Analysis of Leadership and Management Theories in Soft Company

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Management and Operations
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Executive Summary
The organisation needs to fulfil the individual requirements of the employees so that they can
get motivation to perform well. Pearson can apply situational leadership to make effective
decisions. It is found here that the leaders have to be confident while dealing with any
workplace related issue. Employees need to be motivated and encouraged by providing
incentives and rewards. In this study, the various factors existing within the managerial and
operational aspects of the organisation Soft Company has been explored and described.
Viable recommendations have been provided to the organisation that will help it with
improving its overall operations management.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Part one.......................................................................................................................................5
Part two....................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion and recommendations...........................................................................................14
Reference list............................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
Effective business strategies help the organisations to reach their target market and achieve
objectives. The managers and leaders have to focus on improvement of the skills and abilities
of their employees by fulfilling their individual needs. In this study, the roles and
responsibilities of managers and leaders have been highlighted in context of Soft Company.
Moreover, the differences between the job roles of leaders and managers have been stated
here along with the necessary changes in leadership style of Pearson, the production head of
Soft Company. The functions of leaders in different situations have also been evaluated here
with the help of different leadership theories and approaches.
All the key approaches to operations management have been discussed in this study so that
the role of managers and leaders in operational management can be identified. Furthermore,
the necessities of operation management to achieve business objectives of Sift Company have
been elaborated here. An assessment of the factors of business environment those are
influencing decision making of the managers and leaders have done here. Here, the affects of
these factors on wider community have been analysed. Critical evaluation of the application
of operations management of Soft Company has been done here.
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Part one
Introduction
The leaders can influence their workers to enhance their skills for performing in a better way.
In this section of the study, definition and comparison of the roles of leaders and managers
have been provided in reference to the production head of Soft Company. Joan Pearson needs
to know how to deal with different situational context so that her employees do not lose their
motivation or encouragement from their work.
Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and of a manager
As a leader of any organisation it is necessary to value the thoughts of each employee and
consider their opinion while making any business decisions. As commented by Dong et al.,
(2017), it can be said that the leaders can become a friend or philosopher at the time of
guiding their sub-ordinates. As per the given case scenario it can be said that if Joan Pearson
would behave friendly with her staffs instead of only commanding then the employees can
feel free to share all of their problems with her.
As a result, Pearson can ensure that the workers are getting a comfortable working
environment to enhance their performance. It can lead to increase in productivity of soft
company. Besides that, she can help her to understand the goals of their organisation and
align it with their personal objectives. Pearson also can share her business related knowledge
with the employees so that they can be able to improve their knowledge. As per trait theory
of leadership, the organisational leaders should be honest and maintain their integrity
towards their job (Eichinger and Lombardo, 2015).
Figure 1: Trait theory of leadership
(Source: Eichinger and Lombardo, 2015)
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The leaders need to have the capacity to motivate and influence internal employees so that
they can be able to work properly. In case of Pearson it is seen that due to her previous job
she believe only on giving instructions. Due to this reason, the employees are now showing
less interest to contribute in organisational productivity. Person has to be flexible enough to
adopt the working style of Soft Company and provide necessary guidance to the employees.
As stated by Hartnell et al., (2016), it can be said that one major trait of a leader is high level
of confidence to overcome any difficulties while performing the organisational tasks. Pearson
needs to take challenges and accept changes in working procedures. Moreover, the leader has
to allow employees to use their own ideas for innovation of products and services.
According to transactional theory of leadership, the organisational leaders should follow
some rules and regulations so that discipline of their organisation can be maintained (Holten
and Brenner, 2015). Pearson can maintain disciplines while managing day-to-day business
operations. The leader has to make sure that their employees are performing their daily
activities on time and meeting the deadlines. It can help Pearson to ensure her predefined
objectives have met by the employees’ successfully. On other side Mendenhall et al., (2017)
stated that transformational leadership style indicates that the leaders have to make strategic
planning to reach their business goals in a proper way. Pearson can make a specific strategy
for the productivity improvement. It is required to ensure that the stated goals are measurable
as well as achievable.
On the contrary, Heavey and Simsek (2017) argued that the managers of the organisations
have to prioritise the growth of their organisational business by enabling effective policies
and procedures. A manager should have necessary soft skill as well as hard skills for
managing and directing people of their organisation. From the case study it can be said that
Person can make changes in her managerial skills so that the employees can be directed on a
right path.
Taylor’s Classical management theory states that managers can allocate the tasks to the most
suitable individuals for that task by analysing each portion of the job (Schedlitzki and
Edwards, 2014). In order to manage people effectively it is necessary to have effective
communication skill. Face to face, communication can help Person to identify the work
related issues of their staffs and resolve these. Person should support adoption of new
techniques and working procedures and after that; the employees can perform mobile unit
manufacturing related works in an easier way.
According to Holten and Brenner (2015), Management by Objectives approach states that the
employees can help the managers to set organisational policies by informing them about their
requirements and current issues.
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Figure 2: Management by Objectives
(Source: Holten and Brenner, 2015)
Person can allow the participation of her team members in business goal setting. This action
of Person can encourage her employees to feel one of the valuable assets of the organisation.
Moreover, Person needs to give rewards to the individuals for their performance and
achievement of business goal.
Examine examples of how the role of the leader and the functions of a manager apply in
different situational contexts
The leaders of the organisations should be prepared to act as per the current situation instead
of being tensed. In case of Pearson, she has to analyse the situation first and then take
required actions for resolving the issue. For instance, it is now found that the organisational
employees are losing their motivation due to the leadership style of Pearson. It is increasing
the risk of decreasing organisational productivity. At this situation, Pearson has to try to
understand the point of views of the employees in order to support them.
In this context adopting relationship oriented approach can be essential for the managers to
improve their relationship with their workers and ensure performance and product quality
improvement (Schedlitzki and Edwards, 2014). Pearson can focus on building good
interpersonal relationship with their staffs so that they can be able to communicate freely with
her. As a result, the employees can be able to be encouraged to fulfil goals of their business.
According to Wang et al., (2016), Situational leadership, the leaders need to concentrate on
present situation to make any decisions. The leaders can make changes in their leadership
style to fit into the current business situations and fulfil all the needs. Based on the given case
study it can be stated that Pearson can adopt the situation leadership style so that she can
guide and motivate employees rather than only giving their job instructions. Skill
development programs can be helpful here for maximising the motivation level among the
workers. Basic needs of the employees need to be recognised by Pearson so that they can be
able to give their full contribution in their business.
Apply different theories and models of approach
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Systems leadership suggests that all the organisational leaders need to create a system where
their team members can work without any hesitation and apply their ideas. As stated by
Mendenhall et al., (2017), leaders have to give equal opportunities to their subordinates so
that they do not have to face any internal conflicts regarding job role and responsibilities. In
reference to Pearson, it can be said that building an innovative work system can give
opportunities to bring changes in the design of products and fulfil customers’ demands. On
the other side, sometimes the leaders face issues if they provide freedom to their employees
to work as per their own thinking. Hence, Pearson has to be care full while making changes
in policies and procedures.
As per Fiedler’s Contingency theory, the external and internal environment of any
organisation influence decision making of management as well as behaviour of the internal
individuals. According to Mom et al., (2015), if the organisations have flat structure then
internal employees can interact with their higher authority whenever required. Pearson can
take actions to make changes in the organisational structure so that the employees can inform
about their problems easily. For example, enabling flat structure can be beneficial for Soft
Company to achieve effective communication.
Moreover, an effective organisational culture can only be achieved if the organisational
management are treating all the employees in a equal way. Pearson should not treat any of the
staffs indifferently if they belong to any other culture or religion. The staffs can be offered
with their expected wages and responsibilities to become motivated towards their job
(Eichinger and Lombardo, 2015). Soft Company has to make sure that all of its workers are
getting their expected opportunities to build their career and develop their skills. For this
reason, arrangement of development programmes can play an important role in enhancing the
abilities of the workers of Soft Company.
Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches
In case of relationship-oriented approach the organisations do not focus on compilation of the
tasks rather they focus on creating good relationship with the workers. For this reason,
sometimes the employees take instructions of their leaders casually and do not improve their
quality of performance. On the contrary, if the managers would consider task-oriented
approach then they cannot be able to motivate their subordinates (Holten and Brenner, 2015).
The workers would not be able to feel any connection with their organisation in case of task
based approach.
Schedlitzki and Edwards (2014) commented that, receiving feedback from the employees
could be useful for the leaders and managers to know about the faults of their style of
leadership and managerial skills respectively. Pearson can take feedbacks from the employees
of Soft Company by providing them feedback forms. Here, they can be able to mention their
exceptions as well as they can register their complaints against the management through this
feedback form. However, the employees can praise Pearson regarding her managerial skills.
As person is new in this filed, hence receiving appreciation can motivate her to focus more on
improving her leadership style.
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On the other hand, behavioural theory of leadership suggests that the organisations can
observe behaviour of their employees to identify their needs (Heavey and Simsek, 2017).
After this, management can take necessary actions for their betterment and requirements
fulfilment. In case of Pearson, as a new manager she can observe the employees’ behaviour
and then try to make modifications in her leadership style. For example, as the employees
prefer to make emotional bonding rather than taking commands hence Pearson can build
emotional bonding with them and make them feel free to state about their problems.
Conclusion
It is seen from this study that the employees can be offered with rewards and incentives for
their better participation in work. They have to enhance their skills by using the shared
knowledge of their leaders. High confidence level, honesty along with integrity and
influencing power are the primary traits of leaders. From this study it can also be concluded
that enabling feedback procedure can be essential to evaluate own leadership related faults
and rectify it for the development of organisational business.
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Part two
Introduction
In this segment, the role of leaders as well as the managers in the operations functions of the
Soft Company will be demonstrated. In addition to that, a comprehension of the relationship
existing between the leadership and management in the business environment of the
concerned organisation will also be explained in this segment.
Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role the leaders and
managers play.
The area of management, which is concerned regarding controlling the processes of
production, along with the business operations in the best possible way can be referred to ads
operations management (Reid and Sanders, 2015). One of the key functions of the operations
management in the Soft Company is guaranteeing that the organisations are operating in a
smooth manner. The operations manager must make sure that the business is utilising the
least amount of resources for producing the goods. In addition to that, it also has to be
ensured that the requirements and demands of the customers are catered to the topmost
benchmark economically viable. There are various approaches to operations, for instance,
Kaizen, Total Quality Management, Just-in-Time, and many others.
Kaizen
The approach of kaizen focuses on continuous improvement that is based on the concept that
ongoing changes that are small and positive in nature can result in major enhancements (De
Melo, 2014). This approach requires commitment and cooperation of the employees and is
quite different from the approaches using radical transformations for managing operations.
The kaizen approach will assist the Soft Company to decrease the defects, eradicate waste,
increase productivity, motivate the workers, as well as promote innovation. Thus, it can be
stated that this approach will be effective for increasing quality and decrease the costs in the
production of the mobile units. The management during the implementation of this approach
must assess the processes of improving quality within the Soft Company. On the contrary, the
leaders will require directing the employees towards assessing waste in specific areas and
concentrate on eradicating it in the most suitable manner.
Total Quality Management
This approach can be referred to as a continuous process used for detecting as well as
decreasing or abolishing mistakes and faults in manufacturing (Mosadeghrad, 2014). It also
ensures that the staffs are being able to cope with the trainings provided to them along with
quality customer experience. The approach is focused on the customers and aims at consistent
enhancement of business operations. This approach as well, will be assistive for Soft
Company in the context of cost reduction in the process of manufacturing of the mobile units.
Moreover, the approach will also be helpful in decreasing the defects, thus increasing the
quality and efficiency. During the implementation of this approach, the management of the
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Soft Company will require acting as facilitators in order to assist the employees with working
with the approach. In addition to that, the leaders of the company during this time will require
develop the trust of the employees and eliminate their fear.
Just in Time
The just in time approach ensures that the orders of raw material or resources form the
suppliers are in line with the schedules of production (Lai and Cheng, 2016). The Soft
Company can implement this approach to operations management for increasing efficiency as
well as reduce waste. This can be done through receiving products only according the
requirements of the production process. This will assist the organisation to decrease inventory
costs. However, the establishment will need predicting the demand of production process
precisely. The managers of the Soft Company during the implementation of the just-in-time
approach will require using marketing tactics for motivating the workforce to adapt to it.
Explain the importance of operations management in achieving business objectives at
Soft Company and evaluate how the leaders and managers can improve efficiency to
meet the business objectives
Currently, the business objective of the Soft Company is to elevate the quality and
proficiency of this production process of mobile units as well as decrease the production cost
as much as possible. Effective management of the operations of the organisation is necessary
for achieving these objectives (Choi et al., 2016). It will assist with enhancing the overall
productivity of the workforce, which is essential for working with the new approaches. In
addition to that, through effective operations management the resources can be utilized to the
optimum level. This in turn will assist the Soft Company to decrease the cost in terms of the
process of production. As a result, the company will generate huge amounts of profits.
Operations management is also important for the organisation in terms of increasing the
efficiency and quality of its production process along with reducing the expenses as it helps
with sustenance of the different systems that are utilised for the production of the mobile
units (Mheducation.co.uk, 2019).
The leaders and the managers of the Soft Company must improve their efficiency in order to
accomplish the business objective of the organisation that has been mentioned above. The
leaders along with the managers of the organisation must enhance the proficiency for
handling the operations in an efficient manner. There are different manners through which
these individuals can do so. These professionals will require identifying the factors that will
assist the Soft Company to reduce waste. This can be done by decreasing packaging.
Nevertheless, this can affect the customer purchasing behaviour of the establishment. In
addition to that, the proficiency of the leaders can be increased in terms of effective
operations management. This can be done by assessing the aspects that will help the Soft
Company to enhance the quality in the production of the production units. However, incorrect
assessment can lead to quality issues.
Assess the factors within the Business Environment that impact upon operational and
management decision making by leaders and management at Soft Company
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Business environment of an organisation can be referred to as the summation of the overall
external as well as the internal factors, which are capable of influencing the business
operations (Wetherly and Otter, 2014). These factors include aspects such as rivalry in the
market, demands and expectations of the customers, stakeholders, technological innovation,
market trends, economic trends, and social trends. Some of these factors are capable of
affecting the operational as well as management decisions made by the management and
leaders of the Soft Company.
Business environment factor such as stakeholders can affect only the operational decisions,
but also the management decisions. Stakeholders can be referred to as an entity or a group of
individuals interested in a company or concerned regarding it (Lawrence and Weber, 2014).
The key stakeholders of the Soft Company are its investors, customers, employees, supplier
and the government of the nation. Therefore, the decisions made by the management as well
as the leaders in terms of operations and management have to focus on the demands and the
expectations of these entities. The management decisions will affect the employees of the
directly, and thus the preferences of the employees will have to be considered prior to making
any important management decisions.
On the other hand, business environment aspect such as suppliers can affect the operational
decisions made by the leaders and managers of the Soft Company. The entities supplying raw
material and resources to a business can be termed as suppliers (Pulles et al., 2014). If there
are many suppliers in the market, their bargaining power will be low. Nevertheless, if there
are limited numbers of suppliers, the concerned organisations will have to work according to
their preferences and conveniences. This in turn can affect the operational decisions both
positively as well as negatively. If the supplies of the resources are acquired on time, the
process of production can be carried out effectively. On the contrary, if the supplies are
delayed, the operations of the Soft Company will be postponed, and thus affected negatively.
Innovation in technology is another factor capable of influencing the operational decisions.
Emergence of a new technology might help to carry out the operations of an organisation, for
instance, the Soft Company in a more effective manner (Laudon and Traver, 2016). Thus, the
managers and leaders will require making the operational decisions by focusing on the
benefits provided the new technologies. On the other hand, this can also affect the
management decisions. Use of various technologies can help the managers of the Soft
Company to control the workforce in a better manner.
Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider
community.
The different factors mentioned above are capable of affecting the business environment of
the Soft Company. In addition to that, these aspects can also influence the wider community,
which is the locale where the organisation operates. The stakeholders of the company are
important element of the business environment. For instance, if the employees of the Soft
Company are motivated and efficient, they will be able to carry out the business operations of
the organisation successfully and vice versa (Osabiya, 2015). On the other hand, if the
suppliers of the establishment provide with the required resources on a timely manner and
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