Analysis of Management and Operations at Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the management and operations of Marks & Spencer (M&S). It begins with an introduction to M&S's structure and the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders, contrasting their functions. The report then applies various management theories, including situational, system, and contingency theories, to analyze managerial functions and leadership roles within M&S. It examines how these theories are applied in different situations, such as technological advancements and cultural changes. The report further discusses different management and leadership theories supporting growth and sustainable performance at M&S, along with their respective strengths and weaknesses. The report concludes with recommendations for future improvements, offering a detailed overview of M&S's operational strategies and management practices.

MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction of M&S and its management structure..........................................................1
2. Roles and characteristics of manager and leader................................................................2
3. Application of management theories and concepts to analyses differences of managerial
functions and leadership roles................................................................................................3
4. Different situations at M&S and application of roles of leaders and functions of managers 4
5. Different management and leadership theories to support growth and sustainable
performance............................................................................................................................4
6. Strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches .......................................5
7. Conclusion and recommendations for future improvements..............................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
1. Operation management and key approaches adopted by the organization.........................6
2. Roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in successful management of the
operation ................................................................................................................................7
3. Importance and value of the key approaches to operations management in achieving
organizational objectives successfully...................................................................................8
4. Effectiveness of managers and leaders in improving operational efficiencies to successfully
meet business objectives.........................................................................................................8
5. Impact of external business environment factors on operational management decisions by
leaders and managers..............................................................................................................9
6. Critical evaluation of application of operations management............................................9
7. Conclusion and recommendations for future improvements............................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations involve strategies which help a business to operate properly.
Operation management can be defined as a process to plan schedule of controlling and managing
the operational activities. It includes transformation of raw material and labor into finished
products and services. It can be done through various tools, concepts and techniques which help
to operate an organization. This assignment will help to know management and operations of
Marks and Spencer which is the selected organization. Further, study will also describe about
effective management of resources and operational activities which will result in desired output.
Present study includes measurement and analysis of internal operations. Operations highly
depend on the type of products and services that M&S provides. This report also gives a brie f
description about the use of key approaches in managing operational activities. Moreover, it
includes creation and development of goods and services and their distribution.
TASK 1
1. Introduction of M&S and its management structure
M&S is a leading retail production located in the UK. Around 21 million customers visit
their stores every week (Davey, 2016). They are the specialized seller of high quality of goods
and services. This company provides luxury home products and fashionable range of clothes for
all ages of people. Currently, they are operating 979 stores across UK. It focuses on meeting the
needs and demands of their customers. The founder of M&S is Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer. This brand aimed at wide range of products with holding the faith and customer
satisfaction. Company deals with the customized goods. They have more than 710 stores in the
United kingdom and other 300 stores are availavble among many countries.
Management structure of this company defines assignment of duties and authorities to
accomplish the goal towards achievement of final objectives of M&S. It is considered as
managing the tasks and activities of business in order to achieve effective management structure
of company. This leads to the organized and coordinated management. It may be functional, flat
or product management structure in M&S. This company mainly follows product based
organizational structure. M&S concentrates in producing high quality of goods and services.
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2. Roles and characteristics of manager and leader
Roles: Manager is a person who performs various activities such as controlling,
coordinating, planning as well as managing all the tasks and resources in order to accomplish the
ultimate mission of wealth generation in M&S. Leader acts as a motivator who guides and
encourages employees to achieve the effective productivity of team. .
Characteristics Manager Leader
Duties and work Managers are required to make
plans for operations and
management of certain areas
for achievement of goals.
Leadership is required at all
the levels of management
whether it is top, middle or
lower.
Aim and objectives Managers of M&S need to
have high quality of
communicating message from
top to lower level management
to obtain results.
A leader aims to achieve
effective team goals with
organizational objectives.
They try to coordinate the
efforts of individuals.
Focus Managers provide
coordination among various
departments in order to
achieve stated goals and
objectives. Managers of M&S
Leaders of M&S have positive
attitude for every situation. A
leader has quality to inspire
other people. They focus on
empowering the individual
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Illustration 1: Management structure of M&S
(Source: Types of Organizational Structure in Management, 2018)

focus on their efforts in
coordinating and directing the
activities among different
departments simultaneously.
knowledge.
Skills and knowledge Managers require special
controlling and managing
skills. Managers of M&S
arrange for resources in order
to increase the productivity
(Hsu and Chao, 2017).
Leader needs to have strong
communication power. He also
plays an important role as a
helping friend, a teacher to
guide and a philosopher by
making correct use of his
intelligence and knowledge.
3. Application of management theories and concepts to analyses differences of managerial
functions and leadership roles
To increase production and operations at M&S, managers and leaders use various
management theories. At M&S, various combinations of theories are used to generate revenues.
They have a good reputation with success and profit by selling their quality products at
reasonable price. These management theories can be effectively applied to operations of
company. As per this theory, there are certain situations which occur in organization and cannot
be controlled. Leaders encourage and motivate their team members to get the effective output of
company.
Situational leadership theory: This theory states that changes in organization are unavoidable
and cannot be controlled (Huang and et.al., 2018). Whenever there is growth in company,
changes are also there. Managers at M&S are given with training to face difficult situations and
adapt changes if necessary. So, uncertainly, such situations have to be managed by the leaders.
Such situational decisions are considered as situational approach of leadership. Leaders plan
strategies to control the situation and overcome losses.
System theory: It states that operation and management departments are interlinked with each
other. A system theory helps to determine events and patterns of working. This system helps
leaders to see all the departments as one and focus on achievement of all the activities together.
Whereas, managers focus to achieve goal of their department only (Rashid, 2016). If an
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individual is a manger of clothing sector then he will focus to achieve targets of his department
only.
Contingency leadership theory: It is sometimes referred as situational approach. This concept
is based on the fair decision making of leaders. It lay emphasis on the appropriate leadership
guidelines and their influencing attitude to take such quick decisions. For example: at the time of
technological advancement, by adopting this style, leader can motivate and encourage their
employees to adopt the changes.
4. Different situations at M&S and application of roles of leaders and functions of managers
Managers and leaders of M&S sometimes have to take certain decisions or steps
according to the situation of company. Different situations of company determine the roles of
managers and leaders in controlling different situations of business. There may be multiple
situation in the company such as change in the culture and technology of company, economic
and political changes etc. Technology advancement can affect the working procedure of
employees and it might be responsible for ineffective productivity of individual. Political factors
effects financial capabilities of the company and therefore it may be responsible for losses
incurred. These changes impact on the development and growth of industry.
For example: at the time of technological changes in company, managers need to provide
training and such knowledgeable sessions to employees while role of leaders is to provide them
proper guidelines and give motivation to adopt the culture. Managers perform such practices to
hold the interests of employees in adopting the situations while leaders motivate them to sustain
the labours in the company.
Another example is cultural and ethical changes. These include modification in working
procedure of company. In this situation, managers of M&S promote certain strategies which can
be beneficial for employees. Whereas, role of leaders is the correct and appropriate
implementation of those strategies and leaders are also required to establish a powerful
communication. Leader builds a strong relationship with employees and makes them understand
adopting such changes by explaining them the benefits of those changes.
5. Different management and leadership theories to support growth and sustainable performance
To support the growth and sustainable performance of M&S, different management and
leadership theories are there which are given as below:
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Situational leadership: These are situation based theories which allows leaders and managers to
act accordingly. This style depicts the active participation of the leader to manage the situation to
sustain the growth of the organization. The most effective leader is one who adapts the situation
and manages it (Scott and Walker, 2017). Due to changes in technology, M&S can apply such
leadership theory for drafting strategies and motivate personnel regarding change adaptation.
This leadership style will help in the effective productivity for the successful growth and
development of M&S.
System Theory: Such theory is based on the concept of creating those situations in organization
where all level of people can work effectively. It can be possible by applying models of human
behaviour. In this, leaders have to make people aware with the changes and have to explain them
the benefits of same. This concept works to predict the effective performance of employees and
it will result in sustaining the growth of organization.
Contingency Theory: This theory states that there is no specific kind of leadership style that
needs to be adopted by leaders in organisation. They have to select the best style as per
suitability of situation. Leaders develop a vision and they find out the best ideas that are followed
by leaders. It will improve individual performance and helps to sustain growth of M&S.
6. Strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches
Strengths
 Situational theory will help in tackling a situation on the spot and take actions. Leaders
need to be flexible. It is a type of adaptive leadership style which is adopted by many
organizations. This style will be helpful in taking the quick decisions. Situational
decisions also determine the active participation of leaders in decision-making.
 System leadership style is used to provide the friendly environment to the workforce.
This is commonly approachable style of leaders where leaders establishes a strong
relationship with the team members. This approach increase the individual productivity
because it provides healthy environment to labours. It provides efficient plans of action.
 Contingency approach can also be sometimes referred as situational approach. It is used
to provide the best ideas to handle the situations. Ideal situation can lead to the
appropriate decision and hence it can also influence the minds of employees positively.
Weaknesses
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 Situational theory fails at times when leaders of M&S are unable to focus on long term
goals and more emphasis is paid on current situations. might be sometimes prove wrong.
This creates a negative impression of leader at M&S.
 System leadership style might be responsible for the interdependency of various
activities. It is a cost consuming leadership style. It may not be applicable in small
organizations.
 Contingency approach is sometimes prove difficult to be utilized in uncertain situations.
Here the situations need to be identified properly. Wrong decision-making of the leader
can affect the overall objective.
7. Conclusion and recommendations for future improvements
The report begins with management structure followed by M&S which is hierarchical
structure where there is vertical link in between leader and employees. Leaders have the highest
power to control all the operations. Report was prepared to discuss about various management
and leadership theories used at M&S and the way leaders and managers manage different issues
and situation.
M&S can lead the UK market by using a proper supply chain to source resources and
make them available to right customers on right time. Managers and leaders of M&S are required
to use the best tools while making plans to capture the market. Company should adopt strategies
to have a strong competitive position in the market. On the other side, manager focuses on
improving the quality of services and products.
TASK 2
1. Operation management and key approaches adopted by the organization
Operation management is referred as managerial activity which is concerned with
designing and controlling the whole production process of M&S. This practice is also considered
as business administrative system which manages activities which are related to goods and
services (Baboli and et.al., 2014). It includes material and labour and costs of production. This
department performs activities to balance production expanses with the revenue generation of an
organisation. It also involves effective utilisation of its resources to generate the efficient and
effective productivity of M&S. Several approaches influence the ideas of managing operational
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activities in business. These approaches help to control and manage the effective production.
There are following concepts which help business to grow more.
 Lean manufacturing: This is considered as a popular approach amongst all. Purpose of
this concept is reduction of inventory wastage in manufacturing. This will result in high
quality with low cost of production in M&S.
 Six sigma: This method is totally based on six sigma measure as it restricts production of
defected goods. It mainly focuses on customer satisfaction. It tends to achieve only 3.4
defects in a million of output.
 Total quality management approach: This concept provides quality based product and
services. This management style determines the long term success of M&S and it mainly
focussed on the customer satisfaction services. In this approach all the workforce of the
organization apply their valuable efforts in the direction of improving the production
quality and standards of the commodity.
2. Roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in successful management of the operation
Management of a large organisation requires a proper managing techniques and a good
leader for the appropriate guidelines (Hasegawa, NEC Corp, 2017). Managers and leaders plays
the important roles in maintaining relationship and coordination among various activities to
achieve the successful growth of M&S.
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Illustration 2: Approaches of operation management
(Source: Six sigma quality supports lean speed, 2018)

Manager is a person who uses its various resources in controlling and administering the
business entity. Leader is a person who leads the group by its purposeful command and
instruction to coordinate the activities of team members. Responsibilities of good manager and a
leader are described below:
Roles and responsibilities of managers:
 Manager has to perform various kinds functions like planning, organising, staffing
directing and controlling of the business activities.
 Mangers needs to pursue the managerial qualities as they are responsible for controlling
large number of employees.
 Communicating a clear vision of organisational objective.
 Setting of overall direction and team development (Johnstone, 2016).
 Proper management of resources in order to achieving successful operation practices.
Roles and responsibilities of leader:
 Team leader are responsible for team productivity so it can be achieved by positive
influence of the team leader (Goel, 2017).
 Decision-making of a leader is a key to a successful management.
 Identifying the strengths and weakness of the team members.
 Inspiring team members in order to achieve successful management of operation.
 Timely supervision of their work.
 Effective communication to motivate the employees of M&S for their job.
3. Importance and value of the key approaches to operations management in achieving
organizational objectives successfully
Key approaches are used in business to improve the quality of product in managing the
operation activities (Lindström and et.al., 2015). These approaches possess following
importance. Benefits of such practices are as follows:
 Lean manufacturing: This operation management style mainly focuses in the proper
utilization of resources. It reduces the manufacturing wastes of M&S. It determines
effective productivity. Manufacturing practices can be done by applying the best
possible concept of production in order to achieve the organisational objective of M&S.
 Six sigma: This concept deals with the satisfaction of customer and it also helpful in
generation of customer desired products. Operation and management apply this concept
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to produce the best quality of goods and services to customers. Operations require timely
creative thoughts and researches according the requirements of clients. So this team
provides effective and innovative ideas of manufacturing the products of M&S.
 TQM: Total quality management is totally based on providing the quality based goods
and services to customers.
The best quality of goods can be produced by applying this concept in managing the
operational practices of M&S. It results in achieving the organizational objective and retain the
successful growth of its business. Operation management is helpful in producing desired quality
of output.
4. Effectiveness of managers and leaders in improving operational efficiencies to successfully
meet business objectives
Managers plays vital roles in controlling the activities of business. An Effective
management needs to be utilize its resources effectively and efficiently. Manager is a person who
is committed to the business objective by performing various administrative and managing tools.
Administrator of operation and management department needs to plan all the strategies in order
to achieve successful business objectives. Director of the business possesses a clear vision of
achieving the common organizational objective of M&S.
Leader influences the members of team and consistently makes certain efforts to improve
their effective productivity (Goel, 2017). An effective leader have to define their team goals and
motivate their employees to generate an effective output. Leader of M&S needs to lead and guide
their employees by behaving as a role model to them. Leader needs to supervise the task of
employees timely. Leadership qualities also includes decision-making. Situational decision
taking capabilities also required by a good leader. Proper communication in team tends to
improve the efficiency and effective productivity of M&S. To successfully meet the
organisational objective leader has to perform various motivating techniques in company.
5. Impact of external business environment factors on operational management decisions by
leaders and managers
There are many external factors that impact on business environment to great extent.
Political factor is considered as most essential component that influences decision of leaders and
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manager in the organization. If political condition gets changed then managers have to make
changes in existing practices so that business can perform better.
Technological business factors: It is another major component that affects operational
efficiency of the firm (Baboli and et.al., 2014). In such condition, people feel demotivated
because they are unable to work with new technologies. But leaders and mangers have to
motivate them and have to give them training so that they can perform better.
Economic factor: Change in the currency of the country can affect the business practices
(Pavlineri, Skoulikidis and Tsihrintzis, 2017). In such condition managers and leaders can take
decision of offering products with attractive additional benefits. This will attract consumers
towards the brand and will support in increasing revenues of the business. This is the way that
will assist entity in gaining competitive advantage.
6. Critical evaluation of application of operations management
Operation management plays significant role in the business unit, it helps in managing the
situation well and conducting operations smoothly. There are many external factors such as
political and technological that influence the business efficiency in such condition operation
management aids in dealing with these components and improving overall condition of the firm.
Operation management in M&S supports in reducing unnecessary errors and controlling
overproduction cost. Products of M&S are not certain and keeps on changing because of change
in taste and preference of customers. They try to provide quality in taste and variety in food
products. Proper designing is important for long term survival (Nepal and Chotiyaputta, 2016).
OM is the technique that applies in the Marks & Spencer in order to improve communication and
improving performance as well. This raises quality of production and assist the firm in gaining
competitive advantage.
7. Conclusion and recommendations for future improvements
This report had concluded that OS is important for effective planning, controlling and
scheduling. Operation management is used by organization to manage and control activities in
stores. At M&S, managers and leaders play critical role to reach customers. Managers
communicate with their employees and leaders inspire staff in successful accomplishment of
goals. Report also included the effects of internal and external environment on decision-making
process of higher authority.
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