Analysis of Leadership and Management in Unilever's Operations Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Unilever, a UK-based consumer goods manufacturing firm. The introduction highlights the crucial roles of managers and leaders in operational management. The main body begins with a comparison of the characteristics and roles of managers and leaders, emphasizing their impact on various business functions. The report then delves into an analysis of leadership and management theories and models, including the Great Man theory, behavioral theory, scientific theory, and bureaucratic theory. It evaluates different leadership approaches such as autocratic, democratic, situational, system, and contingency theories, considering their advantages and disadvantages. The report also examines the roles of leaders and managers in policy formation and production, and discusses situational leadership approaches. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the importance of effective leadership and management in ensuring the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of Unilever's operations. The report uses examples from Unilever to illustrate the concepts and theories discussed.

UNIT 4 MANAGEMENT
AND OPERATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................1
Comparison between the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers.........................1
Analysis of leadership and management using various theories and models.........................3
Evaluate different theories and approaches of leadership......................................................4
Role of leaders and function of manager in different situations............................................5
Different approaches of leadership.........................................................................................6
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................7
Key approaches of operations management...........................................................................7
Value and importance of operation's management.................................................................7
Various factors affecting operation's management of the firm..............................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION
Operations are the activities or procedures that are taken in consideration by an
organisation in order to carry out their functionality. Management of these operations and
activities is one of the major activities that is required to be handled by an organisation. For this
purpose, the employees of organisation play a very crucial and significant role. Especially,
managers and leaders at the firm are the key reason behind the proper and suitable management
of these operations. For the present report, Unilever is selected as organisation of context. It is a
consumer goods manufacturing firm, based in UK.
The report will lay focus upon the impact laid by managers and leaders with a
comparison to their roles and responsibilities. Various theories and concepts are been evaluated.
Other than this, key approaches of operations management and role played by managers and
leaders in their application is been analysed. With the evaluation of the measures to improve the
quality of efficiency and effectiveness of successfully meeting the business activities.
MAIN BODY
ACTIVITY 1
Leaders and managers play a very important role in the management of the business
operations within the organization. Managers and leaders are the key component at an
organization like Unilever. They will see through the carrying out of different operations and
thus will look handling of various operations and activities that will help in managing the
functionality of organization and gaining a good productivity.
Comparison between the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers
Managers are the controlling and authorized person that help in carrying out of different
operations within a firm leader are the people who act as the guide for the other employees and
encourages them to carry out the business operations effectively (Basso and et.al., 2017). They
have different roles and responsibilities that is required to be followed and maintained that helps
in effective planning of the business operation.
Characteristics of managers and leaders
Managers Leaders
 Knowledge: A manager possess a good
knowledge about its respective field in
 Honesty: This is a major and most
important traits of a leader that assists
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order to carry out and manage a wide
variety of operations within the firm.
This will help the organization to
integrate a wide range of operational
measure to carry out capacities within
the firm.
the individual to carry its tasks with
much efficiency.
 Creativity: The manager needs to be
creative in order to initiate the
innovation and positive growth within
the organization to attain competitive
advantage.
 Confident: Leaders are confident about
its roles and responsibilities and thus,
will help in proper execution of
different business operations.
 Time and resource management
skills: This is an important attribute
within the organization that is required
to managed in order to meet targets and
deadlines. Therefore, manager of
Unilever ensure that operations are
executed on time with minimal
resources (He and et.al., 2018).
 Positive attitude: This is one of the
important traits that will help the leader
to improve the quality of services and
motivate their work force within the
firm.
 Flexibility: Managers are effectively
flexible in order to carry out the
functions and maintain healthy
employee relations within the
organization.
 Communication: Leader are well
communicative and interactive that
help in effective delivery of instructions
and carrying out the business activities.
Roles of leaders and managers:
Roles of managers and leaders
Managers Leaders
 Looking after daily operations within  Managing the quality of products and
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the firm. services.
 Managing the work ethics and
compliance with various employment
and work-related legal obligations.
 Guiding the workforce to perform their
duties with effectiveness.
 Manager role is to ensure proper
placing of different plans and strategies
within selected organization.
 Acting as an intermediate between the
workers and the management.
 Facilitating decision making and
implementing it in order to improve the
quality of services.
 Improve overall operational capacity of
selected organization, Unilever.
 They are the people associated with the
management of various business
operations and make plans and policies.
 They look after the guiding of various
operations that improves the firm's
functionality and implement plans and
policies.
 They are on the senior position and
answerable to company's management.
Also, they look after the operational,
developmental and training needs at the
workplace.
 They are on subordinate level and are
answerable to both, management and
the managers. However, they will
communicate with managers and will
interact with workers about decisions.
Analysis of leadership and management using various theories and models
Different theories and models are been taken in consideration by the form that will help
in improving overall operations that are been taken within the organization. It assists in proper
assessment of knowledge and carrying out of different operations. Some major leadership and
management theories and models are as follows:
Leadership theories
Great man theory: Originally proposed by Thomas Carlyle, this theory states that the leaders
are been born with inherent traits and qualities that makes them great. It makes a perception
among their followers that makes an individual as a desired leader. Under this type of theory it is
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regarded that leader is intended to have some important qualities which will be helpful in
motivating all employees of Unilever.
Behavioral theory: It is an advancement over the Great man and trait theory which states that
the leaders are inherently born or made with passage of time. It suggests that the behavior or the
nature of a leader of Unilever is the key factor that provides him with an opportunity to emerge
as a good leader within an organization (Abapour and et.al., 2015). On the other hand, leaders
work on the core level with the employees and ensure the high level of productivity and
execution of various operations within the firm
Management theories
Scientific theory: Proposed by Frederick Taylor, it assists that the proper planning of the
business operations and theories are been taken in consideration that will help in using the
specific data and information that can be used to improve the quality of services and helps in
incorporating the latest and innovative processes that will improve the Unilever productivity.
This indicates that mangers have a higher role and responsibilities that will help in proper
execution of different responsibilities within the organization.
Bureaucratic theory: This is a management theory that lays focus upon the job roles and
responsibilities that are been applied and allocated in Unilever on the manager (Espa and et.al.,
2016). It helps in gaining a proper understanding of different traits and qualities and develops a
balance between technology and workforce to manage the business operations. Both managers
and leaders are required to work within coordination in order to ensure high level of productivity
within the firm.
Evaluate different theories and approaches of leadership
The different theories of leadership like Great man theory or behavioral theory indicates
that the leadership is an essential component of the organization. That will help in proper
assessment of different operations that will improve the overall performance of the selected
enterprise, Unilever. This will help in proper assessment of various operations that are taken
within the firm. This will also improve the quality of services and action plan that will help in
proper assessment of business plans and thus will help in carrying out of different approaches
within the firm. Besides this, various approaches are been undertaken within the firm that assists
in effective carrying into action of various leadership measures that will help in suitable planning
of the business activities and operations. Some of them are as follows:
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Autocratic approach: In this sort of leadership, the leaders or senior authorities are the
responsible person and supreme decision-making body. There is no involvement of the
employees in the decision-making approach. This leads to the development of the strict work
place where the employees tend to turnaround (Thomas, Deblecker and Ioakimidis, 2018).
Democratic approach: this is exactly opposite of the autocratic approach that uses a free and
effective approach within the organization. This includes the employees or the organization in
the decision making and thus encourages the workers within the organization to carry out their
functionalities. This improves the decision-making capacity of the organization.
Situational leadership: This includes the practice that is carried out within the firm where
leaders and managers are required to adjust the operations and functionality of the organization
that will increase the overall functionality of the organization (Situational Leadership, 2019).
The style measures that are taken within the firm are directing, coaching, supporting and
delegating.
System leadership: It is a leadership approach where the management or leaders and managers
within an organizational firm like Unilever will develop a supportive work environment that will
help in engaging all the work force from different departments that will help in proper
assessment of executing the business measures and design the work force of the firm ( Rathod
and et.al., 2017). The working of the employees as per their potential will improve the overall
productivity of the organization
Contingency theory: This theory suggests that there is as such no particular leadership approach
or method that can be taken in consideration for carrying out of the firm. Thus, the leaders and
managers will see through the proper handling of the business operations and other obligations
that will impact the overall operational capabilities of the firm. As there is no precise leadership
policy, the operations are carried out as per the conditions prevailing within the system.
Role of leaders and function of manager in different situations
In policy formation
Role of leader Function of manager
At the time of making decision leaders look
after various factors that can impact the overall
functionality of the selected business
enterprise. They will see through various
During decision making, managers function is
to direct and control various situations. They
will analyze all the influencing attributes,
identify the issues related to it and will guide
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policies and action plans imparted by firms
management for decision making (Oti and
et.al., 2016).
the employees or management of Unilever to
decide a feasible policy by providing effective
solution.
Production of goods
Role of leader in Unilever at production is to
guide the work force of the organization to
improve their quality of production by
implementing different approaches, making
optimum utilization of resources. This will
encourage them to maintain the product quality
and cost effectiveness.
Function of manager of Unilever in production
function is to allocate the project, resources and
other essential items that will facilitate the
proper growth and development of a new
product or service within the firm.
Different approaches of leadership
Various leadership approaches are been undertaken within the firm that is required to be
followed within the organization in order to carry out the operations and other business-related
functions within Unilever. Some major leadership approaches that are taken within the
consideration by the firm are:
Situational leadership:
It has following advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages: it increases the flexibility and adaptability of the firm and provide the organisation
with a suitable experience to carry out a wide variety of business operations.
Disadvantages: if the operational situations changes, the leadership or management takes time
to mitigate the risk factors and thus impacts the functionality of firm.
System leadership:
The advantages and disadvantages that are taken within the firm are:
Advantages: The biggest advantage of this system is that it leads to the proper utilization of the
potential and adequate skill set of the employees within firm and thus will improve the overall
operational capacity of the firm.
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Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage of this system is that the working as per the
potentiality will lead to the multiple workforce working simultaneously. This can lead to a
condition of conflict, reducing productivity.
Contingency theory:
Advantage: As there is no specific leadership approach, the management can opt for undertake
the most suitable and precise approach that will help in proper assessment of the business
operations and activities that will help in improving the performance of the firm (Goel, 2017).
Disadvantage: The lack of leadership approach can sometimes lead to situation of conflict and
confusion within the firm.
Following of these leadership approaches and operations will lead the organization that
will help in execution of the business-related operations within Unilever. This will also improve
the work environment of the firm and managed adverse situations within an organization.
ACTIVITY 2
Key approaches of operations management
Covered in PPT
Value and importance of operation's management
Covered in PPT
Various factors affecting operation's management of the firm
Booklet
There are different factors
and elements that affects
the overall operational
capacity of the
organization and thus, will
help in improving the
quality of services. This
lead the organization to
enhance the overall
performance of the
organization. Some major
elements that can influence
the organizational
performance are:
Employee turnaround:
This is the major factor
that is taken within an
enterprise like Unilever
and are required to be
managed with efficiency in
order to sustain the overall
functionality of an
organization. Leaders and
managers were look after
the suitable measures in
order to reduce the
departure of employees
within the firm. It also
impacts the business
environment and help in
suitable evaluation of
effectiveness of operations
management issues within
the firm.
Technological
advancement: This is also
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a crucial factor that can
impact the performance of
the organization and is
required to be handled by
the firm. Any sort of
technological glitch or
limitation can impact the
overall performance of the
organization (White,
2016). Leaders and
managers assess the
technological needs and
arranges suitable training
top use technological tools
and equipment.
Economic conditions: this
includes the financial
factors and operations such
as interest rates, GDP,
inflation rates etc. which
are required to be
monitored within the
organization and thus,
guides appropriate
operation's management.
Managers will perform
effective financial
assessment and develop
policies for leaders to
implement.
Analyse how these factors affect the business environment and the wider community
According to Thomas, Deblecker and Ioakimidis, (2018) all these factors would be
impacting decision making process of company as if stability of political party is not there then
company need to form proper policy regarding this. While it could also be added that if interest
rates within economy is stable then this forms positive influence on policy formation.
Technological advancement will be helping company to make certain changes according to them
with upgrading the systems and application.
CONCLUSION
Thus, from the report this can be concluded that management of various business
operations is very important for the firm. The functions and roles of leaders in maintaining the
quality of services and thus will help in planning of the business operations and gaining of the
positive customer base within the organization. Different leadership and management models
and theories of operation's management are been considered with different approaches of
operation's management and this will lead to the proper planning of the business operations and
hence will lead the selected enterprise to have a good productivity. Other than this, the value and
importance of OM and the factors affecting it is been discussed.
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Online:
Situational Leadership. 2019. [Online]. Accessed through:
<https://www.managementstudyguide.com/situational-leadership.htm>
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