Leadership and Management in Context: Unit 4 Report Analysis

This report examines the crucial roles of managers and leaders within the context of Marks and Spencer, a leading fashion retailer. It differentiates between management functions, such as planning, organizing, and controlling, and the leadership roles of developing vision and motivating employees. The report analyzes how these roles apply in diverse situations, including product launches and conflict management, and discusses the application of leadership theories like situational, system, and contingency leadership. Furthermore, it explores key approaches to leadership, including total quality management, and the significance of operations management in achieving business goals. Finally, it addresses factors within the business environment that affect operational management and decision-making processes.

Unit 4

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body...................................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
Difference between functions of managers and role of leaders..............................................................3
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................5
Discuss the way in which role of leaders and functions of managers apply in different situational
context....................................................................................................................................................5
Application of theories and approaches including system, situational and contingency leadership.......6
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................9
key approaches of leadership along with role of leaders and managers.................................................9
Significance of operations management in attainment of business goals.............................................10
TASK 4.....................................................................................................................................................12
Factors within business environment that affects operational management and decision making by
managers and leaders...........................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................14
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Management refers to a crucial business function that is helpful to manage all business
related activities in an efficient manner. There are several functions such as planning, organizing,
staffing, directing as well controlling are included in management (Karuppan, Waldrum and
Dunlap, 2016). Here, managers perform different functions in order to attain predefined business
objectives. Whereas, operations management is an essential activity that is performed in order to
convert raw material into finish goods in an efficient manner. For the current report Marks and
Spencer is taken into consideration that is a leading company of fashion industry. It is
headquartered in London and deals in clothing, home and food products with its own label. The
current report renders detailed information on the roles and functions of managers and leaders
along with different theories and approaches of management and leadership. In addition,
different techniques of operations management along with their importance within organization
have been also discussed in following report.
Main Body
TASK 1
Difference between functions of managers and role of leaders
Functions of managers
Manager is a person who is responsible to manage work force, resources within company
in order to attain predefined objectives. Here, different functions of performed by managers of
Marks and Spencer as given as under:
Planning: It is crucial and one of the important business function under which plans are
made in order to face future uncertainties in better manner. Here, managers of respective
company make anticipations about future and prepare strategies in order to avail the future
opportunities of growth and success.

Organizing: Here, managers are responsible to organize different activities, resources as
well as work force in an efficient manner. It is monitored that managers of M & S take
appropriate actions in order to manage different task at work place effectively.
Staffing: To perform different business task, it is crucial to recruit potential candidates so
that they can perform assigned task for betterment of company. It is monitored that managers of
M & S hire capable as well as efficient employees who will play significant role in
organizational growth and success.
Directing: Employees need to get proper direction, guidance in regular basis so that they
can perform better in organization. For this, managers of respective company provide appropriate
guidance to work force which make them enable to attain predefined organizational goal and
objectives.
Controlling: At this stage, managers need to keep proper control over the activities of
work force. For this, managers of M & S prepare standards then compare those standards with
actual work in order to take appropriate corrective actions.
Role of Leaders:
Leaders are the person who provide guidance to work force and lead them towards
organizational goals and objectives (Donohue, Katok and Leider, 2018). They provide direction
to followers by having proper communication with them. Here, role of leaders in respective
organization are given as under:
Developing vision: Leaders provide guidance to employees by formulating vision. It
helps to alien the efforts of work force in a proper direction that is essential for betterment of
company. it is monitored that leaders of M & S prepare long term vision and communicate it to
employees in order to get their support for success of company.
Motivation: It is monitored that leaders also work as a motivator for employee as they
provide them appropriate motivation through necessary monetary and non monetary techniques.
Here, leaders of respective organization motivate work force through incentives, bonus, rewards,
recognition and more.

Comparison between role and functions of managers and leaders
Managers Leaders
It is analyzed that managers of M & S prepare
effective strategies and policies so that
predefined objectives can be achieved.
Here, leaders communicate those goals, plans
as well as strategies to work force in order to
get their support & contribution for success of
entity.
Here, all the important decisions are taken by
managers for betterment of organization. They
also keep proper control over available
resources in order to attain predefined goals
On another side, leaders provide proper
guidance to subordinated on regular basis with
an aim to improve their productivity as well as
efficiency.
It is monitored that there is higher difference between role and functions of managers &
leaders. However, they both are the key persons of organization and perform their roles in
significant manner in order to ensure organizational growth at competitive market place.
TASK 2
Discuss the way in which role of leaders and functions of managers apply in different situational
context
SITUATION 1: PRODUCT LAUNCH
It is analyses that Marks and Spencer is working in diversify fields such as clothing,
home, food products and more. They are also looking forward to enhance their product mix to
sustain in completion for longer run (Xu, Li and Feng, 2019). Here, they are required to perform
detailed market research in order to collect data regarding perception, opinion and preferences of
customers. It will help company to earn higher profit margin.
Functions of managers:
Here, managers need to prepare appropriate strategies so that all the functions can be undertake
in predefined manner. They are also required to make proper arrangements regarding necessary

resource in order to make the launch a success. In addition, they need to assign task to employees
as per their skills and capabilities so that they can perform assigned task with proper efficiency.
Role of leaders:
At this situation, leaders are responsible to prepare vision and communicate it to subordinates. In
addition, they are also required to maintain proper communication with employees throughout
the process. In addition, they need to guide as well as lead work force effectively at each and
every step of launch.
SITUATION 2: CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
It is monitored that there are several employees belong from different culture work within
organization. Sometime, different people may have different opinions that may become a reason
of higher conflicts at work place (Grabner, 2018). Here, M & S is a global brand that is operating
business in different countries so there are higher probabilities of conflicts at work place. These
conflicts can create imbalance in company and harm its existing brand image.
Functions of managers:
Here, manager need to determined policies to deal with conflicts at work place. For this
HR managers of M & S need to maintain proper coordination within company by maintain
cultural diversity. They are required to maintain better relationship with force in order to avoid
future conflicts and disputes in company. In addition, they are required to analyze the situation in
proper manner in order to take appropriate steps for conflict resolution.
Role of leader:
In this situation, leaders of respective company need to have proper interaction with
subordinates so that they can resolve the issue in better manner. They are also required to
formulate informal groups so that employees can interact with each other which will eventually
reduce down conflicts at work place. With this, employees will be able to communicate with
each other effectively that is crucial for betterment of entity.

Application of theories and approaches including system, situational and contingency leadership
Leaders are the key person of company and play a crucial role in motivating and inspiring
employees (Wilson, 2018). It is analyzed that leaders of M & S are provide proper guidance as
well as motivation to employees for the development and growth of business. For this purpose,
different theories and approaches of leadership are given as under:
Situational leadership theory:
Under this, leaders act as per situation occur at work place. For this, they first analyze
whole situation and then take decision accordingly. It is analyzed that there are ample of
uncertain as well as contingent situation may occur at work place. So, managers need to prepare
effective strategies so that they can deal with future situation in an effective manner. For this,
leaders need to have proactive approach so that they can make anticipations regarding future
situations and prepare strategies accordingly (Dhamija and Bag, 2020). It will help them to deal
with situation in better manner. There is a leadership style called Heresy- Blanchard is adopted
by leaders of respective entity in order to manage employees in best possible way. In this, leaders
have the authority to take prompt decisions with an aim to deal with different situations arise at
work place. It comprises different style of leadership that are given as under:

Telling and Directing: Under this, managers of M & S arrange proper training and
development program for employees and also supervise their work on regular basis. So, there is
adequate guidance as well as supervision is provided by higher authorities to work force so that
they can grow and prosper that will help to perform job roles & responsibilities in better manner.
Participating and Supporting: Here, leaders motivate employees to take part in
organizational task. With this, they are able to get support of work force that is crucial to attain
predefined goals and objectives.
Delegating: Human resources are crucial part of company and it is essential to provide
them necessary authority and power so that they can perform assigned task in more effective way
(Wei and Akinci, 2019). For this purpose, leaders of M & S delegate necessary authorities as
well as responsibilities to work force in order to ensure prompt and effective decision making at
work place.
System leadership theory:

This theory is developed by Ludwing von Bertalanffy as per which behavior of a human
being is self regulated. So, it is essential to correct through necessary self assessment and
feedbacks. It helps to improve their behavior significantly that is crucial to enhance productivity
and efficiency of work force in significant manner. It is analyzed that managers of respective
company adopt this theory where they motivate work force to self analyze their behavior and
make necessary improvements. In addition, it is also crucial to undertake different projects in
more systematic way that will further help to complete the whole project in an appropriate way.
Contingent leadership theory:
It is analyzed that there are ample of contingencies as well as uncertainties arise at work
place that need to be handle in an effective way. This style of leadership helps to deal with future
situations in more effective manner (Thaler, Löschner and Hartmann, 2017). Here, it helps to
prepare effective as well as appropriate strategy in order to deal with future situations effectively.
It is monitored that Fiedler’s contingency model is adopted by leaders of M & S with an aim to
handle contingent situation in more effective manner. It also helps leader to grab the
opportunities of growth and success that may arise in future. As per this theory, there is no
certain and proper way that can be used by leaders to guide and lead employees rather they are
required to deal as per situation. It will provide better outcomes and help to make efficient use of
available resources.
TASK 3
key approaches of leadership along with role of leaders and managers
It is monitored that operations management is a crucial activity that is performed to
improve overall efficiency and productivity of company. Here, managers prepare effective
strategies in order to make optimum use of available resources. It refers to the conversion of raw
material into finish goods that is crucial to meet with demand of customers in predefined manner.
There are several strategies and approaches of operations management are used by M & S that
are given as under:
Total Quality management:

It is a crucial approach that is used widely in order to manage overall quality of
production. Main aim of each and every organization is to provide quality goods and services to
customers so that they can gain higher level of customers satisfaction (Bordoloi, Fitzsimmons
and Fitzsimmons, 2019). As per the current scenario, it is really essential to provide higher
standardized products and services to customers in order to stay in completion for longer run.
Under this approach managers of M & S are responsible to manage the overall quality of
production throughout the production. For this, they are required to maintain proper
communication with employees and provide them proper guidance and support in order to
produce higher quality products.
Just in time:
It is considered appropriate technique for those companies that wish to improve their
overall productivity by elimination wastage and additional cost. Here, managers keep proper
control over inputs as well as outputs eliminate unnecessary activities from production process.
This technique helps to improve overall efficiency and production of organization that further
helps to improve overall productivity and profitability. Here, managers and leaders are
responsible to provide supervision to work force throughout the process (Hill, Korczak and
Wang, 2019). They are also required to maintain proper communication with employees so that
they will be able to perform better at work place that is crucial to attain predefined organizational
goals and objectives.
Kaizen:
This is a technique that is used for making continuous improvement in overall production
process so that quality of products and services can be improved. Under this, managers monitor
the production process on regular basis and prepare appropriate strategies in order to eliminate
waste from overall process of production. It is monitored that managers of M & S prepare keep
proper control over production process so that they can provide higher quality goods to buyers
that is essential to maintain higher revenue and profit margin. Here, managers and leaders are
responsible to prepare effective strategies and communicate it to work force so that they will be
able to work accordingly. It will help them to get support and assistance of employees
throughout the production process that is crucial for the production of quality goods and services.

It is analyzed that there are ample of techniques of operations management are adopted
by managers and leaders that are helpful in making appropriate use of available resources (Shiver
and Eitel, 2017). These techniques are essential and play a great role in producing quality goods
and services that is essential to achieve predefined business objectives in stipulated period of
time.
Significance of operations management in attainment of business goals
There are several approaches such as Total quality management, Just in time and more are
adopted by organizations in order to manage overall functions in an efficient manner. In addition
to this, these techniques also play a crucial role in enhancement in overall production,
profitability and more. Significance of operations management in references of M & S is
discussed as under:
Enhancement in quality of products and operational efficiency: It is analyzed that there
are different approaches are used in operations management such as TQM, Six Sigma and more.
These techniques highly emphasized over quality of products and services. In context of M & S
it is renowned company that produce products in large quantity and this mass production really
helps to reduce down overall cost of production. With this, company is able to produce higher
quality products and services in minimum possible cost. It will make them enable to earn
substantial revenue and profit margin.
Cost reduction: It is analyzes that effective approaches of operations management are
helpful in improving overall productivity and efficiency of organization. It makes manager
enable to produce standardized products and services in minimum possible cost. In context of M
& S managers adopt different approaches of operations management such as TQM, Just in time
and more. It will make them enable to provide quality goods to customers at lower price that will
provide an edge to company at market place.
Consumer satisfaction: As per the current scenario, it is really essential to satisfy
customers in order to sustain at market place for longer run. In addition, approaches of
operations management are helpful in production of quality goods and services (Xu, Peng and
Prybutok, 2019). There are some techniques of operations management that highly focused on
quality of products that is a crucial factor of customer’s satisfaction. In reference of M & S

managers adopt several approaches of operations management that make them enable to bring
operational efficiency in company. Due to this, they are able to provide quality products to
customers in minimum possible price that further leads company towards higher customer
satisfaction.
Increase in sales: Here, main aim of each and every company is to increase its sales and
profit margin. Each business entity whether small and large is initiate with an aim to earn
potential profitability. Effective approaches of operations management help to eliminate waste
and unnecessary activities from overall production process that is essential to bring operational
efficiency within company. In context of respective entity, managers are able to maintain higher
operational efficiency in company with the help of appropriate techniques. These techniques are
helpful to enhance overall quality of products that is helpful to grab the attention of customers.
This will help to increase in overall sales and profitability of organization.
It is monitored that there are ample of approaches and techniques are used in the field of
operations management that are helpful in improving overall performance of business at work
place. It helps to bring higher productivity and efficiency within company that is essential to
ensure long term sustainability.
TASK 4
Factors within business environment that affects operational management and decision making
by managers and leaders.
Business environment includes both internal and external environment of market and that
need to be address by all companies in order to run their operation in smooth way as all these
factor possess power to influence the activity and function of company (Pisarenko, 2018). As
well as the leaders and manger of company need to formulate strategies/ policies according these
factors. In context of chosen company, their manger need to align tactics /decision based on
business environment in order to get success in implementation. Some of internal and external
factor that can effects the operation of firm along with decision of leaders and mangers with
relevance to selected company are as follow:

Stakeholders: Stakeholders tends to those individual who have power to influence the
function and activities of company. In context of Marks and Spencer, the major stakeholders of
company are their potential consumers. As company totally relies on them in order to increase
profitability, if their needs get fulfilled then base of consumers towards their offering will
increase and which ultimately increase profitability of firm. As well as for opting practices such
as JIT &TQM, in term of creating cost effective strategies so that entities of chosen firm will
able to offer goods at lower and affordable products with the help of stakeholders.
Sustainability: With relevance to strategies devising related to management, this factors
is also term out as influencing factor as new offering as per consumers requirement grasp more
number of users in order to sustain goods and for concerning products which develop suitable
methods. Therefore, Marks and Spencer need to monitor few prominent factors which can be
fulfilled by the manger and leaders of enterprise in terms of cost saving. As well as for lowering
the concerns related with techniques like JIT, TQM, Lean production and Kaizen.
Culture and values: It comprises those factor which are related with the beliefs,
behavior, attitude, social & ethics of consumers with personnel of company who performs
operation or function within company (Ten and Tang, 2018). So it is the responsibility of leaders
and manger to analyses the current market trends for satisfying the needs of users and to assess
the requirements of employees for maintain their motivation level and lowering the turnover rate
of workers within firm. As well as need to create positive and healthy workforce environment to
maintain employee motivation level.
So from all above, mentioned points it has been analyzed that it become vital for all types
of business unit to carry out market analysis and examine external and internal environment
forces that impose influence on function and operation of company. So that entities of
corporation will able to gain opportunities of external environment. With relevance to this, they
can overcome influence by adhering some policies and strategies such as CSR, environment
protection, consumers satisfaction and so many other factors.

CONCLUSION
With above discussion, it is monitored that management and operations is crucial activity
to attain predefined objectives. It can be concluded that managers as well as leaders play a
crucial role in enhancement of business. In addition, there are different approaches, theories and
models of leadership are used in order to manage work force in better manager. Discussion has
been carried out regarding different techniques of operations management. Further, operations
management is vital and play a significant role in enhancement of business.

REFRENCES
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