Operations Management: Leadership Theories and ASDA's Approach

This report provides an overview of operations management, focusing on the roles and functions of leaders and managers within an organization, specifically using ASDA as a case study. It defines and compares the characteristics of leaders and managers, examining their application in different situational contexts such as slow to moderate changing situations, stable situations, and fast-changing situations. The report also applies various leadership theories and models, including systems leadership, contingency leadership, and situational leadership, to analyze the approach of leaders and managers in business operations. Furthermore, it explains key approaches to operations management, such as lean production and Six Sigma, and evaluates the impact of the business environment on the decision-making processes of leaders and managers at ASDA. Desklib provides access to solved assignments and study tools for students.

MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.......................................................................................................................................10
Reference list............................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Operations management is defined as the process of integrating and managing the various
business processes of the organization to ensure high efficiency and timely completion. The
purpose of the assignment is to focus on the operations and management of an organization.
The assignment will reflect the roles and functions of a leader and a manager within an
organization. Significance of the role played by the leaders and managers in different
situational context will be discussed. In addition, variety of theories regarding the approach
of leadership and management such as are going to be demonstrated. Further, in this project,
key approaches towards operations management and its value in accomplishing
organizational objectives along side impact of business environment on decision-making of
managers and leaders will be discussed.
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Task 1
P1 Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager
Leaders:
Leaders are the individuals within an organization that leads and directs the group of
employees towards the aim and objectives of the company. The main purpose of a leader
involves inspiring the workforce to make sure they perform as per the expectation level
regarding the tasks assigned to them. Leadership is the ability of a person to motivate the
employees to make them dedicated and effective in attaining the organizational goals and
objectives.
Function of leaders:
The function of a leader within an organization is to encourage and inspire the workforce for
making them perform effectively to meet the goals and objectives set by the management.
The function of leaders of Asda constitutes of taking swift, flexible, and decisive actions
(Antonakis and Day, 2017). The function of leaders also involves ensuring that the company
earns competitive edge in the marketplace. It is the duty of the leaders to provide direction to
the employees, as it is highly significant for the employees to know where they are heading.
Five of the ten golden rules of leadership followed by the leaders of Asda are mentioned
below:
Knowing self:
The leaders of the company must be well aware of the strengths and weaknesses possessed by
them.
Appreciation of truth:
The leaders of the company should always appreciate the truth. Being the leader of an
organization, their duty is to be on the side and favour the person who speaks truth.
Endorsement of healthy competition to bring out talent:
The leaders of the company must always endorse healthy competition among the employees
of the company in order to identify the talented employees.
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Avoid things that the leader cannot change:
Leaders of the company must be sensible and intelligent enough efficiently utilize the time
and resources of the company to ensure optimum use.
Raising the community of workplace:
The leaders of the company are virtuous to cultivate a positive working environment through
providing proper support, incentives, and direction to the employees.
Managers:
Manager is the individual who gets things done by manipulating the employees through their
managerial abilities and skills. The managers decide the tasks that are allocated to the
employees within the organization on a regular basis. Managers are the individuals who
oversee and coordinate the work of employees in order to meet the organizational goals and
objectives. They play a vital role in devising strategies, budget, as well as organizing the
tasks of workforce.
Functions of Managers:
The function of the managers of Asda comprises of planning, organizing, controlling, and
leading. It is the role of the managers of the company to plan the strategies and budget of the
company for conducting the operations (Lussier and Achua, 2015). The managers of
organization arrange the work for the employees and lead them by working with them and
supporting them in order to attain the organizational objectives. Lastly, a manager also
monitors and compares the work to check the progress of the employees and their efficiency
in work.
As per stated by Mintzberg Theory the three types of role are Interpersonal roles,
Informational roles, Decisional roles. The managers of different functional department of
Asda play these above-mentioned roles in an integrated manner. The managers of Asda have
technical, human, and conceptual skills that help them to perform efficiently towards the
attainment of organizational goals and objectives.
P2 Examine examples of how the role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in
different situational contexts
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In an organization, several situations take place that play a vital role in fostering as well as
hindering the operations of the company. It is the duty of the managers and leaders to respond
to these situational changes to make the most of it. In this section, the role of a leader and a
manager will be applied in the situational context that varies from time to time.
Slow to moderate changing situations:
In slow to moderate changing situation, considerable changes occur within the business
environment of the organization. The changes that take place vary from being slow to
moderate and then gradually pace up to being moderate. The changes can have a positive or
negative impact on the operations of the company. The changes that take place can affect the
internal and external business environment. In this, rather changes the leaders of Asda
attempts to make the employees adapt to the changes to ensure they work effectively
(Northouse, 2018). On contrary, the managers of the company involved in the managers of
the various functional departments assess the changes taking place in the business
environment and tries to figure it out and its impact on the operations of the company. The
analysis is to identify if the changes will have positive impact or negative impact.
Stable situations:
The leaders as well as the managers of Asda conduct their day-to-day activities in stable
situations. In this kind of situations, the mangers of the company develop the process of
communication for making it ascertain that every functional department of the company is
having effective communication. The leaders of the company on the other hand facilitates the
decision-making process for the management departments of the company, however, the
managers of the company carries on with their daily activities and does not responses so
much.
Fast changing situations:
In fast changing situations, the mangers, as well as the leaders of the company has to swift
enough to respond to the situations and take effective decisions. In this kind of situations, the
changes that occur within the business environment of the company are quick in nature. The
leaders of the company gets accustomed to the changes swiftly and enforces the employees of
the organization to get adapt to the changes. Due to being rapid in nature, these changes
taking place in the business environment make it quite tough for the employees of the
company getting suited to the changes and due to this fact, the performance of the workforce
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starts depreciating. Inefficiencies in the performance of the employees create a negative
effect on the business operations of the organization (DuBrin, 2015). On the other hand,
managers of the company play a vital role, as they are the ones accountable for taking
efficient and swift decisions concerning the business operations of the organization. The
managers have to integrate immense amount changes in the business environment in a short
amount of time to make sure the operations get intact with the changes.
Therefore, these are the roles played by a manager and a leader is the changing situations that
take place within the company.
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P3 Apply different theories and models of approach, including situational leadership,
systems leadership and contingency
This segment of the assignment will show the variety of theories and models being applied
to analyze the approach of the leaders and managers regarding the business operations of the
company. The theories are discussed in details below:
Systems leadership:
Implementing the systems leadership approach within the company and the operations
management activities makes sure that the leaders along with the managers perform
efficiently in order to attain the organizational aims and objectives. This approach supports
the company to overcome the challenges through recognizing the basic structure of the
systems operating in the organization. As per this model, every multinational company is a
system itself and constitutes of numerous sub-systems like recruitment system, production
system, promotion system, sale system, marketing system, and financial system (Macdonald
et al., 2017). Asda operates on sub-systems and results as per the quality of inputs or the
resources such as technology, staffs, transformation procedure utilized to convert the input to
output, and the capital required.
Contingency leadership:
As stated by this model, “there is no best approach to management for every situation”.
According to this model, the managers are responsible for deciding upon the best managerial
approach that would be most suitable and fruitful for the organizational sales and profitability
(Fiedler, 2015). Appropriate managerial approach is required in order to be efficient in
problematic circumstances. Managers are accountable for assess the external business
environment comprising of market competition, clientele expectation, and the internal
working environment including corporate strategies. It helps the company to alter the role of
leaders and managers based on the situation.
Situational leadership:
With the application of situational leadership theory, within the management of the company
ascertains that the leaders are effectively utilizing the approach of leadership as per the
growth level of followers (Thompson and Glasø, 2015). It is the main factor for determining
and setting up on the most appropriate style of leadership. It makes it possible for the Asda to
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make leaders operate based on the group of employees allocated to them. Thus, this helps in
making the leaders perform effectively. It has been stated by this model that to perform
effectively leaders must utilize and behave appropriately at the correct time for the
development of workforce.
Thus, these are some of the leadership theories applied by Asda to improve the performance
of managers and leaders.
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Task 2
Introduction
This report will explore the basic approaches that are used by the managers and leaders of
Asda in order to enhance their operation management activities. The value as well as
importance of operation management in increasing the business of the company will be
evaluated in a detailed manner. The different aspects and factors that have a major impact on
the decision making process of the leaders of Asda will be discussed in this report.
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers play.
Operation management is the process that helps in maintaining the different operational
activities of the business firm (Mheducation.co.uk, 2018). These activities include ensuring
that the resources are used efficiently, the day-to-day duties of the members are effectively
carried out and other activities of the firm. The key approaches of operation management that
are used by the managers and leaders of Asda have been discussed below:
Lean Production
The managers of Asda apply lean production approach and try to understand the value of
their products from the perspective of the consumers so that they are able to determine
accurate pricing strategy. The leaders of the company encourage their employees to increase
their productivity in a creative manner within limited resources (Www2.gsu.edu, 2018). Lean
production helps in increasing the value of service or products of Asda by eliminating certain
other aspects such as they try to reduce production of those products that are not generating
them any revenue. This allows them to enhance the production of products that are in demand
among the consumers.
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Figure 1: Lean Production
(Source: Dennis, 2016)
The managers of the company are able to maintain their operational cost with the help of this
theory. This approach is focused on utilizing the available resources in the most beneficial
manner and help in improving the quality of the products that are provided by Asda.
Six Sigma Approach
Six Sigma is one of the most popular quality control programs that are used by the
management of Asda. This program utilizes the available statistics, consumer trends and
financial data of the company, so that the manager can gain information on how they can
improve the functionality of their company (Pyzdek and Keller, 2014). The managers of Asda
make use of this approach to ensure that they provide superior quality products to their
consumers. DMAIC are the basic steps that must be followed in order to implement this
approach. D-define, M-measure, A- analyze, I-improve, C-control.
Roles of leaders
The leaders ensure that their staff members are motivated and they have the responsibility of
ensuring that all the basic requirements of their staffs such as safety working environment,
positive employee relation and more are maintained in an effective manner. The leader assists
the employees with creative ideas in order to introduce new products that will benefit the
firm.
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Role of managers
The managers oversee that all the production and delivery of the company is maintain din the
most effective manner. The mangers are required to look after the tasks of their employees
and needs to ensure that all the tasks are completed within the deadlines. They have the
responsibility of providing training sessions to their employees in order to improve their
skills.
Figure 2: Six Sigma Themes
(Source: Gijo et al., 2018)
This approach allows the managers of Asda to gain information regarding their faulty or
damaged products. This method allows the mangers to reduce the defect rate of their products
and contributes towards increasing the product quality. Finance managers of the company
make use of this approach in order to control the overall expenditure of their operation
management. This technique allows the company to increase its customer satisfaction level
and enhance their customer base.
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.
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