Evaluating Leadership and Management Strategies at Marks and Spencer

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership and management practices within Marks and Spencer (M&S), a UK-based retailer. It begins by defining and differentiating the roles of leaders and managers, emphasizing their importance in organizational operations and employee development. The report then evaluates how leaders and managers function in various situations, including slow, stable, and fast market environments, highlighting the impact of internal and external factors on decision-making. It explores the application of different leadership theories and models, such as situational, system, and contingency leadership, demonstrating how these approaches are used to address challenges and enhance productivity. Furthermore, the report examines key approaches to management and operations, including total quality management, just-in-time, and lean production, while also outlining the specific roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers in implementing these strategies. The report utilizes M&S as a case study to illustrate the practical application of leadership and management concepts, providing insights into how the company navigates market changes and maintains operational efficiency.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Management is defined as group of activities like developing, planning, managing an
organising that assist to apply the resources effectively in order to make organisational benefits
where as organisational operations is termed as activities conducted in company for the
transformation of raw materials in to final products. Company always try to manufacture good
products with less manufacturing cost in order to make benefits. Managers and leaders of the
company have been considered as the most valuable assets of the company. Operational
management is defined as an important function of an organisation as it helps to access
organisational activities smoothly in order to attain certain goals. In this report the selected
organisation is marks and spencer which is UK based company (Bordoloi, Fitzsimmons, and
Fitzsimmons, 2019). Marks and spencer is a well known brutish leading retailer organisation
bringing great value food, homeware and clothing. The company also serves many financial
services such as credit card, insurance and savings. Marks and spencer is known to built core
values of service, innovation, trust and quality. This report highlights roles of the leaders along
with the different theories associated with leadership which is utilised for the current business
scenario.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1 Explain and differentiate characteristics of leaders and managers of the company
Leaders and managers are considered as strong pillars of the company as they are
responsible for conducting all the operations in a effective manner. Leaders and mangers also
provide appropriate training when they hire new employees in company so they can accomplish
the assigned task effectively. Mangers ensure the manufacturing quality of the company to
satisfy the customers in order to increase the productivity. In an organisation like marks and
spencer, the roles and responsibilities of leader of the team helps organisation top attain its goal
and increase the customer base. It also helps to increase the level of satisfaction in customers as
well as in employees (Chahal, and et.al., 2020). Difference between the roles and responsibilities
of a leader and manger has been already mentioned and explained below:-
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Definition Manager is a employee of the
company who is reliable to
conduct all the organisational
operations in all the critical
situation. He provides the
guidance to all the employees
in the company to run the
operations smoothly. He is
also responsible to attain
organisational goals and
objectives to make benefits.
A leader is considered as a
person who motivate,
encourage and inspires another
team members to work
effectively and efficiently in
order to attain a common goal.
He ensures that every team
member is improving the
productivity and performance.
Roles A manger is also responsible
to run the business operations
effectively and coordinate
with other workers of the
company to make them work
in a effective manner. He
makes sure that all the
employees are working with
their potential to make
organisational advantages
(Chen, and Yang, 2018).
The responsibility of a team
leader is to ensure that every
team member is working
collaboratively to accomplish
the common goal for the
company. He makes effective
decisions for the team which
need to be followed by other
team members. He provide
guidance to other team
members to make them work
effectively. He evaluates every
team member's behaviour and
performance with the purpose
to improve it. On the basis of
the analysis, he provide his
guidance and directions to
team members.
Characteristics Manager is responsible to
mange the time of
organisational activities.
There are different
characteristics of manger
such as empathy, patience,
reliability an flexibility.
There are some of the
characteristics of a good leader
such as motivator, creative,
honesty, confidence,
Delegation of authority, good
communication skills, good
decision making and
commitment.
P2 Evaluate the examples that how roles and functions of leader and manger in different
situations of the company
It has been observed that the both leaders and mangers of the company play a significant
role to run organisational operations and activities. The role of a team leaders to motivate and
encourage all the other team members to make them work effectively. Team members follow the
direction of team leaders which is helpful to accomplish the task successfully. He is responsible
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to make an effective decision for the rest of team members in critical situation so they can work
to make organisational benefits. Leadership styles adapted by the team leaders provide guidance
to make effective decision for the company. Leadership styles includes various theories which
helps to resolves problems in critical situations. In reference to marks and spencer, team, leaders
can mange different critical situations by making effective decisions for the company. There are
various method of leadership style which is useful for the company to make effective decisions
(Chen, Moinzadeh, Song, and Zhong, 2020).
Slow: The development and growth of the organisation is very slow. The organisation
activities get delay and slow and decrease the organisational benefits. It is not useful to run the
operations in order to accomplish them within the deadline. In reference to marks and spencer,
changes are made in the internal infrastructure if the company which is a outcome of change in
outer changes which means very slow profits are gained by the organisation that means
development of the organisation is also very slow.
Stable: It is the stage where the development and growth of the organisation is moderate
and stable. In refringence to marks and spencer, there is no high change in company due to
market changes. Only fats decision are taken which results no changes in the company.
Fast: There are a lot of developing and fast markets affects in the company. The growing
and fast market leads to creative innovation. Organisation makes wrong decision due to fast
development and growth.
All the internal and external environment affects the organisational operations. The
internal changes can be modified in company rules, policies, planning, machinery,
communication at various levels, hiring, process, guiding and controlling. There are many
external factors which can not be controlled by the organisation brings innovation in the
company and helps in the development and growth of the company. As per the evaluation,
leaders and mangers take decisions for the betterment of the company (Dezi, and Et.al., 2019).
There are some external environmental factors which are not in control of organisations
like social changes, political changes, technological changes legal changes and economical
changes which helps to make new opportunities for the company for growth and development.
This is reason why internal and external environment need to be analysed to makes changes as
per requirements.
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In reference to marks and spencer, various leadership styles are applied in organisation
which assist to leaders to guide the team members to work in a productive and effective manner.
Leaders provide direction and guidance to team members so they can accomplish the task
effectively and efficiently. As per the perceptions and requirement, decisions are made to attain
the organisational goals. Task and projects are assigned to the employees a per their skills and
knowledge. Good knowledge and skills help to attain the desired goal for the company.
There is an Another type of leadership style called democratic leadership style. As per
this style of the leadership, new employees are allowed to utilize the opportunities wisely and
future positions. For example, there was a board meeting held in mark and spencer, a democratic
team leader provided certain decisions so they can think wisely. These democratic leaders of the
company can ask for feedback or can make changes to go with the majority (Di Vaio, and
Varriale, 2020).
P3 Application of various models and theories of approach
In a company like marks and spencer, a team leader plays a significant role to motivate
and encourage other team members and employees as per their requirements. Team leaders
evaluate outer environmental factors in order to make suitable decisions to make organisational
advantages form the modifications. There are various models and theories which are proposed
with the purpose to explain the leadership of a team leader or manger to enhance the productivity
of the company. All the models and theories have been explained below:
1. Situational leadership: With adaptation of situational leadership, team leadership assign
the activities and task as per their talent and skills. Team leaders are responsible to to
analyse the external market environment, trends and condition in order to make effective
decisions for the company. This type of leadership style helps to deal with various
challenges faced by the company. It helps to resolve all the problems and conflicts to run
all the operations successfully. As per this theory, there is no single leadership theory is
applied on every situation. Leaders need to apply theory as per the circumstances and
requirements (Field, and et. al., 2018).
Pros Cons
 Proper allocation of resources.
 Appropriate training is provided to
employees.
 It has very limited sources for the
market analysis.
 Employees are not qualified.
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 Analysis of circumstances has done
effectively.
 Resources are misinterpreted.
22 System leadership: this type of leadership focus on qualities of leaders which
analyse the outcome instead of process or step involved in it. The theory states
that leaders require to emphasise on result and goals which they achieve the goals
in the given time. In reference to mark and spencer, the organisation has various
kinds of departments. Every single department has specific aims and objectives
(Garbade, 2021).
Pros Cons
 The approach is systematic.
 There is a correlation between
systems and internal process.
 It is very tough to identify the element
have enough control.
3. Contingency leadership: This type of leadership style helps to deal with the
different critical situation. Team members are allowed to pick up the issues and
figure out solutions in order to resolve the problems. It is considered as a effective
strategy with the purpose to figure out different directions to attain organisational
goals.
Pros Cons
 Market research is Effective.
 Approach is innovative.
 Issues are Random.
 There are number of solutions.
 The process of research is very costly.
 Employees are not skilled.
 It has very slow growth.
 It takes time to obtain results.
P4 Key approaches to management and operations and the roles and responsibility of leaders and
managers
There are different approaches which assist to understand the concept of operation
management more effectively. These approaches are made to analyse the circumstances so
company can make decisions as per the analysis (Guo, and et. al., 2018).
 Total quality management
 Just in time
 Lean production
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Total quality management refers to method which help to develop a plan to attain long
term goals. It is very useful to achieve long term success. It also makes profit for the company
and increase the productivity. Success can be achieved by the enhancement of level of
satisfaction.
Just in time is a approach which support on the process of production. Leaders use this
approach to ensure that the manufacturing process has been accomplished in a certain time.
Leader accomplish the task to make organisational advantages. Leaders ensures that wastages of
resource has been minimized in manufacturing process. Optimal use of resources is required to
be made. In references to marks and spencer, advanced equipments and machineries are well
maintained in order to make desired results (Visser, 2020).
Lean production is considered as a approach for operational management which provides
best management methods with the purpose to get best organisational outcomes for the company.
There are several factors which affect the outcome (IEEE.Liles IV, Robbins, and Lunday, 2022).
Role of a leader: The leader play a significant role to evaluate the requirements and needs of the
company as well as employees. He is responsible to motivate and inspire team members. Leaders
provide direction to team members to follow the path to accomplish the work effectively.
Leaders are reliable to boost up the potential and productivity of team members.
Role of manager: Manager is responsible to for the recruitment of new employees. Leaders hire
new employees to fulfil vacant seats. They are reliable to provide appropriate training for the
development of new employees. Manager makes sure that all the desired outcomes are obtained
by running all the operational activities effectively.
P5- Value and significance of operations management
In order to accomplish business aims and objectives, in this business, operation
management is very crucial to run the operations smoothly (Torlak, Demir, and Budur, 2019).
Marks and spencer requires to analyse the importance of operation management with the purpose
of accomplishing the aims and objectives of the company:
 Trends in the market
  Increasing revenue
  Satisfied customers
  Increasing sales
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Trends in market:Market trend have been changing day by day. These changing plays a
significant role for the company with the purpose to obtain the business goals. Organisational
operations and management helps to increase the profit of the company (Iris, and Lam, 2021).
Increased Revenue: Operation management is a process which boost up the profit ratio
of the company. Therefore, it is very crucial to focus on branding and trends in order to nehance
the profit margin for the company.
Satisfied Customers:The growth of the business depends upon the customers base.
Organisation requires to know about the taste and priority of customers in order to fulfil them.
Organisation provides best services and products to customers to enhance their experience with
the company. Company always maintain the quality to make customers stick to the company.
Satisfied customers always sticks to the brand and quality product of the company which is
helpful to increase the sale and make profit.
Increased Sales:Operations management helps to boost the product sale and enhance customer
base by conducting research to prioritise customer's needs. Company establish a positive
relationship with the customers in order to enhance the sale for the company. Various strategies
are developed with the purpose to increase the sale (Lao, and et. al., 2020).
P6- Analysis of factors within the business environment impacting the decision making ability of
leaders and managers in operations management
 Corporate Social Responsibility:
Social responsibility is considered as broad concept which is transformed into a number
of forms relies on industries and companies. Activities associated with CSR, helps to develop a
strong and real bond between companies and workers of the organisation. It is very important for
the company so as society (Song, Park, and Park, 2022). In reference to marks and spencer,
leaders and managers take different steps towards the CSR activities. Through these activities,
leaders improve the environment and society instead of effecting them negatively. They are
known about all the social aspects of community including environmental and economical
aspects. Marks and spencer is very promising for serving good quality of products to customers.
The organisation is very responsible to manufacture products to fulfil the requirements of
customers. The company is very conscious about all the social affects as it can spoil the market
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image of thee company. Organisation manufacture and sale the products ethically which assist to
make a good market image.
Business ethics: It is defined as the moral principles of the organisation which facilitate several
policies and practices for the betterment of the company. It consist of corporate governance,
fiduciary, discrimination, corporate social reliability, bribery and many others. In reference to
marks and spencer , all the team leaders and managers are reliable to run the business operations
smoothly and effectively (Scriba, Jette, and Santalucia, 2020). It is very important to behave
ethically in practices. All the employees of marks and spencer always try to behave ethically all
follow codes of ethics. An ethics management program is conducted in order to mange all the
ethics in organisation. In these programs leaders and mangers communicate about the specific
corporate values to employees in order to provide direction and guidance to their behaviour in
the company. All the programs are conducted to make new employees familiar with code of
ethics of practices (Meyer-Hentschel, and et. al., 2020).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that process of operation management is
very important to run the business operations successfully in order to obtain the business goals.
In reference to the selected company marks and spencer, operations are designed and controlled
to convert raw materials into final products in order to produce quality products to satisfy the
customers. Satisfying customers help to increase the sale which is essential to make profit for the
company. The process of operation management includes planning, organizing and planning of
all available resources for the production of final services. In context of marks and spencer,
operation management has a important value as it help organisation to evaluate current market
scenario and fulfil customer's requirements. The roles and responsibilities of the mangers and
leaders play a significant role to run the organisational activities smoothly in order to reach the
business goals. Three are several internal and external environmental factors which affects the
organisational activities and functions. It is very crucial to analyse all the factors to run the
business smoothly. Leaders and mangers play a significant role for the development and growth
of the company. Social responsibilities and business ethics need to be followed which affects the
op rational activities of the company.
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