Analyzing Leadership & Operations Management at Marks & Spencer

This report provides an analysis of leadership and operations management within Marks & Spencer (M&S). It compares the roles and features of leaders and managers, explaining their application in different situations within M&S, such as the implementation of Plan A and organizational restructuring....Read More

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
TASK 1..............................................................................................................................................3
P1 COMPARISON OF ROLES AND FEATURES OF LEADER AND MANAGER..................................3
P2 EXPLANATION WITH EXAMPLES THE APPLICATION OF ROLE OF LEADER AND MANAGER IN
DIFFERENT SITUATIONS...............................................................................................................6
P3 THEORIES AND MODELS OF APPROACH IN LEADERSHIP.......................................................8
TASK 2..............................................................................................................................................9
P4 CHIEF APPROACHES TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT..........................................................9
P5 SIGNIFICANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT..............................................11
P6 ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS IN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THAT HAVE INFLUENCE ON
OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT..................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................14
1

INTRODUCTION
The concept of management and operations in business is concerned with formulating and
implementing the strategies for effective working of an organisation. It involves the
management of best practices in business to reach uppermost levels of efficiency possible to
increase the level of profits attained. In the assignment, the global retailer business, Marks and
Spencer or abbreviated as M&S is taken into account to understand the ideas related to
leadership and management. According to the given scenario, the management consultant of
M&S is allotted the task to examine the impact that leaders and managers of M&S have on the
operations of the firm. The investigation will include a description of understanding and
compare the role of leaders and managers of M&S and the application of their roles and
responsibilities. Further, another report will describe the preeminent practices and methods in
operations management of M&S. It will include the effectiveness of leadership team and
management in improving the operations of the company and the external factors will be
examined that influence the operations management in the business.
Figure 1: Marks & Spencer
Source: [https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/new-n-east-food-store-to-
launch-next-month1/]
2

TASK 1
P1 COMPARISON OF ROLES AND FEATURES OF LEADER AND MANAGER
The company Mark and Spencer is a private limited company established 134 years ago in
Leeds, the UK operating in the retail sector serving around the world with clothing and home
products and also food products through retail stores, around 1433 stores and website across
Middle East, Asia and Europe which counts for total 55 international territories. The
organisation is focussed towards establishing joint ventures and contract partnerships along
with operating in self-owned markets (Grayson, 2011). It is a leading brand in the United
Kingdom having its headquarters in London, UK and has acquired the food and clothing market
on a large scale.
The management structure of M&S till 2016 was the hierarchical structure but with the
appointment of new Chief Executive of M&S, Steve Rowe changed the organisational structure
to a flat structure having eleven people operating committee. The delayering process resulted
in the elimination of many layers of authority and this led to more responsibilities on the
shoulder of employees. The change in structure was the need of the hour for recovery of the
underperforming business of the company. The flat structure facilitates quick decision making
by a more focused team and simplification of the complexities of operations to understand the
needs of customers closely (Varley, 2014).
Figure 2: Management structure of M&S
Source: [http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/marks-and-spencer/the-role-of-training-and-
development-in-career-progression/organisational-structure-and-careers.html]
Leader- A leader is an individual who guides, gives direction and influences performance and
work of others for the achievement of a specific goal (Răducan and Răducan, 2014). The
characteristics of a leader or leadership in context to M&S are-
3

 Leadership is an interpersonal procedure where a manager influences and guides
subordinate towards achieving a specific goal.
 A leader must possess the qualities of maturity and intelligence to deal with diverse
situations.
 Leader moulds the attitude of the group of individuals in order to attain the objectives
of the company
 The best style of leadership has not been concluded but depends on the situations
within the company
The role of a leader requires the leader of performing operations at all levels of company
management and represent the organisation. M&S has a team of leaders comprising of the
chief executive, Chief financial officer and directors responsible for various company
operations (M&S leadership, 2018). Also, he has the responsibility to integrate the personal
objectives with the company’s goals and have supporting nature towards the team
members (Bolman and Deal, 2014).
Manager- The manager of M&S has the responsibility to perform three roles namely
 The interpersonal role involves the responsibility of the manager to interact and
establish coordination with the employees and direct them to perform their tasks.
 The informational role comprises of handling the information and then analysing and
sharing it.
 Decisional role involves the decision making authorities and responsibilities of the
manager to allocate resources, negotiate, handling unexpected situations and take
decision on new projects
A manager must possess the characteristic of being self-knowledgeable and having professional
skills along with effective management style and qualities of handling unwanted situations and
must have the ability to effectively manage the changes within the organisation (Thorpe, 2016).
Comparison of leader and manager on basis of certain factors listed below in table-
Base factor Manager Leader
Origin Manager is appointed as per
profile requirements
A person is regarded as a
leader based on his personal
qualities
Accountability Manager is answerable for his
work and performance of
subordinates
Leader has no fixed
responsibilities given by the
organisation
Mutual relationship A manager is himself a leader It is not mandatory that a
leader will be a manager
Sanctions Manager has power for
allocating and distributing the
sanctions
Leader has power over
sanctions but are informal in
nature
Role and stability Manager can continue his A leader is in power till the
4

duties till he follows the
ethical norms of the company
followers want him to be and
therefore his course of action
is temporary (Algahtani, 2014)
Concern A manager works for
achieving the company’s goals
A leader’s major concern is
team goals and employee
satisfaction
5

P2 EXPLANATION WITH EXAMPLES THE APPLICATION OF ROLE OF LEADER AND
MANAGER IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
The growth and expansion of an organisation is the sole responsibility of its managers and the
leadership team which move forward towards the progression of the organisation by carrying
out the operations in a well-structured and organised manner and efficiently managing the
workforce (Washington, et al. 2014). Marks and Spencer have seen financial instability and the
crisis in its past and therefore the organisational structure and the responsibilities and duties of
the managers of the company have changed in the past years.
In 2007, Marks and Spencer launched the Plan A which was focused towards the achievement
of environmental sustainability within 5 years and comprised of 100 commitments to be
fulfilled in five years. The commitments were directed towards five themes namely change in
climate, waste management and reduction, sustainable raw materials, impartial partnership
and health measures. The execution of the plan A required the leaders and management of the
company to guide its workers and other staff members to understand the need of the plan and
the measures to undertake so as to successfully implement the commitments identified and
decided for the environmental sustainability within the business (P. Wilson and Beard, 2014).
The implementation of wind turbines for power supply in some stores of M&S required the
team leaders and the responsible managers to work efficiently and in an organised manner and
also guide and direct the workers to accomplish the task within less time than expected.
Figure 3: Plan A, M&S
Source: [http://www.greenalchemist.co.uk/blog/47-is-marks-spencer-s-plan-a-2020-the-
blueprint-for-retailer-sustainability-success]
6

Another situation occurred in 2016, where the chief executive came into power and changed
the structure of the organisation and eliminated the layers of hierarchy which put an immense
burden on, for instance, the finance officer to work towards strategy implementation and
increased the responsibility of other higher authorities and officials. These led to increased
workload on managers and were responsible for communicating the changes to the
subordinates and assign them new tasks as per their designations and job roles. The employees
were liable of executing the tasks on time and were led by the group leaders who played a vital
role in leading and guiding the staff for working efficiently and teach them the methods to
separate their old and new tasks and responsibilities (Cairns, et al. 2010).
In the above-given situations, the managers of the company serving in different departments of
the company are required to perform their tasks within given time and with full commitment so
that there is no delay in the tasks and the objective of the company aiming at sustainable
development are achieved successfully.
7

P3 THEORIES AND MODELS OF APPROACH IN LEADERSHIP
In Marks and Spencer, various theories and leadership approaches can be applied that have
helped the organisation to achieve sustainable growth over the years. The theories and
approaches to leadership such as contingency theory, situational and system leadership help
the organisation to deal with different situations and act accordingly.
System leadership has been proved effective in the implementation of the ‘Plan A’ formed by
M&S. The leading people of various teams which are concerned towards environment
protection have the authority and responsibility to monitor the performance and activities of
the members of the team and also interact about the present situations and status of the
activities going on so that the employees of the company can work further in order to achieve
the objectives of ‘Plan A’. Each financial year accounts for high revenues and at the same time
faces deflation in some aspects which demand modifications in the plan of the activities such as
increase or decrease in the funds for investment etc. In such situations, the leaders have to
upgrade the tasks of the team members and increase the operational efficiency (Landis, et al.
2014).
Situational leadership demands that the leaders must act with maturity and intelligence in
unanticipated situations such as the situation when the company faced huge financial decline
during the late 1990’s which was a major challenge for the managers and leaders of the
company to face and cope up with the tough situation. The company needed to introduce the
acceptance of the credit cards and launch a new clothing range which was ‘Per Una’ so as to
cope up with the financial crisis and re-establish its brand image. This process required the
involvement of leaders and the different team members to work hard and accomplish the tasks
in a small amount of time so as to re-emerge in the retail market.
Contingency theory states that there has been no best way devised for management of the
business, rather the activities and actions taken for carrying out various operations depend
upon the external and internal factors (Amanchukwu, et al. 2015). One of the theories is the
management theory which is vital for solving the issues encountered during the operations of
the company and which encourages the leaders to consult with the employees and discuss with
them the prevailing issues and the methods to resolve them by following much-simplified
approach.
All the discussed theories ultimately lead to the sustainable growth of the organisation and
contribute towards its development. The leaders and managers must perform their tasks
keeping their roles in mind and the leaders need to be focussed equally towards the individual
performance of the employees and the objectives of the organisation so that organisational
goals are also achieved and individual development of the employees is also facilitated.
8

TASK 2
P4 CHIEF APPROACHES TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
In marks and Spencer, the operations management department requires skilled people to lead
and manage the operations of the company which requires building of strong relationships with
the team members, give a boost to the performance of the of the employees and communicate
the ideas to perform the tasks in a better manner (Jacobs, et al. 2014). There are team leaders
and functional area managers in the company which have the responsibility to effectively lead
and guide the logistics operations as well as guide the employees of the shift and operations
management department to perform their work in a well-organised pattern.
There are various approaches to effective operations management which are described below-
Six Sigma approach - This approach is a data-driven approach in which the defects are removed
in any of the processes which may range from the manufacturing process to transactional
process and from merchandise to service (Pepper and Spedding, 2010).
Figure 4: Six Sigma Approach
Source: [http://newline.tech/blog/six-sigma-methodology/]
9

The managers in M&S by following the Six Sigma approach can plan the strategies for utilising
the available resources in an efficient manner so as to achieve one of the objectives of ‘Plan A’.
The management team along with the heads will have to first define the existing problems,
then measure the current performance, analyse the prevailing issues and then work towards
improvement and finally maintain the improved processes. The leaders of M&S have the sole
duty to guide the team in improving its performance and achieve the goals.
Total Quality Management is an approach that works towards delivering customer satisfaction
and achieving long-term success. In this, each and every member of the company participates
in enhancing the processes, the delivered products and services and the work environment
(Sallis, 2014). Total quality management has 8 principles which are evaluation of quality of
services and products by the customers, employee participation, to give emphasis on process
thinking, build integrated systems, follow strategic approach towards achieving business
objectives, continue improvement of processes, decision making on basis of facts and figures
and better communication between the different functional levels f organisation.
The managers must ensure that these principles are followed by him as well as by the
subordinates and the leader has the duty to effectively implement the basics of these principles
so as to build a better team and contribute to the improvement of the organisation (Heizer,
2016). Also, the leaders must encourage the team members to adapt to the methods and
principle of total quality management so as to ultimately enhance the quality of products and
services delivered by M&S.
The theories and approaches in the leadership above discussed are used by M&S for getting
assistance in operations management. The Six Sigma approach and Total Quality Management
are used for efficient and effective management of operations in the organisation.
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P5 SIGNIFICANCE AND VALUE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
The significance of operations management to achieve the business goals and objectives in
M&S is described below in the following points-
 The increase in the competition from various retail supermarkets and clothing brands in
the UK as well as other countries helps the company to enhance its manufacturing
process and improve the whole supply chain management process to deliver the
products on time and without any mistake. The priorities of the customers are met on
time such as in the strategic points of control the products and services delivered have
to be handled and transported and dispatched in the correct order to avoid any
confusion between the orders of products to its delivery to the customer (Slack, 2015).
 The operations management in M&S reduces the efforts and time involved in
backtracking. This can be understood by the fact that the company manufactures and
delivers the products to the customers within the decided time duration. In the case
when a certain batch of a product is in the testing phase and some batches are ready,
the company divides the same product into different batches for backtracking.
 Agility of the products is maintained with effective operations management as the
company gets to know the needs of innovation in certain products and the operations
management team works towards attaining the goals of innovation and thus flexibility is
maintained and the processes are executed in a smooth manner (Goetsch and Davis,
2014).
 The smooth functioning of the operations management processes develops a healthy
environment in the organisation and helps in the establishment of better relations
among the employees at different hierarchical levels. The operations of the company
are transparent to the organisation’s employees which help in the development of a
sense of belongings among the employees.
 The implementation of the production process in the U shaped form makes the
processes to be controlled in an easy manner as the initiation and the end point of the
production process are at the front end. The processes are executed in a sequential
pattern.
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P6 ASSESSMENT OF FACTORS IN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT THAT HAVE
INFLUENCE ON OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT
The leaders in M&S are the liability of the management and the management team has to
ensure that the leaders guide the employees in the right direction whereas the management
has the responsibility to accomplish the targeted objectives and mission of the company. There
are various external and internal factors that influence the management of operations in M&S
and also impact its decision-making process (Seddon, et al. 2010). The leaders in M&S are an
asset to the company and highly impact the decision-making process and contribute a lot to the
progression of the organisation in one or the other way. The various factors are described
below-
 The company, M&S must ensure that it performs well in the global competitive market
and also timely check the innovations and changes taking place in the competitor
companies because in the world of emerging technology the companies are focussed
more on automation of its processes and sustainable development
 The managers and leaders are required to regularly assess the quality of the process
delivered and also the company faces cost challenges and the customer’s feedback. The
company management must ensure positive acknowledgement of the customer queries.
The feedback received from the consumers end makes the organisation aware of the
potential changes that can be done to improve the quality of products and services
delivered and also since the company delivers products in the home products and food
sector, so it has to maintain the cost as well quality of products to retain its loyal
customers and also attract new customers because the increasing supermarket chains
are continually attracting the people to buy daily use products at lower prices.
 The increase in the awareness about the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the
industry standards presents a major challenge to the company to take effective steps
towards the achievement of various CSR activities and also ensure that the company is
capable of keeping a balance between the activities for charitable purposes and the
profit gained by the organisation (Jacobs, et al. 2014).
 The scarcity of the raw materials and other resources impact the functioning of the
operations of the organisation. In such cases, the operations which rely on the resources
such as the raw material are disrupted and the whole production process is disturbed. It
is the duty of the leaders and the management to smartly handle such challenging
situations.
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CONCLUSION
It is crucial for the organisations to effectively maintain its operations and manage them. In the
assignment, the role of the managers and leaders has been elaborated with their contribution
to the development of M&S and providing assistance in operations management and the ways
through which the management and leadership are applied in different situations in the
organisation. Further, various theories and models have been applied which depict the
leadership approaches in the organisational context. Also, the main approaches to operations
management have been successfully explained and applied with reference to M&S and the
significance of the operations management with its value have been described. Lastly, the
factors that have an impact on the operations and management of M&S have been illustrated
with its importance in the decision-making process of the organisation.
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