Leadership and Operational Management Analysis: Unilever Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and operational management within Unilever, a multinational consumer goods company. The report begins by comparing the roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, highlighting their responsibilities in guiding and supervising employees. It then delves into different leadership approaches, including situational, systems, and contingency leadership, and their application within Unilever. The report also explores various operational management approaches, such as Just in Time and Lean Production, and how they contribute to achieving organizational goals. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of the business environment on operational management and decision-making, including crisis management and the introduction of new products. Through detailed examination of these areas, the report offers valuable insights into Unilever's management practices and strategies. This assignment is contributed by a student to be published on the website Desklib, a platform which provides all the necessary AI based study tools for students.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................4
LO1..................................................................................................................................................4
P1 Compare and determine the roles and characteristics of leader and manager..................4
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................7
P2 Roles and function of leader and manager in various situation........................................7
P3 Determine theories and approaches of leadership.............................................................8
PART 2............................................................................................................................................8
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
P4 Approaches of operation management and how manager and leader play role in
organisation............................................................................................................................8
P5 Value and significance of operation management to achieve the organisation goal......10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................11
P6 Assess different factors of business environment that impact operational management &
decision making. ..................................................................................................................11
CONCLISION ..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is defined as an area where management perform various
activities to enhance the efficiency and productivity level in an organisation. It is concern with
converting inputs such as raw material into output i.e. finished goods. In this report Unilever is
taken as base company. Unilever is a consumer goods industry which deals in various goods and
have divided into three divisions which are beauty and personal care, home care and food
product. The headquartered of Unilever is in London. This report include the comparison of roles
and characteristics in different situation so that they can supervise and guide employees in an
effective way. There are some approaches of leadership such as situational, systems and
contingency approach. This will help organisation to guide and instruct them so they can attain
business objectives effectively and efficiently. It also includes some approaches of operation
management to use less resources to fulfil the requirement of customers.

PART 1
LO1
P1 Compare and determine the roles and characteristics of leader and manager
Background of company: Unilever is a multinational consumer goods organisation that
deals in various products such as food and non-food items which include soft drinks, toothpaste,
beauty products, personal care and many more. The head office of Unilever is in London,
England and currently they are producing their goods and services around 190 countries (Pant
and Ramachandran, 2017) They follow divisional organisational structure because they are
dividing the products into different components.
Manager is an individual person who is responsible to monitor and supervise the
activities of employees in an organisation (He and et. al., 2018). Moreover, they delegate roles
and responsibilities so they can perform accordingly to achieve the business goal and objectives.
Leader is a person whose purpose is to influence their followers to achieve the set targets.
They set the vision and give direction or guide them properly because they can improve the level
of production and increase customer satisfaction.
Role of leader Act as a guide, friend and philosopher: The leader act as a guider because he give
direction and communicate various policies to employees so they can make cooperation
among them. However, leader also act as friend and philosopher because they share
opinion and ideas to followers (Lee, Kim and Yang, 2020). Integrates employee’s objectives with organisation objectives: This is the main role of
leader as he tries to put efforts and coordinate them to achieve common objectives. In
context to Unilever, they motivate and influence employees to accomplish the
organisation goal.
Role of manager Required at all levels: Manager is requiring at various department such as marketing,
accounting and so on. They develop rules and policies which is to be followed by
employees, this help organisation to reduce the conflict in organisation in different
department. With reference to Unilever, there are different and diversified products so
there are different managers and have to do work accordingly.

 Resource allocator: Manager allocate resources in an appropriate manner which leads to
decrease in operation cost and increase the profitability ratio. They recruit those
candidates who have proper skills and capabilities to manage and use proper resources
and eliminate waste resources.
Characteristics of Leader Ability to delegate: The main characteristic of leader is to delegate responsibility and
their goal to take better decision regarding the activities of organisation (Li and Zhang,
2020). In context to Unilever, leader delegate the responsibility assign by manager
according to skills, capabilities and competencies of each employee. Effective Communication: It is important to communicate the information and guide to
their followers related to objectives and also listen the issue or problems. With reference
to Unilever, they analyse that problem and give solution to overcome that particular
situation.
Characteristics of manager Time management: Manager manage their own time and other staff time in organisation
so they can successfully and appropriately wrap up projects with employees (Liu and et.
al., 2018). With reference to Unilever, this help organisation to effectively complete work
on time that leads to low stress among employees. Reliability: Manager show their honesty, reliability and they also show they are
trustworthy among their employees and they are available for them regarding to listen
their queries.
Difference between leader and manager
Dimensions Leader Manager
Execution Leader motivate and inspire
employees to attain the objectives
of organisation (Maxwell, 2020). In
context to Unilever they satisfy the
basic needs of each staff members
and take a high risk approach.
Manager control the process of
production and monitor the
outcomes or result in
organisation. With reference to
Unilever, they take low risk as
compared to leader and monitor

the performance of each
employee and give feedback in
order to improve the performance
of the business.
Vision According to the Unilever, they
create the strategies for direction
and set the vision from
manufacturing to distributing of
goods or services.
Manager's vision is to plan and
determine budget so they can
complete the given work on time.
According to Unilever, manager
develop the strategies that help
both employers and employees to
know what they have to work.
Role The role of leader in Unilever is to
influence employees to attain
objective and goal of an
organisation.
The role of manager in Unilever
is to focus on functions performed
by employees and monitor day to
day activities
In the discussed table, it is analysed that there are some difference between manager and
leader where the manager delegate roles and responsibilities to employees and develop various
strategies whereas leader have to implement that strategy effectively.
LO 2
P2 Roles and function of leader and manager in various situation
The role of leader and function of manager have a direct impact in organisation and affect
the different activities in different department. Due to this, performance of employees also affect
and there is some situation in context to Unilever that arise which are mentioned below:
 Crisis Management: Crisis management means the threat in company which leads to
conflict in organisation (Mehrjerdi, 2019). The manager and leader have to deal with the
particular situation carefully so that there is no increase in absenteeism and turnover
rate. In context to Unilever, there are many changes that appear in business environment
and they adopt those changes accordingly such as new technology and many more.

Role of leader is to handle the particular situation by maintaining the relationship
between the management and all staff members and influence them to attain the set objectives in
an appropriate manner.
Function of manager have to clearly identify the situation and analyse them and then
communicate to leader to overcome the issue. However, to handle this they have to assign roles
and responsibility to employees according to their concern department and skills or
competencies. Introduction of new production: The organisation has to analyse the whole market
regarding the need and demand of customer in each division. According to that, they have
to introduce new product or modify the existing product (Mendenhall and et. al., 2017).
With reference to Unilever, they are observing that people are emphasising on the organic
and healthy product so they have develop some strategies to introduce the new products
in market.
Role of leader is that they have to communicate each and every detail of new products in
market and tell employees what they have to manufacture and what they have to deal in which
their concern department. Leader also have to give training sessions for launching of new
product.
Function of manager is to assign roles and responsibilities to employees according to the
areas where they served. For example, they have to develop strategies for various department
such as food department, beauty care department and so on.
P3 Determine theories and approaches of leadership
Every organisation adopts leadership approaches as this theory only emphasize on
behaviour that manager and leader adopt to enhance their abilities of leadership (Nimmagadda
and et. al., 2019). This help organisation to boost the satisfaction level of employees so they can
put their efforts in work whereas they have to accept the changes according to business
environment, if manager and leader do not adopt changes then it leads to dissatisfaction among
customers. Some of the leadership approaches such as situational, system and contingency
leadership which are as follows: Situational Leadership: This type of leadership approach is defined as there is no single
leadership style that is applicable in every situation. In context to Unilever, both manager

and leader have to take decision appropriately and analyse that situation and then adopt
this style of leadership. With reference to selected organisation strength of leader and
manager is to take decision regarding to product development and also help them to
manage the crisis in organisation. On the other hand, there are some weakness of
situational leadership that this approach is not appropriate for introduction of new
product.
 System Leadership: It is a system where skills and competencies of every employees are
monitored by leader and then leader use their capabilities for the process in the change
level. According to Unilever, they motivate employees and due to this leader can build a
positive work environment which help them to achieve business objectives. In context to
Unilever, the strength is manager can effectively achieve their goals while they are
introducing new product. The weakness is that this approach is not appropriate for long
process as they take take lot to time.
 Contingency Leadership: In organisation there are many elements that affect the
efficiency of leader. It means the leader efficiency is contingent because it shows that
whether the leadership style is best in a given situation. In other words, it is defining as
they can be effective and ineffective in different situation. In context to Unilever, they
have to examine the situation and accordingly they have to develop strategies which
leadership is suited in that particular problem. The strength of the selected company is
that they do not involve all employees when they are developing new product whereas
weakness is that organisation cannot accept the changes regularly such as crisis
management.
PART 2
LO 3
P4 Approaches of operation management and how manager and leader play role in organisation
Operation management is a business practices where they use various approaches to
enhance the level and efficiency of production (Parsa, Bahmani-Firouzi and Niknam, 2020). The
management have to control the process and production so they operate smoothly in an

appropriate manner. They use less resources for optimum utilisation of resources as they can
fulfil the requirement of customers (Rawat and et. al., 2019). Some approaches used by
organisation such as six sigmas, lean production, total quality management and just in time
which are mentioned below: Just in Time: It refers to the process where, there is strategy taken by management to
supply the raw material from manufacture to supplier directly according to the time
schedule set by them. In context to Unilever, they use inventory strategy to enhance
efficiency by reducing waste resources and receive those goods which they want in
production process.
Role of leader is to provide proper resources so employees can produce the goods or
services on time and guide them to follow the accurate procedure as they effectively reduce the
operating or inventory cost from products.
Role of manager is that they have to schedule the time when and what they have to
deliver and to whom and tell employees which product is to be distributed to which supplier. The
role of manager is to increase the efficiency and forecast the requirement accurately. Total Quality Management: Total Quality Management refers to the approach where the
success of management come from satisfaction of customer. In context to Unilever, all
the staff members participate to improve the quality and service of products. It is a
process where they find and reduce error in manufacturing and distributing the goods.
Role of leader is to implement strategies to achieve the target in organisation and is
involved to participate to improve the overall productivity in organisation.
Role of manager is to communicate employees the advantages and disadvantages to
produce the quality and give training and development to improve the process of production. Lean Production: This approach of operations management is to focus on eliminating the
cost involved which is unnecessary or reduce the waste resources in production process
(Schedlitzki and Edwards, 2017). This help the selected company to maintain the high
quality products, whereas lean production can be applied in every stage such as design,
production or manufacturing and distribution to suppliers or customers.
Role of leader is to train employees properly so they can problems quickly when arise
and motivate employees that problem is the best thing to improve in organisation.

Role of manager in lean production is assign those employees who have proper
knowledge of using resources that help them to eliminate waste resources and decrease the
inventory cost from product. Six Sigma: The main objective to develop six sigma is to manage the work faster by
eliminating the mistake. In context to Unilever, they use this approach to take decision to
reduce the risk in organisation.
Role of leader is that they have to influence and instruct employees and communicate
them information about the six sigma.
Role of manager in six sigma is to improve capabilities in business process.
P5 Value and significance of operation management to achieve the organisation goal
Operation management is important in every organisation to attain the business objective
successfully because it effectively manage, supervise and control different activities in
organisation. In context to Unilever, they have different and diversified product and is made
available to large number of customers in market but with the help of operations management
they can easily manage and increase the productivity level. The value of operations management
are as follows:
Resource Management: It means manage the resources in an effective manner so that
employees can utilised them properly (Storey, 2016) Both manager and leader should focus on
resources and set budget and time to complete the work on time. With reference to Unilever, they
tell employees about the availability of resources which help them to fulfil the demand of
customers to attain the target.
Cost Reduction: It is most important strategy as to reduce the operation and unnecessary
cost in product which help them to compete easily with competitor in market. If they eliminate
unnecessary cost then organisation can improve quality for long time (Shayeghi and Shahryari,
2017).
Minimize waste resources: The value of operation management is cut the waste
resources from manufacturing and production process. Both manager and leader of Unilever
adopt this strategy because it helps them to increase profit by reducing inventory cost. The just in
time and lean production is used in cost reduction of operations management.

Inventory Management: This type of management is used to manage the inventory
because organisation focus that inventory is not under stock and overstock. In other words, it is a
process where they decide how much inventory they want in the process of production and at the
time of manufacturing. With reference to Unilever, they keep a track record of inventory so that
there is no deficit in stock and can provide better quality products in market.
LO 4
P6 Assess different factors of business environment that impact operational management &
decision making.
Business environment refers to all internal & external factors that affects organisation
growth and influence decision making process of company. Internal business environment
factors include human resource, plan & policy, machinery, inter personal relationship with
employees etc. All these factors internally impact the success of an organisation and affect
operational activities of company (Shyamal and Swartz, 2019). External factors of business
environment affect organisational growth from outside the business. It includes political, legal,
social, competitive factors that influence decision making by managers & leaders. In context of
Unilever, managers & leaders formulate proper policy which helps organisation in control all
these factor. In respect of selected firm some factors of business environment are discuss below:
 Corporate social responsibility: It refers to an activity which is conducted by an
organisation for development of society. Companies mainly perform these activities for
increasing its brand image and reputation in society. But currently its compulsory for
companies to perform corporate social responsibility according to their profit ratio. CSR
means carefully considering all human rights, environment and society because a
company operates its different activities by using resources of a society. So it’s essential
for company to contribute for development of environment & society. In context of
Unilever, its managers & leaders make decision for effectively performing CSR
activities. Manager of selected company analysis the marketplace and decides which CSR
activity is best for society as well as company. Leader of chosen company is responsible
for effectively directing & controlling of CSR activities. It provides required training to

their employees for successfully achieving objective of corporate social responsibility. In
context of company it includes government, NGOs and distributors for solving different
challenges faced by society. Corporate social responsibility builds a strong brand image
of company in society.
 Business ethics: It refers to a form of applying professional ethics, that helps in examines
different ethical problem in a business environment (Webb, 2017). In terms of company,
for maintaining a good relationship with customers its managers and leaders are focus on
maintaining values, ethics and sustainability in the organisation. For achieving customers
satisfaction management follow an ethical standard in the operations of organisation.
Managers & leaders of selected firm are responsible for making an appropriate business
policy by considering all controversial factors such as corporate governance,
discrimination, corporate social responsibility etc. leaders ensure that no unethical
activity is conducting in organisation. In terms of this for maintaining goodwill and
reputation in market manager & leader are require to make a proper police by fulfilling
business ethics.
 Culture- It refers to behaviour, beliefs, values and symbols of group of people transfer
from one generation to another. In context of selected firm, it is an multinational
company which operates its business in different cultures of countries. Culture of
different countries is an important aspect of business environment which influence
growth of organisation. For satisfying needs of customers selected firm, take proper
decision related to products which fulfils the cultural background of all countries.
 Values- It refers to basic belief that guide and motivate a person actions. Values
assist in determining what is important or not important. In context of relevance firm,
they developed and modified their products by properly analysing values of their
customers. Values play an essential role in decision making process of company which
assist in making decision in welfare of company.
CONCLISION
From above study it can be analysed that the role of managers & leaders is different but
they both are working in same direction for successfully achievement of organisational goal.

The manager delegates the roles and responsibilities whereas leader set the vision to perform
their work in systematic manner. On the other hand, manager develop strategies and leader
implement that strategy successfully by motivating each employees in organisation. Different
theories and style of management & leadership helps organisation in effectively operating its
operational activities & decision making such as contingency, system and situational leadership.
They have to analyse the particular situation and then decide which leadership style is best suited
in that particular situation. For this report it can be analysed that decision making by manager &
leader helps organisation in improving its production process and operational management. This
report is focus on different operational management theories which reduce wastage and improve
productivity of organisation.

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