Report on Management and Operations within the Retail Industry (ASDA)

This report delves into the management and operations of ASDA, a major British supermarket retailer. It begins by differentiating between leaders and managers, exploring their roles in various situations, such as labor turnover, employee conflicts, and productivity issues. The report then examines different leadership theories, including situational, system, and contingency theories, along with their respective strengths and weaknesses. Key approaches to operations management, such as Six Sigma, are discussed, highlighting the roles of leaders and managers in their implementation. Furthermore, the report includes a PESTLE analysis of ASDA, assessing the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors impacting the company. The analysis provides a comprehensive overview of ASDA's operational strategies, leadership approaches, and the external environment, offering insights into the company's management practices and challenges.

Understand Management and
operations in Industry

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P 1 Difference between Leaders and Managers..........................................................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Roles of leaders and functions of manager applied in different situations.............................5
P3 Different theories of leadership along with strengths and weaknesses..................................6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P 4 Key approaches to operation management and role of the leaders and managers................8
P 5 Importance and value of operation management...................................................................9
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................12
P 6 PESTLE Analysis of ASDA-..............................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is the administration of business practices to create the highest level of
efficiency possible within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labor
into goods and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization. It
involves planning, organizing and directing day to day tasks in order to achieve daily
tasks. It is responsible for the maintenance and management of the organization of daily goals.
ASDA Stores Ltd trading as ASDA, is a British supermarket retailer, headquartered in Leeds,
West Yorkshire. The company was founded in 1949 when the supermarket owning Asquith
family merged with the Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire. Besides its core supermarkets,
the company also offers a number of other services, including financial services and a mobile
phone provider that uses the existing EE network. This report covers questions such as
Difference between Leaders and Managers, roles of leaders and functions of manager applied in
different situations, Different theories of leadership along with strengths and weaknesses, Key
approaches to operation management and role of the leaders and managers, PESTLE Analysis of
ASDA, importance of operation management.
LO 1
P 1 Difference between Leaders and Managers
Basis Leaders Managers
Definition They possess a skill to motivate
people so that they can get the work
done and achieve the goal. They also
play a role to prepare others and
inspire them. By effective
communication they share their
ideas and by their set of skills they
Manager is the person who has a
staff under him who follow their
instructions and report to them. They
are the in charge of some operations
assigned by the company. They
control the factors of risk which are
involved in the assigned project to

make other people follow their
direction.
them. So that the company can easily
and risk free attain their goals.
Risk Leaders of ASDA are the ones who
keep on trying out new things even
if they don’t get success because
they know with their experience that
sometimes it is possible that their
outcome won’t be successful that
does not mean they will give up.
They will keep on trying so that they
can achieve success for the
company.
Managers of the ASDA are the ones
who analyze the risk involved in any
situation and figure out a way to
minimize the risk. So that whatever
moves the leaders of the company
take will increase the chances of
getting successful results. Managers
are the people who control the
problem instead of embracing them
and creating a mess for the company.
Relationships and
structure
Leaders of ASDA follow the
instructions and vision so that they
can maintain the relationship with
them. They also spend their most of
the time with them so that they can
earn their trust and work according
to their vision in order to deliver
them their expected outcome.
Managers of the company make sure
to make a structure so strong that
they can achieve their goals. They
analyze all of the possibilities so that
they can attain the expected
outcomes. They enable a proper
coordination with the individuals in
order to achieve the objectives of the
company.
Authority Leaders of the company have the
authority to take major decisions for
the company. They are considers to
be as transparent and authentic.
(Huq, Chowdhury and Klassen,
2016)
Managers of the company have to
follow the instructions and directions
which have been given by the
leaders of the company. They are not
allowed to take any major decisions
on behalf of the leaders for the
company though they have some
authority to take decisions which are
for the lower lever of management
such as appointing change, hiring or

firing employees, look out for
professionalism in the company etc.
Vision and Goals Leaders of the company work on
building a vision for the company
and inspire the employees to convert
that vision into reality. They have
the power to think beyond the level
of employees. They trust on the
teams which are performing on a
higher level for the company as they
are the ones who help the company
achieve their goals.
Managers works according to the
vision of the leaders and on the basis
of it they set the goals of the
company. They control the factors or
situation that will affect the vision,
profitability and productivity for the
company. (Dehran, Agrawal and
Midha, 2018)
LO 2
P2 Roles of leaders and functions of manager applied in different situations
Leaders and managers both plays an important role in an organization. Manager and
leaders of ASDA have some abilities to use their leading and managing styles as per the
situation. ASDA is a British supermarket retailer and provide several products and services.
There are several situations occur in its workplace which are being managed by leadership and
management styles. Some situations in which leaders and manager plays a vital role are
described as follows:
Labour turnover: Labour turnover is the main problem and common situation that can
occur in any type of industry and organization. But it needs to be solved in an effective and quick
manner for taking competitive advantages (Reiche and et.al., 2017). Increased labour turnover
can create several problems for ASDA like decreased brand image, delivering of poor quality to
customers etc. In this situation, leaders and manager adopt their best style which can solve this
problem in an efficient manner. In this situation, leader tries to identify the main problem of
labour turnover and after identify the problem it tries to fit its style. Leaders motivate employees
by providing them guidance and support them in their task. When employees get proper

guidance then it decreases chances of errors and mistakes which increase their morale and
confidence level.
On the other hand, manager in this situation, provides rewards and benefits to employees.
Rewards is called the best way of motivating employees. Different employees have different
types of needs and when they feel that their needs are being satisfied then they are more likely to
live in an organization. Financial and non-financial benefits is the best way of reducing labour
turnover (Rothman and Melwani, 2017).
Conflicts among employees: Conflicts among employees is other main situation that can
occur in an organization. There are several reasons of conflicts such as lack of understanding,
workplace discrimination, communication problems etc. In this situation, leaders allocate work
in a team to employees. The main aim of adopting this method is to improve relationship of
employees. When employees work in a group then they interact with each other and shares their
feelings and skills. It improves engagement and solve the problem of conflicts.
Whereas, manager of ASDA implement open door policy with the main aim of making
all employees comfortable and creating a friendly working environment. When employees feel
that there is someone who listen and give attention to their queries then they feel valued and
respected. They try to help the company in accomplishing their goals and help each other.
Poor productivity: Poor productivity is the main problem which can create several
barriers in the path of the success of ASDA. In this situation, leader provides effective training
and development opportunity to all employees. The main aim of training is to increase skills and
knowledge of employees. Increased skills help employees in performer activities efficiently
which increase their and company's productivity.
Managers in this situation focus on developing approaches that can help them in
improving quality of products. Some approaches in which manager invest are: total quality
management and lean manufacturing. Both approaches reduces wastes and improve production
process (Hassan, 2018).
So, from the above it can be said that, leadership and managers plays effective role in
different situations that occur at workplace.

P3 Different theories of leadership along with strengths and weaknesses
Leadership theories also plays an important role as it allows leaders to perform their roles
in an efficient manner as per the situation. Different leadership theories work as a guideline and a
framework for the company. Some leadership theories are described as below:
Situational leadership: Situational leaders are those who adopts their style of leading
like autocratic, democratic, transformational as per the workplace situations. He/she adjusts
his/her style and try to make fit in the situation (Meier, 2016). There are several strengths and
weaknesses of this style such as:
Strengths and weaknesses: The main characteristic of situational leadership is this type of
leaders understand needs of followers, tries to achieve trust of followers and have critical
thinking skills. On the other hand, it does not focus on long term needs as only focus on
immediate needs and in task oriented environment it can not be beneficial.
System: It is an interdisciplinary theory about the nature of the complex system.
According to this theory, leaders try to make an environment and a system where different
departments and level of employees can work together. The main aim of this theory and leader is
to improve relationship of employees and increase organizational productivity.
Strengths and weaknesses: The main advantage of this theory is it makes all employees able to
adapt changes and also focus on accomplishing individuals as well as company's overall goals.
Whereas, it has some limitations as it is not a practical theory and sometimes lead ineffective
decision because it takes time to make this type of system. It is not suitable for small
organizations and does not define inter dependence nature.
Contingency: This theory of leadership states that leader's effectiveness is contingent or
depends upon his ability to match leadership style with the situation. It also states that there is no
particular theory that can be fit in all type of situations as leaders have to make their styles fit in
situations. An effective and contingent leaders is one who styles fit with workplace situations. It
also believes that the success of a leader does not depend only on his abilities as his success is
depends on his roles.
Strengths and weaknesses: The main feature of this theory is it is predictive in the nature and
give more attention on combination of styles and situations. It helps to manager in making
decision-making process more effective. On the other hand, it is complex and time-consuming

approach and is reactive in the nature. There is a lack of literature by which many organizations
do not prefer to use this (Oreg and Berson, 2015).
So, from the above described theories of leadership, it can be said that different
leadership approaches and styles can help ASDA in accomplishing its goals by adopting the best
style as per the situation of its workplace.
LO 3
P 4 Key approaches to operation management and role of the leaders and managers
Six Sigma-
This technique consist of set of tools so that company can improve their process. This
method was introduced by an engineer who was American named Bill Smith while he was
working in Motorola. This strategy helps ASDA to improve their quality of the output. It helps
the company to figure out the cause of defects so that they can remove them by minimizing the
variability in the process of manufacturing. It is based on statistical approach with a set of
methods for managing the quality. Company uses a sequence of step which have some value
according to the target they have set. For instance reducing pollution for which ASDA has
already worked or reducing the cost, ASDA reduce the cost and pass it on to their consumers so
that they can satisfy them and increase their revenues. Apart from this Six Sigma also helps the
company to focus on the aspects such as attaining measurable and financial returns from the
output they have produced. It helps the company to emphasize on management in a passionate
manner and support the strategies of leaders. With the help of this approach company can clearly
make decisions as it keeps a checks on the strategies and evaluate them on a statistical approach
instead of making an false assumption which is essentially beneficial for the company. (Wu,
2016)
Lean Manufacturing-
This method helps ASDA to minimize the waste at the time of manufacturing
with the effect of taking consideration of the factor that does not let affect the productivity of the
company. This method states that in order to reduce the waste company must focus on factors

such as overburden on the labor or not taking the right measures in handling the work load of the
company. Company has to work according to the perspective of the customers in order to satisfy
them. This method states that company must add those things which adds value and reduce
everything else. Most parts of this process was derived by the Production System of Toyota and
because of their success. This has taken the attention of companies on this method. (Prevot and
et.al.,2017.)
Queuing Theory-
This theory is based on a mathematical approach which is the study of waiting in
lines. This model helps the company to predict the length and estimated waiting time of the line.
Most of the time this theory is considered as research of operations of the branch. The reason
behind this is that results are usually used when decisions of the business requires a service. With
the help of this model ASDA company connects the queues which are single to a network that is
routed. This is done so that company can achieve equilibrium and distribution in the network but
sometimes it is fundamental. Company has to understand the perception of the customers. Some
of them don’t visit the place if the line is too long. Some of them keep on switching between the
lines and some of them leave the line when they run out of patience. ASDA needs to think of
these factors because at the time of sales there is rush and lot of people give up. Company has to
address these issues so that they can focus on serving more and more customers. (Avella, 2017)
P 5 Importance and value of operation management
It helps ASDA to achieve their goals and objectives. It helps in improving the productivity of
employees. If the company is successful in it then it will improve the goodwill in the market and
recognition of the brand. The manager will learn how to utilize the resources in a optimal
manner. Apart from this it will also help in motivating the employees of the company.
(Chirumalla, 2018)
There are some approaches that the company needs to keep in mind-
Total Quality Management and its principles-

This approach covers the aspect of whole organization with the
values which are core and putting the focus on continuously improving the quality of products
and services so that ASDA can meet the expectations of the customers. This approach states that
everyone in the organization plays a role irrespective of their level which means from top to
lower level of management all of them are involved in meeting the expectations of the customers
by improving the quality. (Radnor and et.al.,2015)
Principles-
Producing Quality Work-
It means that company takes up the measures and ensures that changes in the process must work
every time. ASDA train their employees on a continuous basis so that they can improve their
skills. Company also evaluates the products which are the most in trend with the customers. This
helps them to figure out which stock is needed to be maintained more. With the help of IT
department company checks that whether their clients are buying their products online or just
browsing the page. They also help the company to speed up and improve the content of their
website. (Moreira and Tjahjono, 2016)
Focusing on the Customer-
This stage is involved with making the products and the services in a
manner specifically to satisfy the needs of the customer. Company needs to make the quality, the
attributes, their functions according to the perception of the customers. Marketing department of
ASDA spreads the word out to the prospective and potential clients. This department of ASDA
uses various tools such as texting, e-mail and social media. If they observe that they are not
gaining the attention of the people on retail as well as the online platform then the marketing
department and IT department will coordinate and communicate with the department of research
and development to make appropriate changes. (Song and Parola, 2015)
Strategic Approach to Improvement-

According to the needs of the customer ASDA ensures the quality and
service of the product. It involves even the raw materials that the suppliers provide must be of
good quality so that they can extract the products with good quality. The department of
purchasing monitors all the reviews from the customers from both the platforms and compare
them with the past records so that they can analyze the improvement. (Kumar Mangla,
Bhattacharya and Luthra, 2018)
Improving Continuously-
The company keeps an continuous eye and monitor all the aspects on a regular
basis so that they can figure out the ways which are efficient and effective for improving the
quality of the product. ASDA has assigned this job to their HR department to check that if or not
there employees are skilled or qualified. If they are skilled then company can easily maintain
their operations and make the improvements side by side. (Joglekar, Davies and Anderson,
2016)
Encouraging Respect and Teamwork Mutually-
It is necessary for ASDA to follow this principle because all the levels of
management from below to top are involved in the success of the company.
Just in Time-
By the help of this strategy ASDA increase their efficiency and reduce the waste by
aligning the raw materials with the process of production directly. It also helps the company to
reduce the cost of inventory. But in order to use it successfully producers of the company need to
forecast the accurate demand. This model also states that company must maintain enough stock
when the demand is on the level of rise so that it can absorb the demand of market. If the
machines of the company is facing constant breakdown and if they don’t have the suppliers on
which they can rely on then Just in time won’t be successful. In order to make it successful
company needs to have strong production and skilled workers. Positive aspect of this model is
that it reduces the production which makes the product flow quickly from manufacturer to
customer. It cuts down the money which is spent on raw materials as they know the actual
figures to make the product. It also minimize the cost by minimizing the need of warehousing.

Drawback of this model is not all suppliers can provide the materials at a short notice. They asks
for prior notice. This in result will delay the order.
Kaizen-
It involves all the factors that focus on continuously improving the activities of the
business. It involves people from above to below such as CEO to a worker. This method is
applied by many organizations such as healthcare, banking, government etc. it was started by
Toyota as Toyota way and since then it has gained recognition. This model improves the flow of
whole organization. It will change some of the methods of working and processes but ASDA will
get benefits from it. This model states that company must encourage and ensure that all the
employees participate in such activities. If it is done correctly then it will eliminate the factor of
hard work and teach people how to work with scientific methods which will ultimately reduce
waste and humanize the whole environment of ASDA and increase the productivity of the
company. (Toffel and Toktay, 2016)
LO 4
P 6 PESTLE Analysis of ASDA-
Political Factors-
These factors are concerned with legislation, consumer rights, taxes etc. ASDA is facing
the impact of regulations and directives which are taken by the Economic Union as after Brexit
many companies are facing the same issues of unemployment and taxes. Other than that issues
such as war and instability also affect the factor of making decisions. Organizations has to keep
an eye on these factors on a daily basis. On the other hand company is getting some benefits
because of the stability in the environment of UK.
Economic Factors-