Detailed Report on Management and Operations at Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the management and operations at Marks and Spencer (M&S), a leading UK retailer. It explores the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders within the company, highlighting the differences between their functions and roles in various situations. The report delves into different leadership theories such as situational, system, and contingency leadership, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. It examines key approaches to operation management including lean manufacturing and six sigma, and their importance in improving operational efficiencies. The report also investigates the impact of the external business environment on M&S and evaluates the application of operation management principles. Finally, it offers recommendations for future improvement, emphasizing the importance of continuous improvement, team building, and adapting to changing business dynamics. This report aims to provide a clear understanding of effective management and operational strategies for success in the retail industry.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction and management structure..................................................................................1
2. Difference between Manager and Leader...............................................................................1
4. Difference between managers function and leader's role in different situation......................2
5. Different management and leadership theories ......................................................................2
6. Critical evaluation of theories.................................................................................................3
7. Recommendation for future improvement :............................................................................4
TASK 2...........................................................................................................................................5
1. Key approaches of operation management.............................................................................5
2. Role and responsibility of manager and leader ......................................................................5
3.Importance of Key approaches in Operation Management......................................................6
4.Role of Managers and Leaders for improving operational efficiencies...................................6
5. Impact of External Business-environment..............................................................................7
6.Evaluation of application of operation management...............................................................7
7. Conclusion and Recommendation...........................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations play an important role in the every business functional area.
The present report deals with the operation of Marks and Spencer, which is the most leading
retailer shop in UK. The report focus on main role and characteristics of leaders and manager of
Marks and Spencer with different managerial functions and leadership roles It also presents
different theories such as situational, system and contingency leadership theories with its
strength and weaknesses.
The report show how operational management of a company help in the success and
growth. It also identify the roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in successful
management of operations and explain the importance and value of the key approaches to
operation management (Bromiley and Rau, 2016). The report also evaluate how managers and
leaders could be effective in improving operational management to meet the objectives and also
presents some recommendations for future improvement.
TASK 1
1. Introduction and management structure
Marks and Spencer is a multinational brand in UK who offer variety of clothes, home and
food products. Currently the company has 979 stores in all over he world and approx 85000
employees. Its main aim is to serve the customer by providing best means of clothes with low
and affordable price. The management structure of the company is quite different from others
and it follows flat management structure which help many employees to take good decision for
the welfare of company. Each department of company has their own roles and responsibilities
which is to be fulfilled by them (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014). By using flat structure, the
authority of the company can easily evaluate employee's level of performance and it also
remove the excess layer develop between management and employee. This structure help to
communicate and coordination between employees. This proves that Marks and Spencer has best
organizational structure while no other companies have.
2. Difference between Manager and Leader
Manager: Managers of Marks and Spencer creates only goals and encourage employees
to achieve goals and objective of a company. They monitor the activities of employees and report
to the owner. Manager work on short term goals and they mainly focus on the necessity of the
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company. They work with their employees in order to achieve the goals and objective. The main
work comes under their role is to give direction to the staff members and assign task.
Leader: the role of leaders is completely different from managers. Leaders of Marks and
Spencer create a vision for the future and they motivate the employees in order to achieve the
targets and goals of a company. They are always ready to support and solve the problems of staff
(Heizer, 2016). They create new innovations and managers try to implement those into a
business. They try to take risk at their own levels to take a business into success level. Their
main role is to build relationship with employees and try to motivate the staff so that they will
achieve the desired goals and aim for the success of company.
4. Difference between managers function and leader's role in different situation
Manager is a person who is responsible for the organization to carry all the four function
of management sector that is Planning , organizing , leading and controlling. In this all functions
there is one function that provide leader. All managers are leader and the leader manages there
work and effect their leadership to communicate , motivate , inspire and encourages employee.
The role provides by a leader in different situation is that leader gives the direction to
help the employee work on the business. Leader will discuss to the employee for the current
working on M&S. Leader provide them coaching to employee and supervise them in the
business and help them in making a right decision (Haksever and Render, 2018). If the crises
situation arise to the manager and the leader for not working on the demand of customer. The
manager of M& S then plan to make sure that customer provide the product to a manager should
go high on the market increasing price. They make the prices more effective to the customer .
This can make manager and a leader on the new technological skills work process. On other
hand if technological changes situation arise then manager's function is to implement new
techniques and provide training to staff members so that they can perform well. Whereas leaders
have to motivate people so that they feel comfortable with new practices and perform their work
effectively.
5. Different management and leadership theories
Situational leadership-This leadership provides the leading management of the
organisation to fulfil the development of the situation so that the employee can work on the
management organization. The situational leadership refers to the working of a leadership and
management of the organization to fit the developing level of the employee trying to work.
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System Leadership-System leadership do not think themselves in a success. System
leadership refers for making communication between the employee and leader , to make there
own decision and select the perfect training leader and manage a system and motivate the staff.
The system leadership encourages the employee to work as challenge (Application operations
and management, 2018). The leader helps the employee to work in an challenging manners.
contingency leadership-It is to provide a effective personality between leader and the
manager to work on the M&S company. This organisation contains the theory of depend on the
task and leader. Its main motive is to make valid decision by the business. The management
provide to motivate the employee to work on the business and make them feel that the
organisation important. This leadership is very helpful for the employee to work.
6. Critical evaluation of theories
Situational leadership theory
Advantage :
 Situational leadership is both hard and easy to understand for most the mangers and
leaders. The situational leadership well known for the training leader purpose.
 Situational leadership is sensible for the company to apply in a various situation.
Situational leadership provide a best leader to employee to work in a easy way (Hitt and
Carnes, 2016).
 In a situational leadership leader cannot work in a single style at a time. They need to
change there style as requirement changes from the situations.
Disadvantage :
 In a situational leadership a leader has to face a significant situations by the employee .
Situational leadership prefer as alack of understanding the difference between the leader
and managers.
 The leadership provide a confusion between the groups. If the leader gave the negative
performance to employee it can impact relation between the groups.
System leadership
Advantages :
 It increases the environmental changes in an organization. This enables the system
leadership provide decision making so that to keep in a mind.
 It focus on the achievement of the overall goals of an organisation.
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 Good decision making so that no specific domain get any problem
Disadvantages :
 May not be always practical and lead the employee in decision making.
 It cannot be applicable for small organisation of business.
 This leadership theory assumed that most of the organisation are big , complex enough.
Contingency Leadership
Advantages :
 This leadership provide a valid and reliable leading approach to make them effective
leadership.
 The contingency leadership theory provide the understanding the scope leaders and focus
on single best type of leadership.
Disadvantage :
 A leader may can appear on the employee as insincere or inconsistent way.
 The managers cannot individual change decision and leadership style for the different
situations
7. Recommendation for future improvement :
Make an effort to work more on the business. Manufacture on the performance of the
situation provide in the company. Start a day by making a plan that what work have to be today
by the managers , leaders and employee .
The purpose of this phase is to perform a specific task and improves the development of the
future situations during process.
The company M&S should gives the benefits to the leader and employee work as an
online business . The company should final the development of projects by making teams so that
the company should implement in aright way.
Should develop training team requirement so the work can be process in a proper way . The work
should provide in a quality not in quantity (Kato and et.al., 2015). Provide new ideas to leader
through open minded.
M&S company should make time for a quality improvement.
Don't be fear about the management work.
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Make a teams to use quality tools and work on improving the process to identifies external and
internal improvement. Form team study the way to reduce the time to take issues bills.
TASK 2
1. Key approaches of operation management
Operation management: It is an management of an business administration to creatre high level
of efficiency work in the organisation.
Lean manufacturing -It is a system production process that minimize the the waste part
of resources . Lean manufacturing or it can said as a lean production can often be lean. Lean
manufacture makes obvious by decrease of everything.
six sigma-It is to reduces the approach of the decision taken by the management. Sigma
is sign of a risk or a problem. This is analysis that enables manager to take more reliable
decisions. It is a technique tools that process the improvement. Six sigma is strategies that
improves the quality of a tools.
2. Role and responsibility of manager and leader
Managers is the title used for the management of the organization to take the
responsibilities of the employee and has to do some certain duties and responsibilities. The
leaders to the function department or group of employee. Leadership provides an ability to the
operational management structures. Leadership contain an action to lead a people in an
organization to achieve a goals. A leader is clear vision that provide a organisation to motivates ,
guide, and helps the employee build the work. Leadership is leader that plays an important role
in the leadership. A leader treats as friend to an employee, shares opinion to the employee. A
leader listen to the problem of a employee and try to solve the problems (Ketokivi and McIntosh,
2017). Mangers roles is trained the employee, set the goals for them. Manger roles is to tell the
employee to how to work in the company ,what work has to be done. Each managers role is
usually influence in the internal and external work field. The basics roles provide by the
manager is to work on a economic and social by the person depend on the working of employee.
The role provide to the manager is typical for the management sector . The managers is the
community that is visible for the person or an employee for the present day of business
organisation to manage.
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3.Importance of Key approaches in Operation Management
There are various approaches which plays an essential role for the implementation of
operational management in an organisation. The following aspects determines the importance of
each of them.
Continuous Improvement- There are many approaches such as Six Sigma which
focuses on the continuous improvement on which leads to provide less error in every operation.
It sets up a measurable standard which is used for the measurement of completion of every
operations that are involved for accomplishing the goals. It leads to eradicate all these resistors
and provide an efficient approach as well as the quality product and tries to provide new methods
which can improvise the current scenario of completing certain task.
Optimum utilisation- This concept is very important in every company as with the
emergence of industrialisation the usage of resources has become so aggressive that it has lead to
decrease the abundance of its presence in surroundings (Mahadevan, 2015). Therefore it leads to
provide optimum utilisation of resources keeping in mind the concept of sustainable
development.
Waste Reduction- Reducing the waste is essential to increase the efficiency and
effectiveness of every task. It focuses on providing the complete and exact utilisation of
resources.
4.Role of Managers and Leaders for improving operational efficiencies
They play following role for improving the efficiency in operation management :
Realistic Approach- They tend operate every operational function in a realistic approach
by making demand and production equivalent, while keeping in mind about the fact that
transparent must be delivered to every employee in order to know the exact status so that one can
improve and manage it in many ways.
Focus on Quality- Quality is a necessary aspect which one has to adopt in every process
involved in operational activities. It leads to reduce the wastage of resources and provide the
optimal utilisation of it in every aspect. Also when a quality product is delivered, the customer
becomes satisfied.
Maintenance of Supply Chain Management- It is very important to keep a check on
the amount of inventories that is been ordered at right time and apart from that their proper
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storage in warehouse and then transportation must be coordinated timely in order to successfully
imply every step which is involved in supply chain management.
Efficiency- Manager and Leader is known to be effective when his every order is been
successfully implied and that lead to optimise every process by formulating strategies and also
motivating employees to adopt them in their task (Smith, Maull and CL Ng,2014).
5. Impact of External Business-environment
There are two types of external environment which are Micro and Macro :
Micro Environment- It consist of those factors which just surrounds the company and
influences its operations and functions. Some of them are discussed below:
Customers- They are the basic foundation for whom every product is designed and
produce, satisfying their needs and wants are the basic aim of every company.
Suppliers- They tends to supply the requirements and the processes product on a
negotiable price. Their dissatisfaction can lead to create problem in supplying various materials.
Competitors- They are basically present to challenge the survival of a company in a
market. A company leads to formulate strategies in order to compete with them.
Macro Environment- They are powerful factors that are present externally which are not linked
with companies but tends to affect them directly or indirectly.
Political- These factors are related to political stability of the nation which affects many
decisions of business such as its growth and expansion is majorly affected
Economical- It includes all the factors such as recession, inflation rate that leads to
affect the financial system of the organisation.
Social- This factor includes the aspects such as demographic features and characteristics
of employees and their affect on the working structure of an organisation (van Aken,
Chandrasekaran and Halman, 2016).
Technological- It is the advancement in usage of technologies which are present there
and tends to improve the efficiency of every operation.
6.Evaluation of application of operation management.
Operation Management has following applications which are discussed as below:
Production Planning-It is very necessary as one has to cope up with the demand of the
particular product in he market and has to analyse and predict the futuristics demands too.
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Therefore, one has to make planning regarding production as it should follow the concept of less
investment and more production and the product should reach on time satisfying the need.
Production Control-The production must be monitored and scheduled in a continuous
manner for making up the successful processes (Walker and et. al., 2015). They must form
appropriate respond to the feedbacks and shall make adjustments accordingly so that one can
maintain the control on the aspect of production. All the purchasing related to raw material and
handling of inventories are done in an effective manner.
Quality Control-It directly focuses on the maintenance of the quality aspect which can
be related to processing the product and even the product itself and leads to formulates various
strategies which are used for maintaining the quality aspect. Every customer focuses on the
quality of the product which is the success of product in order to fulfil the purpose.
7. Conclusion and Recommendation
Conclusion- It has been conclude that manager and leader plays an effective role for
maintenance the efficiency and effectiveness in the several operations of a company. Therefore,
they concentrate on formulating various strategies as well as implementing them with the
employees by motivating and providing them guidance for performing the task with an
excellency which can results in improving various aspects. There are also certain external factors
which influences the operations of Marks and Spencer in direct or indirect manner. Apart from
these, Operation management has certain applications such prediction control, planning control
and also focusing on the aspect of quality which is very essential. Also, managers and leaders
focuses on the maximisation of the operational efficiency which is very important for every
company in order to make their production according to the demand in the market. Therefore,
there role is very significant and must provide great control and coordination of the strategies.
Recommendation-
 Company should focus on its operational structure and should hire skilled employees in
order to provide efficiency and excellency in every task.
 They should completely focus on the externality factors which affects the functions;
therefore, they should assess the dynamic changes and should make effective strategies
accordingly.
 They should focus of the production and planning control and try to implement various
methodology which can maintain these aspects for a quality production.
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 Apart from these company should focus on the Six Sigma Concept and should provide
appropriate training to employees in order to enhance their skills.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bromiley, P. and Rau, D., 2016. Operations management and the resource based view: Another
view. Journal of Operations Management.41.pp.95-106.
Haksever, C. and Render, B., 2018. Service and Operations Management. World Scientific
Books.
Hitt, M. A., Xu, K. and Carnes, C. M., 2016. Resource based theory in operations management
research. Journal of Operations Management.41.pp.77-94.
Kato, T. and et.al., 2015. Operations management methods and devices thereof in information-
processing systems.
Ketokivi, M. and McIntosh, C.N., 2017. Addressing the endogeneity dilemma in operations
management research: Theoretical, empirical, and pragmatic considerations. Journal of
Operations Management, 52, pp.1-14.
Mahadevan, B., 2015. Operations management: Theory and practice. Pearson Education India.
Smith, L., Maull, R. and CL Ng, I., 2014. Servitization and operations management: a service
dominant-logic approach. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
34(2). pp.242-269.
van Aken, J., Chandrasekaran, A. and Halman, J., 2016. Conducting and publishing design
science research: Inaugural essay of the design science department of the Journal of
Operations Management. Journal of operations management.47.pp.1-8.
Walker, H. and et. al., 2015. Theoretical perspectives in operations management: an analysis of
the literature. International Journal of Operations & Production Management. 35(8).
pp.1182-1206.
Online
Application operations and management. 2018. [online]. Available Through
<https://www.tieto.com/services/application-services/application-operations>
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