Leader and Manager Roles, Theories, and Operational Management

This report provides a comparative analysis of the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, detailing their responsibilities and functions within an organizational context. It uses Marks and Spencer as a case study. The report explores leadership and management in different situational contexts, such as conflict resolution, employee motivation, and the introduction of new technologies, illustrating how leaders and managers adapt their approaches. Various management and operational theories, including the contingency theory, are examined, and the report assesses their strengths and weaknesses. The report also covers operational management approaches, the significance of operations management in achieving business objectives, and the factors within the business environment that influence decision-making by leaders and managers. Finally, the report concludes with a summary of the key findings and insights.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................3
TASKS........................................................................................................................................................3
LO1.............................................................................................................................................................3
P1. Comparison and explanation of various characteristics and roles of manager and leader. 3
LO2.............................................................................................................................................................7
P2. Role of leader and functions of manager applied in various situational contexts..................7
P3. Theories and models to approach in context to management and operations......................9
M2. Assess and evaluate the weakness and strengths of different approaches to situations
within the business environment.......................................................................................................10
D1. Critical analysis to evaluate various theories and approaches to leadership......................11
LO3...........................................................................................................................................................12
P4. Approaches of operational management..................................................................................12
P5. Significance of operations management for achieving objectives of business....................13
LO4...........................................................................................................................................................14
P6. Factors within environment of the business that influence decision making of leaders and
managers.............................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Operations and Management refers to administration work and business
practices that help to create highest efficiency level in an organization. It helps in
conversation of labor and materials into goods in order to do maximization of profits.
The study is based on Marks and Spencer. It is a public limited company. It engaged in
retail industry. It is founded in the year 1884 by Thomas Spencer and Michael Marks.
The headquarters of the firm is situated in the London. The company is specialist for
selling clothes, food and home products.
Project report will cover comparison between Leader and Manager; also define
its role and responsibility. Furthermore, it will explain the role of leader as well as
functions of manager in different types of situations. Then various theories and models
will be explained. Moreover, approaches to operational manager will be explained.
Under this role of manager and leader also gets explained. Importance of operational
management will be explained. Assessment of factors of business environment will be
done which can impact upon decision making if managers and leaders. Lastly project
summary will be given.
TASKS
LO1
P1. Comparison and explanation of various characteristics and roles of manager and
leader
Leader - The work of leader is to influence its team members and provide them a vision
through which they are able to achieve their goals and objectives. They guides followers
and boost their morale through which they are able to work in more efficient manner
(Adebiyi, Oyatoye and Amole, 2016). It helps to maintain a balance between foresight of
business and individual performance of its group members. Leader encourages its team
member to work in more coordinative manner.

Manager - It is a person which is responsible for doing administration work and
controlling its staff and employees. They also perform various organizational functions
such as planning, directing, organizing and controlling. To run a business these
functions are important. There work is to look after various department of an
organization. Getting things done from the people is work of manager.
Difference between Leader and Manager
Basis Leader Manager
Definition This is a person who
influences its team
members to achieve a goal.
It directs its team members
so they are able to achieve
their targets efficiently (Reid
and Sanders, 2019).
This person who manages
the company in order to do
planning coordinating
directing and controlling.
Manager gives command to
its employees for achieving
goals and objectives of
company.
Role Leader creates a vision.
They activate the people to
a part of something great. It
connects a way to establish
goal. To establish effective
organization structure and
lead people as an effective
role model for them. Inspire
and motivate group of
people.
Manager creates a goal.
They should be able to
manage its workforce. To
provide better services to
its client. Manager
distributes work among
their subordinates by
identifying their potential.
Responsibility Leader is responsible to
tackle its team mates in
order to guide them in right
direction. To ensure right
Manager is responsible to
look after administration
work in an organization. To
oversees operations in the

path for its followers is the
responsibility for leader.
Leader is responsible for
guiding their group
members in order to
achieve a specific project.
company. To divide work
among the employees. To
deliberate work between
the employees as per their
knowledge and skill
(Kaltenhaeuser, Luchkova
and Ang, 2019).
Traits Leader tends to shows
integrity and honesty in
their work. They inspire
others to work like them.
They show ability to
challenge others. They
provide vision to its team
members through which
they are able to work
effectively.
Manager should able to
execute a vision in the
company. Through which
employees are able to work
as per the business plan.
They have an ability to
direct the employees. There
work is to look after its
needs and to execute the
business plan more
effectively.
Power and Authority Leader needs power to
influence its followers in a
positive manner. They did
not make things done
forcefully but by
encouraging others.
Leaders are liberal as
compared to managers and
they generally show power
after analyzing the
situation.
Manager tends to do things
forcefully as they gives
command and orders to its
subordinates or employees.
They show autocratic
power. There job is to
make things done anyhow,
no matter what targets
should be achieved on
timely basis.
Decision It facilities the decision in It takes and make

an organization (Battini,
Peretti and Sgarbossa,
2016).
decisions.
Subordinate Subordinate of leader is
termed as followers
Subordinate of manager is
termed as employees.
Style Leadership style is
transformational.
Here is transactional.
People Leader helps to align
people.
It helps to organize people.
Fayol’s description of manager functions
The function of manager in Marks and Spencer are as follows -
 Planning - It is a type of management function. Plan is made by analysis when
what to do and in what way this can be done. This is a type of exercise which
helps in making business strategies and to decision in order to provide necessary
solutions to the problems. It is a systematic thinking through which goals of the
company can be accomplished. This is an intellectual activity which helps to
avoid confusion and uncertainties of the business. Manager of Marks and
Spencer work is to formulate strategy by which company can take competitive
advantage.
 Organizing - This is the process which helps to bring physical, human and
financial resources together. It helps to develop productive relationships among
the employees in order to achieve goals of organization (GuptaYang and Jain,
2018). In this business activities of Marks and Spencer are identified by
managers and then they assign to employees of company. Authorities is
delegated to each one and responsibility is given to employees by manager of
the company. The chance of confusion and chaos among the employees also

get reduced as all of them work separately on individual basis. Work also gets
completed on timely basis in Marks and Spencer.
 Commanding - Manager Work is to command their employees so that they are
able to do work efficiently. There work is to get the things done for Marks and
Spencer. Thus, by giving command they give order to the employees so that they
can perform their tasks by taking it seriously. If Manager doesn't give any
command to its employees then they take it liberal and enjoy by talking and
chatting with each other. Command is necessary to take employees into the
action.
 Controlling - This activity helps to control business operations. For rectifying the
errors and mistakes of the business, controlling plays crucial role. It is the best
way to correct the performance of subordinates (Kaleida, Abney and Kyprianou,
2020). Controlling is a type of an endurance through which it is estimate that
everything remains in its place. If it is not necessary measures and techniques is
adopted through which performance of Marks and Spencer gets improved.
 Coordinating - Manager encourage employees to work on together basis. Work
gets finished on earlier basis as they work in a team. In this way the employees
are able to work together in coordination manner. All the employees work in
synchronized way by this targets of Marks and Spencer gets accomplished on
timely basis. Thus, the productivity of the company gets increased.
LO2
P2. Role of leader and functions of manager applied in various situational contexts
Various situations in Marks and Spencer are as follows -
Conflict Situation - In the organization there are certain time when conflicts happen.
Disputes among the employees and peer group are very common. People have fights
between them due to any position or attitude. In this type of work environment people
are use to work in proper manner (Calais, Azevedo and Catalão, 2017). People feel
alone as some employees have tendency to spread rumors about somebody or to say
wrong things about someone behind the back. In this type of situation the victim

employees don't able to maintain focus on work and its affects overall performance of
Marks and Spencer.
 Role of Leader - Leader of Mark's and Spencer teaches to collaborate with one
another. They try to build team spirit among the followers. They guide them to
work together. They make them feel realized the importance of mutual
consideration. Building friendships in the organization is an effective way to
reduce the chances of conflicts.
 Role of Manager - Manager of Marks and Spencer try to listens employee’s
problem. The Manager firstly listens to employee problem and then takes
decision according. First they find reason of the conflict and try to study in depth
of the situation. Once the reason of conflict gets identified, they try various
measures in order to resolve it. They tries to adopt problem solving techniques to
avoid conflicts at the workplace.
Lack of Motivation - It is generally seen that employees sometimes lose their morale.
They are unable to perform at their optimal level as they don’t feel fully charged. The
interest of the employees gets gone sometimes in an organization (Omansky and
Kanner, , 2017). This is the time that they need some motivation to boost up their
energy. Other reason might be they are not happy with their remuneration or workplace
environment.
 Role of Leader - The role of leader is to boost morale of its followers. Leader of
Marks and Spencer encourages its followers by giving them speeches and
motivational lecture. Through effective communication skills leader blows the
mind of team members. By hearing those speeches and dedicated words of their
leader the mind of subordinates automatically gets motivated. There leader
inspires them to work harder in the organization.
 Role of Manager - The role of manager in Marks and Spencer is to encourage
their employees to work in more efficient manner. They use various methods to
boost employee’s morale. They offer them incentives and fringe benefits. Also do
salary increment through which employee’s morale uplifts. They try to encourage

employees by not giving them a negative feedback. By this the employees get
motivated and productivity of company gets increased.
Introduction of new technology - The Company always tends to introduced new
technologies in the market. To cut off the competition this is necessary to come up with
something new. The company always wants to do innovation (Bromiley and Rau, 2016).
Organization tends to bring technological advancement through which they are able to
gain customer attraction towards their products. By this Marks and Spencer profitability
gets increased.
 Role of Leader - When new technology introduced in Marks and Spencer. The
leader firstly encourages its team members to learn new technology which has
been introduced. They inspire them to bring something new into their plate. By
following total guidance of their leader, subordinates are able to learn new
technology even faster.
 Role of Manager - Manager Role in Marks and Spencer is to introduce new
technology to employees. Manager provided training section and arranges
classes so that employees can learn how to use and operate new technology in
the firm. They also arrange question and answers section through which
employees are able to clear their queries related to new technology
P3. Theories and models to approach in context to management and operations
Contingency Theory
This theory which claims that there is no best way to perform the action related to
corporation. Instead, the optimal course of action is situational which has to be changed
according to the external environment. A situational leader effectively applies its own
style as per the situation (Brandon-Jones, Lewis and Walsman, 2016).
For example, the company Marks and Spencer must apply this technique because if
situation similar to the concept occurs then the company must have to analyze the
situation rather than applying the past solutions. This will be helpful in correct decision
making according to the situation.

Situational Theory
The situational theory refers to the leaders who apply different type of leadership
styles according to the situations (Vanhalaand Ritala, 2016). This is an effective way of
leadership as it first analyzes the situation and then chooses the best type of leadership
style as the situation is created. This also enables the leader to groom his personality.
For example, Marks and Spencer must be following this technique it is said to be the
basis for others. This is a type of technique which motivates an organization to adopt
the technique of transfer of employees from one department to another to groom their
personality and making them to learn more about different work.
System Theory
It is a theory which is a study of systems which is related to the interrelated and
interdependence of the nature or human being (Gibson and Parkman, 2018). As per this
changing one part of this system can be cause of damage to the other related parts. It is
possible to predict these damages well in advance and to decrease their affects.
For example, The company Marks and Spencer can also use this theory to boost and
improve their leadership styles and this will be helpful to tackle with upcoming problems
in future as there will be predicted well in advance, not with hundred percent accuracy
but can be predicted up to a very good limit.
M2. Assess and evaluate the weakness and strengths of different approaches to
situations within the business environment.
Situational leadership
1. Strength - The managers and leaders of the company has advantage of trained
skilled employees and also there are certain creative approach for the situations.
2. Weakness - The company is not in lack of funds but has wrong interpretation of
resources, and has unqualified staff members.

Contingency leadership
1. Strength - The manager and leader of Marks and Spencer has a creative
approach to analyze the situation effectively and has proper allocation of
resources.
2. Weakness - The Marks and Spencer Company is in lack of financial resources
and hence the leaders and managers will not be much effective. Also there are
less trained employees.
System leadership
1. Strength - The morale of employees is increased and the amount of cost saving
is very high in Marks and Spencer, which is beneficial.
2. Weakness - There are number of regulations in the company which takes a lot of
time to perform tasks. The managers and leaders are not efficient enough.
D1. Critical analysis to evaluate various theories and approaches to leadership
Fiedler’s Contingency theory provides flexible management style. It is
groundbreaking theory because Fielder proposed that there is not a single way to lead
an organization. Leadership style changes as per the organizational structure, work of
Marks and Spencer. Contingency theory states that leader’s effectiveness also
dependent upon its relationship with its employees. Thus, employee’s opinion matters in
Marks and Spencer.
Situational Leadership recognizes the need of flexibility in an organization.
Leader change its leadership style by analysis the situation and employees behavior in
Marks and Spencer. Though, individuals have different perspectives and experience
therefore there is need of flexibility. On the other hand this leadership style is focused
on immediate needs rather than long term needs in an organization.
System theory is helpful in saving time. As per this theory change in one part of
system can be cause for other system. Hence, it can be rectified easily in lesser time. It
helps in reducing errors of operations in Marks and Spencer. Dependence of system

can be a drawback of this theory because leader has to continuously monitor the
systems.
LO3
P4. Approaches of operational management
Just in time - It is a management strategy that enables raw material orders from its
suppliers directly with its own production schedule (Just in Time inventory management,
2018). Companies can deploy this theory to increase efficiency and decrease waste by
making the need of resources restricted and as per time and need in the production.
 Role of Leader -The role of leader is to analyze the wants and needs of the
subordinates and to motivate them according to the wants and needs. This role
of leader will be helpful in grooming the personality of the employees and also to
increase their knowledge.
 Role of Manager - The role of Manager is to recruit the very sharp, skilled,
talented candidate so they can be used to full fill vacant position in the
organization or can be helpful in the situations of overstaffing and understaffing,
also in the times of double shift to achieve the daily target.
Total Quality Management - The main and easiest way to define this is that it is a
technique of management which describes the standard quality of a product to give the
customers maximum amount of satisfaction and to increase the market of the company
this technique will be most suitable and will be an effective technique (Total Quality
Management, 2019).
 Role of Leader - The leader must continue to work on increasing the potential
and productivity of the subordinates as taking knowledge is never enough as
there are always a number of new problems in daily routine which cannot be
solved with previous solutions.
 Role of Manager - The role of manger is to manage the different resources as
per their potential and skills. Also to groom and increase the potential of the