Leadership and Management in Retail: Marks and Spencer Report

This report delves into the critical aspects of leadership and management within the context of a business environment, using Marks and Spencer as a case study. The report begins by differentiating between the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, emphasizing the importance of both for organizational success. It then explores the functions of leaders and managers in various situations, highlighting decision-making, authority delegation, and employee management. Different leadership theories are examined, including situational, systems, classical management, and contingency leadership theories. The report further analyzes various approaches to operations management, underscoring the roles of leaders and managers in this area. It also addresses the significance and value of operations management and identifies factors within the business environment that impact operational management. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management principles, supported by examples from Marks and Spencer.

MANAGEMENT
AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Various Roles and characteristics of a leader as well as a manager................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
P2. The role and function of a leader as well as manager in different situations...................3
P3 Different theories and models of approach related to leadership as well as Contingency4
Contingency Leadership Theory .....................................................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Various approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play
................................................................................................................................................5
P5 Significance and value of operations management...........................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P6 Factors with in business environment that affect on operational management.................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Management is a crucial part of any business. A business cannot grow beyond a point, if
it is not properly managed. It is an effective tool to gain growth as well as success for company.
There are various aspects of management which include proper managing the various
departments like marketing, finance, sales, HR, etc. Management of operations of a business in a
proper and effective manner is essential for long term health of the Organisation. It is thus quite
important that management prioritises its working in terms of management of operations. Marks
and Spencer is a multinational company having a wide range of operations in various countries.
It deals in retail sector and having a strong brand name among customers and general people. It
is therefore important that Organisation hires good and capable managers who can manage
company in an effective as well as efficient manner. Marks and Spencer is not a small name in
the world of retailing and it is recognised worldwide among different segments of customers.
The Onus is on Management of the company to retain this brand image and work to enhance the
same going forward by effective Policies as well as Procedures.
TASK 1
P1. Various Roles and characteristics of a leader as well as a manager.
Both leader and manager play a vital role in overall success as well as growth of the
organization. Leaders is responsible to take company forward by taking crucial and effective
decisions for growth and prosperity of company. The manager is responsible to implement
various important decisions taken by the leaders of company. They are the one who control and
manage subordinates. It is quite important for any company be it small and big to have a good
leadership as well as managers in place who can develop and grow business in an effective
manner going forward.
Roles of a Leader: Representative of the organization: A leader is a person who represents firm in dealing
with a third party and therefore, he can be called as the face of company. He is also
responsible to make a connection between various internal activities of the organization
with external environment of business. Some of the main roles of manager would include
conducting seminars, conferences various important meetings, etc.
 Motivating Employees: It is a crucial job of any leader of the organization. It is very
important that leader motivates the workforce of the organization so that they can help
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company in achievement of specific goals and objectives. They are also responsible for
encouraging employees in an effective manner so that contribution to the business can be
effectually made.
 Decision Making: The role of leader is also to make various decisions which are quite
crucial for the overall growth and development of the company. The decisions would be
regarding investments that are needed to be made, proper management of operations and
hiring of talented workforce to accomplish the task.
Roles of a Manager:
 Implementation of Decisions: The main role of the manager is to implement decisions
taken by the leaders and decision makers of the company. Marks and Spencer is a
company which is having various managers all over the world as the size of operations of
the company is quite big and therefore, the main role of those managers is to implement
the various decisions which are being taken and laid down by the top management of the
company. They are also responsible to implement the strategies of the company in an
effectual manner.
 Risk Control: Business is dynamic in nature and there are some issues in it which might
arise anytime. These issues might contain risk for organization, but it is the ultimate job
of the manager to overcome these issues by making proper arrangements so that business
can function in an easy as well as in a smooth way.
Characteristics of Leader and Manager
Characteristics of a Leader Characteristics of a Manager
Big picture Looks and analyses the details of decisions
Strategy formulator Tactical
Aimed at improving effectiveness of firm Aimed to bring efficiency within the
organization
Considers internal work environment for the
purpose of decisions
Considers external environment for decisions
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TASK 2
P2. The role and function of a leader as well as manager in different situations
A business come across various situations in its lifetime and such situations demand
various skills as well as abilities from people who are managing affairs of the company. The
people who are rest with responsibilities of managing the company is required to manage and
take business out of those situations. The role of leader would include facing situation upfront
and motivating employees to face same and bring company out of the adverse situations that the
company might be facing. The manager on other hand is responsible to effectively as well as
efficiently manage whole workforce and motivate individuals so that they will continuously help
companies in achieving goals and objectives and will not feel demotivated at any time during the
business activities.
Roles and Functions of a Leader: Decision Making: He is responsible to take decisions which are good for company in a
particular situation. Targets are given to managers for effective management of company
and those are matched with results after a specified period, if there occurs any deviation,
the reasons for same will be asked by leader. Marks and Spencer is having a robust
structure of leadership as well as management of company. The company follows a strict
policy of leadership and management which results in higher productivity and
profitability for the company.
 Authority Delegation: The leader himself cannot take all the important decisions with
respect to company. Therefore, in Marks and Spencer, the leaders believe in delegating
authorities to capable and talented individuals who can manage company and are
effective decision makers in various situations. They also make sure that employees
remain motivated during the whole process and are ready to contribute for firm. This is
achieved by managing them well over a specific period of time. Such management is the
function of a manager and the job of a leader to supervise the manager in such cases.
Roles and Functions of a Manager: Employee Management: The main job of a manager is to make sure that employees and
work force of company remains motivated and would feel strong so that they can
contribute for the company in most efficient way possible. They are responsible to
maintain co-ordination among individuals within organization. They are accountable to
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leaders and responsible to make sure that proper benefits are derived from employees to
the organization. They are also responsible for their proper and effective training as well
as development.
Training and Development: The main role of a manager would be to train and develop
workforce of organization in such a way that the best possible outcomes can be achieved. Under
training and development process, people will be given with specific situations in which they
have to operate without losing their calm and hence, can contribute for the organization.
P3 Different theories and models of approach related to leadership as well as Contingency
Companies as well as business around the world have been using different kind of
approaches to maximise the overall performance as well as sales of the company. These theories
helps manager in taking effective as well as efficient decisions which would help the company in
achieving its targets as well as objectives. Not only leaders but managers are also using various
kinds of theories for proper implementation of strategies framed by the top level management of
the company. The various theories of leadership are discussed as follows :
Situational Theory
It is considered as the most effective theory for leadership. It is a blend of various
leadership styles which are being applied on different situations as the situations occurs. Under
this theory the top management of the organization will choose various styles which are based
on different kind of circumstances. This hypothesis is adaptable in nature and its predominantly
works in current condition of working place It says that everything that are occur at work put
depend on some circumstance. In this different segments are included, which are portrayed as
under:
To give endeavours to advance work and present individuals at work place.
In this pioneers plays the work as the basic key of firm, and he or she ought to have the capacity
to move starting with one zone then onto the next and can without much of a stretch
determination any issue which are affected on hierarchical and also representatives execution.
System Leadership Theory
It is a kind of problem solving theory. It states that a business environment is dynamic in
nature and therefore various situations both favourable as well as adverse might occur and the
responsibility rest with the leaders as well as managers of the company to bring the company out
of these situations and resolve them as soon as possible. Pioneers are worry on giving best and
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appropriate answers for any issue that are emerges at work place and give palatable results
through settling them in successful manner, otherwise called radical approach of authoritative
advancement which is gotten by director and higher expert keeping in mind the end goal of
creating viability and effectiveness of association (Hill, 2012). This hypothesis is generally
relevant in associations for creating maintainability of firm through enhancing execution and
decreasing many-sided complex situations at work place. In this Leaders as well as Managers
need to take after a few standards keeping in mind the end goal to deal with some inside and also
outer elements. This is more powerful at the season of settling on choice which is useful for
successful administration of activities.
Classical Management Theory
This theory basically aims at finding the best possible way to perform and accomplish
certain tasks and duties. It is a scientific theory and helps in effectively managing various
activities at the work place (Ellis, and et.al., 2013). The basic aim of this theory is to enhance the
overall productivity of the organization and it also make sure all round development of each and
every part of the organization.
Contingency Leadership Theory
It is a kind of behavioural concept and it relies upon various kinds of opinions, thoughts
as well as views that exist within a company (Choi, Chan and Yue, 2017). Under this, The leader
is rest with the responsibility to lead from front in the event of any contingency within the
organization. The leader will manage the organization and make sure that in such situation,
people will not loose their calm and work towards attainment of organizational goals.
TASK 3
P4 Various approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play
A business consist of various operations and these have to be effectively managed so that
profits can be gained from such operations and overall productivity can be increased. There are
different operations in the company which has to be managed by the managers and has to be lead
by leaders (Martínez-Jurado and Moyano-Fuentes, 2014). These operations include finance,
marketing, sales, Human resource etc. Marks and Spencer is a company which is having its
operations spread all over the world and therefore it is quite crucial that right kind of managers
and leaders are there in the organization which can take company forward and make it even more
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worthy (Ramasamy and et.al., 2014). The different kind of operations within the company can be
described in detail as follows : Planning : It is a fundamental process within the organization. It is performed by
manager to create an effective plan for the business which will enable it to grow and
prosper in the longer term. If there is a proper plan in place, it would be easier for
company to implement various strategies in an effective manner. Managing : It means managing the overall operations of the company. It basically means
managing the whole business by implementing effective policies and procedure within
the organization. Co- Ordination : Managers are also responsible for effectively coordinating the work
force in an effective and efficient manner. It is the responsibility of the manager that there
should not be any lack of communication among employees. They are also responsible
for managing the whole work of the company in an effective manner.
 Flexible Specialisation : It can be considered as a mechanical association in which
organization work in some particular items however can change at short notice to
presenting new and diverse items. The striking component that these sort of adaptability
can be make it practical to present little parts and bunches of every item.
The task administration is essential for recording the exercises and happening of the association
(Natarajan and Swaminathan, 2014). This is fundamental for an organization to deal with the
work execution and appropriate oversee whole practices (Hoyos, Morales and Akhavan-
Tabatabaei, 2015). Through the assistance of organization, association can build their
profitability and also improve nature of tasks. This aides in
large scale manufacturing of items and administrations. Activity administration helps in
assembling of results of Marks and Spencer by keeping up the quality administration.
P5 Significance and value of operations management
Management of operations is a very crucial process for the purpose of maintaining and
organising the over all operations of the company in a manner that profits can be generated and
productivity can be increased (Lee, Tae Kim and Choi, 2012). There are various benefits as well
as importance of operations which can be explained as follows :
Minimization of Wastages
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If the operations of the company is managed properly then it will reduce the wastage cost
of the company. The wastage occurs in Marks and Spencer in the production of various clothing
that is made by the company. This wastage can be reduced by effectively managing the overall
performance of the production and inventory department. Such management helps in minimising
and cutting the extra expenditure and cuts the cost of manufacturing. Hence it is very useful in
overall reduction in wastages among all the operational departments of the organization.
Profit Maximisation
Marks and Spencer is a multinational company having world wide operations. Thus it is
quite crucial that such operations are managed effectively so that profitability of the company
can be maximised (Yang and Wei, 2013). If wide range of operations of the company is managed
properly then it will reduce the overall cost of company and will enhance profitability of the
company.
Consumer Satisfaction
Fulfilled client is the key of advancement and accomplishment and additionally
arrangement of organization in the focused market as it help in expanding more shopper base.
The real thought process of association is to give best nature of items and benefits and fulfil their
necessities and requests (Newman, Hanna, and Maffei, 2013). Marks and Spencer is prominent
for the nature of its items which makes their client more fulfilled and draw them toward the
organization so that they purchase these items next time too. The standard items and nature of
administrations is real quality of this organization which is benefited by task administration in
successful way.
Increase of Goodwill
If a company is able to manages its operations effectively, which would include
management of customer relationship etc. then this will have a long and lasting impact on the
mindset of consumers and they will show loyalty towards the brand of company. Also, The
company will gain higher market share among various competitors. All these factors will
eventually lead to a increase in an overall goodwill of the company.
TASK 4
P6 Factors with in business environment that affect on operational management
A business consist of various external as well as internal factors, These factors can be
discussed as follows :
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Internal Factors
Customers : These are the people who purchase goods and services from company and they
plays a major role in deciding which strategies needs to be implemented, as it is said that
consumers are king and most of the policies are framed by the management keeping in mind the
various benefits of customers.
Employees : These are the individuals within the company who contribute in success and growth
of the company (Braman and et.al., 2013).
Suppliers : They provide raw material to company for production of final goods.
External Factors
Political : These are the people who frames policies for country and have a direct impact on the
overall working of the company.
Legal : The laws and procedures within the country is called the legal Factors and it influence
the external environment of business.
Technological : It refers to the kind of technology that prevails within an economy, the level of
up gradation etc.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that for the purpose of Management of various operations within the
company. A company has to bring effective and efficient leaders within the company. These
leaders and managers will make sure that company is running in an effective as well as efficient
manner. Various benefits can be derived from proper management of operations, these benefits
include profit maximisation, cost reduction and an increase in overall goodwill of the company.
There are various factors which are responsible for growth and development of company, these
are both internal as well as external factors like political, social, customers, suppliers etc.
effective management of all these factors is crucial for growth of Organization in the longer run.
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