Report on Leadership and Operations Management at Morrison

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and operations management within Morrison, a leading supermarket chain in the UK. It defines and compares the roles of leaders and managers, examining their functions in different situational contexts and applying various leadership theories such as situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency theory. The report explains key approaches to operations management, emphasizing the role of leaders and managers in achieving business objectives. It also assesses the impact of the business environment on operational management and decision-making, offering a detailed overview of how Morrison utilizes different management and leadership styles to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction. Desklib offers this student-contributed assignment as part of its collection of study resources.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................5
LO1..................................................................................................................................................6
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager of
Morrison..........................................................................................................................................6
LO2..................................................................................................................................................8
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts............................................................................................................8
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency..............................................................................................................9
LO3................................................................................................................................................14
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play................................................................................................................................................14
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objective
.......................................................................................................................................................16
LO4................................................................................................................................................18
P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision making by leaders and managers..............................................................................18
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21
2

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Roles of manager..............................................................................................................4
Figure 2: Situational leadership.......................................................................................................7
Figure 3: System leadership.............................................................................................................8
Figure 4: Fiedler's Contingency Model...........................................................................................9
Figure 5: Total Quality Management............................................................................................12
Figure 6: Six Sigma Approach......................................................................................................13
LIST OF TABLE
Table 1: Comparison of manager and leader...................................................................................3
3

4

INTRODUCTION
Operation management can be defined as controlling and designing the overall process of
providing quality products and services to its customers. It helps in designing the appropriate
strategies so that high level of customer satisfaction can be achieved in Morrison, a leading
supermarket in UK. The report mainly focuses on the role and characteristics of the manager and
leader of Morrison. Its various functions and responsibilities are analyzed for effective
functioning of the organization. Various examples are examined in Task 2 of the report on how
the role of manager and a leader can apply in the different situation. Various types of leadership
skills are compared in context of Morrison. Strengths and weaknesses of various types of
leadership are analyzed in this report.
The report evaluates the various approaches to operations management. It also focuses on the
role of managers and leaders in effective functioning of operational management to achieve the
objectives of businesses. The last part of the report assesses the factors of the business
environment that affects the operational management as well as how it affects the decision
making of leaders and managers of Morrison.
5

LO1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager of
Morrison
Definition of Manager: Manager of Morrison is responsible for administration as well as
management of employees in an organization (Razin.et.al.2017). Manager also helps in
controlling the functions of an organisation for running the business in an efficient manner.
Definition of leader: Leader is responsible for commanding a group of people in an
organization. Leader must possess leadership skills as well as practical skills. They are
responsible for the completion of task and are more concern about accomplishing the goals in
Morrison.
Difference between Managers and Leaders
Table 1: Comparison of manager and leader
Manager Leader
Managers communicate with leaders related
to the completion of tasks
Leaders communicate with its team members
and motivate them to complete the task with
efficiency and on time.
Managers are responsible for setting certain
goals and objectives of an organization
Leaders are responsible for achieving the goals
set by managers of Morrison.
Managers in Morrison help in directing to the
large number of groups. They are responsible
for taking the report of ongoing work from
leaders.
Leaders direct their team members and ensure
that the task must be completed on time.
6

Managers only focus on communicating the
policies to the leaders of Morrison.
Leader, on the other hand, is responsible for
implementing the policies as well as ensures
that the employees must accomplish the task as
per the policies of Morrison.
Developing of more ideas and methods for
improvement of Morrison business is main
responsibility of manager (Radaelli.et.al.2017).
Leaders take various measures for
implementing the ideas developed by
managers.
The main focus of managers is on task
completion
Main focus of leader is on how and when the
task will be completed
Roles and characteristics of managers and leaders in Morrison
Morrison is a leading supermarket chain in UK and managers, as well as leaders, plays an
important role in the growth of its business.
 The setting of Goals: Managers and Leaders in Morrison is responsible for planning and setting
the goals that help to increase the revenue of supermarket. Manager of Morrison focuses on the
development of strategies for accomplishing the goals while leaders are responsible for
implementing those strategies.
 Utilization of resources: Manager plays an important role in managing the resources in an
effective way to accomplish the goals. Leader motivates the employees and allocates the work
according to the skills (Tushman, 2017).
 Staffing: Managers and leaders both are responsible for selecting the best candidate by
identifying the skills according to the work of the department. Leaders assign the work to the
employees according to their skills and capabilities.
7

 Directing: Managers and leaders must possess the quality of giving directions to employees so
that they can complete the work on the assigned time. They must have the capability to create the
best team out of so many employees according to the difficulty of the task.
Figure 1: Roles of manager
8

LO2
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts.
Managers and leaders play an important role in the efficient functioning of management. They
both focus on accomplishing the goals and objectives of an organization.
Role of leaders in Morrison
Leaders are mostly influenced by the managers and therefore according to the situational theory
of leadership, leaders adjust themselves according to the working style of managers. Leaders
select the most appropriate style of leadership for meeting the end goals of an organization
(Northouse, 2018). Role of a leader varies from one situation to another in Morrison which is
explained as below:
 According to the situational theory of leadership, leaders play an important role in resolving the
issue of high turnover of employees. In this situation, leaders are responsible for boosting the
morale of an employee and provide authorities to employee for taking decisions related to task.
 Leaders of Morrison also focus on maintaining a healthy relationship with their employees
according to Relationship Oriented Approach.
 Morrison mainly focuses on setting targets so that goals can be accomplished. For this, leaders
focus on increasing the sales by developing strategies. Leaders communicate with its employees
as well as motivate them for achieving the targets.
 According to the situational leadership theory, Leaders of Morrison selects the style of
coaching so that employees having less experienced can be trained.
 Leaders in Morrison are also responsible for evaluating the task by taking feedbacks from its
employees. Leaders are not directly involved directing the employees but they motivate them for
completing the task in an effective manner (Chemers, 2014).
9

Function of managers in Morrison
 Managers in Morrison focus on Theory of management by objectives. Managers plan the
activities so that end goals and objectives of an organization can be achieved in an effective way
(Locke, 2015). Their planning activities related to Morrison includes management of inventory,
assuring quality of products and services and the most important one is to market its products
with the help of various advertising techniques. Managers give directions to leaders on how the
resources must be utilized according to their skills.
 If the work pressure is more in comparison to the workforce, then it is the responsibility of
managers in Morrison to increase the number of employees. In this case, staffing process is
performed by HR managers of an organization for hiring more skilled candidates for reducing
the workload of the team.
 Managers focus on managing the activities involved in completion of task. After the entire
planning, the manager assigns various responsibilities to team members so that goals can be
accomplished. Managers also focus on creating the healthy environment at the workplace.
 Managers of Morrison must monitor the performance of an individual employee with help of
their leaders.
 Managers also focus on resolving the issues of employees related to tasks by providing training
and development sessions. They communicate with employees on the regular basis so that they
can feel motivated.
10

P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership, and contingency
Morrison focuses on various leadership styles according to the need of an organization. Along
with the leadership styles, Morrison also focuses on management by objective. Management of
objective helps in resolving the disputes by communicating with the employees. In this,
managers trained employees for enhancing their skills. Managers also motivate their employees
to increase their efficiency.
Morrison also focuses on Chaos Theory in which manager focuses on developing strategies
according to the current market trend.
Various leadership styles are explained below:
Situational leadership: Situational leadership enables the leaders to adjust the style of
leadership according to the instructions of managers. Leaders adapt various strategies of
leadership so that Morrison can achieve the goals and objectives (Thompson and Glasø, 2015).
Situational leadership has 4 phases of leadership such as:
 Directing: This style of leadership is also referred to as micromanagement. In this leaders
observe the day to day activities of employees and various decisions are taken to increase the
efficiency of work. In this, the support of leaders is less. They are more into giving directions in
this phase of leadership.
 Coaching: In this, the leaders are very supportive and provide proper direction so that task can
be completed in an effective manner.
 Supporting: Leaders provide feedback to the employees which motivate them to increase their
efficiency. In this phase of leadership, the responsibility for an employee increase.
 Delegating: In this employee is responsible for completion of a task without any assistance of
leaders.
11

Figure 2: Situational leadership
System Leadership: System leadership entirely controls the working of employees according to
the need of Morrison. Leaders interact with the employees and explain the situation of an
organization and therefore various strategies are developed accordingly. This type of leadership
enhances the decision taking the power of the leaders of Morrison (Senge et.al.2015). Benefits of
this type of leadership: Increased connectivity and employee relationship; Enhancement of skills;
increased the effectiveness of work as well as new developments and innovations with the help
of developed strategies.
12