Comprehensive Analysis of M&S: Leadership, Management, and Operations

This report provides a detailed analysis of the management and operational structure of M&S, a leading fashion organization. It explores the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders, differentiating between their functions and leadership roles using management theories such as Henri Fayol's and Frederick Taylor's concepts. The report examines various situations within the organization, illustrating how leaders and managers navigate challenges and drive performance. It also discusses various management and leadership theories, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the report delves into M&S's operational management system, assessing the impact of external factors and offering recommendations for future improvements to sustain its market position and foster growth.

MANAGEMENT AND OPERATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................1
TASK 1...............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction and management structure of M&S.......................................................................1
2. Roles and characteristics of managers and leaders in M&S......................................................2
3. Analyse the differences of managerial functions and leadership roles by applying concepts
and theories of management...........................................................................................................3
4. Examples of different situations in organization and examining the roles of a leader and
functions of a manager in those situations.....................................................................................4
5. Different management and leadership theories that support growth and sustainable
performance of M&S.....................................................................................................................5
6. Strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches...............................................6
7. Conclusion about the way managers and leaders make impacts on the
organisation..............................................................................................................................7
TASK 2...............................................................................................................................................7
1. Operation management system of M&S Ltd. And its key approaches......................................7
2. Identifying the roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in operation management.. 8
3. Explaining the importance and value of the key approaches to operations management in
achieving objectives.......................................................................................................................9
4.Evaluating the importance of managers and leaders’ effectiveness in improving operational
efficiencies to meet business objectives.........................................................................................9
5. Assessing the impact of external business environment factors on operational management
decisions by managers and leaders..............................................................................................10
6. Critically evaluating the operations management to manage the factors on the wider business
environment..................................................................................................................................11
7. Recommendation for future improvement in organization......................................................12
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Management and operation is administrative system which are applied in the business for
the successful growth. This report is based on the study of M&S which is leading fashion
organisation. In the below context role of leader and function of manager will be explained. This
report also provides an extracted view about management and leadership theories for an effective
productivity and development of M&S. In this study we have mentioned several key approaches in
managing the operation activities of business. It has also provided external factors which are
responsible for growth and development of business. Here we have also thrown some light on the
external factors which effect the growth of organization. This context will also discuss some
factors which are essential for success and growth. This study also provides some measures and
recommendations to improve the business activities to sustain its position for longer duration.
TASK 1
1. Introduction and management structure of M&S
M&S is founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. This company initially started its
production in 1958 by selling Christmas cakes and puddings. Later, food expert was hired in order
to improve the quality of cake. In 1960 M&S opened its first store at Kabul, Afghanistan.
Gradually, it started producing variety of products. Every business organisation runs with the
perspective to achieve goals (Bozarth and Handfield, 2018). This mission can be accomplished by
the joining efforts and this cannot be possible without an effective management structure of entity.
It has an appropriate well organised and established management with a proper reporting hierarchy
from lowest to the highest level. It allows employees to share their ideas and thoughts freely with
management.
M&S follows flat organisational structure. Management of this firm allows less
administrative level (Schönsleben, 2016). By using flat organisation structure managers can make
direct communication with employees and can motivate them to work better. It also helps company
to sustain its skilled labour which delivers the effective productivity. So overall M&S uses a good
management structure which ensures the best use of its resources and this would create a large
opportunity to achieve the organisational objective.
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2. Roles and characteristics of managers and leaders in M&S
Manger is a person who manages team members and control over activities. Leader is a
person who leads the team and encourages employees so that they can improve their working
efficiency.
This industry uses flexible systems and structure so this allows the leaders and managers to
build a good relationship with their employees. Manager is a person who coordinates the activities
of different department to achieve a common organisational goal while leader is a person who
controls directs its team members to achieve effective team outcome.
Comparison between Roles and characteristics of Managers and leader
Point of comparison Manager leaders
Roles Managers of M&S act as a
mediator between lower and
higher level management.
Leader plays a role of
motivator and coordinator of
the team.
Activities They perform overall task of
communicating and
interpreting various activities
of employees to higher level
management.
Leadership emphasis on
supervising the individual
performance. It concentrates
on increasing productivity of
employees.
Number of people Managing needs of formal and
organised group of people.
Leader lay emphasis on both
formal and informal group of
people
Qualities They require the skill of
managing the different
departmental activities.
Leader needs to have multiple
qualities. Leadership quality
includes better communication,
coordination and situational
decision making.
Emphasis They have focus on managing
the activities. This emphasis
on communicating the plans
and strategies of higher level
They focus on leading and
inspiring the people. Leaders
establishes the interpersonal
relationship with its team
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to lower level. members.
3. Analyse the differences of managerial functions and leadership roles by applying concepts and
theories of management
Management theories and concepts are basically used to assist and relate individual goals of
employees with common organisational objective of M&S. These theories are applied in the
management of the business and also concepts guide and assist the actions of the managers (Roth
and et.al., 2016).
Henri fayol management theory
This management theory provides the guidelines which focuses on coordinating the administrative
system of M&S. This lead a great impact on the organisation as a whole. This management idea
had contributed towards the achievement of common goal of organisation.
Source: (Five Functions of Management (Fayol), 2018)
Frederick Taylor’s management concept
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Illustration 1: Fayol's five function of Management

Taylor had discussed the effectiveness of productivity by applying the management
concept. This theory is mainly focussed on the efficiency of the skilled labours. By applying this
theories role of leaders and function of managers are explained as below:
Management concepts Managerial functions Leadership role
Purpose According to Henri fayol
management theory Purpose of
the managerial functions is to
communicate and coordinate
the activities of lower
management and higher
management.
Leadership ensures the
coordination and effectiveness
of the team members.
Power These functions are performed
with the superior power and
authorities.
Leaders duties is to involve all
members and make them
aware with the current
situation so that they can
perform their duties well.
Duties These are generally formal
post of the job description.
Duties of managers are much
focussed in achieving the
overall objective of M&S
(Kato and et.al., 2015).
Leadership duties are restricted
to the achievement of the team
goal. According to Frederick
Taylor’s management concept,
leaders have to work in such
direction so that increase the
productivity of their team
members can be increased.
4. Examples of different situations in organization and examining the roles of a leader and
functions of a manager in those situations.
The activities of the business runs with the various aspects to achieve the different
departmental goals. Managerial activities play an important part in coordinating various
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operational activities. Multiple department needs versatility in its behaviour (Choi, Chan and Yue,
2017). After examining the whole situation leader have to use decision making ability to improve
the performance and productivity of its employees.
For example, cultural change of the business can bring various modification in the working
techniques of an employee. In this situation manager tends to find out the easiest working
strategies for the workers while leader guides these activities and motivates employees. Leaders of
M&S have to take various steps to encourage and motivate employees (Operations management,
2018).
In this situation manager provides training sessions for labours while leaders of M&S
provide the motivation to employees. Leader can motivate its employees by inspiring their working
ideas and explaining them positive aspects of adopting the new technology (Hübner, Holzapfel and
Kuhn, 2015).
5. Different management and leadership theories that support growth and sustainable performance
of M&S
Managers and leaders adopt this kind of management principles to achieve the success of
the organisation. Growth of the entity can be determined by effective productivity of its
employees. In this advanced and modern world there is a requirement of managerial skills which
will contribute towards growth and better performance of the firm (Feng and et.al., 2014Some
management and leadership theories are explained below:
Situational leadership theory: This management theory helps leaders to develop multiple
situational decisions. This theory explains that there is no specific leadership style is good, leaders
have to behave different in each situation. Leader of M&S have to adopt this management theory
to deal with multiple situations accordingly. Growth and development of organisation is totally
depended on it.
Systems leadership theory: If the employees feel comfortable in adopting the system then
it will make the powerful organisation which ultimately contributes to the growth of business. This
leadership style generally adopted in the situation when entity has to make changes in existing
operations.
Contingency leadership approach: This can be referred as a situational approach in many
situations. This approach can influence the behaviour of leader by suggesting most appropriate
style of management in M&S. This approach helps M&S to sustain its position and accomplishing
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objective. Fiedler contingency theory states that leaders have to be self-motivated so that
employees also feel encouraged and perform well. By implementing this style M&S will be able to
retain its staff members in the firm for longer duration.
6. Strengths and weaknesses of different theories and approaches
These concepts help in managing business activities well. But every aspect of an enterprise
has to deal with both positive and negative circumstances.
Situational leadership theory
Strengths
 This would be helpful as it involves the quick solution of uncertain situations.
 It influences perception of people
Weakness
 It just concentrates on demographic feature, other elements are ignored by this leadership
approach (Choi, Chan and Yue, 2017).
 Human behaviour can be changed with situation thus; it is difficult to behave according to
the actual situation.
Systems leadership theory
Strengths
 System theory may provide a better opportunity to employees of M&S
 It is beneficial in raising efficiency level of operations (Schönsleben, 2016).
Weakness
 Individual decisions are not acceptable here.
Contingency leadership approach
Strengths
 It provides ultimate solution according the capabilities of leader.
 This approach is flexible because it also deals in situational decision-making.
 Contingency leadership theory is also helpful in identifying the correct leadership skills.
Weakness
 Leader can misuse its position and power by using this type of approach.
 Employees can also be influenced in negative aspect as it is all depends on the better
interaction and communication of leader (Hübner, Holzapfel and Kuhn, 2015).
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7. Conclusion about the way managers and leaders make impacts on the
organisation
Management and guidance is the successful key towards the growth of the business.
Decisions of managers have a great impact on the development of the business as a whole.
Managers works as a coordinator between the superiors and subordinates (Roth and et.al., 2016).
Managerial activities largely affect the management of the firm and ultimately this decision can
affect the objective of an organisation. Leaders can influence minds of workers by using their
communication skills. (Feng and et.al., 2014).
Leaders and managers both work to motivate employees and retain them in the firm for
longer duration. They provide them rewards and recognition so that they feel happy and work for
the longer duration. Leaders identify needs of employees and create positive working environment
for them so that they perform well and contribute in accomplishing goal of business unit.
Recommendations for future growth of organisation: M&S should upgrade and apply creative
ideas in the business to sustain its position. Technology sometimes plays an important part in
effective communication between the staff members so this must be improved timely.
TASK 2
1. Operation management system of M&S Ltd. And its key approaches.
Operations management is a business practices which helps in creating high level of
efficiency in an organisation. It is a process which transform goods and services that adds value to
the customer. Operational management helps in fulfilling the needs of customer (Bozarthand and
Handfield, 2018). M&S Ltd has made good operating decisions related to designing and executing
its transformation system to meet the needs of customers.
Key approaches of operation management: Six sigma: This approaches focuses on quality of process outcomes; this approach helps in
identifying the causes of defects to minimize variability. It is a strategic quality
management tools which described how process is performing. Lean manufacturing: this approach works on eliminating waste from the manufacturing
process which helps in creating value for customer, wasteful and thus a target for
elimination. the customer must strive to eliminate waste and cost from its business
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processes so that the customer optimal price can be achieved at the highest profit to the
company.
 Business Process Redesign: When business wants to grow it requires return on investment,
cost reduction, quality of service. An approaches to achieve these opportunities is to
redesign processes. A business process can be redesign in manufacturing, production,
marketing, sales etc. in such area.
2. Identifying the roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in operation management.
The operational manager plays an important role in an organization. As a retail stores
company, operational manager has to perform various task in management like planning, directing,
coordinating operations, decision taking, controlling inventory, man power allocation etc. the
successful management of operation relies on roles and responsibilities of operational manager.
The roles of operational manager are as follows: Production planning and control: operation manager has to decide the actions for
production as per the demand. Manager has to make plans as per the requirement from
customer orders and makes decisions for manufacturing and production planning and
ensures to meet the customer satisfaction. Production: after making production planning, the next function of manager is to ensure
manufacturing of finished goods as per the planning and customer requirement. Inspection: after production is over, it is the duty of the manager to check the quality of
product, which is final inspection (Day and et.al., 2018). Inspection for controlling the
quality of raw material and components are also necessary.
 Maintenance: operational manager is also responsible for time to time maintenance of
plant and machineries to prevent loss of production.
3. Explaining the importance and value of the key approaches to operations management in
achieving objectives.
A systematic approach to operational management helps in improving an organization's
performance and helps in achieving business objectives successfully. Key approaches of operation
management concerns with the structure and procedure of implementing strategy.
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The importance of operation management approaches is: Evaluation: Achieving organizational objectives efficiently depends on the ability of the
manager to understand and implement strategic plan. Benchmarking and monitoring the
operations continuously eliminates inefficiency such as shortage of raw material, excess
inventory or over-staffing. Scope of operations: operations are business's day to day activity that creates unique value
and achieve core objectives (Silberschatz and et.al., 2014). Operation management plays a
vital role that contribute towards the overall success of the organization. Resources: resources include the financial, labour, equipment and material requirement to
perform the operations activity. The role of operations enables the company in meeting the
business target and objective successfully with the use of minimum resources. Resources
inputs and production target helps in achieving organizational effectiveness.
 Capacity: it is an ability to perform task as per the quality and quantity standards.
Operational management helps to evaluate the technical and production capacity of
company's resources.
4.Evaluating the importance of managers and leaders’ effectiveness in improving operational
efficiencies to meet business objectives.
An operational manager takes on task to designed and improve productivity and assists in
growth of the organization. Some of the business function is directly affected by the operations
manager such as purchasing, manufacturing, shipping, packaging, company finance etc. However,
it is critically evaluated that operational manager helps in achieving company's objectives by
improving operational efficiencies.
The importance of operation manager's effectiveness in improving operational efficiency of
M&S Ltd: Training: Operational manager work with the human resource department to develop more
efficient ways for employees to do their jobs. Operation manager helps in finding ways to
increase the productivity of employees. To achieve this, operation manager developed
various training program that an employee can undertake to increase their personal
productivity. It will help in increasing the operational function of the organization.
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 Revenue collection: the operation manager is in charge of billing and revenue collection.
By analysing revenue collection procedures, manager helps in creating ways to collecting
revenue quickly to make sure the company has sufficient liquidity cash. It helps in
strengthens the company's ability to expand its operations.
 Equipment Upgrades: One of the responsibilities of an operations manager is to analyse
work functions and determine what equipment upgrades would improve productivity. The
operation manager determines which equipment changes will improve company efficiency,
creates budget for implementing the changes and handling the report to executive team for
consideration.
5. Assessing the impact of external business environment factors on operational management
decisions by managers and leaders.
Organisation is a social entity whose activities are always affected by the environment. In
organization, every decisions and actions of manager and leaders are influenced by the
environment (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014). The impact of external environment on mangers
and leader’s decisions are: Economic Dimension: These factors of the economy always affect the demand for
products. During inflation, the manager has to make plans for the purchase of the raw
material at higher price which can be compensated by increasing the price of products.
During unemployment era, the managers has to be more selective in their hiring decisions
of new employees Technological Dimension: with the rapid changes in the technology, managers has to make
decisions to invest in adopting new technology and implementing in operation functions.
 Socio-cultural dimensions: the socio-cultural dimensions must be well studied by a
manager (External Environment: Introduction (GCSE). 2018). It indicates the product,
services and standards of conduct that the society is likely to value and appreciate.
Manager or leader’s decision related to production of particular item varies with the change
in demand of products or service of customers. Competitors: Decisions made by managers are often influenced by competitors. the
competitive companies in the market always plans to go ahead of its competitors. The
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