Analysis of Leadership and Management Styles in Mobile Unit Production

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes operational management and leadership at Soft Company.

Management and Operations
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Executive Summary
Managing the operations of an organisation is extremely important for maintaining the
company performance as well as productivity. This study has been carried out through
focusing of the various kinds of aspects related to the management of the operations of Soft
Company, which produces mobile units. The role and responsibilities of the leaders and
managers of the production department has been explained. This has been done through
implementation of various leadership along with management theories. In addition to that,
approaches such as Kaizen, Just – In – Time, as well as Total Quality Management has been
suggested to the company for enhancement of quality along with efficiency, along with
reduction of inventory costs.
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Part one.......................................................................................................................................5
Part two....................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion and Recommendations..........................................................................................18
Reference list............................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
The management of various kinds of business practices for creating the maximum amount of
efficiency within an establishment can be referred to as the functions of management
operations. In order to do so, the materialistic as well as human resources of an organisation
are converted into products or services in the most proficient manner possible. This is done
for maximising the profitability of the company. The operations manger along with the team
members of an organisation attempts at balancing the expenses with the revenue, which has
been generated through sales, for acquiring the highest amount of net operating profit.
In this study, the roles along with the responsibilities of the managers as well as the leaders of
the firm from the given case scenario named Soft Company will be explained. Moreover, the
management and leadership style of the head of the production department will be evaluated
in the study. In addition to that, approaches will be explained, which would boost the
efficiency, quality, along with the responsiveness of the production unit of the organisation
mentioned above. The study will be carried out by focusing on the organisation form the
provided case study called Soft Company. The establishment is known for producing mobile
unites.
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Part one
Introduction
Leaders and manger play vital roles in an organisation. In this segment, the role along with
the characteristics of a leader as well as manager will be elaborate and examined.
Additionally, Different theories and models will be applied for explaining the management
and leadership styles of the Joan Pearson, the production head of Soft Company.
Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and of a manager
An ideal leader of an establishment must consider the viewpoints of the entire workforce, as
well as their opinions during making important decisions regarding businesses. Additionally,
a model leader must also act as a philosopher and friend during guiding the workforce
(Carnes et al., 2015). From observing the case scenario that has been provided, it has been
observed that Joan Person commanded her decisions and orders to the employees of the Soft
Company instated of behaving in a considering manner. As a result, the enthusiasm and
motivation of the employees were affected negatively. Therefore, it can be stated that Pearson
requires providing the staffs working udder her, a workplace condition that is secure and
flexible for motivating them, in order to increase their productivity. In addition to that, she
also requires making the workforce comprehend the organisational objectives of the Soft
Company so that they can work towards accomplishing them.
 The leaders must be honest as well as reliable in their job position as suggested by the
Trait leadership theory (Northouse, 2018). Moreover, the leaders must also be capable of
motivating the workforce, along with influencing them so that they can perform
efficiently. However, Pearson was not able to do so since she had a military background,
and as a result, she only gave instructions. Therefore, the head of the production
department of Soft Company requires selecting management and leadership styles that
will be suitable to guiding and influencing the workforce. One of the key traits of an
ideal leader is high degree of confidence, which is required for overcoming hardships
during carrying out own job role (Nichols, 2016). Thus, Joan Pearson must adapt to
changes in order to overcome the challenges she is encountering. Furthermore, she will
require consulting with all of the employees prior to making woke related decisions that
will affect them.
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Figure 1: Transactional Leadership
(Source: Belmejdoub, 2015)
 The leaders working in organisations require following a set of rules along with
regulations according to the transactional leadership theory (McCleskey, 2014). This is
necessary for maintaining discipline within the establishment. This statement can be
referred to the management style of Joan Pearson. She ensured that all of the employees
of Soft Company are performing their individual tasks in an efficient as well as timely
manner. However, adopting new styles that are flexible will assist her to address the
conveniences of the staffs as well. For instance, Joan Pearson can try practicing
transformational leadership style, since it requires the leaders devising strategic plans for
accomplishing organisational aims in an appropriate manner (Avolio and Yammarino,
2013). This can be implemented regarding improving the productivity of the staffs of Soft
Company.
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Figure 2: Management by Objective Approach
(Source: iEduNote.com, 2017)
 The workforce of an organisation can be assistive to the mangers reading developing
organisational policies through acknowledging them with their professional requirements
along with the issues have encountered in the past, as stated by the approach of
management by objectives. Therefore, it is necessary for Pearson to allow the employees
of the production department participating during significant decision-making. In addition
to that, she must also enhance the performance of her subordinates through introduction
of reward system within Soft Company.
As per the classical theory of management by Taylor, model mangers must delegate tasks to
the workforce according to their roles and responsibilities along with their level of efficiency
(Mahmood et al., 2012). Moreover, managers also require communicating effectively for
guiding the workforce properly. Thus, Pearson requires working on her communication skills
as well in order to interact with the employees effectively. Moreover, she must also consider
incorporation of fresh working process and techniques to help the employees carry out their
job roles proficiently.
Examine examples of how the role of the leader and the functions of a manager apply in
different situational contexts
An ideal organisational leader transforms personal style of leadership to act according to the
prevalent circumstance within the company. Therefore, it can be said that Pearson requires
analysing the existing conditions of Soft Company in order to act accordingly. For example,
Pearson should have required finding out the reason behind the decreasing motivation level
of the employees working under her through effective communication. This would have
assisted her to maintain a uniform level of high workforce productivity.
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 The approach that is relationship oriented suggests that it is crucial for managers to
enhance the connection that they have with their subordinates in order to ensure that
organisational performance along with improve the quality of production (Sandling,
2014). Thus, it is necessary that Pearson concentrated o developing positive interpersonal
relationship with her employees so that they can come to her regarding various issues.
This will assist to work towards accomplishing the organisational aims and objectives.
Figure 3: Situational Leadership Theory
(Source: Situational.com, 2019)
 The managers also require focusing on the prevailing conditions prior to making any kind
of organisational decisions as stated by the situational leadership theory (Thompson and
Glasø, 2015). Moreover, the managers have to make necessary modifications to personal
leadership style in order to work according to the existing organisational situation and
address the situational requirements. As observed in the case scenario that has been
provided, Pearson can adopt the above-mentioned leadership style for managing and
motivating the production department employees. This will assist her to identify the
fundamental requirements of her subordinates and in turn address them for improving the
performance of the employees.
Apply different theories and models of approach
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Figure 4: Contingency Theory
(Source: Free-management-ebooks.com, 2019)
 The internal as well as external environment of a business affects the managerial
decisions along with the behaviour of the workforce, as stated by the contingency theory,
developed by Fiedler (Ellyson et al., 2012). For instance, in organisations sustaining flat
framework, the staffs tend to communicate with the superior employees regarding various
aspects without any hesitation. Therefore, it can be suggested the Pearson can take
initiative at transforming microenvironment of Soft Company in order to enable the
employees of the production department communicate with her feasibly. The employee
inputs will assist her to develop motivational strategies for improving the enthusiasm of
her subordinates.
 The mangers require such a work process that will enable improving the productivity of
the employees so that they can work effectively as stated by the systems leadership
(Macdonald et al., 2017). In addition to that, the managers must lead the staffs through
important tasks so in order to avoid any sort of conflicts in the future. In the context of the
production head of Soft Company it has been observed that creating a flexible work
process, which will provide her subordinates with to work towards accomplishing the
organisational objectives. On the contrary, it can be mentioned that the organisational
leaders often encounter problems on providing excessive flexibility to the staffs in terms
of professional roles and responsibilities. Thus, Pearson will require thinking critically
prior to developing the new working process.
An ideal and productive organisational culture can be developed by maintaining a
management system that recognises hard work of the all the employees equally. Thus,
Pearson must ensure that she is respecting all kinds of job roles and responsibilities of her
subordinates. The identified hard work must be provided with reward, which in turn will
assist in motivating and putting in more effort. Additionally, she also requires assessing
whether all the staffs are receiving equal scopes regarding professional and personal
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development. The identified skill gaps of the staffs can be address through introduction of
training and development programmes.
Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches
Organisations, which follow an approach that is relationship oriented, focus on maintaining
positive employee relations along with completion of the tasks. However, this can lead to the
employees not following the instructions of the seniors or the management, and as a result,
the organisational performance becomes affected in a negative manner. On the other hand,
establishments, which follow the approach that task oriented often encounter challenge
regarding motivating the workforce. Thus, the organisation on following the approach
mentioned above cannot maintain positive employee relations.
However, this can be alleviated by seeking staff feedback, as it can provide important and
useful insight to the management that can be used to make modifications to the current
management as well as leadership styles. Pearson can ask her subordinates to provide with
the perspective regarding what modifications must make to her personal style in order to help
them work under her in an effectively. Additionally, it will also allow her to know about the
expectations of the staff. Pearson will be able to incorporate all these information to enhance
won leadership style.
Figure 5: Behavioural Leadership Theory
(Source: Pdljohnsonmpa, 2016)
Apart from that, according to the theory behavioural leadership, it can be mentioned that the
requirements of the overall workforce of a company can be identified through observing their
behaviour (Storey, 2016). This will assist the management to make necessary transformations
and take actions to address the identified requirements. Therefore, it can be suggested that
Pearson being a new production head of Soft Company can attempt at observing the
behaviour of her subordinates and make changes to her personal styles of management as
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well as leadership. In addition to that, this will also help her to form a friendly and emotional
bond with her subordinates, which in turn will influence them into obeying her instructions
and working effectively under her.
Conclusion
Thus at the end of the segment it has been deduced that the subordinates of Joan Pearson, the
head of the production department of Soft Company has been unable to influence the
motivation level of subordinates positively. The staffs are not being able to work under her
personal manage net and leadership styles thus she require making necessary changes through
incorporation of theories and models.
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Part two
Introduction
In the second part of the study, the function of the managers along the role that the leaders
play in the production of the mobile units at Soft Company will be discussed. Apart from
that, the relationship prevailing between management and leadership within the organisation
mentioned above will be explained as well.
Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role the leaders and
managers play
Operations management can be defined as the managerial actions carried out for control the
methods are used for productions and business operations in the most efficient manner ().
There are several significant functions carried out by the operations management at the soft
company, among which ensuring smooth organisational operations is a crucial one. It is the
responsibility of the operations manager to see that the in the production processes the least
amount of resources are used for producing best quality mobile units. Apart form that, the
requirements along with the demands of the customers have to considered as well during
production of above-mentioned goods. The key approaches to the management of production
are Kaizen, Just – In – Time, and Total Quality Management.
Figure 6: Kaizen Approach
(Source: Rao Posinasetti, 2014)
 Kaizen Approach
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