A Report on Leadership, Management, and Operations at Nando's

This report delves into the management and operational activities of Nando's, a fast-food chain operating in the United Kingdom. The report begins by comparing and defining the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers within an organization, emphasizing their distinct motivations and decision-making processes. It then explores various situations where leadership and management skills are crucial, such as risk-taking, decision-making, problem-solving, and team building, using Nando's UK as a case study. The report applies different leadership theories and models, including situational leadership, systems leadership, and contingency theory, to the context of Nando's, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. It also describes different approaches within the work environment, such as trait theory, behavioral theory, and human relations theory, and critically evaluates their effectiveness. The report highlights the importance of effective leadership and management in achieving business objectives, improving operational efficiency, and adapting to the business environment.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a). Comparing and defining the different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager in
an organisation............................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
A Key approaches to operation management and role that leaders and managers play.............8
B Importance and value of operation management in achieving the business objectives..........9
C Factors within business environment which impacts operational management and decision-
making by leaders and managers..............................................................................................10
D How leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management...............11
E Different factors affecting business environment and wider community..............................11
F Critical evaluation of operational management and factors impacting wider business
environment...............................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is related with the developing and designing product and
services in a production process. It is a systematic process where row material and other
components converting in to finished goods and services according to their quality standards. It
can help to attain organisational goals and objectives in a effective manner (Andreassi and et.
al.,2009). There are various operational activities such as cost control, quality management,
maximum utilization of firm's resources etc. can used be the manager. Management is related
with the effective control and coordination of overall operational activities in order to meet the
customer needs. The present report is based on the Nando's which is fast food chain operate their
business in United Kingdom (Berkes, 2009). The firm's is provide wide range of food products
with highest quality to their customer. The below described report is about the management and
operational activities and its role in the organisational success. Apart form that this report also
mentioned about the strength and weaknesses of the different situational theories.
TASK 1
a). Comparing and defining the different roles and characteristics of a leader and manager in an
organisation
For the success of the any organisation there should be common goals and objectives.
The role of leader in any organisation is to assist the company attain its goal and objective.
Leader is a person who create a vision for the organisation and inspire the people in the firm to
achieve that vision. Manager is the person who work for the vision and make a team so that firm
can get to its desired goals (Bruccoleri, Pasek and Koren, 2006). Leader motivate the people by
his work and knowledge while on the other hand manager uses his management skills to make
the people work for him. Following are the role and characteristics of manager and leader:
Roles and characteristics of Leader Roles and characteristics of manager
An effective leader is motivated by the long
term goals of the company and also influence
the people achieve those goals.
Managers are motivated and focused towards
short tern goals of the company.
A leader is a person who makes decision taking
the whole company in consideration which help
A manager is a person who makes decision
taking there specified team into consideration

them in attaining overall long-term objectives. which will help them to achieve short-term
goals.
The major role of leader is to motivate people by
his own work (Haider and Riaz, 2010).
The manager is more focused towards
completion of any task allotted to there team by
motivating people by using there management
tactics.
There should be proper two way communication
medium between leader and his subordinates.
Manager emphasis on one way communication
between them and there sub-ordinates
An effective leader should stay calm and
confident in case of adverse situation.
Manager sometimes uses strict techniques to
achieve there dead line limits (Heizer and et.al.,
2009).
b).Explain various situation in which role of manager and leader is to be applied in different
business situation
An business organisation has to face many positive and negative situation. Leaders and managers
plays a vital role in the company to tackle such situation. They have to perform there roles and
functions in a very efficient manner so that the mission and vision of the firm can be achieved
without compromising on the performance of the company's operation. Nando's UK is an casual
dining restaurant chain which started its operations in 1992 in UK, since then it has achieved
new heights (Hongwei, 2007). There are following different situation which can be faced by
Nando's UK:
 Ability to take risk- To lead success in a food industry every manger and leader have to
be a risk taker. The manager of Nando's UK has to face situations such as recession, crisis
etc. and take risky decisions like firing of some workforce, closing of loss making stores
etc. If these risky decisions are not taken by the management then company will not
generate any profit.
 Making of decision- All the employees should involved by the manager in making the
regarding the firm because workforce of any organisation is the most crucial element.
The manager of Nando's should respect and consider the idea of their workers which will
in-turn help to increase the satisfaction level of the workers working in the company. To

achieve all the objective whether long-term or short-term can be achieved with effective
decision taken by the management (Johnston, 2005).
 Solving of problem- An effective manager should focus to resolve all the problems
faced by its employees. There can be scenario of high labour turnover if workers issue are
not been solved. The manager of Nando's can also use some effective tools and
techniques so that problem of there employees can be solved.
 Team Building- To achieve the long-term and short-term goals leader should create
small teams which will help in increasing the quality of work in this competitive
environment. Manager will focus on creating effective teams so that overall performance
of Nando's can be improved (Kim and et. al., 2010).
c). Applying various theories and models including situational leadership, systems leadership
and contingency in context to your organisation.
There are various tools and theories which can help the organisation to achieve there
desired goals and objectives. The management of Nando's can use following tools and models to
enhance the overall performance of the organisation and increase its market share and
profitability.
 Situational Theory or contingency theory – No leadership style is best for any business or
business unit, especially in fast-food retailing business. The organisation has to adapt
different leadership theories depending on the situation which will in-turn help the
organisation in achievements of its goals. Unique factor relating to each situation
determine whether specific leadership technique will be effective or not. The theory used
should be used based on the happening or not happening of contingent event (Krajewski,
Ritzman,and Malhotra,2013Krajewski,Ritzman,and Malhotra,2013Kuruppuarachchi,and
Perera, 2010).
 Behavioural Theory - The behaviour of leader plays a very important role in deciding the
leadership of the company. A leader should behave in a manner by which he can inspire
other people and create a positive environment in the organisation. There are 4 types of
leaders in this theory:
Autocratic leaders and manager are the leaders who take decision without consulting
from there sub-ordinates

Paternalistic leaders are the leaders who plays paternal role for there subordinates and
they take decision taking complete concern for there workers.
Democratic leaders are very open-minded they believe social-equality. These leader are
very open-minded and welcome any suggestions from there employees.
Transactional leaders are the leaders who try to motivate there employees by providing
them rewards on the basis of there performance.
 System Leadership –There are many department in the organisation at various levels
which includes higher, middle, lower. This theory focuses on collaboration between
various departments so that overall performance of the organisation can be enhanced as
it is a collective work of all the organisation. This will be the best leadership approach
for Nando's as this will help the company to increase its operational efficiency.
d). Differentiation and analysing among the functions of a leader and application of various
theories There major quality of an effective leader is that he can motivate there sub-
ordinates and inspire them to achieve the firms overall goal and objective. However, the
major quality of an manager is that he can control of the tasks related to each department
his main focus is on attaining short-term goals so that vision of the company can be
fulfilled (LI, MING and MA, 2007). Nando's have over 300 outlets in UK and a
workforce of over 8000 people so it is necessary for Nando's to have effective manager
and leaders to control all the business operations of company in the most efficient
manner. The leader in the Nando's should have following traits:
Strategic function: The major task of leader is to form business strategies and top level
decision making which help the company in achieving the desired goals and objectives. This
strategy can provide direction for the long term to the company. Leader has the vision for the
company and they accordingly makes strategies to achieve those vision.
Individual Function: The leadership team of Nando's has to duty to check the quality of
food served in there various outlets and makes sure the food taste same in all the outlets across
country to maintain there brand image this strategy is important as Nando's is famous for its
quality and taste of food. The leader should make some policies to increase the level of customer
satisfaction (Lin and McDonough 2011).
Following are the function of manager:

Task function: The main function of manager is to define specified work to the concerned
department such as production, quality, finance and HR and make sure that the concerned
departments fulfil those work on time. It is the duty of manager to allocate the resources to each
department and take regular feedback. Also, he has the responsibility for quality of food and
service . Maintaining financial control is also the responsibility of the manager.
Individual Function: It is also the duty of the manager of Nando's to conduct eetsing with
the team member and communicate with them there job. Maintaining culture and discipline
within the business organisation is also the duty of manager (Liu and et. al., 2008).
From above we can conclude that leader has the focus on people related to the organisation and
manager has the focus on individual projects of the organisation.
e). Describe different approaches within the work environment and assess there strength and
weakness work environment.
There are various approaches followed by the management of Nando's to achieve its
overall business objectives. Each theory has there own strength and weaknesses which will
indeed in the performance of the company. Following are the different approaches with there
strength and weaknesses-
Trait theory: This theory is related to the traits and behavioural aspect of different human being.
It helps in understanding the reaction of people on various issues. The strength of this theory is
that it enables the organisation to understand the characteristics of the person using statistical
data. The weaknesses of this theory is that the behaviour of person in future can not be predicted.
Behavioural Theory: This theory helps the company in understanding the behaviour and attitude
of the person. The person can be motivated on the basis of his behaviour (Mayer, Kuenzi and
Greenbaum, 2010). The strength of this behavioural theory is that it helps to improve the
relationship between employer and employee. The major downside of this theory is that it is very
difficult to identify the behaviour of any person.
Human relation Theory: With the help of this theory communication within all the employees
can be improved. This theory can be very effective for Nando's as it has many employees and
company directly deals with the customer. The strength of this theory is that relation amopng the
people will be improved while the weakness is it will be difficult for the employees to establish
relationship with customers (Morgeson, DeRue, and Karam, 2010).

f.) Critically analysing and evaluation of different theories
Various styles can be used by the situational leader of Nando's to control different
situation faced by the company and improve business operation of the firm. The leadership style
of Nando's is focused towards management of different components of business as the firm have
many department. This theory is very important for the company because people in the
organisation can communicate there role and responsibility and attain overall goal and objectives
Behavioural theory is also very important for the Nando's but it is very less effective then
situational and system approach. The company is related to food industry so there are few
leadership traits not suitable for the firm. Autocratic style of leadership should be used as
compared to democratic style for saving time on decision making.
Hence it can be said that system approach and situational theory is more reliable for
Nando's to maintain operational efficiency within the organisation (Müller and Turner, 2010).
TASK 2
A Key approaches to operation management and role that leaders and managers play
It is important for a company is to make focused on their operational activities which can
help to provide productivity and efficiency. There are various tools and techniques which can be
used by a business unit in order to make effective control over cost, effective utilization of
organisational resources and maintain productivity. Nando's to use these tools operations
approaches which can increase output which can leads to profitability which is a common goal of
a business organisation (Olsen and Sætre, 2007). These approaches are given below:
Six sigma approach: Customer satisfaction is the major goal of the firm which can
increase the profitability. Six sigma technique is related with the improvement in the existing
process and deliver high quality products and services to its customers. Therefore, Nando's
required that to use six sigma concepts in order to attain their disable goals. Apart from that in
the food industry there are various laws and legislation which should be followed by the
company. This approach can help in the quality management and increase the competitive
position of the business organisation in the market. The main aim of this tools is to reducing the
wastage and increase the quality of food which can provide customer satisfaction (Pansiri and
Temtime, 2008).

Role of manager: As a manger of Nando's food there are various roles and
responsibilities regarding the various operational activities specially in the implementation and
control of various strategies and plan. A manager is required to check quality of food and make
sure that it can meet their standards. Apart form that he is also responsible regarding the wastage
control at the workplace and make various guidelines regarding them.
Lean approach: This is another significant approach which is related with the
eliminating the wastage and adding the customer value in order to provide high quality food to
them. This approach can be used by Nando's in order to increase firm's productivity in a efficient
manner. Manager of the company can use flexible and effective methods in their operational
activities (Patnaik and et. al., 2009). The function of a manager is that to coordinate with all
department, so that they can deliver products just in time to its customers, set the quality
standards and match their products and services with them. It can help to improvement in the
quality of the products which can leads to increase customer satisfaction level.
B Importance and value of operation management in achieving the business objectives
Operations management is essential part in a business unit which is concentrate on the
transformation of row material and other components in to product and services in order to
satisfy customer needs. It having great important in achieving firm's goals and objectives and
helps to sustain in the market as given below:
To improve productivity: It is significant for a business organisation is that to maintain
productivity. It is related with the firms output without compromising with the quality of
products and services. Therefore, Nando's required that to use operational management tools
which can help to improve productivity. For this, they can use total quality management which
can help to increase food quality and enhance output. For example, company can use automotive
system in their production process which can reducing time and same money rather than
traditional approaches (Rani and Moreira, 2011).
Total Quality approach: Quality is one of the essential factor in a business organisation
and its success. Operation management helps to maintain quality of goods and services and
enhance customer satisfaction which can leads to increase profit. Nando's can use various
methods of quality control which can increase their food performance according to their
established standards.

Customer satisfaction: This is one of the main objective of a business specially in the
food sector. OM can provide various strategies and plan such as quality management, supply
chain and others. These tools can be used by Nando's and increase their fast food quality which
can provide competitive advantage over rival companies. The most important thing is that they
have to determine their customer need and make products according which can increase the
customer loyalty.
Effective utilization of resources: There are various resources such as man, machine
and capital having a great significant. Operation management converting these resources in to
finished goods. It can also provide various tactics which can help to eliminating wastage and
increase the profitability and revenue of the company which is a common goal of every business
unit (Ravi, 2008).
C Factors within business environment which impacts operational management and decision-
making by leaders and managers
There are various factors such as internal and external factors which can influenced the
operational management activities and decision-making of the company. Micro factors can be
controlled by the company and macro factors can not be controlled. Therefore, Nando's can
required to determine and analyses these factors carefully which can help to attain their long
term goals and objectives.
Micro factors: These factors are related with the internal environment of a business
organisation. All these factors are related with the organisation and management which can
include financial resources, HR, firm's culture, leadership, employees, customers, suppliers etc.
for example, change in the interest rate can affects their expansion plan which can adverse
impact on their operational activities. Relationship between employer-employees also affects
decision-making of the manager. If staff can create a conflicts regarding their wage and pay, they
can stop their production which can affects company performance. Organisational culture also
affects their decision-making (Salahuddin, 2010). Nando's is one of the leading food and coffee
chain which requires talented staff, lack of quality workforce can affects the operational
decision-making of the company.
Macro factors: These factors are also significant for the company. It can include
Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal factors. These elements
can influenced a business positively or negatively. Political factors are related with the

government stability and trade policies of country. In the United Kingdom government are stable
which is a good sign for Nando's. Apart form that trade and business policies are also promote
business which can provide good opportunities for the company. On the other hand, if these
policies can not favourable for an organisation. It can adverse impact on the growth and
development of the company. Economic factors are related with the fiscal and monetary policy
of the country. It can include growth, interest, inflation, and employment rate etc. if these
elements are favourable for the business unit, it can provide good opportunities in the near
future. Customer expectations, trends, fashion and needs are change over a period of time which
required for the company to make their decision accordingly (Schyns and Schilling, 2011).
Technological factor also significant for the company which is related with the innovation and
technology.
D How leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management
It is essential for the Nando's to increase operational and administration efficiencies at the
workplace. It is one of the major function of a manager is to use different methods and
approaches which can increase organisational efficiencies and performance. These approaches
includes supply chain, quality, inventory control, cost control and training and development.
These tools can help to increase the productivity and enhance employees performance. Inventory
control is one of the important function of a leader which can manage the inventory with the
minimum cost. In the food chain company, inventory management is one of the competitive and
complex task which is related with stock management and supply goods and services at the right
time. Supply chain is another function which can also improve performance and output (Strong,
2009). Nando's required that to select appropriate suppliers which can provide their row
materials at the right time with lower cost. Apart form that, it is responsibilities of a manager is
to maintain good relation with them. Cost control is a tool which can overcome the wastage and
increase the profitability of the company. There are various tools of cost control such as
budgeting, planning, tracking etc. can be used for the eliminating cost of the goods. Training is
another important task which is performed by the leader. Customer needs can be change after a
period of time which required to modification in the product. Apart for that, business
environment also chaining to meet such change training is required in the company (Zeng and
Hou, 2007).

E Different factors affecting business environment and wider community
There are following factors which can affects business:
Political factors: This factors is a major factors which can influenced a organisation
directly. Government stability in the country is important for growth and development of a
business unit. There are various policies and legislation which are made by the government such
as fiscal and minatory policy.
Economical factors: This is external factor which is related with the economic growth of
the United Kingdom. These factors can include income of the consumer, foreign direct
investment, interest and fiscal rate and employment condition. These elements having a large
impact on the business activities (Wang and Zhang, 2007).
Social factors: It includes social trends, age distribution, income level, cultural and
ethical issues, age etc. factors can includes demographics, age distribution, income distribution,
population, education, ethical issues, consumer trends etc.. these factors also affects the demand
of firm's product. For example, change in the taste and preferences are required to change
organisation's existing food items (YUAN and et. al., 2008).
Technological factors: These factors are related with the innovation and technology
which also influenced the business. For example, in the present era company can sell their
product through online which can increase firms revenue.
Environment factors: Today customer is more sensitive on the environmental and
climate issues which also affects the business and its growth. Therefore Nando's required that to
make their product which having less impact on the environment. It can also increase the image
of the company in the market (Weiss, 2010).
Legal factors: There are various laws and legislation which should be followed by the
company. These laws also impact on the business activities and operations. For example,
increase in the minimum wage rate can reducing the revenue of the company.
F Critical evaluation of operational management and factors impacting wider business
environment
Operational management and its application are played a significant role in the internal
and external environment of a company. The approaches of operation can provide various tools
and techniques which can be used for overcoming potential risk on the business. It is essential
for Nando's is to make a effective control which can help to improve efficiency and productivity.