Leadership and Management Roles in Operations Management

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management roles, emphasizing their differences and interdependencies within an organizational context. It defines and compares the characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting how their roles apply in various situations. The report delves into different leadership theories and models, including situational, system, and contingency approaches, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, it explores key approaches to operations management, the importance of operations in achieving business objectives, and the factors impacting operational decision-making by leaders and managers. The report uses Mark and Spencer as a case study to illustrate how leadership and management principles are applied in practice, and also discusses the quantitative approach to operations management.

MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
......................................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.........3
M1 ..............................................................................................................................................5
P2 How the role of a leader and the function of mangers apply in the different situation
context.........................................................................................................................................5
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership system
leadership and contingency.........................................................................................................6
M3 ..............................................................................................................................................7
D1................................................................................................................................................7
TASK2 ............................................................................................................................................8
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers.....................................................................................................................................8
P5 Explain the importance and value of
operations management in achieving
Business objectives....................................................................................................................9
M3 ..............................................................................................................................................9
P6 Assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by
Leaders and managers..............................................................................................................10
M4 ............................................................................................................................................10
D2 .............................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management is art art of doing work done by others. In this organisation make the planning
the policies, organising the resources. Staffing the employees and give the direction for the
company path and at last controlling all the activities of the business enterprise. Management is
done at every place whether its organisation or house activities. When the friends are making the
trip plan in that phrase also management take place (Lindström and et. al., 2012). Management
help the enterprise to achieve its common goals and to earn profit. Operations is a part of
management in which the organisation control the activities regarding the production and
designing department. In this organisation converts its input into outputs in an effective and
efficiently manner. Operations is important activities as these activities help the organisation to
get the consistence in the business enterprise. It is important department like other department
like finance, marketing and human resources. In this operation mangers has to take several kind
of decision related to the operation activities.
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
Leader:- Leader is an individuals who lead the group, team, organisation and the
country. The leader is person who is having the leadership skill to guide its team members and to
support the organisation. The leader encourage its team member to work hard and help them to
achieve the personal goals with organisation goals.
Manager:- manager is an individual who control all the management activities in the
organisation he/she has to gather information from outside and inside the organisation to make
the organisation decision. He/she is the person who stand on the behalf of the company. He /she
arrange the organisation resources so that there is smooth working process.
Roles and characteristics of leader

 leader are necessary for all the level of the organisation:- organisation has its
different level of management top management. Middle and lower management and
leader is part of the every level in top management they can be a part to policies
making , in middle level they can be part of every different department in the
organisation and in middle they control and supervise their subordinates. Every level of
the organisation need leader to support their team members and to access the different
the task given to them.
 Leader help the employees to combine the personal goals to the organisational
goals:- leader encourage the followers to work hard and to complete the task on time
with effective manner with can help to them reaching to their personal goals and by
establishing the personal goals the organisational goals can achieve automatically.
 Leader always stand by its company :- the main role of the leader is they always act
on behalf of their company. Leader has many responsibilities and they have to give the
accountability to their seniors. So any mistakes done by the team members the leader has
the responsibility to answers on his/her behalf.
 Intermediator between the manger and workers:- leader play a role of intermediator
between the manger and workers. Leader take the task from the manger and assign the
task according to the team members(Baboli and et. al., 2014). After completion the task
leader submit the reports to the managers. So he act as intermediator which passes the
information between the manger and workers.
 To motivate the employees:- the leader motivate the followers to do their job in
effective manner and what the advantages the followers can get if they perform good.
Their are different techniques by which leader can motivate the followers it can be
monetary as well as the non monetary. The leader communicate the followers that how
can they achieve there personal goals if they work in proper manner and the
opportunities they can get.
Characteristics of leader
 leader has the special qualities.
 They have the followers. If followers decrease their is no role of the leader.
 Leader is individual to help to achieve the organisation goals.
 Leader follow its leadership styles.

Roles of the mangers:-
 He is spoke person of the company:- the manger act as spoke person of the company.
He act on behalf the company. The mangers communicate to the out side public gather
the information and then use the information to make the organisation decision.
 Important part of the decision making:- manger is having important role in the
decision making by his creative and managerial skills the manger will make the important
decision of the companies like which product should be ,launch , demand of the particular
product etc.
Characteristics of managers:-
 mangers is having the managerial skills.
 Manager communicate with inside and outside organisational.
 The manager has the quality like honesty, punctuality, having the positive attitude,
flexible in nature etc.
M1
Management and leaders are two important resources of the organisation sometimes there
roles are different and sometimes they the play the same functions. Leader use hi/her leadership
skills and management use his/her managerial skill to improve the company performance and
helps to achieve the company goals. These skills do not come naturally they have to develop
them according to time and experience(Brennan and et. al., 2011). They both are involved at
every level of the organisation. They also have some of the common qualities between them like
problem solving, flexibility, goal oriented etc. but they have the difference in their roles and
function as leaders has followers who follow him and the mangers has the employee who work
for manger.
P2 How the role of a leader and the function of mangers apply in the different situation context
In this the situation is taken where the mark and Spencer is planning to add a new
product line that is footwear and they are doing the research in the market to understands the
need in the market of footwear. In this mangers make the plan of research, what is the objectives
of the research and how the research can be done. The manger communicate with outside public
to take the information and views of the target population. After that the manger design the
products by taking advice of the fashion consultant, fashion designer and after completion the
design the manager ask the leader to complete the certain tasks like preparing the

advertisements, templates, controlling the activities in the production department, supervise the
followers whether they working g in proper manner or not.
The leader use the different leadership style like consultative in which in that the manger
and leader consult which other members of the organisation before taking any decision. They
take view on that particular situation in the company from the other department mangers etc.
sometime mark and Spencer use the multiple leadership styles like democratic style in which
leader give the responsibility to others to take the decision and they monitor the regular results of
the decision taken by the other members. Laissez-faire- is the another technique opt by the
manager and leader in which they give the freedom to the team member to do whatever they feel
correct there is no restrictions. So mark and Spencer leaders and mangers completing their
responsibilities. So that company do not face any difficulty in future and the organisation run in
smoother way.
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership system
leadership and contingency.
Different theories of leadership are as follows:-
 situational theories:- in this the leader can change the leadership styles according to the
situations. Today's scenario is very dynamic there are many challenges faces by the
leader so the the have to prepare for different styles and approaches of leadership. This
can enhance the skills of the leader as he /she is solves different problems so they because
specialised in that field. The leadership is having many qualities and they use their
different qualities in different situation. The situation can be related to the conflicts
between the employees, mistake done by the followers, constant low performance of the
employees etc.
 system leadership theories:- in this leader will utilise on part of the organisation to
make its performance constant. Leader use all the resources that he required to sustain the
company brand name. The leader use whole organisation resources and make the entire
organisation as the system. The resources can be employees, machines,raw material and
information from the different departments etc. the leader combine the all these factor to
make the decision and bring the work into process.
 Contingency leadership theories:- in this leadership style the leader assume that the
particular factors are responsible for these situations they can be the external factors or

internal factors (Ale, S., and et. al., 2010). And by understanding that leader make the
solution. They assume that there are variable factors it can be depend or independent
variable factors which affects the situations and analysing these factors bring the solution.
In context to the company mark and Spencer the leader adopt the theories which helps the
company to achieve the goals and sustain the brand performance. They need leader those who
are innovative and face the challenges and understand the vision and mission of the company and
apply the same in his/her action. In UK the company wants to sell its product as higher quality,
value and good services.
Company leader use the situation approach so that the face any uncertainty with effective
manner and in clothing there is lots of other big brand also to compete with them they system
theory in which they combine all the resources to bring its best. leaders of mark and Spencer
believe to use multiple theories at a time. They use the contingency theory in which they
determine the variable factors which influence the company performance like the location, price,
staff of the company.
M3
Following the strength and weakness of the of the leadership theory
strength:-
 Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the employee
 It help to improve the accountability of the leader and also enhance the leaderships skills.
 Relationship between the employees and leader can improve.
 Increase the confidence of the followers.
Weakness:-
 These theories are very difficult to apply on the practical situation.
 These theories take lot of time and cost.
 If the employees is making mistake still the accountabilities is on leader.
 Chance of mistakes is more in case of situational style.
D1
In this different leadership theories are discuss and their weakness and strength related to
operation management are mention(Chen, Cand et. al., 2011). The system approach, situational
approach and contingency approach. these are the theories of leadership and according to that
leaders take the decision.

TASK2
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
Following the approaches of the operation management
 Quantitative approach:- this approach use the mathematical skills to solve the
problems. By analysing the facts and figures the solution can be make. These techniques
are linear programming, statics, simulation. These approaches help the organisation to to
make the decision on the basis of the facts and figures they generate by the systems of the
organisation. In this methods the figure of last year compared by the present year to see
the real scenario(Lisi, 2010). The quantitative method of operation management is more
accurate and reliable as the the mathematical technique is adopted. The organisation can
the study the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables. But
with quantity method is having many drawback also as they only study the fact there is
not real scenario considered in this method. There no human factor take into the
consideration in this method like human behaviour, preference, value, belief, buying
behaviour etc.
 Qualitative approach:- in this approach the company studies about the external factors
and according to that the decision has to be make. The real scenario taken into this
approach to analysis the demand of the particular product in the market. What is the
reaction of the customer regarding the company products. They can conduct survey to
examine the customer feedbacks on the company product(Woo and Lee, 2011). The
results of the survey make clear for the company that what customers wants, about the
customer expectations, and there experience by using the company product. Many
company use these approach because they feel it is more relevant than the quantitative
approach this approach help the company to retain its customs.
In context to the company mark and Spencer use both the approaches in different
situations. At the time of the researcher the mark and Spencer collect the data about the costumer
personal details, their age, profession, gender etc. these data are quantitative and in the
questionnaire they ask many question as per the research and try to understand the market
demand, consumer behaviour, consumer views on the particular product etc. the basic reason for
doing this is to gain the market share, to retain the customer, to earn the profit, product line etc.

for cost cutting measures also they use the quantitative method as they are more reliable and they
calculate- compare the cost by the past and the present data which company have.
P5 Explain the importance and value of
operations management in achieving
Business objectives
Following are the importance and the value of the operation management.
 Helps to maintain the stock level:- operation management help for maintaining the
stock level in the company. For example marks and Spencer is in the clothing business so
operation management can help the company to know which variety having the shortage
so that they can order the particular item in advance to meet the customer requirements.
 Helps to minimize the cost of production:- operation management can help the
organisation to minimize its cost by controlling the operation activities. The superior
regularly check the performance of their subordinates and guide them accordingly. They
can also control the usage of the material so that the wastage can be minimize.
 Improves the coordination between the employees:- operation management help the
employees to coordinate with another employees because they know what individual
required to do(Lindström and et. al., 2012). Every department can get the information
about the other department so they can know what is going on and what are they
supposed to do. For example operation department prepare the input from output they
need to give the information to the finance department so they can prepare the receipt for
the particular item.
 To maintain the quality of the product:- the operation management help the
organisation to improve the quality of the products as they regularly call the quality
experts to check the company product attribute. Those experts set the benchmarking of
the product to which quality has to maintain if the quality is not according g to the set
bench mark then the product or an item can be rejected. In context to the company mark
and Spencer has its expert those who are designers, qualified professionals. So they that
they can improve the material which they use in their clothing.
M3
Management to successfully meet business

objectives.
 By clarify the task to the team members.
 Monitor the activities in operation management.
 Prepare the schedule of task and their deadlines.
 Regular advice from the experts to improve quality.
 Proper maintains of the machines.
 Prepare the weekly reports to compare the performance
P6 Assess the factors within the business
environment that impact upon operational
management and decision-making by
Leaders and managers
Following are the factors within the organisation on the operation management
 Efficiency of the employees:- efficiency and inefficiency of the employees can have a
bigger impact on the operational management. In which the managers and leaders play
they roles and functions(Baboli and et. al.,2014). To improve the efficiency and motivate
their employees. The leader has try to solve the problem of the employees and support
them to improve their performance.
 Structure of the organisation:- another factor which impact the operation management
is structure of the organisation if the structure is not according to the nature of the
organisation its has the big impact on the operations.
 Technology and innovation:- change in technology has the major impact on the
operations. If there is any change in the technology the operation department has to
trained their employees. So they can adopt the new technology and it can increase their
efficiency. The new innovations also bring the change in operation managements. Like if
there is any new style arrives in the world of the fashion. The company also need to adopt
that fashion to retain their customer. Fashion industries is a sector where there is lots of
change happens in terms of style,Fashion and trends.

M4
These factors influence the operation management in wider way because the company
has to make the changes in the operation department to achieve the gaols and success. This
changes may be the employees have adopt the new technology.
The has to learn new concepts and implement them in practical. Structure of the
organisation need to be framed so there there is easily follow of information and authority of
delegation(Brennan and et. al., 2011). If there is improper flow of information the confusion can
be create and that leads to the delay in work , incurred more time and cost. Inefficiency of the
employees lead to the dissatisfaction of the customers. loosing the customers and the profits can
come down.
D2
There are many factors which influence the operations management like technology,
employees efficiency, structure of the organisation, company plan and policies etc. The leaders
and employees has to take decision regarding these issues and trained their employees so that the
achieve the common objectives of the business enterprise (Ale, and et. al., 2010).
CONCLUSION
This report is all about its management and operations. The role, function, characteristic
of leaders and managers has been discuss. The various type of leadership style has mention and
how they bring the change in the management. Different situations has been discuss in which
leaders and mangers has to take vital decision. After that the importance of operation
management has be discuss and the approaches of the operation management in which leads to
organisation growth. The weakness and strength of the leadership styles also mention in the
report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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microgrid. IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution. 8(10). pp.1700-1711.
Brennan, J., and et. al., 2011. Traumatic airway management in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery. 144(3). pp.376-380.
Ale, S., and et. al., 2010. Climate variability and drain spacing influence on drainage water
management system operation. Vadose Zone Journal. 9(1). pp.43-52.
Chen, C., and et. al., 2011. Smart energy management system for optimal microgrid economic
operation. IET renewable power generation. 5(3). pp.258-267.
Lisi, A.J., 2010. Management of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
veterans in a Veterans Health Administration chiropractic clinic: a case series. Journal
of Rehabilitation Research & Development. 47(1). pp.1-7.
Woo, T.H. and Lee, U.C., 2011. Safeguard management for operation security in nuclear power
plants. Annals of Nuclear Energy. 38(2). pp.167-174.
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