Report on Leadership, Management, and Operations at M&S PLC

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership, management, and operational strategies within Marks & Spencer (M&S) PLC. It begins with an introduction to organizational management and its structure, followed by a detailed comparison of the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders. The report examines the functions of leaders and managers in various situational contexts, including interpersonal conflicts and financial crises, and applies different leadership and management theories and models, such as situational and systems leadership, to M&S PLC. Furthermore, it explores key approaches to operations management and the significance of operations management in achieving business objectives. The report also identifies factors influencing operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers, concluding with a summary of findings and cited references. The report highlights the importance of effective leadership and management in navigating challenges and achieving organizational success within the retail environment of M&S PLC.

MANAGENMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ORGANISATION AND ITS STRUCTURE..................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Define and compare the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders .........................1
P2. Examining the roles of a leader and the function of a manager in different situational
context.........................................................................................................................................4
P3. Applying different theories and models of leadership and management in M&S plc..........5
P4. Explaining the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play.............................................................................................................................7
P5.Explaining the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives....................................................................................................................................8
P6. Identification of elements which are affecting the operational management and decisions
making by leader and managers................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management of the organisation refers to managing the various activities performed by
organisation. There are different functions performed by organisation that consist of marketing ,
human resource function, accounting and finance and research and development. This
assignment will include marks and Spencer to perform various task of this study.
This project will include different role and characteristics of manager and leader. Also, it
will consist of various theories and model including situational leadership, system leadership and
contingency. Furthermore, this assignment will include approaches of operation management and
the role that leaders and managers play. Moreover, it will include the importance and value of
operation management in achieving business objectives. This study will assess the factors within
the business environment that impact upon operational management and decision making by
leaders and managers.
ORGANISATION AND ITS STRUCTURE
It is involved in a retail business and provide products relating to clothing, home products and
luxury food products. This company is operating its business in all over the regions and have
employees more than 80000.
Marks and Spencer follow flat organisational structure that includes limited level of
management between administrative level and front line employees. This structure is
implemented in marks and Spencer to involve employees in decision – making process to
improve the performance of organisation.
MAIN BODY
1. Define and compare the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders
Manager of an organisation is responsible to perform various task and activities to
manage the operation of firm in order to achieve the organisational objective effectively and
efficiently. Leader is the person which is responsible to lead its team by providing them direction
about the goals and objectives to achieve them effectively and efficiently.
Role of managers
Managers of marks and Spencer perform various roles in an organisation to manage various
activities of the firm. These roles consist of the following : Interpersonal role : The interpersonal role of manager include figurehead, leader, liaison
role of manager. According to Figurehead manager is responsible to perform number of
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duties relating to legal and social nature (Ichinose and et.al., 2015). Manager plays the
role of leader to motivate the employees and provide them training for improving their
performance to achieve the objectives of the firm. Liaison role is played by managers to
maintain self- developed networks of outside contracts and informers to secure favour
and information. Managers of marks and Spencer perform this functions to achieve the
objectives of the firm effectively and efficiently. Informational roles: These includes monitoring, Disseminator and spokesman role of
managers. Monitor role is performed by manager in which it gets the information by
scanning the environment , subordinate and superiors (Nakamura and et.al.,2015). It
helps the managers in monitoring the activities of the organisation to achieve the goals of
the firm. Disseminator role is performed by manager ion which the in information is
transmitted to the members of organisation which is collected by the managers through
various internal and external sources. Spokesman role of manager include transmitting
the information to outsiders about the various plans , policies, actions and result etc. of
the firm. Manager of Marks and Spencer play the informational roles to identify various
information to achieve the objective and performance goal of the firm.
 Decisional roles : It includes entrepreneur , disturbance handler , resource allocator and
negotiator role of manager. Entrepreneur role is played by manager to adopt change
according to the environment to implement new ideas and develop its department
(Lathrop and et.al., 2018). Disturbance handler role of managers include taking corrective
actions when organisation faces unexpected disturbances. Resource allocator role of
manager include allocation of organisational resources. Negotiator role of manager
include representing the organisation at major negotiations. Manager of marks and
Spencer perform this role to allocate the resources of the organisation effectively to
utilise them in the proper way.
Role of leader
 Leader plays a role to integrate the personal goal with that of organisation.
 It plays a role of motivator as it motivate its team members to improve their
performance.
 It plays a role as a friend, philosopher and guide.
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 Leader plays a role of providing direction to the members to achieve the goals and
objective of organisation.
Characteristics of leader
 The leader must have the ability to communicate the vision of the organisation to the
members of the team .
 Leader is responsible to delegate the job responsibility to the members of the team.
 It is the duty of leader to motivate the team members to encourage them to perform better
by providing them various incentive and promotions.
 Leader of marks and Spencer provide training to the members to increase their
knowledge and skills to achieve the performance goals of the organisation.
Difference between management and leadership
Basis of difference Leadership Management
Definition Leadership is related to the
ability of an individual to
influence and motivate team
members to contribute towards
achievement of objective of
firm.
Management refers to
controlling and directing the
employees of firm to achieve
the objective of firm.
Orientation Leadership is people - oriented It is task – oriented.
Focus Leadership focus is on leading
the people to achieve the goals
(Lindström and et.al., 2015).
Management focus on
managing the work.
Organisation Leaders have followers . Managers have subordinates.
Goals Leaders of the organisation
create vision for the goals to
its members.
Managers of the firm create
goals and objectives of the
firm which are being followed
by leaders to create vision.
Difference between role of manger and leader
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Role of manager Role of leader
Manager plays the role of formulating
policies and strategies
Leader follows the policies and strategies and
provide understanding to the team about the same.
Managers control the risk in order to reduce
the effect organisation performance.
Leader takes the risk by adopting new things and
challenges
Manager build system and processes Leader build relatrionships
P2. Examining the roles of a leader and the function of a manager in different situational context.
In M&S plc, there are various changes that has to be done in enhancing the growth and
development of organisation. It is the main responsibility of the leader and manager to
effectively handle the change and conflicts in organisation arises from them. Conflicts are the
unavoidable part of a business organisation. The conflicts in the workplace arises with the
changes in situation of operations in organisation (Drucker, 2012). Conflicts, management is an
essential job of both a leader and manager. With the different situational context, both leader and
manager has to perform their different role and functions in order to resolve the conflict arises
out of the situation.
Taking an example of the different situations that has arises in M&S plc, it can be
determined the ways in which the leader and manager will perform their duties in order to handle
the situation:
Interpersonal conflict: It is one most common situation that will arises in workplace on a daily
basis. Conflict between the employees is a common but unavoidable situation as it can affect
their as well as the others performances also. Political culture is the most common problem
which arises the situation of conflicts in the employee (Soken and Kim Barnes, 2014). The leader
and manager is responsible to effectively handle the situation that may not affect the business
operations. In such situations, a leader with his effective skills will informally talk to the
employees and analyse the reason behind the conflicts. Leader will help in suggesting them,
motivate them in order to work with coordination. However, a manager will take formal meeting
of the employees, gathered all the facts that are related to the conflict situation.
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Financial crises in organisation: there are certain times, when organisation are facing financial
crises. The situation of financial crises arises because of the poor performance, decrease in sales
of company, increased in the operational cost of production (Cesaroni, Garcés and Sentuti,
2018). These situation can also leads to arises the employee resistance as they would be worry
about their stability, satisfaction of their personal needs, getting proper wages and salary on time.
It is a serious situation, which leader and manager has to handle efficiently, a manager in such
situation will make strategies regarding increasing the productivity of the employees, manager
will make proper budget so that the cost of production will nor exceed. Manager will make
different marketing strategies in order to increase the sales of the company. Various decision has
to be take in order to cut the expenses in order to overcome from the situation of financial crises.
However, a leader will inspire the employees and motivate them in order to put their best
efforts in increasing their performance and productivity. With greater productivity, leader will
achieve the best level of performance from the employee by staying within the budget (Walsh
and et.al., 2018). The leader will also motivate the sales team to make innovative ideas for
marketing activities that will help in increasing the sales of product.
P3. Applying different theories and models of leadership and management in M&S plc.
There are various theories and models of leadership and management that should be
applied in M&S plc that will help the leader and manager in effectively manage the operations of
business organisation.
Situational leadership:
It can be referred as the leadership style which helped in explaining to when the leader or
manager in organisation has to adjust their style with the changing situation in the company. This
theory states that leader has to adapt different style to fit in the situation in order to influence his
employees. As per this situation there is no best best style for the leader, he has to change his
style as per the different situation (Define Situational Leadership , 2018). This theory states that
the effective leader is the one who will is flexible enough to fit in different situation. The
effective implementation of situational leadership in M&S plc. Needs the willingness off the
management part, it is best effective in the organisational environment where staffs are often
changes.
Advantage of situational leadership:
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 Situational leadership will help the leader in varying his style based on the changing
situation and the task which the employee needs to be performed.
 Situational leadership style is very easy to understand and also very simple in applying by
the leader and manager.
 It helps in proper maintaining of the relationship of leader and employees which helps the
employees feel valued and generally leads to a better working experiences for both
parties (Zaccaro and et.al., 2018).
Disadvantage of Situational Leadership:
 It is difficult to be applied by task oriented manager and leader. Situational leadership can
not be adopted by a leader who is less flexible in adopting styles. Situational leadership theory gives emphasis only on immediate needs or the short-term
goals in organisation. It leads to shift the attention of leaders and manager from
organisational long-term goals.
System leadership:
This theory gave emphasis on creating an organisational environment where all the
employees from different level can work effectively with all their efforts in order to increase the
productivity of business activity. It uses the principles of human behaviour which help in
creating the models for being an effective leadership, helps in making different organisational
strategies (Boylan, 2018). System leadership is an effective tool for leader which help them in
analysing the behaviour of the employees in M&S plc. System approach of leadership helps in
identifying the inter dependence and inter-relations within the various level of the organisation.
Advantage of System relationship:
 System leadership helps in increasing the organisation's ability to adapt different
environmental changes. Leader will make decisions and strategies while keeping in mind
various macro as well as the micro environment.
 It focuses on achieving the employees as well as the overall goals of the organisation.
 System leadership is adaptive and dynamic in nature.
Disadvantage of System leadership:
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 System leadership can not always be practical and can also leads to delay in decision
making process of leaders and manager (Stuart and Wilcox, 2017). System leadership can not be applicable in smaller organisation. This theory is based on
the assumption that most of the company big and have open system.
Contingency theory:
This theory emphasizes on the importance of the leader's personality and the different
situation in which he operates. The Fiedler's contingency theory states that the effective
leadership does not only depends on the style of leading but also on the overall situation in an
organisation. This theory states that the effectiveness of the leader is depend upon the hoe
effectively leadership style will match to a particular situation (Van de Ven, Ganco and
Hinings, 2013) . The theory assumes that the style of a leadership is a behaviour that can not be
influenced or modified easily. Contingency theory is contradictory to the situational leadership
that states that leader has to change his style as per the changing situations. As per this theory,
leader will not effectively work in different situation. There could be either task oriented or
people-oriented leaders in organisation.
Advantage:
 It help in providing flexibility in manager and leader in adopting the leadership style that
are based on different factors.
 It gives emphasis on the opinion of the employee, which helps in increasing their
performance level.
Disadvantage:
 This approach of management is very complex in putting it to the practise.
 This theory is difficult in testing as it is very complexed in putting it in action.
Chaos Theory:
it is a management theory which refers that all organisation has to face different
situations depends on the nature of their management functions (chaos theory , 2018). This
theory helps in focus on the future perception that are unpredictable in different management and
functions in organisation. This theory can be applied in the organisation where management
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wants their employees to be prepared by the future unforeseen circumstances without getting
them demotivated.
Management by objectives:
It is a management model that are used to improving the performance of the organisation
by making proper objectives that are agreed by both the management and employees. As per this
theory, it is also very essential to set the goals for the employees which will help them in
knowing their job and responsibilities (Drucker, 2012). As per this theory, the management and
employees will make the goals for the organisation together. It helps in increasing the motivation
of employees as they are included in decision making process which will help in increasing the
performance level of employees. It will make it easy for the management of M&S plc to achieve
its organisational goals.
P4. Explaining the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play.
Operational management can be defined as the process of planning, organising and
supervising the all the business activity that are associated with the manufacturing and
production of M&S plc. It helps in proper maintaining of the speed, cost, quality and flexibility
of operational activity. Various key approaches of Operations management.
Total quality management: it is an effective management approach that helps in the long term
success of the organisation through the customer satisfaction in TQM process all the employees
of the business will participates in improving processes, products, services and the culture in
which they are working (Agus, 2011). It the management system that re concerned with the
customer satisfaction and customer focused which involves all the employees in continuing
improvement.
Lean management: it is an effective approach that helps the organisation that helps in ensuring
the concept of continuous self-improvement, it is long term approach that helps in working
systematically in order to achieve the efficiency and quality of the product that is manufactured.
Six Sigma: it is a systematic based approach that involves the continuous improvement for
eliminating the wastage in the process of production (Habidin and et.al., 2016). It is an effective
method for the organisation that helps in improving the capability of the business process. Six
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sigma leads to the increase in the performance of the reduction in the variation that leads to
defect and increased the efficiency of the business and profit maximization.
P5.Explaining the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
Operation management is the process that helps in ensuring the proper functions of the
production and operational process of the organisation. Operations management is the process
which helps in managing the operational resources of the company that will directly be utilize in
production of M&S Plc' s product (Griffin, 2013). It the role and responsibility of the operational
leader and manager to be ensures about the timely delivery of raw material to the company and
ensuring the successfully turning the raw material into the finished goods. Operational
management plays an essential role in achieving the business objectives of Marks and Spencer
plc.
The importance and the value of the operational management in M&S plc are as follows:
 Operational management is an essential process that helps in improving the overall
productivity of the organisation. It is an essential process which helps in measuring the
efficiency of the manager and the employees. As the operational management is mainly
focuses on the optimising the best utilization of the available resources which helps in
achieving the goals of organisation.
 Operational management is important for M&S plc in effectively manages the daily
activities in organisation effectively (Wong and et.al., 2012).
 It helps in the management of different business activities that helps in proper utilizing,
organising and contributing in the production as to meet the requirement of the customer
needs and wants.
 Operational management helps in ensuring the optimum utilization of the resources that
helps in cost effective production process of M&S plc. OM plays a vital role in an
organisation that helps in resolving the different issues like designing, operations and
maintenance of the system used for the production of goods (Brown and Bessant, 2013).
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P6. Identification of elements which are affecting the operational management and decisions
making by leader and managers.
In relation with analysing the factors which are being affecting the operational culture of
Marks and Spencer where there have been various issues and obstacles which are required to be
considered by the firm. Moreover, there have been differences in the opinion and techniques to
perform the tasks which will help the firm in meeting the targets and overcoming with the
obstacles. In respect with meeting the challenges there can be several elements which will affect
the operational planning. Managing the operational tasks will be helpful to the organisation in
meeting the obstacles as well as motivating firm in attaining targets at the right time. However,
there have been impacts of several factors on the decisions making as well as strategic planning
of the organisation.
Globalisation:
To promote the operational activities of the business on the global level on which there
will be requirement of developing various tasks and operations will be helpful in respect with
meeting the gaols and managing the operational practices. Marks and Spencer are planning to
operate on a global level which will encourage the leader and a manner in respect with making
effective plans and operational strategies. A leader will motivate and encourage the entire
workforce with respect to make efforts as well as make innovative development in the
operations. They will be focused on identifying new techniques, cultural changes, developing
ideas and creating opportunities for the business. Thus, business will become able to make
innovative plan for the operations.
On the other side, as per considering the managerial approaches and techniques for
making efforts in the organisational activities on which they will analyse the market demand,
current trend as well as consumer satisfaction in associated with their product. Therefore, they
set objectives and targets on which entire workforce is liable to make productive efforts.
Sustainability: In respect with bringing the sustainability in capital structure and
organisational growth on which there will be requirement of analysing the technical influences
and managing the operations of Marks and Spencer. Considering the efforts which will be made
by a leader in this context is that they will analyse the financial performance of the organisation
as well as requirement of costs in each activity which will be helpful to them in terms of making
potential development decisions. Along with this, as per considering the role of manager on
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