Unit 4 Report: Leadership, Management, and Operations at M&S

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership, management, and operations within Marks & Spencer. It begins by comparing and contrasting the characteristics and roles of managers and leaders, exploring management theory and the functions of management. The report then examines how leadership and management roles apply in various situations, such as fostering positive working environments and resolving conflicts. It delves into different leadership styles, including situational, system, and contingent leadership, and discusses their applicability within the organization. Furthermore, the report explores key approaches to operations management, emphasizing its value in achieving business goals and objectives. Finally, it analyzes the factors in the business environment that impact operational management and decision-making, offering valuable insights into the operational challenges and strategic choices faced by Marks & Spencer.

Unit 4- Management
and Operations

Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Compare and define the characteristics and roles of manager and leader...........................................3
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................................5
P2 Examination of how the roles of leader and function of manager apply in different situations..........5
P3 Different theories and approaches of leadership styles.......................................................................6
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................................7
P4 Key approaches of operations management and roles of mangers and leaders...................................7
P5 The value and importance of the operations management in achievement of business goals and
objectives.................................................................................................................................................8
TASK 4.......................................................................................................................................................9
P6 The factors in business environment which places impact on operational management and decision
making.....................................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The Operations management is mainly concerned with the planning, supervising and
organizing the manufacturing, production and other provisions of the services. It is mainly the
administration of various business practices in order to create highest level of efficiency in the
organization. Thus operations management helps in converting the raw materials and the labors
into the finished goods or services in an effective manner. It is a process which mainly plan,
supervise and control the production and manufacturing process and it is very essential for the
business organization because it generally helps in managing, supervising and controlling the
goods, people and services in an efficient and effective manner (Bochtis, Sorensen and Kateris,
2018). The organization chosen for this report is Marks and Spencer, a leading retailer that deals
in clothing food and home décor. This report will cover role and characteristics of leaders and
managers, different leadership styles and how the role of leaders and functions of manager are
applied in different situations. Further is it will include key approaches and importance of
operations management and the factors in business environment that affect it.
TASK 1
P1 Compare and define the characteristics and roles of manager and leader.
In Marks and Spencer, the role of leader and manager vary with each other and they have
different functions and roles to play. These functions mainly help the company to bring
employee and customer satisfaction and also supports in growth and success of company in the
market. The role and characteristics of leader and managers are discussed below-
Management theory
The classical theory of management is mainly predicted on an idea that the workers have
only the physical needs and it can be satisfied only be money so this theory focus on economies
of the organizing employees. It ignores the social and personal needs which can influence the job
satisfaction. It consists of seven principles that makes the idea place of work which are based on
employee specialization, hierarchical structure and the financial rewards. The control of business
is in the hand of few people who makes decisions and provides direction.

The contingency theory is based on idea that the effective leadership is related directly to
leadership traits which is displayed in particular situation. According to it., there is no single
approach which can suit in every organization and situation. The organization which follows this
theory must identify a style of management for every situation and it must be able to apply it
effectively and quickly.
Basis Manager Leader
Definition It is the one who manages the
work of the organization in every
situation. It mainly shows the
path to walk and helps in
achieving the business objectives.
It is that person in the company
who guides and motivates everyone
to move on the right path. It mainly
motivates the workforce so that
they can enhance their productivity
and performance. It is the kind of
skill which leads the company and
employees.
Roles  The role of manager is to
manage every activity of
the organization.
 It has to coordinate with
every person and assign
the work to all so that
each can contribute in
achieving business
objectives.
 The manager provides
directions to the
workforce in Marks &
Spencer so that they can
timely complete their task
(Demeter, 2017)
 The main role of leader is to
take the organization
together and motivates
every employee to work as a
team so that they can
altogether accomplish the
business goals.
 It has to take care of the
work and make sure that it
is conducted in the correct
direction.
 It analysis the behavior of
workforce at every level and
guides them so that
improvements can be made
timely.
Characteristics  The manager has to make The foremost characteristic of

sure that it has positive
attitude so that it can
effectively manage the
work and employees.
 The manager has to be
responsible and
accountable for the work
of others as it provides the
direction to all. The
manager of M&S must
make sure that it takes the
responsibility of managing
the employees as well as
their work.
leader is to have
communication skill so that it
can properly communicate the
team and provide them right
direction. The leader in M&S
has to make sure that there is
proper channel of
communication between leader
and team.
 The leader must have to be
motivator so that it can
motivate every member to
give their best and enhance
their performance. The
leader of M&S makes sure
that it motivates the team so
that they can move ahead to
achieve business objectives.
Function of management
There are mainly five management functions which helps the manager to perform its
roles and duties. In Marks & Spencer, the manager follows the following functions-
 Planning- It mainly deals with chalking the future course of action and then making
decision in advance as to which is the most appropriate action in order to achieve the
goals. Planning is mainly deciding in advance what to fo, how to do and when to do.
 Organizing- It involves bringing together the financial, physical, and the human resource
and making productive relationship with them so that the goals are achieved. It includes
identifying activities, classifying group activities, assigning duties, delegating authorities
and coordinating.

 Staffing- It involves putting the right person on the right job. It includes manning an
organizational structure by proper and effective selection, development and appraisal of
the personnel in order to fill the roles which are designed in structure.
 Directing- It includes supervising, leading , motivating and communicating with the team
so that they can guides and provided with direction to achieve the pre-determined
objectives.
 Controlling- It involves measuring the achievement against standards and correcting the
deviation in order to accomplish goals. It is aimed to ensure that everything is at place
and within standards (Jinhua and et. al., 2017).
Leadership skills
Soft-
 Listening- the leader which has this skills involves active listening where it listens to the
team effectively and then bring out the solution for their issues or with their opinion if it
thinks it is correct.
 Creativity- The leader has to be creative so that it can lead the team in effective and
creative manner. Nowadays, it is essential to have creativity in leader so that it can bring
creative ideas to achieve the business objectives.
Hard
 Multitasking skill- The leader must be able to do multiple work at same time so that it
can save its time and of others in order to achieve objectives beforehand. It must have
ability to take charge of various tasks at one single time in order to set example in front of
others.
 Computer skills- Nowadays there is high dependency of workplace on the computers as
it makes work quicker and easier, so the leader have the knowledge of this so that it can
work in effective and efficient manner (Rezazadeh, 2019).

TASK 2
P2 Examination of how the roles of leader and function of manager apply in different situations.
The leaders and managers play an important role in the organization Marks and Spencer.
The role and function of leader and manager in different situations are narrated below -
Positive working environment
It is very essential for the manager as well as the leader to make sure that there is healthy
and positive environment being created at the workplace so that each employee can work
effectively. It helps in making the workforce effective enough to contribute in the achievement
of organizational goals.
 The manager of Marks and Spencer make sure that it has positive attitude towards
everyone so that every employee feels happy and valued while working, thereby creating
healthy environment.
 The leader in Marks and Spencer must communicate in an effective manner so that it can
have proper channel of delivering its words. Moreover it must continuously motivate the
employees so that they can enhance their efficiency and performance (Riley and et. al.,
2017).
Conflicts
Every organization may have conflict among the employees or between employer and
employee in case their opinions do not match with each other. These conflicts may create
negative working environment at the workplace that can affect the working of employees as well
as the whole company. Any conflict at workplace may affect the working towards
accomplishment of organizational goals that may directly affect the efficiency of workers.
 The role of manager in such a situation is to coordinate with every person so that it can
manage them efficiently and provide them with correct direction so that there is less
probability of conflicts between them. The manager of Marks and Spencer must make
sure that it takes immediate steps to finish the conflict among them so that the efficiency
of the organization is not affected.

 The main role of leader in this situation is to analyze the behavior of every employee so
that it can lead them in an effective manner. The leader must motivate the workers so that
they can effectively perform their duties. The leader in Marks and Spencer must ensure
that it deal with every member of the team in a fair and equitable manner so that there are
less chances of conflicts between them and each feel equal and valued (Boer and et. al.,
2017).
P3 Different theories and approaches of leadership styles.
Every organization has leaders that motivate the workforce by way of analyzing their desires
and needs. It must evaluate all the changes that have been arising in external environment and
make such decisions which can help in taking benefit from these changes. There are different
leadership styles which can be adopted by Marks and Spencer so that a good leadership is
maintained at workplace. Some of them are discussed thereunder-
 Situational leadership- Under this, the leader involves in assigning the activities and
work as per the skills and the talent of employees. The leader must analyze the conditions
of market and make such decisions in accordance with it. The leader in Marks and
Spencer can adopt this leadership style so that it can adjust its working as per the
situation and needs of the team. This style will help the leaders in Marks and Spencer to
face the challenges and find out the best solution for it so that there are no negative
results. For example, when there is any conflict in the team the leader can work on to
solve it by interchanging the responsibilities and roles of team members so that the work
is completed on time.
 System leadership- This leadership focuses on results rather than the steps or process. It
is aimed to make its focus on results that is being obtained by the task or activities. The
leader plans every work prior and matches its actual result with the desired one. In simple
words, it is the collective form of the leadership where the efforts are drawn at different
places and at different levels of system. The leader of Marks and Spencer can use this
style when it is focused on results rather than the way in which it is done so that it can
draw positive outcome from every activity (Bambale, Girei and Barwa, 2017).
 Contingent leadership- This type of style focuses on various situations that may arise in
the company. According to this, a leader can be effective in one situation and can be

ineffective in other. So in order to become a productive leader, the leader of Marks and
Spencer must have to be objective, adaptable and self- aware when choosing a leadership
style for every situation so that it can effectively lead the team in the right direction.
TASK 3
P4 Key approaches of operations management and roles of mangers and leaders.
Theories of operations
 Lean production- This approach provides the best method that can be used to get the
output or the result. The output may get affected by many factors, of which one factor is
to reduce the wastage of the resources by having potential and optimum utilization of it
as per its capacity. The leaders and managers must make sure that they make every
employee aware of the efficient use of the resources with minimum wastage so that the
productivity is improved of the work and the skills of the employees are also improved.
 Six sigma- It Is a tool or technique used for the process of improvement which seeks to
bring improvement in the manufacturing quality by identification and removal of defects
and minimizes the variability in business and manufacturing process. M&S can use this
approach in order to make improvement in its operations so that it can serve customers
with enhanced offering. It results in improving profits, eliminating defects and increasing
morale of employees (Guggilla, 2017).
There are different approaches to the operations management that helps in analyzing the
circums1tances or situation and then taking the actions in accordance with it. The following are
the approaches that can be used by Marks and Spencer so that it can effectively manage its
operations (Choi and et. al., 2018). Further the role of managers and leaders for each of the
approach are narrated thereunder in relation to Marks and Spencer-
 Just in time- This approach mainly helps in making the focus on the production process
which is to be completed with set targets and on time. This approach helps in bringing the
result that are set prior in the planning stage so that there is less wastage of resources and
optimum utilization of it. The leaders and managers of Marks and Spencer must make
sure that they analyze the desires and needs of workers and motivate them to achieve

their targets on time with minimum wastage of resources so that the desired outcome is
brought.
 Total quality management- It is that approach to the operations management that is aim
to make improvisation in the customer satisfaction by taking a focus on them and meeting
their expectations in a consistent manner. This approach helps in maintenance of the
quality of the product with the price of it so that the customers are served with better
quality at a good price. The manager must make sure that it puts the right person at the
right time in right place so that there is no compromise with the quality of production and
they can focus on customer satisfaction (Makgato and Mudzanani, 2019).
 Continuous improvement- It is the strategy wherein the workers at every level work
altogether in order to achieve the incremental and regular improvements to
manufacturing process. It helps in improving productivity, quality, workplace culture and
safety. It is aimed to bring all employees together so that they can participate and provide
suggestions in order to improve business. the leaders and managers of M&S must
welcome the ideas of employees and try to implement them so that overall business is
improved.
Operational functions
 Transformation of raw material into finished goods- It is the foremost function of
operations as it involves combining all raw materials, labor, capital into the finished
goods so that it can be served to the customers in order to generate revenues. It is the
process whereby the workers transform the raw materials into a good which is aimed to
fulfill customer demand and needs. In M&S, the raw materials are converted into finished
goods in order to serve consumer needs.
 Process design- This function of operations is an act of transforming the vision, resources
and goals of the business into the measurable, discernible means of achievement of vision
and objectives of organization. It mainly focuses on what business can do to accomplish
its financial and other objectives. In M&S, the working of the organization is aligned
with overall business objectives so that its vision and mission is achieved by operations.
 Inventory and logistics management- It is very important for managers and leaders to
manage their inventory so that they can make their production as per the requirements..

the leaders must aim to clear all its inventory so that the new production can be done. As
M&S deals in clothing whose trends changes every now and then, so it is essential for it
to manage its inventory so that there are no stock kept (Ar and et. al., 2020).
P5 The value and importance of the operations management in achievement of business goals
and objectives.
It is very essential for the organization to understand the value of the operations
management so that the desired outcome is achieved. The importance of operations management
in accomplishment of the organizational goals are discussed thereunder-
 Increasing revenues- The organization which focuses on better quality of offering and
customer satisfaction are tend to be more preferable for the customers. The operations
management helps in increasing the revenues from the new customer base which can help
in launching such new products that can enhance the customer satisfaction and serve the
needs of them. The increase in the profits will help Marks and Spencer to expand its
business in various areas and focus on other segments of market.
 Increasing sales- Operations management also helps in enhancing the sales volume of
the offering as it involves conducting research regarding the competitive advantage and
new techniques that can be used by it in order to solve the customer needs with the better
quality of product or service. The operations management helps Marks and Spencer to
enhance its sale so that it can serve the customers by fulfilling their needs and taking
competitive advantage in the market.
 Customer satisfaction- The operations management involves conducting the quality
management so that the best offering is served to them. Any negative customer review
can become a challenge for the organization to retain them so it is very essential for the
company to focus on quality at the initial stage so that the best product or service is
offered to customer, thereby resulting in customer satisfaction. The operations
management helps in quality management process so that the best is served to all
(Ambad, and et. al., 2021).

TASK 4
P6 The factors in business environment which places impact on operational management and
decision making.
There are different factors that may affect the operations management and the decision
making of the company. The business environmental factors may affect the company in
accomplishing its goals and targets. So the changes in the business environment lead in taking
negative or positive decisions by the leaders and the managers. In context to Marks and Spencer,
these factors are narrated below-
External factors
 Technological- There are new technological changes being arisen each day in the
external environment so it is very essential for the organization to adopt these changes so
that they are working can be made smoother and easier. These changes can be adopted by
the leaders and managers of Marks and Spencer and for it they must predict the new
changes that are being made in the external environment and then make plans in order to
fulfill the future needs.
 Legal- Any change in the laws or regulations may affect the decision making of the
company which is taken by the managers and leaders. The change in the laws may result
in changing the policies of the organization and affecting the planning that is being done
by Marks and Spencer. The leader must ensure that it predicts the changes in future and
the manager must manage and arrange such resources that can help in implementing
those changes so that there is no hardship being faced by the organization (Rivas Otero,
2020).
Internal factors
 Resources- There is various resources that are available in the organization and all work
together. In Marks and Spencer, there are various resources which are used such as raw
materials, human resource etc. so it is essential to manage them systematically and in a
proper manner so that there is optimum utilization of it and the correct decisions are
made. The leaders and managers in Marks and Spencer must make sure that they guide