Leadership and Management Report: Rowlinson Knitwear Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management principles, focusing on the context of Rowlinson Knitwear, a UK-based uniform manufacturer. The report defines and compares the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, differentiating their functions and exploring various leadership styles, including situational, systems, and contingency approaches. It examines the application of leadership and management in different situational contexts, such as staff turnover and conflict resolution, highlighting the importance of leadership traits and both hard and soft skills. The report delves into key approaches to operations management, the value of operations in achieving business objectives, and the factors impacting operational decision-making. Furthermore, it discusses management by objectives (MBO), management roles as defined by Mintzberg (interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles), and provides insights into how leaders and managers can navigate challenges and drive organizational success within Rowlinson Knitwear.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define and compare different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager.............3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P2 Role of leader and functions of manager apply in different situational contexts..............7
P3 Theories and Models of approach including situational, systems and contingency
leadership................................................................................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role that leaders and managers plays. .10
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives......12
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P6 Factors that impact operational management and decision making by leaders and managers
..............................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Management is defined as coordination and administration of various activities of
business for achievement of goals and objectives. The way of managing firm and its activities
with help of manager is called management. It is also referred as art of getting things done
through others for achieving set goals. Operations are defined as daily activities of organisation
that involves transform materials into finished goods and selling to consumers for earning
maximum profit (Anghileri and et. al., 2012). Management and operation are both important part
of organisation which helps in achievement of objectives in effective manner. The given
assignment is based on Rowlinson Knitwear which manufactures and distributes uniforms at
local marketplace of UK. It provide high quality goods and services to their consumers. The
main aim of this report is to define role and characteristics of leader and manager and application
of their functions in various situational context. There are different key operations management
of organisation where leader and manager play an effective role for achievement of goals and
objectives. It also discuss about factors of business environment which can impact operational
management and decision making of leaders.
TASK 1
P1 Define and compare different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager
Definition of Leader and Manager
Leader is referred as person who possess superior or dominant position within areas and
exercise high degree of educations (Baboli And et. al., 2014). They helps in influencing and
guiding people to follows them for effective outcomes. As per Aven and Renn, 2012, “ Leader
helps in creating framework for encouraging people to use skills and capability which leads
others to contribute in given project work. The leader of Rowlinson Knitwear should perform
their responsibility in order to lead and guide their employees for effective outcomes.
Manager is defined as an individual who take in charge of various work or activities of
organisation. They have staff and employees who report them for their work performance. They
are overall responsible for administrating and controlling group of individuals, staff. As per
Bergeron and Cooren, 2012, “manager is liable for planning, organising, staffing, directing and
controlling employees. The manager of Rowlinson Knitwear has to perform various activities for
managing organisation and operations.

Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager
Roles Leader Manager
Communication The leader of Rowlinson
Knitwear plays an effective role
in communication as they have to
guide and influence their
employees and subordinates
(Chandima Ratnayake and
Markeset, 2012).
The manager of Rowlinson
Knitwear plays an effective role in
communication where they have to
communicate with each and every
individuals of organisation (Jones
and Robinson, 2012).
Strategy They implement those strategy
which is formulated by manager
with help of their subordinates
and employees (Choi, Wallace
and Wang, 2018).
They formulate strategy for
organisation to achieve goal and
objectives (Kraiselburd and Yadav,
2013).
Characteristics Leader Manager
Risk Taking They focus on new things and
take risk (Golicic and Smith,
2013).
They focus on minimizing or
controlling risk (Mahdavi and et. al.,
2013).
Instruction They direct their employees and
working forces (Jahangiri and et.
al., 2013).
They coach employee and
subordinate for better performance
(Matthias and et. al., 2017).
Differentiate between leadership and management functions
The differentiate between leadership and management functions as per J. Kotter are as
follows:
Leadership Functions Management Functions
They focus on producing movement and
change.
They focus on producing consistency and
order.

Establishing Direction
 Vision creation
 Clarity
 Strategies setting (Piper, 2016)
Planning and Budgeting
 Agenda establishment
 Setting of timetables
 Resource Allocation (Qin, Nembhard
and Barnes II, 2015)
Aligning People
 Goals of communication
 Commitment
 Building coalitions and teams
Organising and Staffing
 Providing of structure
 Making placements for jobs
 Establishment of procedures and rules
Inspiring and Motivating
 Energize and inspire
 satisfying unmeet needs
 subordinates empower
Controlling and Solving problems
 Incentives development
 Generating creative solutions
 Taking corrective actions
Management By Objectives
This theory was given by Peter Drucker in order to achieve objectives of business in
effective and efficient manner. This is regarded as performance management that aim to brought
objectives between employee and organisation (Management By Objectives (MBO), 2019). This
theory is also called management by results that define specific objectives for organisation which
should be achieved on particular period of time. It is controlling and planning system where both
subordinate and superior work together for defining objectives of business and establishing
targets to be achieved. The management by process are as follows:
Determining or revising organisational objectives- Rowlinson Knitwear need to make
mission and vision for organisation. Without setting of objectives business cannot move forward
for result achievement.
Translating business objectives to employees- According to Peter, objectives should be
made on basis of SMART concept. This can help respective organisation to communicate it to
people in effective and efficient manner so that goal can be achieved. This SMART objectives
help employees and provide guideline for result achievement.

Stimulate participation of employees for determining objectives- It is very important
for Rowlinson Knitwear to have participation of each and every employees working in
organisation for achievement of objectives. This can work in best manner if objectives are
discussed with staffs and employees (Belbin, 2012).
Monitoring Progress- The goals and objectives are made on basis of SMART concept
which can be easily measurable. In case, if it cannot be measured then objectives should be
monitored and provide guideline for achievement. This can help Rowlinson Knitwear to do
better monitoring of activities and progress of business.
Evaluation and rewards achievements- It is last step of MBO where evaluation is
performed and in case of achievement of objectives, reward is provided to employees and staff.
This is designed for improving performance at all levels within business.
Management Roles
There are different management roles which are given by Dr. Henry Mintzberg that are
described below:
Interpersonal Roles- It is role within subordinates and outside people of respective
organisation. It focus on behaviour for interpersonal contact which consists of various roles such
as leader, liaison and figurehead (10 Managerial Roles by Henry Mintzberg, 2017). The
figurehead manager is liable for legal and social matters of business. The working manager
should be leaders, communicating with coaching and inspiring their team. Employees can take
help and guidance from managers. Liaison are liable for creation of network with outside of
business for effective outcomes.
Informational Roles- This role focuses on collecting, receiving, disseminating
information of Rowlinson Knitwear. It includes disseminator, monitor and spokesperson. The
monitoring seek various information from inside and outside of company for assessing operation
of business and identifying issues which need to be changed. Disseminator are liable for relaying
valuable information internally to staffs and assign work accordingly. Lastly, spokesperson takes
information from external environment for work performance.
Decision Roles- This role of management of Rowlinson Knitwear should focus on
making choices. It consists of different roles such as negotiator, resource allocator, entrepreneur
and disturbance handler. The entrepreneur should bring innovation and change in organisation
for effective outcomes. They need to implement and create new thoughts and ideas. Disturbance

handler handles internal and external issues in proper manner. It is responsibility of resource
allocator to allocate resources from funding to equipment. Negotiator is liable for directing and
participating in organisation for negotiation.
TASK 2
P2 Role of leader and functions of manager apply in different situational contexts
When business operates their activities and operations at competitive market, it has to
face various situations that create problems in achievement of goals and objectives. In order to
overcome such situations, leader and manager need to play effective role. The situations faced by
Rowlinson Knitwear and role of leader and functions of manager are described below:
Staff Turnover- This is the situation which arise in most of organisation due to various
reasons. It mainly occurs because of lack of fulfilment of requirements of employees in terms of
salary, motivation, training, incentives, bonus and others (Bouvy and et. al., 2012). Due to this,
staff and employees working in Rowlinson Knitwear leave firm and switch to another. In order
to overcome from such situation, both leader and manager need to play effective role and
function to get solution. Here, role of leader of respective organisation is to take feedback from
their employees regarding staff turnover. The leader should focus on providing training and
development to employees and create various opportunities for them. They should adopt
situational leadership style in order to accept change environment. The function of manager is to
direct and control arise situation in business. They should arrange training and development,
rewards, motivation, encouragement. With these employees can work in effective and efficient
manner.
Conflict- This situation is faced by Rowlinson Knitwear due to lack of proper
communication among top manager and low manager. Due to this, employees perform as per
their own perception that arise issues in achievement of objectives (Rose and et. al., 2013). For
overcoming from such situation, leader should communicate with staff and employees and give
them training session. Leader need to use system theory as it focus on following of rule,
regulations and procedures for carrying work. The function of manager of Rowlinson Knitwear
is to do proper planning and direction to their employer to follow proper communication channel
in order to communicate with their employee. Therefore, each and every work should be
assigned to worker for effectively carrying out activities.

Leadership Traits Theory and style of Leadership
The leadership traits is based on characteristics of leaders and used for predicting
leadership effectiveness. Leaders working in Rowlinson Knitwear should have various traits and
characteristics for achievement of goal and objectives of business. These helps in guiding them
to work in effective and efficient manner. It includes traits such as drive, intelligence, self-
confidence, job related knowledge, desiring for leading, integrity and honesty (Trait Theory of
Leadership, 2017). With helps of this theory, respective organisation can work effectively and
knows about their leader traits for various work performance.
There are various style of leadership which are used by organisation in order to perform
better in business for goal achievement (Sterman and et. Al., 2015). Rowlinson Knitwear has
used situational and system leadership style for their business operations. When conflict arise
between employees of respective organisation, system style has used by leader to analyse
situation for each and work so that proper solution can be given with help of proper formulation
of plans, policies and strategy. Similarly, in order to resolve issue of staff turnover, situational
leadership style has been used for knowing about main reason. According to situation arise in
business, solution is provided for better outcomes.
Hard and Soft Skill
Hard skills of management are teachable skills and abilities which can be easily
quantifiable (Burke, 2013). Such skills are mentioned in cover letter of resume that can help
recruiter to select candidates. For example, hard skills required in Rowlinson Knitwear are:
machine operation, communication, basic computer knowledge.
Soft skills of leadership are considered as subjective skills which cannot be quantify or
hard to determine. It is also called interpersonal and people skills of business. They includes
flexibility, motivation, teamwork and others.
Therefore, Rowlinson Knitwear requires both skills for work performance in order to
achieve goal and objectives of business in effective and efficient manner.
P3 Theories and Models of approach including situational, systems and contingency leadership
Leadership is referred as capacity of management of organisation for setting and
achieving goals & objectives, taking decision for actions, outperforming competition and
inspiring others for high performance. As they provide direction to Rowlinson Knitwear and its
employees, worker and staffs. Different theories of leadership are as follows:

Situational Leadership- This model is also called as adaptive leadership and founded by
Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. There are different situations arise in business where leader
need to chose suitable style for achievement of goal and objectives (Situational Leadership
Model (SLM), 2019). The effectiveness of style depends upon various situations. This style can
be used in respective organisation where common style for performing work is adopted. Such
model can be used by Rowlinson Knitwear for meeting changing need and demand of their
consumers. The situation can be related with conflict resolution, staff turnover and others which
should be solved by use of such style for effective outcomes. This can be beneficial for
Rowlinson Knitwear to meet their customer requirement and fulfils their need and demand.
System Leadership- This is the theory which focuses on creation of conditions where
individuals perform various roles and responsibilities for increasing productivity. Such theory
uses principles like system design, organisational strategy, social process, human behaviour
(Caniani and et. al., 2015). If such theory is followed by Rowlinson Knitwear then they should
focus on following of rules, regulation, policies, procedures. The work is performed on basis of
systematic manner in order to achieve goals and objectives.
Contingency Leadership- This is the approach which focus on specified variables that is
related with environment which can determine to adopt suitable style for given situation
(Kirezieva and et. al., 2013). As per such model, no style can be suitable for all arise or given
situations. Rowlinson Knitwear should focus on those traits of leaders which can be accepted in
given situations. There are various consumer of respective organisation who have different need
and demand. In this case they need to use contingency style to fulfils their requirements.
Strength and Weakness of Leadership
Approaches Strengths Weaknesses
Situational Leadership This is under-stable in all
situations. It can help and
guide organisation to work
under various situations which
can arise in business for
accomplishment of goal and
objectives.
Due to change in situations
and circumstance this cannot
be applied.

System Leadership This carries rules, regulations
and procedures which should
be followed by organisation
for achievement of goal and
objectives of business.
The formulated and
implemented plans and
policies cannot be suitable.
Contingency Leadership This provide data and
information for better
planning.
This approach is complex in
nature.
TASK 3
P4 Key approaches to operations management and role that leaders and managers plays
Operations Management
It is an area of management which is basically concerned with controlling and designing
the process of production and business operations for fulfilling needs and requirement of
organisation. Operation management is the foundation of business, because all activities are
interrelated (Kristiansen, 2013). Rowlinson Knitwear operations management team is specialised
in all fields related to logistics and supply chain management that has helped the company to
widen their knowledge and push on into growing overall business in the marketplace. There are
various approaches to operation management where leader and manager play an effective role.
They are as follows:
Lean Manufacturing- It is a systematic way of production that uses Japanese
manufacturing industry for minimization of waste within a manufacturing unit without
sacrificing the overall productivity of company. This manufacturing approach is very useful for
garment industry because it enhances product quality and reduce lead time and eliminate
manufacturing waste (Kumar and Chandrakar, 2012). Due to rise in intensive competition,
Rowlinson Knitwear is facing problem therefore it is using approach of lean manufacturing for
achieving shortest possible cycle time by eliminating process waste through continuous
improvement. Eventually this has help Rowlinson Knitwear in increasing the efficiency and
adding value. In short manufacturing under lean does not produce waste. In order to adopt such
approach both leader and manager plays an effective role in achievement of goals and objectives.

The basic role of leaders under lean Manufacturing is simple in nature. They should provides
vision and incentive for the betterment of an organisation. Therefore in Rowlinson Knitwear,
leaders of company act as motivator and coach that help the organisation in enhancing
productivity of employees at work. Similarly, lean manager's job basically involves optimisation
of production and service process. Future they needs to start from defining process and products,
studying the current process and designing production with lean management concepts. Under
Rowlinson Knitwear manager task is to define products and services, they create a state value
map which includes all the values of streams that are required for manufacturing process.
Six Sigma- This is referred as manner in which set of tools and techniques are used for
overall improvement of process (López and et. al., 2015). This approach deals in process in
which opportunities to produce some feature of a part are statistically expected to be free of
defects. In Rowlinson Knitwear this strategies can helps in increasing and improving quality of
output of process by identifying and removing causes of defects and minimising variability in
manufacturing. Also this model can helps in determining projects that would benefit the
company's overall productivity. Each projects of Rowlinson Knitwear have a clear process of
inputs and outputs that are required. The leader and manager has different role in six sigma
approach. Here, leaders under six sigma approach play very essential role and entire success of
this approach lies in support and interest of top management. The leaders has a huge
responsibility in driving six sigma culture in an organisation. Under Rowlinson Knitwear the
bottom line of benefits of six sigma projects targets on improving revenue of an organisation and
sustains these benefits over a longer period of time. Similarly, managers play key role in
building a successful six sigma technique for an organisation. They basically create and foster an
environment that sets employees success. Rowlinson Knitwear managers have these essential
factors that have helped the company in capturing good market share: they pick the right
projects, pick right people, follow and adopt correct methods for achieving the targets, clearly
defines the roles and responsibilities of each and every employee connected to the company and
further the communication network followed by managers is very strong in nature.
Transformation Process
It is defined as process where activities or group taking one or more inputs, transforming
and adding value to them for providing output to their consumers (Ma and et. al., 2016). It is

procedure of changing input into output through proper process. There are various
transformation process which can be used by Rowlinson Knitwear are as follows:
Manufacture- It is process where product is made or manufacture by respective
organisation. Example, clothes.
Transport- It is the movement of raw material to consumers with help of proper channel.
Service- It is the process where service is provided to consumers or users.
Total Quality Management
It is referred as customer oriented process and which aims on continuous improvement of
operations of business (Ming and et. al., 2013). This focus on aligning work towards common
goals for improving quality of goods and service. The manager of Rowlinson Knitwear should
focus on quality of product in order to provide high goods and services to consumers.
P5 Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives
Operations Management
It is basically a business practice that is used to create highest level of efficiency possible
within an organisation. Operations Management attempts to balance out cost with revenue to
achieve highest possible operating profit for the company.
Importance of Operation Management
Operations Management plays vital role in running any project which is why it is very
important to ensure that the company have strong operations management process. Importance of
operational management includes:
Quality of Product- Operations management is very essential because it basically
analyses quality of product used by an organisation. Furthermore quality of product is improved
to enhance overall productively (Nakayama and Bucks, 2012). Rowlinson Knitwear during
product quality check keeps two aspects in mind that are durability and reliability. Main
objective of the company under this process is to make ensure that products delivery are durable
in nature and are able to attain efficiency.
Satisfaction of Customers- Responsibility of every business is make ensure that the
customers are satisfied with products delivered to them. Rowlinson Knitwear being a garment
company makes sure that customers are satisfied with product quality. This process has helped
Rowlinson Knitwear in creating products according to the desire of customers.