Management & Leadership: Roles, Theories, and Operations at Uber

This report delves into the realms of management and leadership, using Uber as a case study to illustrate key concepts. It begins by defining and contrasting the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting their distinct responsibilities and attributes within an organizational setting. The report then explores how these roles manifest in various situational contexts, such as conflict and hypothesis scenarios, providing practical examples of leadership and management functions in action. Furthermore, it applies different leadership theories and models, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, to analyze their impact on decision-making and operational strategies. The second part of the report examines key approaches to operations management, analyzing the roles of leaders and managers in these processes, and explains the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives. Finally, it examines the factors within the business environment that impact operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers, providing a comprehensive overview of the subject.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
PART 1- MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP......................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.................3
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Discuss examples of how role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different
situational contexts............................................................................................................................5
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency................................................................................................................6
PART 2- OPERATIONS.......................................................................................................................8
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4 Analyse key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play 8
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives 10
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P6 Examine factors within business environment that impact upon operational management and
decision making by leaders/ managers.............................................................................................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................13
Books & Journal:.............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
In business sector, managers as well as leaders are important as because they are
responsible for achieving goals and objectives within a period of time (Abban-Ampiah,
2020). Management and operations are defined as business practices used by enterprise to
increase productivity. Main aim of this report is to critical understanding concept of
operation as well as management. Uber, a transport company headquartered in U.S. Firm
deals in vehicle services for hire, food delivery, package delivery, freight and courier
transportation etc. It has many subsidiaries such as Uber eats, post mates, Careem etc. There
are many competitors of company such as competitors, Ola, Lyft etc. This report comprises
of different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager, role of leader and function of
manager, different theories of approaches, approaches to operation management, importance
of value of operation management, and factors impacting amount operation management and
decision making.
PART 1- MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager.
In corporate sector, it is difficult to manage business activities without me having
appropriate leaders and managers with in a management. A leader is one who influences the
decision of others to get work done. Whereas, a manager is defined as person who is
responsible for managing and controlling all the business practices and employees (Alaloul,
2017). In context of Uber, both managers as well as leaders are different from each other and
has roles, characteristics accordingly which are discussed below-
Role of leader-
 Facilitator- It is an important role of a leader in which their main work is to facilitate
and help employees as well as team members with their assigned task or other
activities to achieve objectives. With the help of this role, work is completed on a
given deadline. In relation of Chosen Corporation, leader of a company is always
available to facilitate their team members.

 Visionary- Leader of organisation also acts as a visionary who has a ability to
influence mind which also help in increasing and enhancing productivity as well as
accomplishing of goals. In case of selected entity, little has a vision of increasing
Goodwill of a company at global level.
Characteristics-
 Communication- It is an essential characteristics of a leader in which communication
is being done in most effective manner so that message is being transmitted with
between both the parties in proper way. Without using communication it is difficult to
understand viewpoint of employees for team members (Andreassen, 2018).
 Influence- It is another characteristic of a leader in which change or influence the
condition of others. It is main characteristics of a leader in which decisions are needed
to be influenced by them on the basis of which better output is achieved.
Manager- Role
 Monitor- This is a main role of manager controlling and monitoring is being done at
workplace to handle work related activities. Employee’s behaviour is also monitored
by managers. In context of Chosen Corporation, manager monitors every activity of
business (Bauer, 2016),
 Decision maker- Managers are also to be considered as decision maker in which their
role is to make effective decisions within a management. So, given organisation
manager make their decisions by involving every individual.
Characteristics-
 Problem solving- A manager should have ability to solve problem of employees and
individuals at a workplace.
 Confidence- It is another characteristic image of manager should have high
confidence when dealing with different situations, employees etc.
From explained matter, it has been examined that managers and windows both are
different from each other and on the basis of their skills knowledge the work and behave in
enterprise. So. comparison between role characteristics of both has been made. It is also seen
that an organisation cannot survive without having these two in business.

TASK 2
P2 Discuss examples of how role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts
In organisation, situations and events are uncertain on the basis of which role of
leader and function of media being applied appropriately. In context of Chosen Corporation,
situations arise at different aspects and both roles as well as functions are properly carried
out. So, different types of situations are discussed below-
Conflict situations
 It is a type of a situation in which conflicts are faced by both employers as well as
employees due to internal and external factors. So, to solve conflicts it is necessary to
be aware about the situation (Chahal, 2020).
Role of leader-
 Team player- With the help of this role leader is able to engage with teammates
individual. This role of team player is needed to be fulfilled by a leader with proper
consideration so that relationship is being established.
 Listener- In this role of a leader, they act as a listener who listens to their team
members and their situation. In this conflict situation it is important for a leader to
listen to individual properly.
Function of manager
 Controlling- It is essential function of a manager in which manager control and
monitor different situation or activities. For example in context of Uber, manager of a
company examine the situation and control behaviour of subordinates (Chiarini,
2018).
 Planning- In this, function of a manager is to implement proper planning when
dealing with such situations so that it is easier for them to make effective decision.
Through examining of conflict situation, this function is to be carried out efficiently.
Hypothesis situation
This is a type of a situation which arises when assumptions are to be made of a
particular field of study. It is necessary for both managers and leaders to analyse this situation
with their own skills and capabilities. In reference of chosen entity, this situation arises in
marketing, or research and development departments.

Role of leader-
 Strategist- In this situation, mean of a leader is to implement effective strategies as
well as tactics so that problems and issues are solved within a time interval. As a
strategist, leader is bound to use strategies in such a way that solutions are made to a
given situation. For example- leader of a given company use participative leadership
style on the basis of which they are able to implement strategies (de Sousa Jabbour,
2019).
 Delegator- It is another crucial role which main work is to assign the different task to
employees and team members depending on their level of skills and experience. It is
important for leader to delegate so that it is easier to focus on other activities.
Function of manager
 Organising- In this function of a manager is to systematically organised everything
and keep records of information so that they are used at emergency. By properly
organising, it saves time and capability of manager (Hansen, 2018).
 Leading- This is another important function of a manager which is needed to be
carried out. In this guidance and leading is provided to team members or individuals
based upon their assigned task.
After brief analysis of above matter, it has been seen that every organisation and
encounter different situations within their business which are required to be properly
understood. In view point of a given enterprise, they need to conduct proper internal analysis
so that so that current and forecasting situation can be done appropriately
P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency
In business, approaches and models are essential to be applied as because they help in
making effective decisions and achieving of objectives effectively. Different types of
approaches are being used by selected corporation which are further explained below-
Situational leadership- It is a type of approach in which needle uses leadership style
on the basis of different situation. According to this theory of leadership, it states that there is
no particular style of a leader which can be adopted as there are many different situations. It
is beneficial for leader to use this type of style as because it helps in implementing
understanding every decision of an individual and their behaviour. In reference of chosen

company, they can opt for this approach because it help leader of Uber to analyse their
appropriate leadership style depending upon a particular situation.
System leadership- It is another type of leadership an approach which is being used
by selected company as it shows that enterprise is being viewed as a whole system rather than
subpart or a sub element of different groups. So, through focusing on this approach of
leadership it is easier to make decisions (Matusova, 2017). Moreover, this leadership also
help and allow leaders in enterprise to develop conditions where individuals at all aspects can
work in productive manner. By applying this approach within an enterprise, leader is able to
increase productivity at workplace at higher level.
Contingency leadership- According to this theory, leader uses style which is best
suit for success depending upon different situations. Both situation and contingency theory of
leadership are different from each other as because situation approach shows that leader
should apply this style within a situation theory believes that need to be applied during right
situation (Roczniewska, 2017). By applying this theory of leadership leader of a company is
able to produce better and effective results within organisation. It assists in improving style of
a leader as because critical thinking gets improved at higher aspects.
Discussed paragraph shows that it is necessary to use these approaches of a leadership
because they help in accomplishing of vision and mission. Furthermore, it is duty of a leader
to make sure that correct approaches are being adopted so that problem or issue does not arise
in future period of time.
PART 2- OPERATIONS
TASK 3
P4 Analyse key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers
play
In operation management, approaches are being used to understand the concept of
management and operation in efficient manner. By using of these approaches they are applied
accordingly and are mentioned below-
Approaches Explanation
It is a type of approach which is used in operation
management in which it help in completing of a production

Just In Time process within a period of time. It also assist achieving of
targets and better results throw implementing pre-planning.
In context of given organisation, they use this approach
which help them to manage all task and activities.
Advantages-
 Main benefit of this approach is that it helps
completion of work within given deadline.
Disadvantage-
 Drawback of this method is that it is not applicable at
all level because they are many tasks which require
long time interval.
TQM
It is also known as total quality management in which main
aim of this approach is to achieve long term success through
customer engagement or satisfaction. This method also
shows that individuals within company get involved and
participate in all activities at workplace.
Advantages-
 This method is beneficial as it assist in improving
management processes by delivering customer
satisfaction.
Disadvantages-
 Limitation of TQM method is that organisation tu to
achieve their objectives without compromising
quality because quality is being compromised at
minimum level.
Lean Production
In this method of operation management, it depicts about
achieving objective and goals by focusing on reducing waste
as well as without compromising with quality. It is necessary
to use this method because it helps in using of resources in
efficient manner and at optimum level within management or
at work environment.
Advantages-
 Lean production is also beneficial because it improves
the effectiveness of production processes as wastes
are reduced.
Disadvantages-
 It is a cost expensive method because more skilled
employees are needed to carry out this process
effectively.
Role of leader
 When focusing on these approaches role of leader is to examine and identify the needs
or demands of subordinates and impress them to achieve higher productivity.

 Another role of a leader while using these approaches is that they have to work
according to the situations productivity and potential limit of a personnel increases.
 Giving proper guidance and leading employees is also an essential role of a leader of
Uber which is to be carried out by them in proper manner.
Role of manager
 Manager also has a role when using these approaches such as to hire and search for
talented candidate and fulfil the objectives of company.
 Furthermore, to manage and handle use of resources such as financial and physical
resources are being used at optimum level or not (Wakui, 2016).
 This is also important role in which managers solve problems and issues of an
individual which are faced by them at workplace so that they do not get distracted
from their core assigned task.
 It has specified that it is necessary for manager as well as leader of Uber to use
these approaches and rose in such a way that higher efficiency is achieved. These
methods to operation management are critically essential to use because they help in
improving productivity as well as effectiveness. Also a detailed evaluation has been
also made of discussed methods which help in understanding of most suitable one of
organisation (Saucedo-Martínez, 2018).
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives
Operation management is an important concept which is to be adopted by every entity
so that they are able to achieve their long-term objectives effectively. In relevance of Uber, it
is necessary for them to focus on this concept as the operated global level and avoiding this
will lead to major problems. So there are various values of operation Management which are
explained as follows-
 Increase revenue- Main advantage of operation management is that it helps in
enhancing and increasing revenue ratio of organisation. It is because practices and
methods which are used in this concept provide brief information about market it and
customer needs. When revenue of a company increases they become more active in
market and provide total satisfaction to customers as well as employees.
 Trends in market- It is another reason and importance of operation management it
assist in analysing trends in market for example in case of Uber they have been

expanding their services and focusing on innovation of products such as Uber
helicopters have been introduced in countries such as Dubai.
 Enhance efficiency level- Uber also improve and enhance the efficiency level of
enterprise on the basis of which company is able to deal with competitors in
appropriate manner. Moreover, when higher efficiency is achieved it also helps in
retaining subordinates for a longer period of time (Alaloul, 2017).
Therefore it has been stated that adapting the concept of operation management is
beneficial and helpful in achieving organisational objectives with in a period of time. In this
competitive era, it is important to focus on improvement so that survival and sustainability
period increases for longer period. So, it is advised to both leaders and manager to be well
aware about operations and management of Uber so that decisions are appropriately.
TASK 4
P6 Examine factors within business environment that impact upon operational management
and decision making by leaders/ managers
Business environment refers to approach for process which comprises of external and
internal factors affecting overall organisational structure (Abban-Ampiah, 2020). It is
essential to scan the environment within business so that everything is carried out in most
effective manner. In context of Uber, it is important for them to strategies and improves their
business operations. Factors of business environment also impact upon operational
management as well as decision making by leaders/managers. Therefore explanation is given
below-
Corporate social responsibility-
It is a major factor which have a direct impact upon decision making of leaders
manager/and operation management corporate social responsibility is defined as sector in
which company integrate social and environmental duties and concern within their business
operations. In case of selected organisation, CSR directly impacts upon their operational
management such as they have been accused of serious criminal offences, improper
background checks and drivers etc. Due to the failure of their corporate social responsibility

it directly affects upon their activities. Decision making of leaders and managers also get
affected because they both find it difficult to manage these issues related to CSR.
Ethics & Sustainability-
It is another business environment factor in which ethics and sustainability are being
focused by enterprises. For example in context of chosen enterprise, they are being
considered as most ethical challenge company worldwide because of their neglecting
behaviour. It impact upon operation management as when ethics are not properly followed
directly affect the moral and motivation of employee. It also impact on decision making of
leader /manager as to properly follow ethics and improve sustainability period they have to
implement advanced and competitive strategies to achieve objectives.
Culture & Values-
Cultural values are also important factor within business environment which are
regarded to be focused. In case of Uber, values and culture of company is flexible. For
example they have changed their culture norms with 8 new steps (Andreassen, 2018). This
business environment factor impact upon operational management as resources which are
used in management are couple examine whether they are fulfilling customer needs or not.
This also impact upon the decision making of leaders and managers suggest they both use
different approaches to manage culture and values within work environment.
It has been seen that factors of business environment has a deeper impact upon both
decision making as well as operational management which makes it difficult for entity to
carry out their activities in correct way (Bauer, 2016). It is also responsibility of both these
leaders and manager to have an appropriate knowledge about these elements impacting upon
business so that measures are adopted accordingly. It is examined that the Business
Environment is most important aspect of any business. To be aware of the on-going changes,
not only helps business to adapt to these changes but also to use them as opportunities. BE
presents threats as well as opportunities for any business. A good business manager not only
identifies and evaluates the environment but also reacts to these external forces.

CONCLUSION
After brief analysis of above report, it has been concluded that management and
operations are important to be examined and understood so that it is easy for enterprise to
carry out their activities with higher productivity. Thus, discussions have been made about
several areas such as leader and manager functions, characteristics, role, different situation
contexts, various types of approaches, methods of operation management, importance and
value of operation management. Then, factors of business environment affecting operation
management have been explained briefly. So, it has been evaluated that it is necessary to
critically have knowledge about management and their operations so that skills knowledge
are being applied accordingly. In this market sector, it is necessary to improve operations and
management practices so that problem for issue does not arise in future time interval.

REFERENCES
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