Comparing Leadership and Management Roles at Marks & Spencer

This report examines the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers within the context of Marks & Spencer (M&S), a leading UK retailer. It begins with an overview of M&S, its history, and its business operations. The report then compares and contrasts the roles of leaders and managers, highlighting their responsibilities in areas such as team selection, motivation, training, and communication. It applies leadership theories, including situational leadership and contingency management, to explain the differences between leaders and managers. The report analyzes how these theories are applied in various workplace situations, such as addressing skill gaps among employees. The analysis extends to M&S's approach to employee training, technology implementation, and goal setting. Finally, it concludes by evaluating the impact of leaders and managers on M&S's performance and offers recommendations for future improvements.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK A...........................................................................................................................................1
Introduction of company..............................................................................................................1
Comparison between the characteristics and roles of the leaders and managers.........................2
Difference between manager and leader by theories...................................................................5
Function of manager and role of leader apply in various situations............................................5
Situational leadership, system leadership and contingency.........................................................7
Weaknesses and strength of different approaches to situations within work environment........7
Evaluation of various leadership theories....................................................................................8
Conclusion on leaders and managers made the impact on Marks & Spencer ............................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................10
Covered in PPT..........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are the vital components in business as management helps in
managing the bulk of operations of company effectively in order to generate revenue and gain
positive outcomes. In short, management set strategies for increasing profit and improve
operational efficiency. It begin with the brief explanation of Marks & Spencer, it is one of the
most popular and leading UK retailer. It explain various traits and roles of manager and leader
and also define differentiation between function of manager and role of leader by applying of
management as well as leadership theories. It describes weaknesses and strength of different
approaches applied in different situations within workplace and also justifies the final conclusion
based on how leaders and manager impact on company and recommendations for future
improvement.
TASK A
Introduction of company
M&S is the British multinational and one of the leading retailers in UK, Michael Marks
and Thomas Spencer is the founder of company, founded in 1884; 135 year ago in UK. They are
specialized in selling high quality of clothing, food products and home goods to customers. In
2008, November Firm began to sell branded food products like Kellogg corn Flakes. They
recently have 960 stores across the country which shows their leading position in marketplace,
615 shops of company only sell food products to people. Company focuses on quality of
products and serve its best services with the help of effective team members who contribute to
achieve organizational desired goals and business objectives. Firm build its reputation with the
policy of only marketing British made products with this procedure they can be able to enter into
longer term relation with British manufacturers and successfully sold out clothes and food under
St Michael brand. In 1958, firm began selling Christmas puddings and Christmas cakes, they
improve quality of its Swiss Rolls and for that hired food expert who helped to made betterment
across whole range of cakes. Furthermore, organization expanded their business in Afghanistan,
Kabul, Canada etc, successfully which help to generate high revenue and also support to increase
their productivity. In 1975, they expand into France start up with shops opening in Paris at Lyon
and Boulevard Haussmann, followed by the second Paris shop. For further growth, M&S
acquired Brooks Brothers firm in 1988 and King Super Markets as well. Due to cost cutting,
company closed 22 minor food stores and unprofitable stores such as Balham and Ripon in 2009,
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which is one of the major changes in their business chain and directly impact on their financial
performance.
Comparison between characteristics and roles of the leaders and managers
Leader, is the person who effects the group of peoples and motivate them towards
achievement of the goal (Schönsleben, 2018). Leaders are able to practice high degree of control
over other peoples at workplace, furthermore they can be able to get the best ideas out of anyone
in company which is beneficial for overall business operations.
Manager is also as important as leader for company, manager is the person who is
accountable for administering or controlling the whole firm and group of employees.
Different roles of and characteristics of leaders-
Roles-
Coach- Leader role is to prepare other person at workplace for further growth and
success and also play roles as coach in order to guide workers.
Decision maker- on the other side leader role is to take appropriate decision which effect
positively upon their staff. They need to be a good decision maker that is beneficial for them as
well as whole business.
Team player- team player is the best role played by a leader successfully in company in
order to make effective team or group of peoples. Leader role is to be a teammate and work with
their team members.
Characteristics-
Honesty- honesty is one of the best attribute of a leader, they will be capable to establish
the honest relationship with peers.
Creativity- sometimes in business the difficult situation will arise that require thinking
outside of boarder. As a leader they need to be demonstrate the different type of creativity that
support team members push through any condition
Different characteristics and roles of managers-
Characteristics-
Communication- to become a good manager communication characteristic is one of the
factors that helps to build good relationship with others. Manager can be able to listen to their
team and communicating in context of job, expectations and responsibilities effectively.
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Time management- time management is the another key characteristics of manager .
They make assure that everything will be done on time and every day workers accomplish their
given task on time.
Roles-
Planning- manager role is to make plans based on situational analysis effectively, with
the help of other team mates. They can be able to make plans to minimize risks and to attract
number of consumers.
Organizing- Manger role is to well organized performance and working activities of
workers.
Controlling- manager role is to monitoring and reviewing performances of staff
members which helps to control their activities.
Comparison between traits and role of manager and leader-
Differences-
Roles Leaders Managers
Selection of team members Leader's role is to select
appropriate team members to
complete the specific task of
business such as M&S
company which help to
increase productivity and
performance of employees.
As compare to leader, manager
role is to only manage and
control employees work by
making the best policies and
plans which is beneficial for
firm as well as staff.
Motivation One of the great thing leader
do is to motivate their
employees. Leader role is to
enhance employees
performance and helps to
understand their needs while
working in team.
As compare to leader, manager
role is to make strategies based
on rewards and appraisal
system which helps to
motivate peoples and support
to retain them for longer term
period.
Training and development Leader's role in M&S
company is to provide training
On the other side managers'
role within firms is to prepared
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and development session to
workers which is useful for
improving their skills and
knowledge .
plan and make time seclude
based on training program and
implement in workplace for
employees professional growth
as well as personal.
Characteristics Leaders Managers
Communication Effective communication is
one of the trait of successful
leader, they are able to convey
clear vision to their team
members with the help of
effective communication.
Manager as compare to leader
effectively communicate with
high authority in context of
worker performance. With the
help of effective
communication characteristic
manager is able to express
their views and thoughts in
front of high management.
Creativity Characteristic of leaders
include being open to left field
and change thoughts because it
is precisely what will give
them a competitive advantage.
In short, creativity is the best
trait among leader which make
them able to perceive valuable
things.
On the other hand creativity is
one of the another
characteristic of a manager as
compare to leaders. They are
able to developed new ideas
and being capable to generate
new concepts in workplace
that is perfectly suitable for
business.
Collaboration Leader as compare to manager
have collaboration
characteristic that is powerful
because it of course creates
Collaboration trait among
manager make them capable to
work with higher management
or board of director in order to
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transparency in firm and make
leader able to work within its
team effectively.
run business successfully.
Difference between manager and leader by theories
Role of leader within Marks & Spencer and function of manager is quite different from
each other which can be defined with the help of applying range of theories such as situational
leadership theory and contingency management theory.
Role of leader with situational leadership theory-
Leader's role is to motivate their team member and resolve any conflict that takes place
at workplace that effect workers performance as well as business. Situational leadership must be
applied and adopt by leader which is beneficial for them as to resolve the issues effectively.
Situational leadership theory define that when leader of company need to change their style and
take decision to make better outcomes in order to create healthy and positive working
environment. Leaders change its working style continuously to fit with the needs of workers in
firm and understand their concern about work based on situation. Furthermore, in competitive
environment due to lack of knowledge and skills staff are not bee able to work efficiently in
which leader analyse the situation and make changes in their style or take decision for provide
training. With the help of situational leadership theory they can be able to do so
Function of manager with Taylor's Scientific management theory
A manager role is completely different from other leader. This can be explained with help
of scientific management theory :-
This theory focuses on improving efficiency of individual by increasing production. A
manager needs to develop plan that how employee performance can be improved. In this several
things are changed such as improving working conditions, etc. In Marks and Spencer, manager
installed technology in order to enhance employee performance. They installed various software
and applications. Moreover, they provided training to them on how to use technology. Also,
short terms goals were set. In this way staff efficiency was improved.
It mainly focused on belief that developing people work as better as they can is not
optimizing and efficient way of completing work.
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Function of manager and role of leader apply in various situations
Situation 1- Poor skills and knowledge
Role of leader in context of situation
In company many workers are not able to perform effectively and better than the others
that effect on business and their performance at workplace. Due to poor skills and knowledge of
employees company business can be affected and it can decrease their financial performance. In
this situation leader role is to provide and lead perfectly the training and development session in
order to improve people working abilities which is necessary for satisfactory workplace
performance. Leader role is to supervise all the staff members closely and offer extensive off job
and on job training making assure about work is performed by employees appropriately or not.
With the help of situational leadership style leader are able to analyse needs of workers and
support to meet with company goals and objectives. Leader role is to motivate them via training
which enhance their performance as well as productivity.
Function of manager in context of situation
On the other side planning is the main function of manager in this situation which effect
M&S business. With the help of contingency management theory manager can be able to
determine the needs of training program and efforts to make it better. Manager of company
before creating employee training program, need to gain the basic understanding of how such
system work.
Situation 2- Conflict management
Role of leader-
Leader role is to motivate workers and resolve their issues related to workplace which is
essential for business growth and success. Resolving conflict in workplace is the most important
responsibility of leader in M&S that increase productivity and retain talented peoples with them
for longer term period.
Function of manager-
Manager can be able to resolve conflict at workplace with the help of contingency
management theory in order to get positive outcomes. They make plans and strategies based on
situational analyses is the most essential function of a manager within company that helps to
solve conflict and maintain the efficiency of operations effectively. Manager analyse the
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situation and find out reason behind arise of issue and then make plans to resolve it and create
good working environment.
Contingency, system and situational leadership
System leadership, situational as well as contingency approaches related to different
aspects of company purposes and effect on relative aspect that can draw in appropriate and
inappropriate manner.
Situational leadership initiate organizational working and behaviour for workers, it is also
known as life cycle concept of outcomes. M&S leader is able to adopt situational leadership
theory for evaluation of several situations in order for recommending the different actions taken
for improvement.
System leadership includes phenomenon of company that prevails to several systems that
hold to various activity to be followed including temporal and type scale of business
organization.
Contingency theory describe effect the firm purposes for influence the decision making,
it dependent on optimal situation for contingency position. This theory in M&S group effects
decision taking or handling for aspect connected to current positions.
Weaknesses and strength of various approaches to situations
Transformational leadership style
Capability-
This leadership theory creates an enthusiastic work environment. Through this, staff is
automatically motivated. Also, it sets a vision which enables staff to initiate challenging tasks.
This inspires and motivates them to put more efforts in completion of goals and objectives. The
leaders highly support staff to lead and follow their passion (Stevenson and Sum, 2014).
Weaknesses-
Its weakness is sometimes challenges are difficult to overcome. So, this hampers overall
performance of firm. This leadership style has several drawbacks as well as leader morale may
not always be good.
Contingency management theory-
Strengths-
Contingency management theory focuses on changeable nature of organization and
business (Gaur, Bathula and Singh, 2015). Manager with the help of this theory is able to choose
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the best framework for finding solutions based on analysis to the problem rather than sticking to
specific strategy for the same. It usually depends upon complexity of the issues, it clearly defines
that management is specific.
Weaknesses-
Contingency management theory is quite straightforward that not all management
situations will be dealt in the single way, if it applied in appropriate situation things do get little
more complex. This theory is not feasible for company manager to consider all factors and
identifies all variables included in its decision taking procedure.
Evaluation of various leadership theories
As discussed by Luo and Liu, (2014) contingency management theory is an integration of
different organization thoughts; behavioural, classical and systems approach. This theory is
pragmatic in nature as solution to each issue is found after analysing the situation within
workplace. Contingency theory follows techniques or methods of multivariate analysis. In short
this theory helps manager to solve conflict situation in order to gain better results and create
positive work environment. As discussed by Mansbridge, (2014) manager with contingency
management theory able to think for all possible factors or variables that can affect business and
then adopts the best style which helps to resolve issues or any problems in working area.
As per view of Kwon, Lee and Shin, (2014) situational leadership theory is beneficial for
leader as make them capable to determine the key success of business and analyse needs of
workers. By adopting this style leader is able to identifies situation and make better decision in
order to meet with business objectives and accomplish task on time. Situational leadership
provide leader better understanding of situation which effect on company and its operational
efficiencies the most.
Conclusion on leaders and managers made the impact on Marks & Spencer
Leaders impact on Marks & Spencer and its culture, they set the level for workers how to
achieve goals and perceive their work experience (Mendling and et.al., 2018). When team leader
guide group of people effectively it means that employees can performance well and help to gain
profit which impact on business and increase the efficiencies of operation management. If leader
implement and develop the correct timeline for accomplish the work, team members make hard
efforts to reach the goals as according to time frame which increase productivity and also help to
raise the reputation and position of firm in marketplace.
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On the other side manager also make impact on company and contribute in success of
business and growth. They make policies and strategies for M&S as to gain competitive
advantages and reach to target market.
Recommendations for further improvements-
Leader of M&S Company recommended for communicating effectively with their team
and understand their needs which is beneficial for retaining talented peoples and attract the new
ones. Manager must make suitable plans and strategies but before making plan they must
conduct research that helps to gather information based on situation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chatzoudes, D., Chatzoglou, P. and Vraimaki, E., 2015. The central role of knowledge
management in business operations: Developing a new conceptual framework. Business
Process Management Journal. 21(5). pp.1117-1139.
Feng, M. and et.al., 2014. Does ineffective internal control over financial reporting affect a
firm's operations? Evidence from firms' inventory management. The Accounting Review.
90(2). pp.529-557.
Gaur, S.S., Bathula, H. and Singh, D., 2015. Ownership concentration, board characteristics and
firm performance: a contingency framework. Management Decision. 53(5). pp.911-931.
Hazen, B. T. and et.al., 2018. Back in business: Operations research in support of big data
analytics for operations and supply chain management. Annals of Operations Research.
270(1-2). pp.201-211.
Ingram, T.N. and et.al., 2015. Sales management: Analysis and decision making. Routledge.
Kwon, O., Lee, N. and Shin, B., 2014. Data quality management, data usage experience and
acquisition intention of big data analytics. International journal of information
management. 34(3). pp.387-394.
Luo, H. and Liu, S., 2014. Effect of situational leadership and employee readiness match on
organizational citizenship behavior in China. Social Behavior and Personality: an
international journal. 42(10). pp.1725-1732.
Mansbridge, J., 2014. A contingency theory of accountability. In The Oxford handbook of public
accountability.
Mendling, J. and et.al., 2018. Blockchains for business process management-challenges and
opportunities. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems (TMIS). 9(1).
p.4.
Reid, R.D. and Sanders, N.R., 2015. Operations Management, Binder Ready Version: An
Integrated Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Schönsleben, P., 2018. Integral logistics management: operations and supply chain management
within and across companies. CRC Press.
Stevenson, W. J. and Sum, C. C., 2014. Operations management. McGraw-Hill Education.
Walker, P. H. and et.al., 2014. Sustainable operations management: recent trends and future
directions. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. 34(5).
Online
Contingency Management Theory. 2014. [Online]. Available through :
<https://www.business.com/articles/contingency-management-theory/>.
Negatives of a Situational Leadership. 2018. [Online]. Available through :
<https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/negatives-situational-leadership-style-12378.html>.
TASK B
Covered in PPT
Notes:
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