Leadership, Management, and Operations at Starbucks: A Report

This report provides a comparative analysis of leadership and management roles within Starbucks, a UK-based coffee company. It explores the differences between leaders and managers, highlighting their traits, functions, and scopes, and how they apply in various situational contexts. The report examines key management functions such as planning, organizing, and controlling, and discusses different leadership styles including transformational, transactional, and action-centered leadership. It also delves into the importance of employee engagement and decision-making within the company. Furthermore, the report analyzes different operational management approaches such as situational, system, and contingency leadership, and factors within the business environment that impact operational management. Overall, the report emphasizes the value of effective leadership and management in achieving business objectives and driving organizational success within Starbucks.

Management & Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Difference between role of a Leader and Manager................................................................1
P2 Role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts.........4
P3 Different approaches used in operational management ........................................................5
P4 Key approaches of operations management and role of leaders and managers....................6
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................8
P6 Factors within the business environment that impacts operational management and
decision making........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
.......................................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operations management includes planning, organizing and directing organisation
activities and take significant improvement to obtain higher profits. This function make sure that
all day to day management functions are working accordingly. It ensure efficiency and
effectiveness of operations by using and collecting resources (Benjaafar and Daskin, 2013). In
this report, organisation which is chosen here is star bucks which is a coffee company based in
UK, founded 31 march 1971 with more than 238,000 employee working in it. It is a coffee shop
industry and there main products are coffee beverages, smoothies, tea, baked goods and
sandwiches. In this project comparison between leaders and managers are done and their roles
and characteristics are described. Roles of leader and function of manager that are applied in
different situational context are also mention in this report. This report also contains importance
and value of operations management in achieving business objectives and factors within the
business environment that impacts upon operational management and decision-making by
leaders and managers.
P1 Difference between role of a Leader and Manager
Leader
A person who have a capacity to influence an individual or a group of persons to perform
any objective is known as leader. In an organisation a person who leads a group to perform a
specific set of goals and objectives is termed as leader.
Manager
A manager is an individual who manages any part of an organisation or a group of
people. There are different levels of managers such as top managers, team managers, line
managers, functional managers and supervisory managers who perform task in different levels of
company (Childe, 2011). There are certain set of qualities that a manager have to posses like
accountability, patience, positive attitude, competency, flexibility, decisiveness and patience
Basis Leader Manager
Traits A leader posses no formal
rights. They are outcome
oriented and communicate
A manager have formal rights because
of his status. They are rules oriented
and follow the vision.
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the vision.
Functions A leader engage in
motivating and inspiring,
aligning people, establishing
directions
A manager engage in planning,
organising, budgeting, satisfying and
controlling.
Scope They are mainly vision
oriented and have long -
range perspective.
They are always process oriented and
have short-range view
Mutual relationship
A leader can not be a
manager.
A managers can be a leader.
Relationship to others Leader is emotionally attach
to this subordinates.
Manager works with people with less
emotional attachment.
Management functions: Set of functions which are performed by managers of an organisation
in order to achieve goals are termed as management functions. There are some necessary
functions mentioned below through which star bucks manger can get best out of his workers and
achieve organisational objectives in an effective manner
Planning: It is a process of identifying organisational objectives and formulate plan to
accomplish them. It involves thinking. This will help a company to achieve their aim and pre
determined goals.
Organising: It is an management function of identifying and collecting activities. This
process allow people to do work together in an effective way to accomplish company goals. It
create a relationship between people to work and people to people which help to maintain
smooth working relation in an organisation to attain objectives.
Controlling: This process mainly involves establishing standards for performance
measurement (Drake and Spinler, 2013). It measure and direct the plan which is earlier set. This
function keep organisational goals and objectives on track.
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Directing: It is a process in which a manager guide or instruct an individual or a group
to evaluate performance and check whether all functions are going accordingly to company pre
set plan.
Leadership is defined as a process in which leader guide, directs and influence others to
accomplish certain specific goals and objectives. It is an ability of an individual to influence a
team or a group to achieve objectives and goals of an organisation.
Transformational Leadership:
It is a theory in which a leader perform work with group of peoples to identify the need of
change, create vision and enhance motivation, job performance of team members.
Transformational theory is very useful for an organisation to raise motivational level of their
employees and increase performance level (Griffin, 2013). With help of this leadership
Starbucks manager can able to achieve their gaols and can increase their productivity.
Transactional Leadership:
It is a style which mainly focus on supervising , organising and performing. In this a
leader reward an employee who perform their work in specified level. And punish those workers
who do not completed their work according to set standards. By applying this leadership theory
star bucks company can get effective results.
Action centred leadership:
This type of leadership mainly focus on leaders to become more effective and efficient. It
consists certain tasks that are achievement of task, building and maintenance of team,
development of an individual in order to increase their talents and skills. Star bucks with the help
of this leadership style can be able to increase efficiency of their leaders and generate more
profit.
Hard management skills:
In these skills goals, objectives and power are clear. It mainly focus to solve problems.
Star bucks company can implement this skill when they need to get their targets on time . This
types of skills are performed by managers or leader when there situation is tensed and they need
to get results on exact scheduled period (Ham, Hitomi and Yoshida, 2012).
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Soft management skills:
In this management skill goals are negotiated and power is diffused or frequently
unknown. It aims in appreciation and improving problems. This type of skills is followed by
leaders or mangers when they want to increase performance level of employees and enhance
their motivational level. Star bucks can posses soft management in their organisation when they
want to increase performance and motivation level of workers.
P2 Role of a leader and the function of a manager apply in different situational contexts.
In large organisation, there are certain roles and responsibilities of managers and leaders which
they have to perform in order to achieve company goals. In star bucks leaders and managers have same
aim that is to attain profit margin for their company. But they perform their roles and responsibilities in
different manner in a different situational contexts They both are most important key essential to any
organisation towards high productivity (Hoi, Wu and Zhang, 2013). For successful completion of any
objective in effective and efficient way role of a leader and functions of mangers are very important. In
context of star bucks there are certain roles and functions which have to performed by their leaders and
managers for effective performance:
Employee engagement: In this involvement of employees in business process is done to
generate a knowledge sharing system in organisation. Starbucks company can implement this
process in their working culture to increase this knowledge sharing in an very creative way. This
will help them to create learning opportunities in employees and increase their skills and
experience. Employee engagement helps to drive performance and can leads to decision-making
in better way. Successful organisation star bucks are mainly value- driven and have high
employee centred cultures. By using this technique this company can measure relationship
between employees and organisation. Employee engagement will help company to develop
positive attitude of their worker towards them. Workers feel themselves as an important and
valuable part of organisation which automatically generate high performance level and can
increase productivity.
Decision-making: It is essential part of management. Every company needs to take
decision at certain level as it a part of management process. In an Organisation like star bucks
managers and leaders have to make decision in complex as well as strategic levels. It will help
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them to create day to day activities which is very necessary to achieve daily targets. By
implementing this technique management level of this organisation can able to found new ideas
which can help their business to become more innovative.
P3 Different approaches used in operational management
(a) Situational Leadership
It is an approach in which leadership of an business entity is mainly depends on various
levels and position. It is an flexible leadership style which adopts needs and existing work
environment of an organisation. There are three types of styles in this model .i.e. authoritarian
which can be used at the time of crises, democratic style can be used when organisation requires
consensus, laissez style is a style in which a leader don't want to take control of an organisation.
In this present report, the chosen organisation Starbucks can adopt this style in their management
which will help its leaders to understand various situations in which it is necessary for an
organisation to change its management style. It will also helps the chosen organisation in
identifying suitable leadership strategy to achieve its goals and objectives. It is essential for
leaders of Starbucks to identify and select leadership approaches in accordance with the
continuously changing business environment (Karnani, 2011). It will helps an organisation in
increasing its productivity in a competitive business environment. This leadership style is more
effective at the time of crises and when organisation want repetitive results in their workforce.
(b) System Leadership
In this style of leadership an organisation creates various situation for it's employees
which will helps them in improving efficiency in their work in accordance with their potential.
If chosen organisation opt this style of leadership then it will help their leaders in identifying
behaviour of staff members working to achieve a common goal. It will also help Starbucks in
making their workforce productive and efficient in a business environment. It develops better
realisation of goals and objectives that an organisation wants to achieve. It will also helps leaders
of a chosen organisation in creating a healthy competitive environment within an organisation.
In this context, it is essential for leaders of chosen organisation to act as a leader and as a agents
of change to improve overall performances of an business entity. It will helps an organisation in
building individual effectiveness and also in relationships and connectivity. The main motive
behind this model is to bring a positive change in an organisation by creating a effective working
system. It helps an organisation in providing an adequate framework for various activities which
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will helps in identifying internal and external environment. This style of leadership will not be
effective by a single leader but it requires group of leaders.
(c) Contingency Leadership
It is a leadership style which helps an organisation in facing uncertain events and it's
impact on the organisation. In this context, it will help Starbucks in preparing its employees to
face future challenges and in increasing its productivity for a longer run. It will also helps
employees working in an organisation in building a good relation among its managers and sub-
ordinates. This leadership approach gives all power in the hand of leaders and managers of an
organisation so they can compensate or punish their staff members in accordance with their
outcomes from a particular task (Parisio and Glielmo, 2013). This approach reduces expectation
from a leader instead it helps an organisation in matching a leaders to task. According to this
theory, the optimum course of action is mainly dependent on the internal and external situations.
It will help leaders of Starbucks in applying their own style of leadership on the right situation.
In this context, it is essential for a leader to have leadership style which is efficient and effective
for it's staff members. It helps an organisation in generating potential of learning from various
situations which will helps it's employees in achieving their specific goals and objectives.
P4 Key approaches of operations management and role of leaders and managers.
It is a practice involving utilization of resources available from staff, materials,
equipments and technology. It is a combination of planning, organising and supervision of the
various processes used in production. Its main focus is delivery goods and services to clients on a
timely basis as the wants and needs of customers. There are two basic terms included in
operations management : supply chain management and logistics. Starbucks coffee company's
business success is dependent upon the application of decisions taken up by operations manager
of Starbucks, it has helped to improve growth and customer loyalty. Different theories used by
Starbucks include Six sigma, lean production and queuing theory which is further explained as:
Six Sigma: This methodology is one of the most highly evaluated and controlled
processes and approaches used by operations manager for process management. It helps
Starbucks to improve their profit ratio and lower down costs of production thereby resulting in
more satisfied and loyal customers (Pedrycz and Chen, 2015). It helps in evaluating quality of
goods and services and improves if any faults are there. Few of many benefits of six sigma are
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increased and stronger loyalty of customers, minimize the waste and reduce the processing cycle
time. There are two types of six sigma methodologies DMAIC AND DMADV.
Lean production: It is an important approach used b operations managers of Starbucks
that helps in reducing waste and also improving quality production. Main focus of this method is
reduction in costs of production and making Starbucks more efficient and responsive to its
customer's needs. It increases efficiency and aims at earning higher profits.
Queuing Theory: This theory aims at mathematical aspect of production such as studying
congestion and delays that occur due to waiting in line. It stresses upon every aspect or feature of
waiting in line like arrival process, service process, number of servers, etc. It helps by building
efficient cost effective work flow system at Starbucks. It helps to make future predictions about
cash flow and expenses so that manager is able to meet any future demands.
Starbucks also uses various management approaches foe efficiency determination and effective
decision making (Renz, 2016). A few management approaches are total quality management,
just in time delivery, and Kaizen's approach.
Total Quality Management: A basic definition of total quality management refers to a
management approach which focusses on achieving long term goals and objectives with the
help of customer satisfaction. Under total quality management technique,every member in an
organisation focusses on improving processes of production, products, quality of services and
also be an active part of Starbucks' organizational culture. It focusses on improving efficiency
and building a healthy team atmosphere.
Just in time :Just in time is an inventory system that relates raw materials orders to
requirements of customers and also production schedule of an organisation. This method is used
by producers to determine future demands effectively, it also helps in reducing wastage and
inventory prices. Benefits of just in time include reduction in costs, minimization of warehouse
requirements etc.
Kaizen approach: It is a technique which aims at continuously improving small changes
that further help in major improvements in organisation. It is based upon team work, group effort
, commitment and co-operation between employees in an organisation (Starr and Van
Wassenhove, 2014). It is basically brought into force to lower defects, elimination of wastes,
productivity boosting and promote new innovative ways and techniques. In Starbucks, Kaizen
method is initiated or brought into force to bring small innovations in its products and quality
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and help it to become a market survivor in recent situations. It is a process which refers to
activities that include involvement of all employees and bring in about new innovations
regularly.
Role played by leaders at Starbucks is explained as below:
Role of leaders: Leaders focus on basically receiving results for their followers. An
effective and efficient leader has to fulfill the following responsibilities :
 Inspire trust in followers and employees under any leader in an organisation.
 Create a vision for his team to avoid any future confusions.
 A leader should be consistent and use a healthy and efficient method to achieve quick
results. A leader should be active enough to train his team members and motivate them to
improve their skills and performance (Steinberg, 2011).
Role of managers:
Manager's job is very crucial in every organisation especially Starbucks . He plays a vital
role in wealth creation and profit maximisation. Few roles performed by a manager at Starbucks
are :
Interpersonal role: A manager is responsible for signing all necessary documents, invites
people from outside and inside for functions. Managers also motivate employees in an
organisation to work with efficiency.
Informational role: Managers perform this role as they are responsible for transmitting
information from inside and outside an organisation. They collect information from other
organisation and transfer it within his organisation and subordinates.
P5 Explain the importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives.
Operations management is a practice involving utilization of resources available from
staff, materials, equipments and technology. It is a combination of planning, organising and
supervision of the various processes used in production. Its main focus is delivery goods and
services to clients on a timely basis as the wants and needs of customers. There are two basic
terms included in operations management : supply chain management and logistics. Starbucks
coffee company's business success is dependent upon the application of decisions taken up by
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operations manager of Starbucks, it has helped to improve growth and customer loyalty.
Importance of operations management is explained as:
Increase in overall productivity: Operations management helps in improving
productivity rate in long run. Productivity is explained as ratio of input divided by ratio of output
. It helps in increasing efficiency of manager and his subordinates and well.
Management of activities: Operations management undertakes all different activities that
are done in any organisation especially in a manufacturing concern like Starbucks. It helps to
meet requirements and demands of customers and timely deliver goods and services to them. By
efficiently managing all activities, time taken in manufacturing and wastage is highly reduced.
Optimum utilisation of resources: Operations management helps in optimum utilisation
of resources and help in earning extremely high amount of profits for an organisation. Starbucks
uses the effective ideas, skills and innovation of employees along with raw materials and creates
new innovative products and services for its customers. It also deals with crucial issues such as
design, process of production, and proper maintenance of all systems and techniques used by
Starbucks for producing goods (Stoppato, 2012).
These are some important functions of Operations research used by Starbucks to attain
profitability and growth rate.
Operations management helps Starbucks by employing or engaging people, building up essential
facilities, and purchase equipment and raw materials that are used in production.
Value of operations management in Starbucks is as follows:
Designing system: It is a crucial process which begins with product development at its
initial stage. Product development refers to identification of characterstics and features of any
new product. It is a cross functional decision making process which involves team effort for
designing and implementing marketing, financial and promotional strategies.
Planning the system: Planning is a system which explains management about how to
use any given resource at a given time. Outcomes of a planning process involve changing the
system design to help managers to cope with newly acquired changes. There are three types of
planning process differentiated on basis of time period involved (Wang and Cullinane, 2015).
They are long range production planning which is normally for three to five years, medium range
production planning involving a year and short term production planning which is done in every
one or two months.
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