Leadership and Management Strategies: Case Study of Marks & Spencer

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MANAGING AND LEADING PEOPLE
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
K1....................................................................................................................................................4
K2....................................................................................................................................................7
S1...................................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference list.................................................................................................................................15
Appendix: Poster...........................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Leading and managing people in an organization are important for developing a productive
workforce that would help in gaining huge profit. Moreover, this helps in the understanding of
all the assigned work to the employees effectively, which is required for gaining a potential
output from the workplace. In this context, leadership and its approaches play an important role
in providing proper direction and guidance to the employees that help them in completing their
tasks within the provided deadline. Hence, this study will discuss the topic “Leadership and its
approaches” in order to provide the management team of Marks & Spencer about the
importance of managing and leading employees in the workplace. It has been found that M&S is
one of the popular retail organizations in the UK and other countries that have been founded in
1884 (Corporate.marksandspencer.com, 2019). As per the report of 2018, the total number of
employees working in the organization is about 80000 and the net income is £37.3 million.
However, the organization is currently facing issues with the management of the workplace due
to huge work pressure. Hence, this study will focus on discussing the leadership approaches in
order to manage the employees and work activities in a proper manner.
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K1
To understand the role of managers and leaders in leading and managing the human
aspects within the Global Organisational Arena (883)
Both managers and leaders are having unique roles in managing the human aspects in the context
of the global organizational arena. As mentioned by Carter (2015), leadership skills need to be
adopted by every managers and leaders of the organization in order to enhance the efficiency of
the workforce. For example, in M&S, there are different departments such as operating
department, marketing department, HR department, sales department, and others in the
organization that helps in completing the assigned tasks effectively.
Here, the roles and responsibilities of managers are mentioned below:
Figure 1: Roles and responsibilities of the manager
(Source: Bolden, 2016)
 Managers are responsible for planning, controlling, and monitoring of the workplace in
order to check the efficiency of the workplace. It has been observed that the managers do
performance management of the employees in order to check the potentiality of the
employees. For example, HR manager of M&S is responsible for developing a review
plan for measuring the productivity of the employees. Using this plan, the HR managers
of the company are able to track if the employees meet the sales targets.
 Managers are responsible for overseeing the production of services and goods.
Moreover, they are entitled to manage the operation process, embracing new design,
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planning, performance improvement, and developing an operational strategy (Fischer et
al., 2016). For example, in M&S, operation managers are assigned to check the
productivity of all the retail stores. Moreover, they help the employees to innovate new
designs in products by providing training and theoretical classes on product development.
 Managers are the one that efforts on improving career development and training
program of the organization. For example, in M&S they have developed a retail
academy where employees are encouraged to be part of the training and development
program in order to increase their confidence level while working. Moreover, customer
care executives of the organization are given training on improving their management
skills so that they can understand the needs and problems of the customers in an effective
manner.
On the contrary, the roles and responsibilities of leaders are illustrated below:
 Leaders are the one that is responsible for managing all the formulated policies and
plans of the organization. In the middle and lower level, it is essential for interpreting as
well as execution of plans and programs. Hence, leaders are responsible for guiding and
counselling the subordinates at the time of execution of work.
 A leader using the leadership traits are responsible for integrating all the goals
employees with the organizational goals. This individual is responsible for serving a
common purpose for achieving the objective of the organization (Donate and de Pablo,
2015). For example, leaders of M&S are responsible for giving strong pieces of advice on
work ethics and employee responsibilities so that they get the motivation to work
effectively.
 Leaders are also responsible for inspiring the team continuously in order to increase
their determination and interest levels towards working in the organization. Hence,
leaders of Marks and Spencer should be able to motivate the entire team for developing a
unique product design that would help the organization to gain the interests of consumers.
 Leaders are responsible for creating the vision of the organization. This is the main
responsibilities of a leader that help the organization in gaining a strategic path to meet
the goal of the organization. In Marks and Spencer, it has been found that leader that is
Mr. Steve Rowe who is the CEO of the company since 2016 is responsible for setting the
vision of the company.
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However, there are certain differences among the roles of leaders and managers that are
highlighted below:
Figure 2: Difference in the roles of managers and leaders
(Source: Lorinkova and Perry, 2015)
As stated by Lorinkova and Perry (2015), some of the leaders are unsuitable managers and some
of the managers are unsuitable leaders. It has been found that leaders are self-aware and tries to
work actively for building a unique brand in the organization. On the other hand, managers
present the competencies and the behaviour that they have learned from another person. Hence,
from this, it can be said that leaders create their own leadership style and managers only present
the leadership approach used by the leaders. In another perspective, it is found that leaders focus
on the employees and other external stakeholders for making them realize the vision.
Additionally, they build trust and loyalty by making consistent promises to the customers. On the
contrary, managers concentrate on the structure of the organization for setting and achieving the
goals. Hence, it can be said that leaders and managers are having different roles and
responsibility in managing the human aspects of the organization.
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K2
To have an insight into the key management and leadership activities associated with
managing change to impact positively on organizational performance.
Change management is required in the organization as it helps in providing tools, process, and
approaches to bringing individual transitions for making a new change in the organization. It has
been found that managers and leaders both represent an integral part of developing the workplace
in a better manner. For this purpose, there is a need for developing certain managerial and
leadership approaches in order to manage the key activities associated with change management.
These are important for providing a positive impact on organizational performance as well. M&S
is found to expand its stores and change the culture and brand after the declination of profit
levels by 5.4% in overall sales (Hardy, 2018). Hence, key management and leadership
activities that are required are mentioned below:
Define change and align with a business goal: The change that is going to be implemented in
the organization should be made aware among all the staffs. Moreover, this activity is useful for
providing the right value to the employees. For example, the managers and leaders of the M&S
need to provide guidance and should explain the reason for the change in the organization. If the
mentioned organization wants to change the organizational structure, the managers can share the
visions that are set by leaders of the company.
Development of communication strategy: Developing a communication strategy is highly
required for managing the change in the organization. For instance, using written communication
process, the employees can be made alert about the change. Managers require writing important
notes and documents related and distribute them to the employees. On the other hand, leaders
can call a meeting in the conference room of the organization for explaining verbally about the
change to all employees.
Provide effective training: Training is another managerial activity that can help the
organization to increase the performance level of the employees. HR managers are responsible
for providing training to the employees for managing change in the company. For instance,
M&S can provide the employee online and digital training as there is a huge number of
employees working in the organization. Hence, providing online training, all employees can
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remain updated with effective information about the change. This can help the managers and
leaders to manage the change in a systematic manner.
Implementation of the support structure: Offering a support structure is vital for providing
assistance to the staffs emotionally as well as practically in order to make them adjust with the
change (Wang et al., 2016). Moreover, this would help in building technical skills and
proficiency in achieving the desired business result. For example, the managers of M&S can ask
questions related to most required support for the change management for understanding the
interest level and motivation level of the employees.
Measurement of the change process: In the change management process, the managers are
required to measure the effectiveness of change in order to implement it in the organization. In
this context, the managers can use pulse learning for gaining an effective idea of change
management. For example, M&S is planning to change the product innovation process in food
such as increasing the quality and taste of the products to grab more customers by the end of
2022 (Hardy, 2018). Hence, the operational and product manager are having a significant role in
measuring the change management by setting KPI in the sales process.
Moreover, the leadership approaches that are required for meeting the needs of change
management and increasing organizational performance are as follows:
Figure 3: Different leadership approaches
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(Source: Created by the learner)
Trait approach: The primary approach to leadership is known as trait approach because it helps
in the developing self-confidence and identifies the potentiality of implementing the change
effectively. As commented by Little et al. (2016), successful leaders are using the trait approach
of leadership for increasing the personality, knowledge, intellective and aggressiveness. For
example, managers of M&S can use trait approach for analyzing their own strengths and
weaknesses in a proper manner. This would help them to develop their skills such as managing
skills and creating a skill for managing the change of the organization effectively.
Situational approach: It has been found that a supportive and motivating work environment is
responsible for increasing productivity. Hence, using the situational approach of leadership, one
can help in developing the morale of the staffs and set a productive environment. In order to
manage the change in the organization, the manager can use the situational leadership approach
for directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating responsibilities to the employees about the
change.
Functional approach: The organization can use the functional approach for improving the
operations and function of the business. Managers mostly use functional approach when there is
a need for changing the organizational culture and management activities (Santos et al., 2015).
Moreover, they can use this approach of leadership in the organization for motivating the
workforce. In this change management of M&S, the leaders can use the functional approach of
leadership for mentioning each role of the employees in the operational function. Hence, using
this approach, the organization would be able to increase the quality of the products as the
managers can determine the functions of every team members effectively.
Relational approach: This approach is used by the leaders for building quality relationships in
order to increase the success and productivity of the organization. Kurucz et al. (2017)
commented that the relational approach is used by the organization for strengthening the
relationships among managers and employees. For example, if the employees do not like the
changes that are going to be implemented in the organization, then they would not perform
effectively. Hence, this might create a barrier in gaining potential results and can create a
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negative impact on their performance. Therefore, using the relational approach can help in
creating strong bonds among the employees, managers and the change management approach.
Theories and models of leadership for setting the management and leadership activities
Behavioural theory of leadership
In this theory of leadership, efforts are given by the leaders and managers of the organizations on
the actual behaviour and actions of the employees in order to develop a fruitful organizational
culture. As mentioned by Storey (2016), behavioural theory is used by the leaders for
understanding the behaviours of the employees while implementing new change in the
organization.
Figure 4: Behavioural leadership theory
(Source: Storey, 2016)
In M&S, the managers can apply behavioural theory of leadership where three skills can be
used that are technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills for bringing change in the action
and behaviour of employees. Additionally, leaders can motivate their team members by offering
incentives and rewards that can help in gaining attention and change the behaviour of the staffs.
This theory enables the organization to gain autocratic and democratic leaders that are
important for developing the workforce effectively.
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Contingency theory of leadership
Contingency leadership theory signifies that effectiveness of leader in performing of delivering
effective outcomes in the business. Using this theory, the leaders, and managers can understand
their own contingencies and can fit themselves in every situation (Jansen et al., 2016). For
example, if any conflict situation occurs in the workplace of M&S, the leaders adopting this style
can be able to understand the reason of conflict and can help the employees to manage the
situation in a tactful manner.
Figure 5: Contingency model of leadership
(Source: Jansen et al., 2016)
Using this theory, the managers in the organization can be able to gather knowledge on task
structure, member-leader relationship, and positional power. This would help to tackle any
situation such as disagreement in opinions of employees, disorder arrangement of work structure
and conflict management by developing relationship among the leadership style and the occurred
situation.
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S1
To design a set of considered recommendations which impact positively on leading and
managing people in an organization
In order to develop the leading and managing strategies of the managers and leaders for
improving the people management in the organization, it is important to focus on setting clear
vision. In this aspect, it can be said that management team of the organization can
Setting of work ethic standard: In order to lead and manage the people of organization
effectively, it is important to set the work ethics in a proper manner. The managers should listen
to the leader’s advice for setting the ethics and policies of the workplace. For example, the
managers should follow the vision that is created by leaders sincerely for presenting them in
front of the workforce. The managers of M&S should develop the workplace ethics and values
such as trusts, good behaviour, and fair treatment for managing the staffs of organization
properly.
Creation of positive environment in the workforce: Establishing a positive environment in
organization can help the employees to work sincerely. Hence, this would help the managers in
managing the workplace effectively as a positive attitude will be developed among the
employees. Developing positive environment means use of clear communication, listening to
everyone’s opinion, recognising of hard work and motivating all team members. Hence, this can
help in managing all the members of the organization in a positive way.
Collaboration of diversified skills: Collaboration is the fundamental requirement for improving
the managing and leading of employees. In a team, employees of diversified skills are required
for implementing the business objectives in a successful manner. For example, diversified skills
such as creativity skill, communication skill, technical skill, volunteering skill and others need to
be collaborated among the employees of M&S so that development of the products can be done
properly. This is also important for the managers to reduce the training sessions to develop these
skills among the team members.
Delegating work to the suitable employee: It is important to establish relationship with the
entire team in order to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the individual employees.
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