Corus Management and Operation: Leadership Theories and Practices

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management, using Corus, a steel retail company, as a case study. It begins by defining the roles of leaders and managers, highlighting their similarities and differences, and then explores their application in various situations, such as new product introductions, conflict resolution, and employee grievances. The report then delves into different leadership theories, including system theory, situational theory, and contingency theory, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in the context of Corus. The second part of the report introduces Corus, outlining its key operational functions like finance and strategy, and the roles and responsibilities of managers within these functions. It emphasizes the importance of operational management in achieving organizational goals and discusses the impact of external business environment factors on decision-making. Finally, the report examines how operational efficiency can be improved through management and leadership approaches, concluding with an overview of the key takeaways from the analysis.

Management And
Operation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.Definition of leader and manager.............................................................................................3
2. Similarities and differences between the characteristics of managers and modern leaders...4
3.Various roles of managers and leadership in application of different situations.....................4
4.The roles of leaders and managers in different situations with the help of concepts and
theories........................................................................................................................................5
5.Theories of leadership..............................................................................................................6
6.Strengths and weakness of different leadership theories.........................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
1.Introduction of Corus...............................................................................................................7
2.Key operational function and roles and responsibilities of mangers ......................................7
3.Importance of operation management for achieving goal........................................................8
4.Impact of external business environment factors affecting in decision making of leaders and
managers.....................................................................................................................................8
5.How operational efficiency improves with the help of managements and leadership
approaches. .................................................................................................................................9
6.Conclusion..............................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is field of management which is concerned with controlling and
designing the process of production of goods and services (Balducci and et.al., 2019). In this
report, the case study is based on Corus which is part of Tata steel groups. Corus deals as steel
retail industry and its product are electrical steel, plates, narrow strips, semi finished steel, tube
products, wire rode and other rail products. In this report, the discussion will be based on roles
and functions of leaders and managers in the organisation. The study will analyse the roles of
manager and leaders in different situation. The study will discuss different management theories
and models of leadership. Further, the discussion will be based on key approaches to operation
management. Lastly, the study will discuss relationship between leaders and manager to
dynamic business environment.
MAIN BODY
PART 1
1.Definition of leader and manager.
Leaders have the ability to evaluate the plan and forecast policies and long term goal of
the company by influencing its members to achieve it with determined strategies.
Leader is a person who is in charge of a group of members who influences and make
them to follow their commands. Like for example A great leader builds confidence in its team
members and make them enable to achieve the goals of the organisation.
Like for example a leader must be the person who supports people at organization. (Bender and
et. al., 2018).
Manager is defined as someone who has the responsibility for management of other
persons. Like for example Managers is responsible for planning, organising, directing, staffing
and controlling the organisational activities.
Like for example manager must be the person who manages all the work of their employees.
Manager is defined as individual who is responsible for managing the activity or task of
the company. As manager's main work is to exercises control over the managerial functions of
the company. Managers controls and examines the accomplishment of task that need to be done
on time with optimum utilisation of resources (Bush, Bell and Middlewood, 2019).

2. Similarities and differences between the characteristics of managers and modern leaders
Mark Zuckerberg is an example of modern leaders who has different traits and
characteristic, different from managers in aspects of creativity and innovation which an manager
usually does not possess (Egger and Ebner, 2019).
Similarities Dis-similarities
The similarities in the characteristics of leaders
and manager is that they both supervise or
guide a group of people in the organisation. As
the they both rely on the effective
communication. Leaders and manager of Corus
have similarities in characteristic for measuring
the performance of the employee and overall
performance of organisation. The original
concern of leaders and managers of Corus is
that they allocate the resources in such a ways
that it can be utilised in best and efficient
manner (Hallinger, 2018). For example the
vision of leaders and managers are same.
The dissimilarities in characteristics of
managers and leaders are that managers sets
the process for achieving the goal of
organisation like manager plans, organise,
coordinate, forecast, train and monitor where
as leaders influences the members of
organisation to work efficiently and effectively
for accomplishment goal of the company. The
leaders uses proactive strategy where as
managers uses reactive strategies. Leaders of
Corus focuses on encouraging its members to
bring change in their working style where as
managers focuses on bringing stability in the
working nature of its members. The managers
are dissimilar in the characteristic to leaders as
managers directs to employees and leaders asks
questions to its members (McCaffery, 2018).
Managers uses authoritarian style and leaders
have motivational style for influencing its
members.
Different roles of managers and leaders
are that managers takes decision where as
leaders facilitates that decision-making. A
leaders aligns influencers where as managers
organises employees.

3.Various roles of managers and leadership in application of different situations.
Condition when new product is introduced in market: Henry Fayol managements theory
six basic functions of management that are related to the principles of management. The
functions are forecasting, planning, organising, directing, coordinating and controlling. Henry
Fayol's theory of management explains about the fourteen principle that are needed to be fulfilled
by Corus company. The Fayol principles of management are division of work, authority,
discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordinate of individuals, remunerations,
centralisation, scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, initiative and esprit de
corps. The role of manager is to plan about product introduction in the market. Organise talented
staff for manufacturing of the product , control by taking corrective actions for increasing the
sales in the market.
'Great Man' theory of leadership explains that the leaders are born with great inbuilt
characters that are confidence, charisma, intelligence, social skills and many more. The theory of
great man assumed that strong leaders are not made they are born with leadership qualities.
In Corus the role of managers is to accomplish the smooth functioning of company with
the help of applying henry fayol's management theory. The role of leaders in organisation is to
increases the productivity by applying unique leadership skill to increases the productivity of the
company. The role of leaders is to influence its members to bring creative ideas for product
designing or increasing it market share so that new consumers can gets attracted to buy the
product.
4.The roles of leaders and managers in different situations with the help of concepts and theories.
The function of managers and leaders of Corus are different in various situations faced by
the company.
Conflict resolution: Working in teams always creates interpersonal conflicts which can
be small or large conflict. The function of manager in Corus is to resolve the conflict by
controlling the situation ans analysis corrective measure to resolve the problems(Sebastian and
et.al., 2018). The role of leaders is to identify the main cause for arising of the conflict and
identify the element which creates conflict in the team. As leader talk to the employee separately

who has created the conflict and encourages them to reduce the differences and cooperates with
the co-workers in the Corus.
Employee grievances: The employees have many issues related to the work or working
environment of Corus. The function of managers is to resolve the issues by organising good
working environment for the employees of Corus. Role of leaders is to encourage employees to
deals and adjust in the situation. When leaders gives listen to the problems of the employee, they
feels valued.
5.Theories of leadership
Different theories of leadership are adopted in the Corus to deals with situation faced by
the company. The leaders transform their roles according to the requirement of the situations.
Some of the theories of leadership are system theory, situational theory and contingency theory.
System theory: This leadership theory enables leaders in company to creates conditions
through which the employee working in the company at all the levels can increase their
productivity in work and improve their potential. The principles that are required to create
human behaviours are good leadership, system design, organisational strategies and social
process. As the theory helps to the determine behaviour of the employees. This can help Corus in
doing all the work systematically. It improves their operational efficiency. (Whaley and Gillis,
2018). For example the company manages its product manufacturing cycle in systematice
manner.
Situational theory: The theory proposes that no single leaderships style is best as it
depends upon the situation that which kind of leadership style and strategies are suited in the
situation for accomplishment of the task. The most effective leaders are those who adapt their
style according to the demands of the situation that company is facing. As leaders is easily able
to assess the pros and cons of the situations which helps them to evaluate different alternative to
resolve the situation which helps them to take decision according to the demand of the situation.
Corus can make use of situational leadership at every situation where there is a necessity of
change. This can help them in adapting change easily. For example the leaders uses situational
leadersip when the company wants to increased the sales when company faces loss situation.
Contingency theory: The theory explains that the leaders have very exceptional kind of
skill for approach which states that leaders does not depends upon theirs abilities to deal with

uncertainty faced by the company. Similarly, the managers require different set of abilities,
experiences, preferences, skills, etc. to face uncertainty (Williamson, 2018).
Corus company apply system and situational leadership theory to improve the
productivity and for achievement of organisational objective effectively and efficiently.
6.Strengths and weakness of different leadership theories
While applying leadership theories, Corus faces many pros and cons in relation to
implementation of leadership theories by leaders in the company. The Strengths and weakness
of different leadership theories are:
System theory: The advantages of system approach is that it focuses on achieving the
individual as well as organisational goal. The approach is dynamic and adaptive in nature.
Disadvantages of the theory is that nature of interdependence is not determined. The approach
may not be practical and can lead to delays in decision making (Zasada and Sagebiel, 2018).
Situational theory: Advantages of the theory is that it helps the organisation to value the
needs for bendable working in the company. The approach creates consciousness among the
leaders to deal with situation in efficient manner. The disadvantages of the theory is that it
demands to focus on immediate requirement rather then fulfilling long term needs. Another
disadvantage is that it can creates ineffectiveness in leaders for taking correct decision according
to the situation.
Contingency theory: The strength of contingency theory is to make changes in the
policies of the company according to the requirement of uncertainty. The approach enhance
leaders to improve their skill in decision making. Disadvantages of theory is that it is complex
theory and it is easy to give suggestion but, implementation in practical life is difficult (Bush,
Bell and Middlewood, 2019).
PART 2
1.Introduction of Corus
Corus was formed in 1999 with the fusion of two organization. It major production sites
are in Netherlands, France, Germany, etc. the branches are in more then forty countries. Corus
has leading market position in the market for construction and packaging of steel in Europe.
Corus used its knowledge of key operation to win new business so that it can increases the size
of revenue which will increases the market image of the company. Acquisition with Tata steels

leads the company to increase its buyers which developed the chain for increasing the
profitability of the Corus company.
2.Key operational function and roles and responsibilities of mangers
The key operational functions of Corus are finance,strategy, product design, forecasting,
etc. All these functions are explained below with the roles and responsibilities of managers.
Finance: It is one of the most important component in operation management as the
finance should be utilised in proper manners which will allow Corus to create more products and
satisfy the needs of consumers (Hallinger, 2018). The roles and responsibilities of managers is to
manage the finance and keep check oversight budgets and financial statement.
Product design: The main element of operation management in Corus company is to
design it product in such way that it can cater the consumer needs and market trends. The focus
of modern consumers is on quality of the product which should be durable for long time. Roles
and responsibilities of managers is to modify the operations systems and processes quality of
goods and services. Assess supply chain and stock to maintain the steady and smooth functioning
in the company so that it will help in increasing the revenue of the company.
3.Importance of operation management for achieving goal
Operation management helps Corus to achieve its objective by improving the
productivity of the company (Rickey, 2019). Operation management help to increase the
presence of Corus in the global market and maintain the goodwill of the firm by setting various
manufacturing units. Operation management is also important as it enables the manager of Corus
to utilize its resources optimally. The key approaches of operation managements are planning in
which managers plan to accomplish the organisational goal. Another key approach is to design in
which managers and leader have the role to design the activities of the organisation.
With the help of just in time operational strategy the company can increases its productivity and
manages the time. Operational strategy is also important in total quality management of the
product as the quality of the product becomes standard quality product and compatible in the
market.

4.Impact of external business environment factors affecting in decision making of leaders and
managers
External business environment can be assessed with the help of PESTLE analysis and the
decision making of leaders and managers gets affected due to following reasons (PESTLE on
Corus, 2019).
Political: Government of UK follows different policy and Europeans directives which
impacts on company to plan according to the policy of UK. For examples planning of
environmental issues which also includes sustainability will affect the structure of business. The
decision making of managers and leaders will take into consideration of policies of UK as it will
affects the taxation policies and other regulations for strategic implementation (Sebastian and
et.al., 2018).
Economical: The economy health impacts on the interest rates and affects the supply for
commercialised and residential holding. The government of UK use taxation policy as means to
improve environmental performance. For example landfill taxes and aggregate environmental
condition change levy. The decision making of managers and leaders will get affects to faces
issues related to confidence in liquidity and return on investments.
Social: The Corus company needs to fulfil the ethical consideration towards the society
which can be fulfilled with the help of providing quality of product to the consumer which can
satisfy their needs from company. Mangers and leaders takes dIn Corus the key operational
functions are management of finance, product design and formulation of strategy operational
managements. Lastly the report discussed external business environments with the help of pestle
analysis in which political and legal factors influences more to operational management of the
company. ecision to improve the quality of product which enables them to improve their
compatibility from rivals in the market.
Technological: The adoption of new technology affects the working practices in the
company which impacts to increases the economies of scale of Corus. The decisions of leaders
and managers gets affected when it enables to adopt new technology which requires huge
investments and arrangement of finance (Whaley and Gillis, 2018).
Legal: The government of UK believes that improvement in industry will improves the
performance of the company in terms of environment and safety as the legislation needs to be
also improved. This will affects the decision making of managers and leaders as the discharge of

industry waste should be less and must be treated before discharging in environment less harmful
for the people. The managers needs to control the harmful chemicals,etc. Which will require
more attention on fulfilling the legal requirements.
Environmental: Their are two main issues from which one is to meet the requirement of
Kyoto agreement which is production of carbon monoxide from fossil fuels burning and the
waste product departure in land fills. This affects the decision making of managers and leaders
to produce less carbon emission in the environment impacts as the policies will also be designed
to manage the pollution produced by the company (Williamson, 2018).
corporates social responsibility: It refers to regulating of the business model thst helps the
company to fulfill its social responsibility towards the society and its stakeholders. By exersising
all CSR the company has impact on the aspects of the society that includes economic, social and
environmental.
CSR- Corus is been engaged in following corporate social responsibility. They are engage in
doing charity business and also they are organizing campaign which is useful for the people who
are in need.
5.How operational efficiency improves with the help of managements and leadership
approaches.
The operational efficiencies which helped the Corus to meets its business objective
successfully are lean manufacturing, six sigma and just in time.
Lean manufacturing: This approach is used to eliminate the waste from production
process of the Corus company. The main focus of operational management is to remove the
wastes so that the resources can be utilised optimally (Egger and Ebner, 2019). This helps Corus
to improve its productivity by increasing the efficiency of the company.
Six sigma: It is a procedure for keeping the desirable quality of the product undertaking
required steps in accomplishing the procedure. Corus uses this method based on statistics and
mathematics evaluations. It is an important operation in Corus which helped the company to
meets the demands of the consumers which satisfies their needs.
Just in time: In this operation management Corus manufactures the product as per the
demand in markets at a particular point of time. The focus of the organisation is to eliminate the
fault and waste matter. As it requires the balancing of flow of scheduled and output. The Corus

maintains its machines and equipments for carrying specific output so that it can produce less
waste (Santoro and et.al., 2018).
6.Conclusion
From the case study based on Corus, it can be concluded that operation management
played key role in increasing the production and profitability of the company. The company
merged with Tata steel so that it can increase it revenues size and able to creates new customers
across the globe. The roles of managers and leaders helped the company to gain higher market
position. External business environment helped Corus to assess the capabilities of the company
in markets and establish the position in the market. The company improved its business
operational efficiencies by adopting just in time, lean manufacturing and six sigma approach
which helped the company to reduce the waste and increases the productivity and make
optimum utilisation of resources. For future the company is recommended to use advances
technology for the production of the products and it can hire skilled and talented employee who
can give them different business ideas to improve their efficiency and productivity of the
company .
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that operational managements is key factor
for the success of the organisation. Corus manages its operations with the helps of effective roles
played by the leaders and managers in the company. Corus adopted situation and system
leadership approach which helped the leaders of the company to improve the leading skills and
capabilities to lead the organisation towards the success. In Corus the key operational functions
are management of finance, product design and formulation of strategy operational
managements. Lastly the report discussed external business environments with the help of pestle
analysis in which political and legal factors influences more to operational management of the
company.

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Online
PESTLE on Corus. 2019. [online]. Available through:
<http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/corus/competitive-advantage-through-sustainable-
product-development-in-construction/understanding-the-external-environment.html>.