Report on Leadership, Management, and Operations at Unilever Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Unilever, a multinational company. It explores the roles and responsibilities of leaders and managers in various operational contexts, including conflict resolution and new product development. The report delves into the application of leadership theories such as situational leadership, system leadership, and contingency theory within Unilever's organizational structure. It also examines important approaches to operations management, including Six Sigma and Lean Production, highlighting the roles of managers and leaders in implementing these strategies to enhance efficiency, reduce waste, and improve product quality. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of effective leadership and management skills in driving the company's growth and success in the global market.

Management And
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1: Roles and responsibility of leaders and managers...........................................................3
P2: How role of manager and leader apply in different situation of organisation.................5
P3: Application of important theories and models in organisation........................................6
TASK2.............................................................................................................................................7
P4: Important approaches of operation management with role of managers and leaders......7
P5: importance and value of operations management............................................................8
P6: Factors within the business environment.......................................................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12
INTRODUCTION
Operations are the daily business activities that an organisation try to convert raw
materials into finished goods and sell them to customers with a motive of earning profits. And
managing those operations and activities to create highest level of efficiency within an
organisation. This report is going to discuss on the company Unilever (Gölzer and Fritzsche,
2017). Unilever is the multinational company which has headquartered in London, UK. They

provide baby food, tea, soft drinks, food products, energy drinks, packaged drinking water, ice
crème, coffee and many more. Unilever was established on 2nd September 1929. In this report,
the discussion is based upon how a leader plays different roles in the operations within an
organisation, how a manager play their role in operation functions as in planning, organising,
leading and controlling in the organisations, how a leader and manager plays different roles and
functions within an organisation.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1: Roles and responsibility of leaders and managers.
Leadership plays a very vital role in the operations and management as well. Leadership
is an art of getting things done by others which maximizes the efforts of others towards the
achievement of a greater good. In this section, the discussion is based upon how a leader play his
role in the Unilever company, in order to achieve targeted goals and profits.
Roles of a Leader:
A good leader helps their team and the organisation(Unilever) makes profitable and acts
in a right way to get things done by influencing others (Grant, Wong and Trautrims, 2017). For
the betterment of an organisation, a leader should build a vision, set clear goals and direction for
their team and group. Following are the roles of a good leader in the Unilever company:-
 Training new employees: A leader provides the training to the new hires, explains
company's values, mission and goals, as well as how to be successful in their individual
role. In the Unilever company, a leader start on-boarding before day one and can include
on-boarding practices into procedures.
 Act as a guide, philosopher and friend: A leader should have three personality traits that
is a guide, a friend and a philosopher. A leader may be a good friend by sharing own
thoughts, opinions with their team, feelings, can be a philosopher by utilizing intelligence
and experiences and at the same time leader can guide by supervising and communicating
at the time in a right time.
 Representative of the organisation: A leader of the Unilever plays as representative at the
company's seminars, conferences, general meetings and many more.

 Effective role model: A good role model in a company(Unilever) is someone who is
calm, positive, enthusiastic and confident. In order to create a positive environment, an
efficient leader must have these qualities because every member likes a happy faces and
positivity around.
Characteristics of Leader:
Based on studies, a leader must help in guiding and make the large scale decision that
keep the company moving. The following are the characteristics of a good leader:
 Trustworthy: A leader must need to create trust in their teams and within the
organisation. If leader is not able to gain trust then there is no worth of leadership skills.
 Knowledgable: A leader must be updated about trends, changes, innovations,
technologies, research or advancements in his area of expertise.
 A effective communication: The good communication with team members builds
relationship and trust (Hasle, Madsen and Hansen, 2021). A leader of the Unilever
company must communicate accurate informations and data with their employees.
A manager's ability or skills also plays a very important part of an organisation. A
manager is a person who is controlling an organisation(Unilever) or a part of the organisation.
The primary role of a manager is to ensure daily functioning of an organisation or group of
peoples.
Roles of a manager: In the mentioned company(Unilever), A manger should perform basic
functions which required in organisation such as planning, staffing, recruiting, controlling and
monitoring. All these functions are important to running an organisation smoothly and achieving
targeted objectives.
 Spokesperson: In this role. A manager is responsible for transmitting informations about
the Unilever company, and its goals to the people outside.
 Negotiator: A good manager need to take part in an organisation to direct important
negotiations within team, department or organisation.
 Resource allocator: In this role, a manager need to determined where resources are best
located. It involves funding, assigning staff and resources.
Characteristics of a manger:
 They develop a work environment of mutual bonding and mutual trust.

 They handle pressure very well because a manger is responsible for the performance of
team members.
 They have strong analytical abilities as it leads a good decision making.
Differentiate between a manager and leader:
Basics A leader A manager
Objectives A leader seeks those objectives
which are objectives of his
subordinates.
A manager seeks only
objectives which his
subordinates do not regard as
their own.
Scope of powers A leader has few powers to
influencing others
A manager has positional
powers as he has a right to
command.
Outcome Promotes useful and drastic
changes.
Provide expected results to
leadership and stakeholders.
P2: How role of manager and leader apply in different situation of organisation.
Conflict Resolution (Situation1): It is identified that leaders who can be utilize conflicts
management skills providing direction and guidance. (Grant, Wong, and Trautrims, 2017).
Developing skills in resolving conflicts in the work environment through respect and
appreciation for others skill, communication, self-awareness, set are significant aspects of the
leader's role in ensuring conflict is resolved and company(Unilever) goal's are prioritize.
Role of a leader in a conflict resolution situation: There are many conflict resolution strategies
a leader can use to manage conflicts arise within the organisation. Strategies including avoiding,
defeating, compromising, accommodating and collaborating. This gives a base of assumption to
the employees to cooperate and assert in conflict situation (Hamdani, Susila and Saryanti, 2020).
Develop rules for handling conflict, ensures team members to listen one another and respect each
other's point of view.
Functions of a manager in a conflict resolution situation: the first and foremost role of a
manager is of asking questions, an investigator, listening to fully understand what is going on
between each involved parties (Hasle, Madsen, and Hansen, 2021). other manger role is that of

mediator, collaborating identifying solutions with the employees to bring the conflict with the
peaceful resolutions.
New Product Development (Situation2): As a multinational firm Unilever produces various
new product and services in the market. A good leader and manager have the responsibilities
that the things get done effectively with less cost and more profits. New product may be
completely original products or the existing products may be modified and improved.
Role of a leader in a new product development: There are three wide areas of product
leadership responsibilities are; owning the product direction, building the team and establishing
the product organisation and process. Make sure the roles of a leader to drive the success of
practice:-
 Encouraging team members to work together for the benefit of the company.
 Empowering each member to see his own potential and to grow with in the
organisation.
 Adapting Unilever's changes and policies.
Functions of a Manager in a new product development: It is identified that a manger should
be responsible for identification of new opportunities (Grant, Wong, and Trautrims, 2017). A
product manager of the Unilever company responsible for both product planning and product
marketing.
1. Setting strategies: It involves the major areas of investment so a manager can priortize
what matters the most to achieve the product goals.
2. Defining releases: A product managers translate product strategies into planned work;
defining what the team will deliver and the timeline for implementation. This performs
the bridging gaps between different functions within the company.
3. Evaluating ideas: Product managers are accountable for crowdsourcing, developing,
curating ideas that will develop value of the customer. A manager also ensures that
feedback and requests are seamlessly integrated into the product planning and
development process.
P3: Application of important theories and models in organisation.
Situational leadership: This situational model of leadership focuses on flexibility so that leaders
are able to adapt according to the needs of their followers and the demands of the situation. In
the current situations, the situational leaders modify their leadership style according to the

behaviour and skill level of employees (Hamdani, Susila and Saryanti, 2020). It is an effective
way of leadership because it adapts to the team needs and sets a beneficial balance for the
Unilever company. It evaluates their team and the company by simply asking about the current
situation of the Unilever company.
System Leadership: System leadership is about how an individual leads across boundaries
whether its departmental, organisational or a sector. System leadership enables the leader in the
respective company(Unilever) to create the situations where people at all levels can work
effectively to their potential. In the Unilever company, it provides leaders with tools that helps to
predict human's behaviour in the company. It will suited to complex situations that require
collective actions, where no single entity is control.
Contingency theory: Contingency theory reflects that no matter how successful a leader is,
there always a situation that will challenge them. In the Unilever company, things like teams of
work, scope of project, expected delivery date of results affects the effectiveness of leadership
(Hasle, Madsen and Hansen, 2021). As a result, different leaders reacts in a different way of
situations. Managers and leaders may need to either adapt their leadership style to the current
situation or delegate some of their responsibilities to their employees.
As per the above report, the company Unilever has spread its business worldwide which
needs a good leadership skills and require proper managerial functioning within their
organisation. In the above study, the roles of a good leader and manager is discussed and their
characteristics, includes theories of leadership like situational leadership, system leadership and
contingency theories. It reflects how a leader must perform different roles in situations. This
study shows how a leader is different from a manager, the two different situations are mentioned:
conflict resolution and new product development in the Unilever company, in which roles of
leader and managerial functions are explained. A good leadership and managing skills helps and
support the company to grow in the market with more effectiveness and good efficiency.
TASK2
P4: Important approaches of operation management with role of managers and leaders.
Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a quality control methodology uses to review to limit mistakes, defects
in the organisation (KOLTSOVA and Et.al., 2019). The Unilever company uses this method to
improve the quality of final products and removing the reasons of errors and also reducing

variance in manufacturing process. A leader should identifies it as management strategy rather
than as a tool, will benefits in a result of cost savings. The methodology does not work as well
when the company has not bought in. It uses both qualitative and quantitative techniques to drive
process improvement. A manager plays a vital role in creating and fostering the environment that
sets the stage for employees success. The manager should encourage using templates and
leveraging as much existing data possible.
Lean Production: This method used by the Unilever company to reduce their wastes in the
production process, improves the quality and reduce costs and time. The management aims this
method to cut costs by making the business more efficient, effective and responsive to market
needs. Companies that successfully embrace this method can achieve impressive improvements
in their performance (KOLTSOVA, BYSTROVA and SHILOVA, 2019). A lean leader sets the
vision, develop the culture and measure the success. The role includes ensuring employee's job
contribute to customer' value, measured by the same standards of reduced production cost and
time, as well as produced best quality. The Unilever uses this method in small projects with a
short time frame as it is quite difficult to handle this in large projects. And a lean manager
defines the products, services or family of product and services. A lean manager mainly focus on
optimizing the production and services procedures. By using four managerial functions:
planning, organising, leading and controlling, managers can increase the effectiveness and
efficiency of their employees, projects or organisation as a whole.
Queuing theory: Queuing theory can help with creating an efficient and cost effective
workflow, allowing the user to improve traffic flow (Kumar, Mookerjee and Shubham, 2018).
This theory has two aspects customer arrival at the facility and requirements of service. Putting a
good queue management system helps to change the queuing process while improving services,
safety and gaining customer's loyalty (Kumar, Mookerjee and Shubham, 2018). A leader
examines the cause of delay in queuing lines, identifying the process involved in delaying. The
manager plays the role of managing the performance and improvements in products and services
towards the customer. This theory helps the Unilever company in the design of balanced
systems that serves customers quickly and efficiently but do not cost to much to be sustainable.
P5: importance and value of operations management.
An effective management of operations helps with employee management and explains
the role and responsibilities within the organisation. This will ensure employees workflow and

company production remains unaffected. It creates highest level of efficiency in designing and
controlling in wastage in the production process.
Importance of Operation Management:
 Control in distribution systems: These functions ensures the company(Unilever) that
conventional power system reliability are divided on the positions of two controls:
primary and secondary controls (Kumar, Mookerjee and Shubham, 2018). Primary
controls applies at the every stage of distribution system by DER controller whereas
secondary control focuses on the optimization and supervises the whole DER.
 Transformational of raw material into finished products: Operation management
frames proper strategies and accordingly continues all operations of the organisation.
This is the integral function of the Unilever company turning raw material into final
results. The company look to producing on time delivery of built products to sell at
competitive costs. Raw material purchased at lower prices for the production process to
achieve better results in effective costs.
 Process Design: It is the duty of operation manager to design the product process
according to market trends and demands in order to meet aims (Lee and Tang, 2018). For
achieving results, it should be considering innovative techniques are incorporated in
designing and also product quality is maintained.
 Logistics and inventory management: In the respective company Unilever, the role of
inventory management is to maintain a desired level of stock for a specific products (Qi
and Shen, 2019). Due to advanced ordering accuracy, product flow, good inventory
management, effectiveness and efficiency results in cost and time management. This also
protects the company from spoiled goods being delivered to customers.
 Capacity Management: This mainly explains the concept of maximum potential of
manufacturing of an output, or a group of output by a firm, production unit, capital stock,
given technologies and many more (Zhang, Zhang and Tan, 2020). This procedures helps
the company and concerns memory, physical space and performance should cover both
the development and operational environment, including human resources, hardware and
many more.

P6: Factors within the business environment.
Business Environment is all about external factors a firm has to face. Like market size,
government regulations, political, economical factors, consumer attitudes, competitions and
many more (Zhang, Zhang and Tan, 2020). Contemporary means “belonging to the same period
of time” and to better understand, its a business environment that has a extensive competitive
market that maintains changing at very speedy pace and the founder of company(Unilever) must
be good enough to understand the developments and requirements which needs to be done.
 Corporate Social Responsibilities: CSR is a self-controlling business model that helps
a company be socially responsible; to itself, its stakeholders and the public. The Unilever
company increasingly revolving to CSR to make a difference and make a positive
reputation. It aims to give back to the society, take part in munificent issues and also
providing positive social values.
 Culture: To make effective business strategies, knowledge of local culture to sell or
market the product is must needed. Its very important to build relationship with
employees and customers while setting up goals and to better understand. Culture
impacts functional areas of sales, marketing and distribution. It can impact the
company's analysis and gives direction to entering in the new market.
 Values: Company values are the core values that guide the way of doing business. This
principles gives a way of doing right or wrong for the benefit of oneself or the company.
 Ethics: Business ethics intensifies the regulations by defining acceptable behaviours
beyond government control (Zurich, Instruction and Documentation, 2018). The
Unilever company establishes these ethics to gain trust among stakeholders such as
employees, investors.
 Sustainability: It means the ability to exists constantly. It helps the respective company,
by taking into consideration to create long term values, that is how a specified
organisation operates social, ecological and economic environment.
It is very important to build a strong relationship with stakeholders such a consumers,
employees, investors and many more. Stakeholders can provide requirements based on data from
the industry that will be significant to have while understanding task risks and constraints. The
company engage and involve more stakeholders the more risks will reduce and uncover on the
projects. This relationships builds network that develop credible, united voices about products,

services and issues that are significant in the firm. External stakeholders are groups outside a
business but are involved in some path of actions and decisions of the firm. Like creditors can
supply raw material, financial capital, services to the business want to be remunerate on time.
CONCLUSION
The above report focuses on the operations and management of the Unilever company.
As a multinational brand and highly developed firm needs to look out for their operations and
logistic systems. The role of manager and the leader considers their duties and responsibilities in
order to meet company's goals in a effective manner which save time and costs. The report also
evaluates the relationship between internal and external stakeholders that affects company's
supply chain of management. It discuss the theories and models of operation management that
will guide managers and leaders.

REFERENCES
Gölzer, P. and Fritzsche, A., 2017. Data-driven operations management: organisational
implications of the digital transformation in industrial practice. Production Planning &
Control, 28(16), pp.1332-1343.
Grant, D. B., Wong, C. Y. and Trautrims, A., 2017. Sustainable logistics and supply chain
management: principles and practices for sustainable operations and management.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Hasle, P., Madsen, C. U. and Hansen, D., 2021. Integrating operations management and
occupational health and safety: The necessary future of safety science?. Safety Science.
Grant, D. B., Wong, C. Y. and Trautrims, A., 2017. Sustainable logistics and supply chain
management: principles and practices for sustainable operations and management.
Kogan Page Publishers.
Hamdani, A., Susila, L. N. and Saryanti, E., 2020. The Role of Marketing Capability, Operations
Capability, Management Zurich, B.L.L., Instruction, X. and Documentation, X., 2018.
Service operations and management. Master of Science in Engineering, p.380.
Hasle, P., Madsen, C. U. and Hansen, D., 2021. Integrating operations management and
occupational health and safety: The necessary future of safety science?. Safety Science.
KOLTSOVA, T. A. and Et.al., 2019. Russian business tax operations policy: Management
issues. Revista ESPACIOS, 40(10).
KOLTSOVA, T. A., BYSTROVA, A. N. and SHILOVA, L .F., 2019. Russian business tax
operations policy: Management issues. Revista ESPACIOS, 40(10).
Kumar, S., Mookerjee, V. and Shubham, A., 2018. Research in operations management and
information systems interface. Production and Operations Management, 27(11),
pp.1893-1905.
Kumar, S., Mookerjee, V. and Shubham, A., 2018. Research in operations management and
information systems interface. Production and Operations Management, 27(11),
pp.1893-1905.
Kumar, S., Mookerjee, V. and Shubham, A., 2018. Research in operations management and
information systems interface. Production and OperPractices and Environmental
Investment on Agro-Industrial Environmental Performance. International Journal of
Applied Business and International Management, 5(3), pp.30-34.

Lee, H. L. and Tang, C. S., 2018. Socially and environmentally responsible value chain
innovations: New operations management research opportunities. Management
Science, 64(3), pp.983-996.
Qi, W. and Shen, Z.J.M., 2019. A smart‐city scope of operations management. Production and
Operations Management, 28(2), pp.393-406.
Zhang, C., Zhang, T. and Tan, T., 2020, March. Internationalization of Chinese Banks: How to
Strengthen and Enhance Overseas Operations and Management. In 5th International
Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2020) (pp.
144-150). Atlantis Press.
Zhang, C., Zhang, T. and Tan, T., 2020, March. Internationalization of Chinese Banks: How to
Strengthen and Enhance Overseas Operations and Management. In 5th International
Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2020) (pp.
144-150). Atlantis Press.
Zurich, B. L. L., Instruction, X. and Documentation, X., 2018. Service operations and
management. Master of Science in Engineering. p.380.