Analysis of Management and Operations at Marks & Spencer: Report

This report delves into the management and operations of Marks & Spencer, examining the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers. It explores how leadership and management functions apply in different situational contexts, including discussions on situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency theories. The report outlines key approaches to operations management, such as Six Sigma, Just-in-Time, and lean production, while also highlighting the importance of these approaches in achieving business objectives. It further assesses the factors within the business environment that can affect operational management. The report emphasizes the significance of effective management and operation in converting raw materials into finished goods to satisfy customers and achieve profitability. The analysis provides an overview of the responsibilities of operations management, including resource management and the application of various leadership theories. The report aims to show how Marks & Spencer can improve overall performance by focusing on the efficient management of resources and the implementation of effective operational strategies.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager...............................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2 How the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational
context.........................................................................................................................................3
P3 Various theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems
leadership and contingency.........................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Explain key approaches for operations management and roles of leaders and managers ....5
P5 Explain the importance of operations management in achieving Business objectives .........6
Task 4 ..............................................................................................................................................8
P6 Assess the factors of business environment that can affect operational management...........8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation is an effective area in which management connected with
controlling and designing overall production process of the company in effective manner. It help
to an enterprise in converting raw material into finished goods which offered to the customers in
order to achieve their satisfaction level (Operations and Project Management (OPM), 2017). The
main function of management and operation is the business organization is to maximize the
overall profitability in systematic way. It aid in managing all the operating process so that
company easily provide better services to their customers. It also helps in managing, planning,
organizing all the functional areas in which company operate their operation process. This helps
in offering quality services to their customers in order to gain higher satisfaction by them.
Present report is based on Marks & Spencer, it is a British multinational retail company which
provide quality home and luxury products to their customers. Various roles and characteristics
of a leader and manager is mentioned in this assignment. This report discussed about various
theories and models of leadership which helps in achieving organization goals and objectives.
Along with this, importance of operation management is also mentioned in order to achieve final
goals of the company in appropriate time period.
TASK 1
P1 Different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
Manager and leader both are the important assets of the company which helps in
managing and leading all the activities which perform in the whole organization to achieve its
target in appropriate way. Both are significant part of the business in order to improve overall
performance of the employees at the workplace.
Manager: A person who responsible for managing and organizing all the activities of company
and also set objectives which perform by the staff members to reach their target. Manager having
best skills of managing all the resources in systematic manner that directly contribute in overall
success of the company.
Leader: A person who responsible to leading their staff members and also motivate them to
improve their quality performance within the organization (Park and Jho, 2012).
Manager of Marks and Spencer, supervising and motivating their staff members so that
they easily operate their task in effective manner and get better results to improve their

productivity. The main function of manager is to control whole process of an organization in
order to achieve organizational goals and objectives in effective manner.
Role of manager:
Manger play important role in Marks and Spencer in making their people productive so
that they easily improve their performance level. There are some important role of manager in
organization are as follows: Interpersonal role: It is important role of a manager in business organization in which a
they hold various responsibilities of managing all the business operations which perform
by the company in order to achieve its goals and objectives in appropriate time period.
For this they use various leadership style such as participative, consultative and
exploitive authoritative. Which helps to the manager to manager to deal and maintain
string relationship with the staff members. One of the main role of the manager in this
aspect is to transfer all the information ion front of employees so that they easily take
strategies decision in effective way. Informational role: Under this, the manager observe all the information on continuous
basis so that they easily understand all the happening with perform within the
organization. They also consider internal operation, external analysis and new trends of
the market. In this process the manager of the company formulate all the external
information with in the organization and internal information distribute in front of staff
members which helps in maintaining the better environment at the workplace in
appropriate manner.
 Decisional role: In this the manager of the company controlled all the changes within the
company which helps in improving all the process in effective manner. They also
supervise the system of the company to allocate task to the employees as per their
capabilities.
Characteristic of a manager and leader: Positive attitude: It is more important for the manager and leader to have positive attitude
which helps in improving the employees performance and also define positive work
environment (Wu, 2012). With the help of this they easily ensure their employees
towards the work and performance.

 Confident: Manger and leader of Marks and Spencer are more confident about their
activities which helps them to improving overall performance of the company and get
better results. With the helps of thus they accept all the challenges in order to finding the
better solution to resolve of the complex situation (Rushton, Croucher and Baker, 2014). Motivator: Manager and leaders both are responsible for motivating their employees
towards the work so that they perform their best and achieve positive results.
 Creative: It is significant for the manager to make all the process effective and creative
which h helps in encouraging staff members so that they put their strong efforts to
achieve its target in most effective manner.
TASK 2
P2 How the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational context
Manager and leader are important for Marks & Spencer in which they play curial role in
managing and leading all the human resources in effective manner because they contribute in
achieving organizational goals and objectives in appropriate manner. With the help of this they
easily offer their quality services to the customers in order to get their higher satisfaction. There
are some effective function of manager and leader in different situation are as follows:
Role of leader in Marks and Spencer: Motivate workers: It is one of the important role of leader in the organization yo motivate
their employees by providing better benefits and rewards system which helps in
improving their overall performance at he workplace in appropriate way and get better
outcomes. Set vision: Leader set their organizational vision in which they evaluate their employees
capabilities of performing their activities in order to achieve positive results in systematic
manner.
 Give better direction: It is important role of the manager to give better direction to their
employees in order to enhance their performance level within the organization (Qi, Liu
and Christofides, 2011).
Along with this there are some important function of the manager within Marks and Spencer: Planing: It is one of the important function of the manager to set the goals for
organization by providing better financial instrument which helps in executing all the

activities in appropriate manner. This process is written in nature which define all the
activities of Marks and Spencer. Organizing: In this process the manager established effective structure in which they
accomplished their planning process in effective manner (Park and Jho, 2012). With the
help of this they allocate all the responsibilities of the staff members in order to achieve
its goals and objectives.
 Coordinating and controlling: Under this process, manager monitor all the results which
is define by the employees by performing their best. This function helps in taking best
action towards the business activities to achieve the better success in systematic manner.
P3 Various theories and models of approach, including situational leadership, systems leadership
and contingency
Leaders are important part of the business organization because they motivate their staff
members to achieve all the target by enhancing their productivity level in effective manner. For
this they use various leadership theories to increase confidence level of the workers at the
workplace that helps in accepting all the challenges in effective manner. All the leadership
theories are as follows: Situational theory: It is based on the employees skills and capabilities which helps them
in completing all the task in appropriate way. At present company face cost related issue
which increase operational cost and reduce the profitability of the company. In this case
they use situation theory to maintain the cost by completing all the task in most effective
manner. One of the best advantage of using this theory is to give better direction to the
employees to resolve all the issues and achieve its target in systematic manner. System leadership theory: This theory is used by the leaders at the workplace in which
they resolve all the conflict situation so that workers are effectively done their task and
get positive outcomes. With the helps of this they find better solution by communicating
with employees about the situation. It also helps to the manager to implementing all the
changes in effective manner.
 Contingency leadership theory: This theory is related to the situational model in which is
used by the company as per the situation which affect the employees performance
(Kumar and Chandrakar, 2012). It helps in resolving all the circumstances which is faced
by the workers at the workplace. Leader used this theory to maintain the better

relationship among all the employees who work within the organization to achieve their
target. This theory define ideas, views and opinion of the employees which helps to the
company decision making process in most effective manner.
All these theories of leadership helps to the Marks and Spencer to encourage their
employees towards their work and performance (Fayol, 2016). With the help of these model,
leaders easily make productive workforce at the workplace to achieve appropriate success.
TASK 3
P4 Explain key approaches for operations management and roles of leaders and managers
Operations management includes various responsibilities. It ensures that business will
operate in efficient manner which means more outcomes can be generated from least amount of
resources on order to meet demands of customers (Nakayama, and Bucks, 2012.). This also
includes managing the process of converting raw materials, and efforts of labour into goods and
services. Skills, creativity and rational analysis of people is also essential for success of
operations management. Various approaches to this concept that can be used by M&S are as
follows-
Six sigma- It is an methodology which helps in improving quality of operations
management by eliminating errors and defects, reducing costs and consuming time. This is
expensive process but if it is done in proper manner than it may company in becoming market
leader.
Just in time- It is an strategy used by companies in order to increase efficiency and
reduce wastage. This method involves accurate demand forecasting. Just in time approach is
very important in improving quality of products and helps in designing effective process of
manufacturing (Burke, 2013). Main purpose of this concept is to avoid wastes that takes place
due to over production, excess stock and delay in production.
Lean production- It is an manufacturing process that operates with low wastage and
makes production very efficient from beginning to end. This is an systematic technique which
focusses on reducing time and material waste in order to increase quality of products. It is very
important in satisfying customers and sustain in tough competition at marketplace.

Role of managers-
Operations manager performs various essential roles in a business. They ensures
effective and efficient process of production in an firm in order to attain higher degree of
competitive advantages (DeAnna,and et.al. ,2010). Some of the main roles this manager plays in
M&S are as follows-
Resource management- They plays vital role in managing all the resources associated
with production whether it is raw material or workers. Identifying need and purchase stack as per
that are main tasks in this job. It also determines human resource needs and evaluates their
performance.
Management of funds- They plays important role in budgeting, controlling costs and
keep complete record of finance of M&S. These managers adopts various methods to improve
cost efficiency. Their management also consists studying business plans, sales reports and
financial statements of company.
Setting goals- Another important role of these managers is to set goals and objectives
and make business policies for different functional units in M&S. They also ensures proper nad
appropriate implementation of these targets.
Roles of leaders-
Leader is the person who has the ability to influence others in order to achieve common
organisational goals. Their role in operations management of M&S are as follows-
Clear vision- They plays very important role in providing clear vision to workers in order
to follow key approaches of operations management. It helps in clarifying duties and
responsibilities which task force has to perform.
Motivation- Leaders also plays an vital role in motivating employees to achieve
organisational goals in effective manner. For this, they identifies needs and wants of workforce
to praise them for performing well (Kang, 2010).
P5 Explain the importance of operations management in achieving Business objectives
Operations management is an very important function in M&S. It includes managing
operations of company in effective and efficient manner. In this concept manager and leaders
puts their efforts in order to manage all the resources properly. It helps in improving performance
of overall organisation which leads to achievement of this company's objectives. Some of the
important roles operation management plays are as follows-

Consumer satisfaction- Every organisation focusses on satisfying its customers so that
they will remain loyal towards them. M&S also have an important objective to provide quality
goods and services to its buyers in order to give them pleasure. Operations management helps in
improving quality of products and services which helps in raising living standards of people and
makes makes them loyal toward brand (Eyal, And et.al., 2014).
Minimizes wastes- M&S wants to achieve economy of scale from its manufacturing
process. It includes generating more outputs from limited resources and without too much
wastage. Operations management plays an crucial role in this objective of company by reducing
cost of production and more outcomes. This ultimately leads to more profits of this organisation.
Profit maximisation- Ultimate goal of every enterprise is to earn more profits in order to
survive in market place. M&S is also focussed in this direction. Management of operations helps
in reducing costs from production activities which increases profitability of this company. It is
required to adopt good and advanced technology to achieve this objective.
Builds brand image-When a company delivers quality products to its customers then
they becomes more loyal to that particular brand. Approaches of operations management helps
M&S in providing high quality goods and services to its users which helps in building strong
brand image in marketplace. It facilitates in achieving competitive advantages.
Employee satisfaction- This concept includes managing all the activities related with
operations in systematic and effective manner. It provides clear directions to employees to be
clear about their jobs and responsibilities. This reduces the chances of overriding processes and
confusions in tasks (.Mendis, Muttaqi, and Perera, 2014.). If, everyone will be clear about their
functions then they can perform much better and this helps in increasing satisfaction level of
workers. Manager and leader also focusses on motivating workforce by identifying their needs
and expectations at work place.
Management of resources- Operations management also helps in managing resources
and ensuring proper utilization of all the factors whether it is raw material, finance, labour etc. If
all these elements would be effectively managed then M&S can attain highest possible outcome
which leads to long term growth and development of this company.

Task 4
P6 Assess the factors of business environment that can affect operational management
Business environment refers to macro and micro surroundings of business. It includes
external and internal factors that can influence decision making in the organisation (Hao, 2010).
These elements also affects operational management in following manner-
Internal factors- These elements exists within the business and affects its decision making
process directly. Such components includes following-
Customers- They plays major role in decision making process of an organisation as
whatever is produced within business is ultimately consumed by consumers. So, it is required for
operation department of M&S to manufacture products as per tastes and preferences of buyers to
that they could be satisfied at highest level.
Employees- They are amongst most vital part of an company because they are the one
who implements all strategies and policies in practical scenario. Success of overall organisation
depends on their performance. Manager and leader should consider them into decision making
process in order to motivate them for working more efficiently. Operation management be
conducted in proper manner if employees will be satisfied.
Suppliers- They are the ones who supplies raw material in organisation. There influence
is very high in decision making in operations management. If they don't supplies raw material on
time then it affects production process. Also, the cost on which they delivers material can affect
the decisions.
Organisational structure- It refers to the policies and behaviours in which employees
are engaged in their tasks. This includes division of overall business activities into different
functional units (Niknam, Meymand, and Mojarrad, , 2011). This affects decision making in
operations management. If structure is designed in effective manner then its impact will be
positive but in case it is not designed properly then it may influence in positive way.
External factors- These factors are not in control of business organisation. It is important for
M&S to consider these elements in decision making for operation management. These
components are as follows-
Legal factors- Such elements includes policies and acts made by government of UK. It is
important for business to follow these regulations so as to maintain lawful and ethical
environment at work place.

Political factors- These elements are very dynamic because it changes when government
changes. Every political authority makes their own set of rules and regulations and it is essential
for this company to perform all activities by including these policies (Zhang, and Chen, 2014).
Technological factors- It plays major role in performance and decision making of
operations management . Technical advancement is very important for more productivity. It
assists in reducing cost of production and leads to minimum wastage. This also helps in
improving quality of products. This will facilitate this company in capturing large market share
and attain competitive advantages.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report, it can be concluded that operational management is
very important in today's competitive scenario. It helps in managing all the activities of
production in systematic manner so that resources could be used in proper way. Leaders and
managers plays an important role in M&S in order to control all the activities of company and its
employees. They formulates policies and strategies for improving performance of employees at
workplace. It helps in increasing their productivity and ultimately leads to growth of
organisation. There are various systematic approaches of operation management which could be
used in generating highest possible outcomes from manufacturing with limited resources.
Managers and leaders also helps in motivating employees and make them more focussed towards
organisational goals. There are various factors of business environment that could influence this
management scenario and decision making of managers.

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Online
Operations and Project Management (OPM). 2017. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.beds.ac.uk/research-ref/bmri/centres/bisc/okm>. [Accessed on 22nd
November 2017].