Operational Management: Roles, Theories and Approaches - Unit 4 Report

This report examines the roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders within the context of operational management, using Marks and Spencer's Ltd as a case study. It explores the differences between managers and leaders, detailing their interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles, along with their functions in planning, organizing, staffing, coordinating, and controlling operations. The report delves into leadership in various situational contexts, such as budget and resource allocation, and strategic business planning. It also covers different operational management theories, including scientific and administrative approaches, as well as system theory. Furthermore, the report discusses the key approaches to operational management and the importance of aligning operations with business objectives, including the impact of the business environment on decision-making processes.

UNIT 4 MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
LO1.........................................................................................................................................1
P1 What are the roles and responsibilities of the managers and the leaders in the operation's
management............................................................................................................................1
LO2.........................................................................................................................................2
P2 Role of leader and function of manager in various situational context.............................2
P3 Different theories and approaches of operational management........................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
LO3.........................................................................................................................................5
P4 Key approaches of operational management and role of leaders and managers...............5
P5 Importance of operational management to achieve business objectives...........................7
LO4.........................................................................................................................................7
P6 Impact of business environment on operation's management and the decision making by
leaders and managers on:........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
The effective management of the various operations that are been taken into the
consideration by the organisation in order to gain a proper productivity and profitability. The
management of the various operations will give the company a better idea of the different factors
that can impact the productivity and profitability of business firm (Osei-Kyei, Chan and
Ameyaw, 2017). For the report, Marks and Spencer's Ltd is been taken as the organisation of
context. It is a UK based firm, working in the retail sector. This report will focus on the various
attributes and traits of the managers and the leaders at the workplace along with their roles and
responsibilities. Their importance on the better management of the operations and various factors
affecting it. Besides this, various leadership models and techniques are been taken into the
consideration. Various key approaches of the operational management and various factors that
affect the effective decision making is been taken into the consideration (Chandra and Wella,
2017).
TASK 1
LO1
P1 What are the roles and responsibilities of the managers and the leaders in the operation's
management.
Marks And Spencer's also known as the M & S, is a UK based firm that works in the
retail sector. It is one of the biggest retail brand in world and operates in many countries all over
the world. The M & S has the limited level of organisational structure consists of administration
level and front line employee's and managers or leaders. A manager is the responsible person
which is been placed in a department or the office and look after or manage the various
operations of the cited firm. While, on the other hand, a leader is the person with the authority
that works under the manager and will look after the effective formation of a team of employee's,
their needs and requirements and carrying out of the various operations art the workplace. The
managers and leaders will play a very important and vital role in the management of the various
operations that are been taken into the consideration for the better growth and development of
the firm (Gaichas and et.al., 2017). These roles and responsibilities of the managers and the
leaders will help M & S to satisfy the needs and demands of the customers or the clients. The
managers and the leaders will have a very distinctive roles and responsibilities according to
various theories, such as:
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Roles played by managers:
 Interpersonal role: They will deal with the various types of the employees, suppliers
and the customers of M & S and will look after that the information that is been provided
to the leaders and the commands given by them is been efficiently executed. Also, they
will act as the coordinator between the various departments in the firm and will manage
the effective execution of different functions in company.
 Informational role: Managers and leaders will look after that better transfer of different
information by the management or the higher authority of M & S, to the lower authority
or leaders and employee's will go through the managers of the firm. They will act as the
intermediate and communication channel between the higher authority or management of
the cited firm and the employee's of the company (Cook, Husband and Boxall, 2016).
 Decisional role: The managers and leaders will also play very important role in decision
making at M & S and will help in the better management of the various resources that
helps the company to meet the operational requirements of business organisation. They
will act as the representative of the employee's in the meeting's and will keep their point
of view and demands in front of the company's management.
Other than this, the leaders also plays a very deep role in management of various
operations in compare to that of the managers, that will support the Marks and Spencer's to meet
the needs and requirements of the employee's on an effective scale. They will coordinate with the
managers of the firm to increase the productivity and the profitability of the firm. They will see
through the effective management of the team and the related operation for the better growth of
M & S.
They will play the very crucial and vital role in the various operations of the company for
its better growth and development such as:
 Planning: The managers will play a very vital and crucial role in the effective
management of the various operations of the planning in the cited firm. While the leaders
will look after the effective following of this plan and providing effective guidance to
carry out the various operations.
 Organising: The managers at M & S will look after the effective measures to organiser
various training programs and workshops for its employee's in various departments. The
leaders will see through it that the organised event or programme is well coordinated.
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 Staffing: The HR managers will conduct the interviews and other recruitment processes
at M & S. the leaders will see through the effective handling of the various training
methods and other post recruitment functions.
 Coordinating: The managers will see through the effective coordination among the
various departments of the company. The leaders will look after the various operations
that helps in the effective management of the various operations that will be followed for
the better coordination in company.
 Controlling: The managers will control the various operations that will be very crucial
for the organisation. The leaders will also, look after the effective and better management
of the controlling operations at M & S.
LO2
P2 Describe the role of leader and function of manager in different situational context.
The managers and leaders at M & S will see through the adoption of the different
operations that are required to be carried out in various situational context for the effective
management of various operations. The role played by the leader and the function of the manager
in carrying out of the various operations of M & S are as follows:
Budget allocation:
Function of manager: The manager will look after the various aspects of the expenses or the
revenues that are been generated by the cited firm and based on the analysis of requirements of
the company, he will propose a better budget allocation plan (Azcárate, Mallor and Mateo,
2017). Other than this, the managers will look after the effective allocation of budget or financial
help in various department of the firm.
Role of leader: The leader will look after that the budget allocated to the respective department
of M & S is been effectively received by the team without any hassle. Also, they will see through
the effective utilisation and minimisation of unwanted expenses from the budget by the team
members and effective carrying out of various organisational operations.
Resource allocation:
Function of manager: The manager of the respective department will communicate with the
supplier or the logistic department of the company to provide with the effective resources to
carry out the operations of the company. Besides this, they will also coordinate with the various
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departments in cited firm to get an idea of their requirements and fulfil them accordingly
(Falkowski and et.al., 2014).
Role of leader: The leader's at M & S will coordinate with the managers to provide them an idea
about the requirements of the team or the departments. Besides this, they will see through the
effective distribution of resources in the team of the department to carry various operations and
minimise or reduce the wastage.
Planning of strategic business plan:
Function of manager: The managers will access and analyse the various factors that can affect
the requirements of the cited firm and will give their input in the effective planning of business
strategy. The managers will coordinate the various departments and get the idea of requirements
of the company as well as the customers and will develop a strategic business plan accordingly.
Besides this, they will communicate with the leaders to get the business strategic plan effectively
implemented.
Role of leader: The leader will too, on their level will access the requirements and the demands
of the employee's as well as various operations that will help the firm to gain the better
productivity and profitability. They will look on the team level the essential changes that are
required to be made in order to successfully implement the newly developed strategic plan for
better growth and development.
This will help the firm to tackle and manage its operations in a decisive situation and
fulfil the needs and demands of the employee's as well as the customers who will be the integral
and the crucial part of the company and will contribute in the better handling of the various
operations at M & S.
P3 Different theories and approaches of operational management
The roles of the effective leadership and the management at the M & S has changed to a
great extent in the organisation from the traditional to the modern system (Sibilla and et.al.,
2014). Various theories such as scientific, situational, administrative will be taken into the
consideration by the employee's at the work place and will lead to the effective management and
leadership of the various operations at M & S. the management is the effective handling of the
various operation's or work processes while, the leadership is the ability to guide the employee's
to carry out the various operations and perform the tasks. Some effective theories of operational
management are:
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 Scientific theory: It is the most common used business theory in the world and includes
the various operations like planning, process design, quality control and waste control. It
gives a good understanding of the different steps and measures that can be adaptod for
the effective management of the business functions and operations. It focuses on the
quantitative analysis of the business operations in order to gain a better growth. It
includes the theories like Total Quality Management(TQM) and management information
system(MIS), to effectively carry out the various operations at cited firm (Auclair and
et.al., 2015).
 Administrative theory: This theory will help M & S to create an efficient organisational
structure which will help cited firm to have a better profitability and productivity. Apart
from this, it increases the effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.
It leads to operations having better modern management which includes:
 Division of labour: It includes the job specialisation in order to reduce the
dissatisfaction and poor quality of work.
 Authority and responsibilities: It includes the involvement of both formal and informal
authorities.
 Unity of Command: This reduces the organisational stress and establish the uniformity
in organisation.
 Line of Authority: The modern management, there is a line of command from the
higher authority to lower level in order to eliminate any sort of confusion.
Besides this, various theories and model of approaches are been used to have a better
management of the various operation's at M & S, such as:
 System Theory: This theory consider the organisation as the complex system, consisting
of various smaller, operational components (Mahdavi and et.al., 2018). The system is
required to managed properly for the better execution of the various operations at cited
firm. It involves the combined result of the efforts of individual employee's and the
departments. The system can be open or close, based on the operation.
 Contingency theory: This theory states that there is no appropriate or best way to
manage the operations of the company. The effective management of the various
operations at M & S will be based on the external and internal operational environment of
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the company, in which it operates. It includes the adjusting of the operational
management on the basis of the operations and environmental conditions.
 Situational theory: The situational theory states that the operational management of the
organisation is based on the various situations in which the company operates and the
managers or the leaders can alter the management process, depending on various
situations (Cobbold and Lord, 2014).
TASK 2
LO3
P4 Explain various key approaches of operational management and role of leaders and managers
Different key approaches are been taken into the consideration by the cited firm in order
to gain a better idea of the operational management. The various key approaches are:
 Planning: This involves the effective carrying out of the various operations that will be
carried out to manage the various operations of the cited firm. It involves the description
of the various processes to effectively use the available resources. The managers and
leaders at the cited firm will see through the various measures to increase the success of
the planning process and will give their input.
 Designing: It involves the usage of the effective usage of the various measures of the
product development and meeting the customers expectations in a very significant
manner. It helps in better monitoring and controlling of the various operations. Managers
and leaders of M & S will see through it that the work process is effectively designed in
order to have a better idea of the various operations performed by the company
(Litkowski and et.al., 2016).
 Managing: It involves the effective management of the various operations and handling
them effectively to carry out them for the better performance. It includes the training,
leadership and other vital activities. The managers and the leaders will see after the
better execution and management of different activities in M & S.
 Coordination: It involves the interrelation of the various operations and the employee's.
Various roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders in the cited firm, that will
improve the trust level and various operations of M & S. Managers and leaders will see
through the effective management of coordination between various employee's of
different departments.
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All these processes are been required to carry out the various operations in the
organisation and produce the effective outcome or products that will help the cited firm to gain a
better productivity and profitability by managing of the implementation of various key inputs
such as time and budget, by the manager (Kronhardt and et.al., 2015). On the other hand, the
leaders will look after the effective handling of the teams in the different departments, to carry
out the operations, that will aid in the company to meet the requirements of the consumers in a
very effective way.
Various operational approaches of operation's management is as follows:
 Lean production: This is the approach which is used to carry out the production by
reducing the wastage of the implemented resources by the organisation. It reduces the
over burdening of the system or the operations and improve the work efficiency of the
workers at cited firm.
 Total Quality management(TQM): It is the approach used by M & S to provide the
goods or the services with zero defect or issue to the customer's in order to have a better
idea of the various operations of the company. It will help the company to meet the
requirements of the external customer and improve the quality performance of every level
of the organisation. It helps the company to meet the quality standards, decided by
customers.
 Just in Time(JIT): This approach will help the cited firm to complete its operations on
the provided time, in order to gain a better customer satisfaction level (Alrhaimi and
Mugableh, 2017).
 Continuous improvement: In this approach, the regular improvement or enhancement
will be made, in order to have a better fulfilment of the changing needs of the customers.
The managers and the leaders will play a very vital role in the effective management of
the various functions that helps the firm to manage and implement the various approaches in a
very effective manner. Besides this, they will provide the essential guidance for the better
implementation of various operation or the measures. The input that are been required to carry
out the effective functions of the company will be the raw material, time, finance and work force
which will be processed at the M & S and will yield the effective better quality product or
services in the company for its customers. This will help in the better productivity and
profitability of the cited firm.
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P5 Importance of operational management to achieve business objectives
Operation management plays a very vital role in the effective handling of the various
operations that will help in the effective management of the various operations in the company.
The effective operation's management plays a very crucial role in the better management of the
various operation of the company. The effective management of the operation's will not only
help the company to meet the requirements of the organisations but also improves the
productivity of the company. The operation's management will help the company to meet the
requirements of the customers and gain a better profitability (Ebert, Ertl and Gaither, 2014).
Besides this, it helps in the effective growth of the success of the company by improving
the quality of the services or products provided to the consumers. Other than this, the various
operational management approaches like Total quality management, lean management or Just in
time will help the cited firm to meet the requirement of its consumers in a very effective manner.
Other than this, the effective planning and coordination of the various operations will help the
company to achieve its targeted goals and meet the requirements of the operations like effective
management of resources, funding, budgets etc. The increase in the operational efficiencies will
lead to the rise in the management and leadership qualities of the organisation. This will lead the
effective execution of the different operations and will help the company to attain its business
objectives by increasing the sales of M & S and generating the better revenues (Sharma and
et.al., 2018).
Operation's efficiencies at M & S can be improved for the better management of the
various operations that will help in the effective handling of the various operations in the
company. This will improve the productivity and profitability of the cited firm. The management
approaches discussed above helps in improving the efficiency of M & S. The leaders and
managers will look after the effective handling of the various operations that will help in the
better management of the various operations in the business organisation.
LO4
P6 Impact of business environment on operation's management and the decision making by
leaders and managers on:
 Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR): The CSR is the approach of the management of
the various operations by the organisation that are been based on the operations of the
company and will look after the better management of the different operations of the
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company in order to fulfil its responsibility towards the society. It is the form of the
obligation to meet the legal and social duties of the company. It will help M & S to meet
the issues of the globalisation, social demands of the customers and creating a transparent
environment. It consists of the various levels such as Social obligation, social
responsibility and the responsiveness and helps the company to meet them in a very
effective way (Barleyand McGowan, 2017). It helps the cited firm to build a better
relationship with the customers and gain a better understanding about their needs and
demands by bridging the gap between them.
 Business ethics: The effective maintenance of the operation's management will also help
the cited firm to follow the good business ethics and develop a better relation with stack
holders and suppliers. This will reduce the deceit and malpractices that will support the
organisation to meet the requirements of the company and the consumers.
 Stakeholder: The operation's management also helps in the effective management of the
relationships with the stack holder's of the company. These will help them to provide the
better satisfaction level and increase the profitability and investment in the firm, leading
to better execution of the various operations.
Besides this, the managers and the leaders will look after the better management of the
different business environment and help them to make better management and operational
decisions (Ryzhova and et.al., 2015). The factors mentioned above will help the M & S to have a
higher productivity and meet the requirements of the organisation in a better way to gain a
productivity for a long run in the company. Also, it will help the company to meet the
requirements of the customers on the wider level. For the better increase in the productivity, M &
S is recommended to increase the approach of CSR and customer engagement.
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the report it can be concluded that the effective management of the various
operation is very necessary for the rise of the productivity and profitability of the firm. This
report focused on the various attributes and traits of the managers and the leaders at the
workplace along with their roles and responsibilities. Their importance of better management of
operations and various factors affecting it, are been taken into the consideration. Besides this,
various leadership models and techniques are been taken into the consideration. Various key
approaches of the operational management and different factors that affect the effective decision
9

making is been taken into the consideration. Other than this, the affect of the operation's
management on the CSR, business ethics and satisfaction level of the stack holders of M & S.
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REFERENCES
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