Marks & Spencer: Management, Leadership, and Operations Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices at Marks & Spencer (M&S). It begins by defining and contrasting the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers within the company, highlighting the flat organizational structure and its impact. The report examines the functions of managers and leaders in various business situations, including fast-changing, stable, and moderate market conditions, emphasizing the need for adaptability. Furthermore, it delves into the application of different leadership theories, such as situational, systems, and contingency leadership, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses within the context of M&S's global operations. The second part of the report focuses on operational management approaches, including Total Quality Management (TQM), and explores the roles of managers and leaders in implementing these strategies to ensure continuous improvement and meet business objectives. The report also assesses the impact of business environment factors on operational management. The report concludes by analyzing the importance of adaptable leadership and management styles for sustainable growth in the competitive retail market.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Roles and characteristics of leader and manager..............................................................1
P2 Role of leader and function of manager in different situations.........................................3
P3 Application of different management and leadership theories..........................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Approaches of operational management and role played by manager and leader............5
P5 Significance and value of operation management.............................................................7
P6 Assessment of the business environment factors that impact on operational management8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
In the words of Henry Fayol, management means to plan, organise, direct and control
activities of other people. Operations are the work which is done on daily basis in an enterprise
(Mali-Swelindawo, 2012). These activities generate revenue for company and it involve tasks
like manufacturing goods, provide services to customers etc. M&S is a multinational
organisation which is running their business in retail sector. This firm is known for quality of
their products and effective leadership approach. This assignment will discuss about different
roles of manager and leader. It will also include function of manager in various kind of situation
faced by a business. Few theories of management leadership and concepts of management will
also become part of this file. This project will explain approaches and importance and of
operational management.
TASK 1
P1 Roles and characteristics of leader and manager
M&S is a public limited company which is mainly known for clothing business but now
they are selling various products like beauty products, home décor, etc. Around 85000 people are
working in this company and their net income is approximately 115.7 million pounds. M&S is
also increasing their food retail business and out of approx. 979 stores in UK, around 600 are
only selling food items.
Management Structure
M&S has a flat structure in their organisation. This company does not have much layers
in firm and their CEO is in touch with head of different departments like finance, human
resource, manufacturing etc. Managers can directly contact to these department heads and share
them problems and ideas of employees . Flat organisation structure played significant role in
success of M&S. When an enterprise is present in many countries and they are selling various
kind of products, then tall organisation structure cannot work for the company because of various
flaws which are present in it, like slow decision making process.
Manager – Manager is a person who is in charge of managing all the work relating to certain
activity (Skúlason, 2011). This person is responsible for executing the plans which is made by
leaders.
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Leader – An individual who give command to his/her followers and lead a group of people.
Leader always has vision and design long term strategy for the organisation.
Comparison of role and characteristics of leaders and managers
Basis Leader Manager
Responsibility Leader is accountable for
finding innovative solution of
different problems which is
faced by organisation.
Managers are responsible for
administrative work i.e. they
work on the plans which are
made by leaders as an
innovative solution to a
problem.
Nature of work At M&S, leaders like to take
risk. Organisation can be doing
well but leaders still take risk
because of their working style
and nature. The leaders work
involves formulation of vision
and long term strategies for
business.
Managers of M&S have ability
to control all the operations of
company. Monitoring is a
crucial part of their
characteristic and are inclined
on fulfilling the same.
Function Leaders of M&S build teams.
They also make big calls like
coalition with suppliers etc.
Managers make rules and
design procedures. They
design a process and set rules
in order to avoid confusion
among employees (Neerackal,
2015).
Focus M&S has leader who are
people oriented. They do not
get involve in day to day
activity because their prime
focus is on finding right person
who can take responsibility.
Managers concentrate on tasks,
their aim is to get the work
done by using different kind of
tactics. They design procedure
and try to remove the hurdles
which company have to face at
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the time of executing plans.
P2 Role of leader and function of manager in different situations
M&S attained continuous success because their leaders made policies according to the
situation of business environment. Managers helped company in convincing employees to get
training and learn things which were demand of the movement. An organisation has worldwide
operations and in present scenario, they are facing three different kind of situations which are
mentioned below:
Fast changing business environment – UK is domestic market of M&S and this country
is going through the process of Brexit. Company is failing to predict the condition of market
which can be considered as the prime reason that they are not making any long term strategy
(De and Das, 2015). Leaders role in this situation is to motivate the employees and ask them to
be patient when things does not go according to the plan. Function of manager is also crucial in
this type of situation because they are responsible for coping up with the challenges which
company faces in regular interval of time. Managers of different stores in England are aware of
the impact of Brexit and right now, their job is make tactics for maintaining the growth of
organisation.
Stable conditions – M&S is expanding their business in every part of this world and India
is one country where they have entered in recent time. Retail sector of this nation is growing
rapidly and it is supposed to touch 1 trillion pound benchmark before 2021. One cannot predict
the rate of growth but one thing is sure that retail sector will keeping growing swiftly. Leaders of
M&S are motivating their managers to focus on two core values of company i.e. quality products
and better customer service. Surviving in Indian retail market is not easy because of high
competition and unorganized market. Leaders are accountable for asking employees to expand
their potential and try to attain aggressive target. Managers communicate the strategy which is
made by leaders to the workforce and their key function is monitoring performance of stores.
They play an important role in constructing training events and assuring better customer service.
Slow to Moderate – Market condition of US retail sector is predictable. This industry is
growing with a decent rate and the chance of any major fluctuation is not high (Mittal and
Kumar, 2011). The role of leader at M&S is to show the vision to employees of firm. They have
better understanding about how strategies should be implemented in USA and they are
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accountable for communicating it to workers. Managers give inputs to the management about
how they can improve customer service and minimise cost of manufacturing. They understand
that most of the events are predictable in retail market of USA so their main aim is to focus on
every day work and removes flaws from it.
P3 Application of different management and leadership theories
Leadership and management style of every leader at M&S differ. One cannot argue that
there is a single theory which can applied in any case for assuring success. Every approach has
its merits & demerits and it is the responsibility of management to adopt best one for present
scenario. Below are some leadership theories:
Situational leadership – This theory state that leader have to make changes in his/her
leadership style according to the situation of demand (Corzine, 2011). Normally leaders at M&S
adopt democratic style but sometime, because of circumstances, they have to go with autocratic
approach. This help organisation in coping up with unpredictable challenges and ensure
sustainable organisational growth. Flexibility can be considered as key advantage of this
approach. It allow leaders to take decision without restricting to a particular method. The
weakness of situational leadership is that it may shift the focus of company from their long term
goals to situation in hand.
Systems leadership – It is not related to the leadership style of a single person. Systems
leadership is about creating healthy and productive work environment where different leaders at
various positions try to understand the nature of employees and build an effective process (Fujo
and Ali, 2016). If M&S will adopt this approach then they can improve working culture and
atmosphere in the organisation and it will also reduce employee turnover which is necessary for
sustainable performance. Key strength of this approach is that does not only give priority to
company's goals. It also concentrate on individuals targets. If employees are attaining own goals
then it very easy to motivate them for achieving organisational aim. The major drawback which
is attached to this approach is that it is not practised very often. It also delays the process of
decision making.
Contingency leadership – This approach demand change in attitude and working style of
leader because of the unpredictable events. Contingency approach argues that a leader cannot get
stick to a single leadership style because there isn't a perfect one. If M&S want to survive in
highly competitive markets like India and UK, then adopting contingency leadership style is
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essential. It help in coping up with uncertainty and assure sustainable grow of the firm. Strength
of contingency leadership is that it is a reliable approach and it reduce dependency of leader from
a single leadership style. But there is a major disadvantage which is attached to this theory is
''complexity''. Leaders of M&S should understand that this approach often face the allegation of
inadequate literature.
Manager and leaders are backbone of M&S because they are responsible for taking every
single decision. If they think that democratic leadership style should be promoted in the
organisation then they can give more authority to the employees (Onunka, 2013). This would
result in ideal decision making process and make a huge impact on company's culture. M&S has
global presence and they should promote situational leadership in the firm because this will
allow them to adopt the quick changes which is happening in global business environment.
Rigidity in leadership style can result in failure to retain employees and achieve organisational
goals. Situational leadership will help firm in concentrating on two key areas i.e. to keep their
focus on company's culture and adopt new changes as they emerge in the market..
TASK 2
P4 Approaches of operational management and role played by manager and leader
M&S has achieved continuous success because of their sound operational management .
This company manufacture few products while others are bought from suppliers and then sold
through stores. Organisation has a better performing logistics department who take the goods
from companies manufacturing units or suppliers and then leave it in different stores of
company.
Total quality management (TQM) – M&S firmly believe in overcoming their
weaknesses and develop a culture of continuous improvement. TQM is an effective operational
management approach which motivate workers to reduce the amount of time which they are
taking in completing a task and improve their quality of their work (WHAT IS OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT?, 2018). It is not easy for a firm to find and remove own flaws so
communication with stakeholders is considered as an important part of this approach as they help
in determining shortcomings in business. Trust, training, team work, ethics and communication
are considered as some key elements of TQM.
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Leaders are responsible for showing right direction to employees and motivate them to
work on the own and operational management shortcomings (Hu, 2011). Respecting every single
individual opinion is important part of the work of leader because it assist them in having proper
communication with employees, Managers work as a facilitator at the time of working on this
approach. They work on day to day issues and they are responsible for evaluating performance of
every employees.
(Source: Total Quality Management, 2017)
Hybrid approach – M&S is known for selling products in premium segment i.e. high
priced. They developed a hybrid approach which is known by the name of lean six sigma. In this
process, they tried to minimise wastage of resources in order to bring down the cost of business
without making any negative impact on quality. Beside this, they also execute principles of six
sigma whose main attention is to improve quality of offering of M&S. This tool allows a
business to make 99.999 percent of the products with specified capabilities. Six sigma is used by
many companies which attempts to sell their products without having any issues relating to their
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Illustration 1: Total Quality Management

quality. Leaders are accountable for understanding and resolving the problems which employees
face because of hybrid approach. Their role is important at the time of making changes in the
approach. Managers communicate the instruction and vision of leaders to the employees of
M&S. Monitoring of whole process is the duty of manager. They have responsible for smooth
and effective adoption of hybrid approach.
P5 Significance and value of operation management
M&S has two organisational objectives, first is to regain top spot in clothing business and
second is to grow their food segment business. Once key source of revenue of this firm was
clothing but now they are earning more money from their food business in UK. Below is value
and significance of different approaches of operational management in the context of attaining
organisational goals:
Hybrid approach – M&S cannot retain their old position in clothing business until they
assure value for money. They are selling expensive products so they have to make sure that they
do not compromise quality of goods and, at the same time, increase their profit margin. Lean six
sigma is an approach which can help company in improving quality of clothing (Chouksey and
Sirsikar, 2016). Hybrid approach will assist company in reducing wastage of resource. Its values
will not only play crucial role in getting top spot but it will also enhance growth of food retail
business. Six Sigma will reduce the number of defect products. When customer will receive
flawless products then their trust in brand will increase. It will help business in retaining current
customers and allow others to get attracted towards company's product.
TQM – Total quality management involve participation of various stakeholders in order
to assure continuous improvement. The key reason behind dethroning of M&S from market
leader in clothing is that they were failing to understand demands of customers and other
stakeholders. TQM approach has ability to reduce the differences between company and their
stakeholders, not only for small period of time but for a long span. M&S cannot regain their
position until they continuously work on their shortcomings. Eliminate actions which are not
contributing to the upliftment of business and replacing with productive efforts so that they are
able to regain lost position and TQM is an approach which can support company in achieving
organisational objectives (Na, 2011). Food segment business of M&S has wide growth
opportunity. Working on small issues like customer service and more product offering, is an area
where TQM can make difference. It can identify and resolve issues which are occurring on daily
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basis. Food business of M&S is already growing with a decent rate and continuous improvement
will help organisation in maintaining the same pace of growth.
Leaders and managers affect on improving operational efficiency
Increasing operational efficiency is important for every organisation because it can
provide competitive advantage to a firm who want to grow. Leaders at M&S make major
decisions regarding which operational management approach should be used in the organisation.
They understand that every approach has its own merits and demerits and they have to chose one
which fits for the organisation. M&S want to become number one company in clothing business
and crucial decision taken by leaders, relating to operational efficiency, affect company in
positive way. Managers are responsible for monitoring and controlling daily operations and their
job is to keep discipline at stores and manufacturing units.
P6 Assessment of the business environment factors that impact on operational management
An organisation may have some control over internal factors but they do not have power
to control external factors of business environment. Decision taken by leaders and managers are
affected by the outside elements. Below is the influence of these external elements of decision
making and wider business world:
Change in technology – M&S is operating in a highly competitive market and they are
facing tuff competition because of quick changes in technology. Companies like Amazon are
using latest technology for stealing market share of big corporation. M&S has leaders who want
to reduce cost of their products but because of rapid changes in technology, they are facing the
challenge of increasing cost of business. Company is ready to invest huge sum in a technology
but the fear of ''technology getting obsolete'' in short period of time stopping them from taking
any big call. Its ultimate affect on company is not good because it put management in a condition
where they cannot make any decision (Gonçalves, Correia and Cavique, 2011).
Economic fluctuations – M&S has worldwide operations, unstable economic growth of
UK is making a negative impact on growth of the enterprise in specially in domestic market.
Managers and leaders of company understand that post Brexit, economic policy of this UK will
change. M&S want to open more stores in Britain but unfavourable economic condition is
affecting decisions of managers and leaders in a negative way.
Globalisation – Countries like India are opening their economy for foreign companies
like M&S. Asian market is continuously offering new advantages to the MNCs in order to attract
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them for huge investment. Favourable policies are affecting the planning of leaders and
managers in a positive way. They were not planning to have to expand their business rapidly in
country like India but favourable rules are forcing them to change their decision.
Application of operation management in managing the affect of external factors
The best thing about approaches of operational management is that they focus on
resolving present issues (Gonçalves, Correia and Cavique, 2017). Leaders of M&S are concerned
about swift changes in technology. This organisation is using hybrid approach of management
which can help firm in reducing cost of manufacturing. M&S can use saved money for buying
new technology if present one get obsolete. TQM is an operational approach which allow
company to improve their relationship with their customers. This company has issues regarding
low demand in market. Total quality management can develop a process where demand of
customers are given high priority in order to resolve the problem of low demand. This concept
mainly focus on continuous improvement which also includes solving external problems.
Recommendation
M&S should find flaws which are present in both the operation management approaches.
With time, they have to make changes because coping up with external challenges is not possible
without making alternations in approaches of operation management. Hybrid approach worked
for M&S so now they should try add some new concepts and methods in TQM also.
CONCLUSION
At the end, it can be concluded that success of an organisation is dependent on the role
played by leader and manager in their organisation. Their are different type of leadership
approaches and leaders may have to change their leadership style according to situation. Six
Sigma, lean manufacturing, TQM are some popular and successful approaches of operational
management and companies like M&S are taking benefit of these approaches in managing their
operations. Political condition, technology are few factors which forced managers and leaders to
change their decisions. External elements are out of the control of management so company
cannot do much about it.
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