that
they will enact the theory perfectly. There is inadequate knowledge this theory amongst people
as when and how to apply principles of this theory in real life incidences.
For instance, Democratic behaviour of leader in Unilever would delegate the authority in
its followers in conducting their duties. This delegation would reflect in the higher performance
of workforce and enhanced efficiency of teams in the organisation.
Advantage of theory in this example: Applying this theory in above example would
result in higher performances of team members, Enhancing the productivity and probability of
6

the company. Giving authority and power also motivates people to work with more passion and
commitment.
Disadvantage: Applying this theory in real life is more complex than its seems and may
not provide the exact results as planned by the leaders.
Fiedler's Contingency theory: There is no standard style of leading people in the
company is the crux of this leadership theory. This theory states that a leader apply a style whose
effectiveness is contingent upon the different internal and external factors. The aim of this theory
is to make leader's style compatible with a situation (Fiedler, 2015). The contingent theory
provides enough flexibility in their leadership, as they are supposed to act appropriately on the
happening of some event in the organisation. This theory has broadened the meaning of
leadership as it describes that there is no best way of leading people in the company. It provides
useful insights of leadership traits in human resource planning.
However, there is lack of adequate literature on this theory of leadership. No specific
actions are stated out that could be applied in different situations. Theoretically, it is very
convenient and appropriate to say that leaders must act according the need of the situation. But,
application of this theory in practical life by leaders in Unilever is one complicated task for them.
For instance, a leader can change his style upon the happening of specific event such as
in peak season, leader can be more democratic and transformational in nature, allowing
workforce of Unilever to take decisions on their own, motivating employees to overtime for
meeting business's demand etc. This practise helps employees in developing themselves for the
upper position in the organisation.
Advantage of theory in this example: Leaders following this theory can easily
motivate people in dealing challenging situations of company suffering from financial instability
like in above example. This changing of leadership style by applying this model helps' leader in
effectively dealing with the worst dynamics of business environment.
Disadvantage: Swiftly transformation in leadership is not that easy. It requires additional
capability in a leader for managing such contingent events in the organisation.
Hershey and Blanchard leadership model : It is one of the leadership theory which
focuses on leader's ability of adapting and adjusting itself according to the different demanding
7

situations. The theory is also known as situational theory of leadership. The style is states that
leader must adjust his style for influencing its followers as per the situation. This style has four
main components; delegating, supporting, coaching and directing the followers for better leading
them. This ensures development of employees along with achievement of organisational goals
and objectives. It allows leaders to swiftly move from one to style to other as per the requirement
of situation in Unilever on the basis of experience level of the employees and according to the
nature of activities to be performed This approach promotes the supportive and motivative
working environment in the Unilever which ultimately results into the greater productivity of
organisation well as employees. It leads to quick and rational decision making by involving team
members in decision making process and It also leads to quick decision making by delegating
authority to them. Directing, motivating, supporting and delegating activities directly contribute
to the training and development of employees for their future prospects. Employee retention is
one of the benefits of situational leadership as high morale and motivation in employee plays a
great role making an employee satisfied with his job.
However, this theory deviates the employees from meeting long term objectives of
Unilever as this approach intensely focuses on meeting immediate needs of a specific situation.
Delegating work to subordinates may not always prove beneficial to the leader and to company.
Excessive delegation of authority may result into lethargic and egoistic behaviours of the
employees. This reduces their productivity and efficiency.
8

Illustration 1: Situational leadership
(Source: The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory – A Study, 2016)
For example, Unilever's leaders applies in situational leadership style for brining the
efficiency and effectiveness of its team members. Situation such as when organisation needs to
improve creativity in its operations, leaders in the Unilever become more open to their followers
in asking their inputs and suggestions. This change in leadership style due to the situation that
requires instant attention helps in seeking out the best decisions for the company. It enhances
performances of all the stakeholders within the organisation.
Advantage of theory in this example: Application of this model in above instance helps
leader in brining the required change in company for enhancing the creativity. This swiftly
changing of one style to other help leader in efficiently coping with up with demand of business
of being creative. This helps organisation to have a cutting edge over its competitors.
Disadvantage: Understanding situations precisely is very difficult task for leader and
reacting according to that is even more complex. Bringing creativity factor requires efforts of
every members which may not be a realistic thing to imagine.
System leadership: This types of leadership applies effective principles of human
behaviour for developing a sound leadership model. The system leadership helps leaders in
9

Unilever to build positive conditions in the organisation where employees at each level can
deliver higher performances. This leadership style enables leaders in the company to understand
the behaviours of its followers which helps leaders in devising more effective overall strategies
for them (Ghasabeh, Soosay. and Reaiche, 2015). It helps leaders in Unilever to understand the
behaviour of its employee. System leadership focuses on creating a healthy a positive
environment within the organisation that enhances the productivity of the company.
However, understanding human behaviour is not an easy task for leaders. Dealing with
such dynamic force and leading it towards achieving organisational objectives is a challenging
role for the leaders.
For example, Leaders in the company uses different motivational techniques as per the
needs of the employees. Some employees do not get satisfaction from monetary benefits, they
thrive for job recognition and job enrichment. Different Individuals have different behaviours
and this system leadership helps leader in understanding the perceptions and behaviour of its
team members.
Advantage of theory in this example : Understanding human behaviours and applying
the appropriate leadership style help leader in satisfying the individual needs of its team
members. Effective motivational techniques could be used with help of this theory.
Disadvantage: Human behaviour is very complex filed of management and satisfying
every need of individual in an organisation does not seem realistic. Leaders can not fulfil every
minute need of its team members which may lead to dissatisfaction amongst its members.
ACTIVITY 2
Meaning, key approaches and importance of operation management
Enclosed in PPT
Assessment of factors within business environment which affects the operational management
and decision making by managers and leadersee main theories or styles of lead
PESTLE analysis is done for assessing the factors of business environment.
Political factors: factors such as political instability, corruption level, instabilities in the
corporate taxes significantly affects the operations of Unilever. For example, High corporate
taxes affects the financial liquidity of the company, which eventually affects the profitability.
10

Managers in such situation cut the cost of operations by applying strict policies whereas
leaders motivates employees to work hard for increasing the productivity of Unilever.
Economic factors: Factors like GDP rate, inflation rate, interest rate etc., affects the
functioning of Unilever. Growing economic rate of country is a favourable condition for
organisation in expanding its business operations.
Leaders in this situation motivates its team members to adapt themselves according to the
situation by undertaking increased job responsibilities. While, managers proposes the plan and
ensures the proper execution of plan of allotting greater responsibilities to employees.
Social factors: Country's population that are highly literate affects the Unilever.
Managers and leaders are provided with highly skilled employees if the country has good ratio of
literate and technically sound people. Employment of such people in Unilever helps leaders and
managers in enhancing the performance of company.
Technological factors: Advancement in technology is factor which impacts business of
Unilever. For example, low transportation cost due to advanced technology, highly improved
infrastructure related to communication helps managers in making their operational activities
cost effective.
Legal factors: Employment laws, consumer rights laws, patent laws affects the
operations of managers in Unilever. Managers have to precisely take care of employment rules
and regulations while recruiting a person in company.
Environmental factors: Factors such as wastage disposal system of company, policies
regarding that etc. have to be considered by managers for fulfilling the sustainability demand of
the society. This is necessary because following such regime helps in acquiring the acceptance
from society regarding their business activities.
Critically evaluating the application of operations management and factors that
impacts business environment
Operations management leads to cost effectiveness in the production activities of
company. Macro factors affecting organisation such as technology, political, environmental etc.
have positive and negative impact on business environment of Unilever (Slack and Brandon-
Jones, 2018).
11

As per Kiesha Frue, (2017) Technological factors such as improvement in transport and
communication infrastructure have increased the pace of operational efficiencies.
However, Selvaraj and Harnett, (2018) excess automation of operations leads to
complexities in functioning such as failure of server leads to overall stoppage of work.
In the opinion of Kiesha Frue, (2017) Environmental factors such as insubstantiality
development. Managers focuses on promoting sustainability by undertaking eco-friendly
methods of production. This enhances the brand image of company.
However, Thompson and McLarney, (2017) argues that using of such environment
friendly methods in manufacturing process involve huge cost for the firm. This force managers
to increase the prices of their goods and services.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be summarised that leaders and managers are the two
concrete pillars of strength in an organisation. Although two words are interchangeably used but
there are significant differences between the two. Leaders motivates and inspires his team by
setting a vision whereas managers control the business activities for ensuring efficiency in the
operations. The report further concluded that operations' management is valuable to Unilever. It
helps managers and leaders in attaining organisational objectives of being cost effective by
controlling and improving the production process and by minimizing the waste during the
production process.
12