Analysis of Leadership and Management in Operations: Linpac Group Ltd

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Linpac Group Ltd, a manufacturer of plastic packaging. It begins by differentiating between the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, emphasizing their importance in organizational success. The report then explores the roles of leaders and managers in various situational contexts, such as conflict resolution and change implementation, highlighting the application of behavioral and situational leadership theories. Furthermore, it examines different leadership theories and models, including situational, system, and contingency leadership, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages and recommending flexible and participative approaches. The report also delves into operational management, discussing its approaches and importance, and analyzing the impact of leadership and management on operational decision-making. The findings underscore the significance of effective leadership and management in fostering a collaborative environment, driving employee performance, and achieving organizational objectives.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1) Comparison between different role and characteristics of a leader and a manger ..............1
LO 2 ................................................................................................................................................3
P2) Role of leader and manager in different situational context.................................................3
P3) Different theories and models of leadership.........................................................................4
PART 2 ...........................................................................................................................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................6
P4) Approaches to operation management.................................................................................6
P5) Importance and value of Operation management ...............................................................7
LO 4 ...............................................................................................................................................8
P6) Impact on operational management and decision making ...................................................8
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12
.......................................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Management of an organisation is mainly concerned with the process of administering
and controlling the affairs and operation of an organisation. Management of operation is
necessary for all organisation irrespective of its nature, size, structure and type as it aim at
creating and maintaining a business environment where the employees and members of the
organisation can easily and effectively work together to achieve the business objectives in better
way (Chapman and Ellinger, 2019). Leaders and mangers plays an important and vital role in
management of organisation through motivating and coordinating all the efforts of workforce.
This assignment is based on management and operation and the chosen organisation for this
report is Linpac group Ltd which is founded in Lincolnshire, England, UK (Linpac Group Ltd,
2019). It main business is to produce paper packaging for local fresh food producers but now it
has expanded its business across international borders also. This assignment includes a
difference between role of a leaders and functions of a manger along with different theories and
approaches of leadership. Further, an appreciation of the role leaders and managers play in the
management of operations is also there. Finally this report includes the description about
relationship between leadership and management in a contemporary business environment.
PART 1
LO 1
P1) Comparison between different role and characteristics of a leader and a manger
Background
Linpac group Ltd is a manufacturer and marketer of plastic packagings, container and
film products having its headquarter in Wakefield road, England, United Kingdom. This
organisation mainly deals in offering rigid plastic containers and returnable transit packaging
products across the different locations of United Kingdom. Management structure of an
organisation is mainly related with hierarchy of authority and defines the accountability and
communication channels within an organisations. Being a manufacturing organisations, Linpac
group Ltd is having a functional structure to have an effective flow of responsibility and
communication among various functional unit of organisations. This keeps a coordination among
various activities and lead to achievement of targets.
Role of mangers and leaders
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the important role played by a leader and manger along with their definition is provided
below:
Manager- A manger is a person who is primarily responsible for managerial functions
and having a charge of department and peoples (Copacino, 2019). Mangers are responsible for
supervising and motivating employees for directing and manzanita the progress of an
organisation. Manager is having power to hire, fire, discipline, do performance appraisals and
monitor activities and functions of its department for ensuring effective coordination among
activities of all individuals and resources.
The main role of manger in Linpac group Ltd includes liaison role and they have to
perform the functions of motivation, communication, encouraging team spirit and other functions
to coordinate the activities of all subordinates, which involves the activity of liaison. Beside this,
resource allocator and entrepreneurial role are also played by mangers and is responsible for
initiating and oversee new products for improving overall performance and growth of
organisation.
Leader- A leader is a person who is having the responsibility to influence a group of
people towards achievement of a goal. The important role played by a leaders in success of
Linpac group Ltd includes influencing other to have success in its role and prepare employees
for future. Leader also plays a role of facilitator is responsible for making things easier for better
flow of operations and boost productivity (Kumar, Mookerjee and Shubham, 2018). Beside this a
leaders is also a strategist who keep current situation and prevailing conditions in mind and plot
best directions and approaches for team to achieve and reach the desired goals.
Difference between manger and leader
Basis Manger Leader
Role The main role of mangers of Linpac
group Ltd is associated with controlling
and managing all employees and
resources of organisations through
keeping a balance and coordination
among various activities. Mangers
plays the role of resources allocator and
is responsible for distributing resources
The main role of leaders is related
with the motivating and improving
creativity and skills of employees
through providing proper guidance
and direction. Proper channels of
communication are established by
Linpac group Ltd to maintain a
healthier atmosphere and reduce the
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among various tasks for maintaining
cost efficiency and achieving desired
objectives.
chances of confusion and chaos to
ensure the free flow of operations
(Mehra, 2018).
Characteristics The main characteristics of mangers of
Linpac group Ltd includes ability of
effective planning and management.
The mangers are little conservative and
takes risks after due analysis of all
circumstance and situation. Mangers
are responsible for effective planning
and fix role and responsibility of all
employees on the basis of their skills to
ensure the achievement of objectives
and targets (Perakis, 2019).
The leaders of Linpac group Ltd are
characterised as risk takers with
great level of creativity and
influencing power to direct and
motivate its employees. The main
characteristics of leaders of Linpac
group Ltd is concerned with
motivating and influencing its
employees to ensure the
achievement of targets on time.
Thus, on the basis of above description is can be said that both mangers and leaders plays
a vital role in motivating and providing direction and guidance to employees for having a better
coordination and smooth flow of operations for achievement of objectives and goals of
organisations.
LO 2
P2) Role of leader and manager in different situational context
The important role played by mangers and leaders of Linpac group Ltd in handling
adverse situation and ensuring uninterrupted and smooth flow of work within an organisation
under different situational context is provided below:
Conflicts resolution – As thousand of employees are working for Linpac group Ltd thus,
it is obvious to have chaos and conflicts. All individuals and employees have their own targets
and interest which creates diversity and difference in an organisation and are the main cause of
conflicts thus, it is the responsibility of mangers and leaders and to understand their employees
and coming up with a mutual decisions for benefits of all workforce (Regnier and MacKenzie,
2018). Managers should implement a plan or policies after due discussion with employees and
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should divide and allocate work to employees on the basis of their skills and strengths so that
chances of conflicts can be reduced. Thus, use of behavioural management theory theory should
be made by mangers of Linpac group Ltd to properly understand the behaviour, mindset and
attitude of its employees. Leaders of Linpac group Ltd should also need to adopt an effective
leadership style to eliminate or reduce the chances of conflicts among employees. Use of
situational leadership can be made to have a proper understanding of situation and prevailing
conditions which proved a better understanding about reason and cause of conflicts thus, better
efforts can be made by leaders to convince diverse employees and a mutual solution as per the
requirement can also be made (Utne, Schjølberg and Roe, 2019) .
Implementation of changes- Certain modification and improvements are made by
organisation from time to time to have better growth and achieve better productivity.
Implementation of change is a complex and crucial situation as it need to properly motivate and
direct employees for execution of change and also require roper coordination in activities so that
positive implications of change can be achieved on time. Thus, at the time of implementation of
change mangers should make use of participative management style to have a proper discussion
with employees about the positive and negative aspects of change which motivates employees
for proper execution of change (Wang, Yang and Hou, 2019). Leaders of Linpac group Ltd must
adopt system leadership approach as it create a condition and environment in organisation where
employees at all level can work productively to the best of their potential. Thus, lead to better
implementation of change through maintaining efficiency and effectiveness in performance of all
employees. Beside this appropriate training should also be provided by managers of Linpac
group Ltd to its employees to enhance their skills and leaders should establish effective channels
of communication so that all the changes and modification can be transferred to employees easily
and on time.
P3) Different theories and models of leadership
The various theories and models of leadership which can be used and implement by
Linpac group Ltd to have a supported growth and sustainable performance are provided below:
Situational leadership theory – It is a leadership style in which use of different
approaches and methods are made by a leader to influence and coordinate its employees after
due analysis of current circumstances and prevailing situation (Whelan, Sarmiento and Sprenger,
2018). Use of situational leadership style can be made by leaders of Linpac group Ltd as it
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provide a greater level of flexibility and facilitates selection of most suitable leadership style
which is useful in influencing and motivating employees as per current situation thus, provide
best way to achieve better efficiency, productivity and higher level of performance.
Advantage Disadvantage
It facilitates most flexible leadership style which
can be easily modified or change as per the
prevailing situation. Thus, lead to better
atmosphere in organisations to deal with all
situation and also ensure better motivation and
direction for employees as per prevailing
circumstances.
As continuous changes and modifications are
made in leadership styles and approaches
thus, can lead to a situation of chaos and
confusion among employees which can
hamper their performance and productivity
(Wijesekara and Ranasinghe, 2019).
System Leadership – This leadership style is useful in motivating and directing people at
different level to ensure the better productivity and performance of employees at different level
of organisation (Wu, Olson and Wang, 2019). Use of system leadership style through Linpac
group Ltd helps in predicting and estimating human behaviour, nature and desires so that proper
strategies can be formed better performance and sustainable growth of organisation.
Advantage Disadvantage
Use of this leadership style ensure a better
coordination and balance between interest of
individuals and overall organisational goals
through making estimation about individuals
needs and fulfilling their expectation for
improving their performance.
It is difficult for any leaders to accurately
estimate the needs of employees and fulfil all
the desired expectation thus, can create chaos
and conflicts on non fulfilment of interest of
any particular employee.
Contingency Leadership- The emphasis of this leadership style is not only based on skill
and styles of leaders but also have its focus on prevailing situation (Xu, Li and Feng, 2019). It is
basically a two fold leadership styles under which leaders of Linpac group Ltd require to first
analysis the current circumstances and after that efforts and plans are made for motivation and
directing employees.
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Advantage Disadvantage
It lead to better planning and effective
leadership charts are prepared to evaluate the
skills and capability of leaders in meeting and
handling current situation.
This leadership style can be effectively used
only through highly skilled and capable leaders
which have the desired level of knowledge to
understand a situation properly (Xu, Peng and
Prybutok, 2019).
Recommendation
The mangers and leaders have great impact on performance and success of organisation
as they provide timely motivation and direction to employees to enhance their performance and
skills. Use of more flexible and participative leadership and management styles (like
participative management style and democratic leadership style) is recommended for Linpac
group Ltd to have better understanding about behaviour of its employees so that suitable efforts
can be made to properly direct and guide them in correct direction.
PART 2
LO 3
P4) Approaches to operation management
The main functions or operations of Linpac group Ltd are as follows:
Production- Linpac group Ltd is a manufacturer of paper and plastic packing material
for local fresh items thus, production is its main operation (Zhou and Lo, 2018). Manager of
Linpac group Ltd plays a crucial role in maintaining quality of packing material and leaders aim
at ensuring the efficiency and productivity of employees. Thus, mangers and leaders of Linpac
group Ltd ensure supply of best quality product on time.
Marketing- This operation of Linpac group Ltd is responsible for effective promotion
and advertising of its product to have better sales. Mangers are responsible for effective analysis
and market research to develop best marketing strategy as per latest trend. Leaders plays a
crucial role in motivating employees to keep a phase with current trends and taste if market to
ensure availability of best product as per current market demand (Chapman and Ellinger, 2019).
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Thus, formulation of marketing strategy is done by manager and its effective execution is the
responsibility of leaders.
Use of various approaches and tools are made by Linpac group Ltd to properly manage
efficiency of its operations and to reduce amount of wastage in its operations to achieve the
objective of cost efficiency and higher productivity and profit. These approaches for operation
management are provided below:
TQM (Total quality management)
It is a process that aim at bringing continuous improvement in business operations
through improving product quality as well enhance the production process through facilitating
quality discipline in culture and other related activities of organisations. In Linpac group Ltd fact
based decisions are made by manager to have a performance metrics to monitor the performance
and efficiency of all employees. Thus, ensure better progress and improvement in skills and
working level of employees to meet the objectives of productivity and cost efficiency (Role of
leadership in TQM: An Analysis, 2019). On the other hand leaders of Linpac are responsible for
providing relevant training and development to employees to ensure development of better skills
and creativity in its employees so that cost efficiency and better productivity can be achieved.
Lean production
It is an approach that is used by an organisation to cut down the wasteful activities and at
the same time also focuses on ensuring quality of product (Copacino, 2019). The main focus of
lean production is on minimizing and eliminating activities that dose not create any value for
customers like holding of stock, repairing faulty product and unnecessary movement of people
and product, etc. which are not creating any value, thus lead to achievement of cost efficiency.
Lean production was originated in Japanese manufacturing unit but know used by all
organisations having sophisticated manufacturing activities to bring simplicity in its production
process. The mangers of Linpac group Ltd should adopt lean production for having effective
planning for better designing of production process to reduce the amount of wastage and to
enhance the productivity. Leaders keep an effective check or monitoring is kept on all day to
day operation to reduce and eliminate all wasteful activity (Kumar, Mookerjee and Shubham,
2018).
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P5) Importance and value of Operation management
Operation management is related with effectively managing and coordinating various
operations of organisation to have a better control on its operation to achieve the objectives. The
main aim of operation management is reducing the cost of production and achieving the better
quality of product. The importance of operation management in Linpac growth Ltd is provided
below:
Improving overall productivity: Operation management helps in keeping a check and
control on overall performance and efficiency of employees which ensure timely motivation and
coordination form leaders and managers to enhance the performance of employees in Linpac
group Ltd, thus lead to improvement in overall performance and productivity of organisation
(Mehra, 2018).
Enhancing quality of product- Use of operation management tool like TQM facilities
better quality of product through keeping a check on all activities. Beside this, in Linpac group
Ltd timely training and development programmes are also conducted for improving skills and
creativity of employees to achieve the target of better quality of product.
Reduction of cost: Operation management also play an important role in reduction of
cost through making use of better production method like lean production which ensures
reduction in wasteful activity thus helps in achievement of target of cost efficiency thus, yield
better profit and sales revenue for Linpac group Ltd.
Thus, overall operation management plays a crucial role in achieving and meeting the
business objective through enhancing productivity, cresting better quality of product and
reducing cost of production which facilitates higher sales and better profit margin.
LO 4
P6) Impact on operational management and decision making
The various internal and factors of Linpac group Ltd that have significant effect and
impact upon operational management and decision-making of leaders and mangers are provided
below:
Internal factors
In internal factor of an organisation all its stakeholders are included like business
partners, directors, employees , customers and all other related party are included. Best policies
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and practices are adopted by mangers and leaders of Linpac group Ltd to meet the interests and
desires of all its stakeholders (Perakis, 2019). Mutual decision making is made by Linpac group
Ltd which is in favour of all stakeholders and aim at achievement of common goals and targets.
Beside this, corporate social responsibility is also meet by the leaders and manager of
Linpac group Ltd through making use of renewable resources and its decision are also focused
on sustainable development to ensure minimum loss and reduce pollution in society for creating
better atmosphere and place to live.
External factors
For analysis of impact of external factors use of PESTEL analysis is made by Linpac
group Ltd which is described below:
Political- The political atmosphere of UK is stable thus, manager of Linpac group Ltd
can take firm decisions and not much changes and modification in strategy is required. But due
to recent Brexit issue, extra efforts are needed by leaders of Linpac group Ltd to keep its
employees motivated and directed towards goals (Regnier and MacKenzie, 2018).
Economical- UK is having a rapidly growing economy which is providing better growth
opportunity to Linpac group Ltd, thus its managers should make such policies and decision that
are directed towards growth and expansion (Utne, Schjølberg and Roe, 2019). A low
unemployment rate of UK i.e. 3.9% has created a pressure on leaders to provide better incentives
and salary to its employees to keep them motivated.
Social- The society of UK is modern and very much depended on ready and instant food
and also like attractive packaging. Thus, it also create an opportunity for mangers and leader to
have better creativity and more attractive packing material to attract more customers.
Technological- UK is well known for its technical advancement thus, decisions should
be made by mangers of Linpac group Ltd have better use of terotechnological advancement and
innovation. Timely training should also be provided by leaders to ensure coordination of
organisation with current technology level.
Environmental- The people and government of UK is becoming more aware and
conservative towards environment thus, decisions should be taken by mangers for use of
renewable products and material while manufacturing packing items (Wang, Yang and Hou,
2019).
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