Leadership, Management, and Operations at Marks and Spencer

This report provides an in-depth analysis of leadership and management practices at Marks and Spencer (M&S), a UK-based retail organization. It begins by defining management and operations and then examines the organizational structure of M&S, highlighting the roles of leaders and managers. The report explores the characteristics of effective leaders and managers, including positive attitudes, creativity, confidence, and motivational skills. It differentiates between the roles of leaders and managers, focusing on their responsibilities in various situations, such as stable, moderate, and fast-changing environments. The report also delves into various leadership theories, including system leadership, situational theory, and contingency theory, discussing their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, the report analyzes how these theories can be applied to guide teams and achieve organizational goals, providing valuable insights into effective leadership and management strategies within the context of a retail environment.

MANAGEMENT
AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
M1 ..........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2............................................................................................................................................4
P3............................................................................................................................................5
M2 ..........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P4 ...........................................................................................................................................6
P5 ...........................................................................................................................................7
M3. .........................................................................................................................................8
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................8
P6............................................................................................................................................8
M4 ........................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations are defined as the most effective function of the
administration to get highest efficiency of the employees in an organisation. In other words, It
can be possible through converting goods and efficiently use of services in order to maximize the
profitability of the organisation. Operations management is the field of management which
allows employees to get involve in designing and production of business activities in order to
producing quality products and services. The present assignment is based on Marks and Spencer
which deals in retail organisation with headquarters in UK and it has a huge brand image in
marketplace. This project contains description about the role and characteristics that a managers
have in enhancing the performance of company through various concept and key approaches.
Furthermore this report will discuss about the importance and value of operations management
along with strengths and weakness of different models of approaches. This report will also
discuss about the factors of environment and its influence over decision making and operation
management.
TASK 1
P1
Marks and Spencer is an UK based retail organisation who deals in apparel, luxurious
goods, home accessories etc. and was developed by Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks in 1884
at Leeds. They have around 979 stores along with more than 80000 employees within country.
Marks and Spencer follows flatter organisational structure because it reduces the level of
authority among lower level employees and higher management. Flatter organisational structure
ensures that all the information circulate easily from top to lower level employees (Braman,
2013).
Leaders – It is connected with an individual and a group of individuals who have
expertise in their field and they have ability to manage and guide the operations performed by
employees within the organisation. Due to which they gave their maximum efforts for
achievement of desired task in a systematic manner. Furthermore, they evaluates the action of
employees along decision making power and higher control over them.
Managers: These are the key person of a management of organisation Who has a huge
knowledge about handling the critical situations which happens often in the organisations. In
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addition to this, managers are the persons who have responsibility for controlling a group of staff
members in the organisation. In M&S there are various departments which is directed by
different type of managers such as line managers, product managers, quality managers, store
managers etc. they are concerned with providing guidelines to staff members in order to
completing the task in a given time frame.
Role of leaders
Leader plays different kinds of important roles in M&S in order to completing a task in
systematic way they are explained as under:
Motivation – It is an important role which is played by a leader in order to build healthy
relationship with their team members. Motivation is a true quality which improves performance
and productivity of employees in the organisation. So that, in M&S their leaders has to apply
essential policy and tools which encourage the members for contributing their maximum efforts.
Communication – It is an essential element due to which organisation can easily
achieved their goals in time. In the context of M&S their leaders has to communicate effectively
with their team members. They have to make strategies and policies in order to increasing
performance of workforce. So that top authorities can easily evaluate the performance level of
employees either they are performing in right direction or not (De Roover, 2017).
Team Building- A good leader focuses on team improvement rather than as individual
which creates improved productivity. In M&S their leaders has to develop team and promote
collective working. In a team, members can easily communicate their issues with each other in
order to identifying strength and weakness of team members.
Role of managers
There are various important roles which are played by managers in M&S they are defined
as under:
Implementing plans and policies : Managers work toward introducing plans as well as
strategies which are formulated by higher authorities. In the context of M&S their Managers are
responsible for informing employees about the plans and policies in order to make them work
effectively as per the action plan.
Provide training - Managers must analyse the performance as well as progress of the
employees that they improve throughout their work within the company. As per the demand,
managers of M&S must develop a training schedule that helps in enhancing their skills. This
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also support in improving the knowledge as well as capabilities of workers through trainings and
other programme.
Monitoring & controlling- Managers has responsibilities to monitor and control all the
activities which happens in an organisation in order to achieving goals and objectives of the firm.
So that, managers of M&S has authority in their stores they can also regulate and control all
business activities due to which they can easily get their objectives.
Characteristics of managers and leaders:
Positive attitude: Both manager as well as leader plays a significant role in guiding the
employees for achieving pre specified objectives. They both deals with clients requirements in
order to achieve future growth of business. Positive attitude between the leaders and manager of
M&S support them in solving the issues in an effective manner.
Creative: The managers as well as leader have creative skills which support them in
bringing more innovative approaches and strategies that help M&S in achieving success and
growth. So they must use their creative skills for attracting and influencing customers to make
purchases (Diabat, 2015).
Confident: It is very essential for leaders and manager to remain confident while
applying policies or strategy that help in bringing positive response for company. Lack of
confidence among them may bring negativity in the work environment of M&S so they have to
perform their duties with confidence.
Motivator: In an organisation, leaders and managers have responsibility to motivate their
employees at workplace in order to getting better result. They both communicates with their staff
members and collect their feedbacks and better suggestions for implementing new policies. In
the context of M&S their managers and leaders has to consider opinions and feedbacks of
employees due to which, they will work with motivation for assigned task.
M1
Difference between leaders and managers
Leaders Managers
Leaders work for accomplishing the objectives
of a M&S by aligning the work of team
members toward goals.
Managers generally sets the objective for
leaders on which they work for achieving the
goals of M&S.
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Leaders perform operations along with their
team members.
Managers generally perform planning, and
designing of work for achieving the goals of
M&S.
Leader inspire employees to being hard worker
and dedicated toward their work for improving
the productivity of M&S.
Managers guide the worker to work hard for
accomplishment of M&S goals.
TASK 2
P2
Every organisation faces several situations that can be happened at any time. In other
words, it is uncertain in nature so every organisation should consider these which may arise in
future and they will gave wrong impact on the business activities. So that, leaders and managers
have to prepare for these situations along with improved productivity and performance of the
employees. Here are some roles and functions of managers as well as leaders in different
conditions which is explained in brief as follows:
Stable situations – Under this type of situations managers has to take their decisions
with their efficiency for example there is a huge competition at marketplace in clothing sector so
that manager has to make a proper strategy of plan so that organisation can beat the competition.
Furthermore, managers and leaders are playing important role in the organisation in order to
beating competition at marketplace they have to formulate a fit strategy so that they will gave a
tough competition to their rivals. In marks and Spencer as they have capable managers and
leaders so that, they have to planning according the situations and tries to encourage employees
to perform their operations effectively in varied situations (Glasstone, 2012).
Stable to moderate situation- Under this situation changes happens less frequently in
trend as well as external environment. Demand of the customers in clothing segment is generally
stable to moderate managers when it offered them on seasonal basis. For this situation, leaders
are required to take necessary decisions so that it can be applied by the managers at operational
level. Managers of Marks & Spencer must formulate strategies for determining changes in taste
or preference of customers .
4

Fast Situations- Under this type of situations managers and leaders have to prepared for
this situations because market trends and demand of customers are modified timely so managers
and leaders has to take actions according to the situations. Managers and leaders of M&S has to
modify their plans and strategies with considering requirement of customers. For example-
technological managers may launch a new mobile applications or adopt a digital platform so that,
they can easily communicate with customers in order to improvement of quality and services of
the organisation.
P3
There are number of theories as well as approaches of leadership that can be used by
leaders of M&S in order to guide their team and ali9gning their work toward the accomplishment
of organisational goals. Following are the theories of leadership:
System leadership: This theory can be applied by a managers for resolve all the
problems that are related with business operation which help in achieving the desired goals and
managers. For instance, if any issue arises in M&S stores then leader must try to resolve that in
an effective managers. Therefore leader focuses over analysing such elements that can affect the
business operations and then try to apply effective strategies for minimising such types of issues
at the workplace. This also also support in establishing positive environment within company.
Situational theory: According to this theory a leader must try to adopt different
leadership styles as per the various problems faced by them at workplace. As per situational
theory, a same leadership style will not be helpful in each situation, instead the leader should try
to apply different styles based on the issues. Managers and leaders of M&S should apply
situational theory which support them in act as oper the demand of situation for solving
issues(Sesonske, 2012).
Contingency theory: This theory state that the effectiveness of a leader is based on their
own leadership style that they implement and which fits with the situations occur. In
Contingency theory, the leadership style which is opted by a leaders is either people oriented or
task oriented. People oriented is consists of building up strong interpersonal relationship with
employees and on the other hand task-oriented is related to attain goals of a company. Managers
and leaders of M&S are efficient in using this theory as they are highly experienced in
determining the type of situation as well as providing solution for resolving the problem.
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M2
Different approaches and their strength and weaknesses
System leadership theory
 Strengths: This leadership theory aims toward accomplishing individual as well as
organisational goals.
 Weakness: This results delays in decision making process and is not always practicle to
use.
Contingency leadership theory
 Strengths: It focuses on connecting the leaders and managers as per the situations arises.
Because it does not required an effective leader in every situation.
 Weaknesses: This leadership style fails to provide the reason behind why some people
are good leaders in some situations only.
Situational leadership theory:
 Strengths: It present within the managers and used by companies for providing training
to leaders.
 Weakness: It have very few research related studies for justifying the assumptions as
well as propositions.
These are number of leadership theories that are very crucial for development of a leader.
Some of main theories related to leadership are contingency, situational and system styles of
leadership.
TASK 3
P4
An enterprise plays a crucial role in the procedure of import and export. In other words,
before launching a product in the market management should practice various managerial
functions such as planning, organising,staffing, direction and regulating. An organisation is
related with both type of environment such as internal and external which includes interaction of
internal part with the external part (Hitt, 2017). Here are some key approaches that come under
operation management along with the roles and responsibilities that a managers & leaders have
in different functions like:
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Total quality management: under this approach, management have to assume the best
quality in services as well as products which is delivered to desired customers as per their
requirements. Furthermore, this approach is based on producing quality products and services in
order to meet requirement of the customers. M&S offers a variety of product with best quality
due to which their number of customers are increased and it attracts more customers towards the
company.
Just in time- It is connected with stock management of an organisation in other words, it
is concerned with controlling stock in production process. Which increase efficiency of the
workforce and reduce the cost. It will be helpful for M&S because they may control their stock
management system through this approach.
Lean production – Under this approach, it helps to production department in
minimisation of cost in order to getting better outcomes through effective utilisation of resources.
M&S should implement this approach for manufacture product with quality with less waste
material.
Six sigma – In this part, various tools and techniques are adopted by management in
order to giving products with quality to their customers. In addition to this, every organisation
wants to deliver their products without defect so, they may adopt a proper transportation system
which helps in getting satisfaction from the customers(Duane Ireland, 2017).
P5
A systematic approach is an important part which helps in regular betterment of
performance within the organisation. There are various methods and techniques are adopted by
management for improving performance and results. It assists management to gave emphasizes
on development and improvement of the products.
Following are the importance of operations management
Evaluations – It assists management to monitoring and controlling the activities in order
to remove inefficiencies such as shortage of raw material, proper utilisation of resources.
Financial and Human resource department- These both departments are the lifeline of
an organisation because without these management can't perform their activities properly. In
M&S they can maintain these department at long time through giving them opportunities.
Enhance performance: It is beneficial for organisation and their workforce because it
maintains the morale and confidence level of employees. Due to which productivity in
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employees will be increased. By the help of this, M&S can improve performance level and
productivity of their employees.
M3.
There are several methods through which the efficiencies of leaders and managers can
improve the operational activities in order to meet business objectives they are as under :
Cost minimisation- It enables the management to reduce cost at the time of production
and helps in finding the various resources which will be used in various activities. M&S should
take careful actions while producing a product because it may be costly and expensive.
Time management- It is an important factor because without it desired task will not
done in specific time. Therefore, it influence on productivity and performance of employees
negatively. In M&S, managers should adopt this in order to offer goods or services to consumer
in a given time period (Hoyos, 2015).
TASK 4
P6
Environment is defined as the atmosphere of an organisation which influences the
business activities in both way such as positively and negatively. Generally all organisations are
affected from these environmental factors which is explained as under:
Internal environment
Under this type of environment it can be controlled or regulated by the top level of authorities of
an organisation. Basically these factors are mainly controlled by managers.
Managers – It may be define as an individual or a group of individual who is the founder
of the firm or take shares in profits. Therefore they takes decisions which affects organisation
internally
Board of Directors- This refers to the management bodies of the organisations which
that were selected by the shareholders and are called as general managers in the organisations.
Employees- These are an important factor of organisation because, without them
organisation can't get growth or sustainability at the marketplace. Employees work hard to get
reward and success. Therefore, manager has to maintain a healthy work environment for them
through solving their issues which may be result in failure of business.
External environment
8

This type of environment affects an organisation from outside. This type of environment
is not handled by managers. An organisation can overcome from these cause by making proper
plans and strategies. Pestle analysis is used to find out the impact of these elements(Hugos,
2018).
Source : Pestle Analysis Overview And Definition, 2015
Political factors – It is connected with legislation and regulations that a country have and
that are modified by legislative bodies time to time. This is essential for M&S to follow the laws
and legislation for achieving sustainability of their product and improve brand image in various
countries.
Economic factors – In this kind of factors it includes economic growth, inflation, interest
rates, foreign exchange rates etc. which gave impact on the business performance of a firm.
M&S should implement effective pricing policy at their stores in order to attracting more number
of customers.
Social factors: This includes demands, taste and behaviour of customers that can effect
the business or the sale of products. Managers of M&S must study about consumer behaviour
and manage data about customer's demands before entering in a new market.
Technological factor: It involve factors like advancement and technologies that
influence the productivity of a company due to obsolete technology. M&S must consider
technological factor of the nation in which they are operating their business operations. Company
should try to involve latest and updated machinery in their business for serving customer better.
Environmental factors: It includes factors like natural hazards, climatic changes etc.
that affect the operations performed by a company. So, it is essential for a managers and leaders
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Illustration 1: Pestle Analysis Overview And Definition

of M&S to take into consideration such environmental factors for the organisational growth. If
company doesn't follow these regulations then the Government of country can take strict actions
against them (Natarajan, 2014).
Legal factors: M&S must comply with laws related to business operatiosn that are
required for sustaining in the country.
M&S is required to operate their business activities effectively without facing any issues relating
to different internal as well as external factors. A company must follow all rules and standards in
order to work efficiently.
M4
There are two major factors which gave direct impact on the business and its activities
such as internal and external factors. They may influence as a barrier on the success of the
organisation.
In External factors, they influence organisations from outside such as political,
economical, environmental, technological, social and legal they may be different in size as per
the atmosphere or size of the organisation. For example – If a country's inflation rate is high than
how will an organisation get sustainability at that location (De Roover, 2017).
Whereas, in Internal factors it affects the organisation in various ways like decision are
made by managers and board of directors without interference of employees, In order to getting
growth of the firm. Due to which negative impact on the firm directly. For example If
management of an organisation don't motivate their employees for their work it will builds
dissatisfaction among them therefore it will gave wrong impact on growth of firm.
CONCLUSION
From the above given report it can be concluded that operations management plays a
crucial role within the development of M&S. The roles as well as operations of managers and
leaders are interrelated with one another and inefficiency among them can affects the operations
performed by an organisation. Different leadership theories and models holds value in operations
management and also support in achieving business objectives has been discussed in the report.
Further the internal and external factors also affect the operational management and decision-
making by Leaders and managers. These elements affects the business environment and
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