Analysis of Leadership and Management in Vodafone UK's Operations

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Management and Operation
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Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
Task 1............................................................................................................................................4
1. Define and differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a manager in
Vodafone or your selected company.........................................................................................4
2. Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager under two different situations in
Vodafone (or your selected company) using a range of theories and models, such as
situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency.....................................................6
3. Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in Vodafone.................................9
Task 2..........................................................................................................................................10
What are the different key approaches to operations management? Explain them in details.
What roles the leaders and managers of Vodafone play in these approaches.........................10
What is the key importance and value of operations management in achieving the business
objectives of, explain in detail.................................................................................................11
Assess those factors within Vodafone that impact upon the operational management and
decision making by leaders and managers of Vodafone..........................................................12
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................14
References...................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
The management in the organisation could be considered as a process that helps the company
in arranging and managing the different resources which are being used to execute the other
processes. While operating in the market, it is very important for the company to be sure
about the management process (about what to manage and how to manage) otherwise it could
be distracted from the path of achieving success. The current assignment is based on the
management and operation process of the company. Here, the company Vodafone UK is
taken as an example. Vodafone UK is the telecommunication company in UK that provides
the telecom services like data calls, messages etc to the customers. Vodafone UK is a group
Vodafone which is world second largest company. In UK, Vodafone UK comes at third
position after EE limited and O2. It is headquartered in Newbury, United Kingdom.
Whole assignment is divided into two parts. First part of the assignment describes some
aspects of management like leadership etc. Here, the roles and functions of leaders and
managers would be describes along with some leadership theories. The second part of the
assignment describes about the operation management like its approaches, key component
and value and also the factors that could put impacts on the operation management.
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Task 1
1. Define and differentiate between the role of a leader and the function of a
manager in Vodafone or your selected company
Vodafone UK is a big organisation and the company also takes care of its employees. In the
organisation, Vodafone UK divided the responsibilities to each and every employee properly
so that he or she could be aware of what they need to perform. The company Vodafone UK is
very much aware of the concept of leadership and management and does not consider these
terms same things.
A leadership is the process where the employees or staffs of the company get inspired to do a
particular task. Here, they feel motivated and enthusiastic. On the other hand, the
management is a team where the instructions are provided to the employees about what to
manage and how. Here, he employees feel instructed and directed only. Here, the role of a
leader and functions of managers of Vodafone UK is explained:
Roles a leader in Vodafone UK
A leader is a person that motivates and inspires the individuals to perform the particular task
so that the responsibilities assigned to them could be fulfilled and the organisation could
achieve its goals. Along with working for the organisation, the leader also motivate the
employees to enhance their skills for the personal and professional development. The role of
leader is made up of various traits and characteristics (Czarniawska and Wolff, 2011). Here
the roles that a leader plays in Vodafone UK are explained:
 Figurehead: Vodafone UK is a big organisation and the company also has to
communicate with media and other external environment. Here, the company has to
be social and also has to perform many legal responsibilities. Here, a leader in
Vodafone UK plays a very important role in inspiring so that followers or individuals
could follow him.
 Monitor: Only inspiring the individuals is not the responsibility of leader, he is also
responsible for monitoring all the tasks and work done by his or her followers. Here,
he or she plays the role of monitor where he keeps an eye on the performance of the
individuals (Chopra and Meindl, 2017).
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 Disseminator: As Vodafone UK belongs to telecommunication industry so here this
industry, the information plays a very important role. It could be said if the
information does not disseminate then a great loss could be faced by company and its
employees. So leaders also take care of what information is being communicated with
the external environment. Here he plays a role of disseminator.
 Spokesperson: In Vodafone UK, leader also plays the role of spoke person that speaks
on the behalf of his team to the management and put all the concerns in front of them.
 Resource Allocator: Leaders in Vodafone UK are good resource allocator as they are
aware of the skills and knowledge of all employees working in the company. Here,
they use these skills and talent of the employees effectively and timely.
Functions of manager in Vodafone UK
Each and every organisation including Vodafone UK wants the managers to execute
following functions.
 Planning: The planning of resources is very important so that they could be used
when the company needs them. It is the main function of the manager to plan and
arrange each and every resource so that it could be fully utilised by the company.
 Organising: Organising all the resources is also very important. It is main function of
managers to examine the situations and also forecast the resources that the company
could be in lack in. Here, the manager needs to collect the resources and also should
organise.
 Staffing: Vodafone UK is a large organisation and here, the company has to perform
huge tasks so that it could be able to be at first position in UK. Here, the main
function of manager is to conduct the staffing procedures like recruitment and
selection etc so that the company could get the required skills whenever possible
(Geoffrion, Dyer and Feinberg, 2012).
 Directing: In Vodafone UK, managers also direct the employees of the company
about what to achieve so that the goals and objective of the company could be
fulfilled.
 Controlling: Managers also have the responsibilities to control all the factors that
could harm the processes which are being executed by the company so that final goals
and objective of the company could be achieved.
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Differentiation between roles and functions of leader and manager
Managers Leaders
Managers are responsible for managing the
employees who are working in Vodafone
UK.
Leaders in Vodafone UK are responsible for
managing and directing the people who are
working under them.
Managers represent the organisation in front
of customers from the behalf of organisation.
In organisation, it represents the
management.
Leader explains the policies and strategies of
organisation to employees and also motivates
them to achieve this.
The manager also plays a very important role
in formulating the strategies and policies for
the success of the organisation (Burke, 2016).
Leaders play a very important role in
implementing the formulated strategies and
policies for the success of the organisation
and individuals.
Managers explain the strategies mission and
vision of the company to the employees so
that target could be matched timely.
Leaders explain the benefits that the
employees could get through understanding
the mission and visions of the company.
Managers work for the progress of the
organisation
Leader works for getting a good results for
the company and individuals.
2. Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager under two different
situations in Vodafone (or your selected company) using a range of theories and
models, such as situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency.
Leadership theories
There are the different theories on the leadership have been described that depicts the nature
and the characteristics of the leader in the particular situation. Following some leadership
theories are explained:
 Great man Theory: This theory believes that the leaders cannot be developed. They
are only born with the leadership skills. As per this theory, the leadership is intrinsic
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in human and no study or the practise could enhance the leadership qualities in
employees.
 Trait theory: This theory totally contradicts great man theory that shows that they
leaders are born and also could be developed towards the enhanced skills. Here, the
thing that organisation like Vodafone UK needs to do is to analyse the mental and
physical qualities of the individuals that could help them in enhancing the skills. As
per this theory, following are the traits that must be in individuals to be a leader:
- Confidence
- Knowledge of industry
- Assertiveness
- Empathy etc
While recruiting the employees for the organisation the company Vodafone UK
always examines these traits in the individuals so that they could lead the team and
also could be good leader in the company.
 Transactional Theory: As per this theory, the thing that works for the leaders is the
transaction and relationship between leaders and subordinates. In Vodafone UK, most
of the leaders of the company follow this theory as they pay huge attention on
maintaining the relationship with the subordinates. The rewards and punishments are
given to the individuals as per their performance in the organisation (Ireland and Hitt,
2016).
 Transformational theory: As per this theory, the leadership style of the leaders could
make the changes in the personality and thinking of the followers. For that purpose,
the leaders must be communicative, inspirational for the employees. Vodafone UK is
the organisation where most of the leaders of company follows this theory and
inspires the individuals to perform the task effectively. Here, the trust factor and
motivation of followers is enhanced.
Role of leader in different situations in Vodafone UK:
As per these mentioned theories, the roles of leaders and functions of managers in different
situations are explained below:
 Representative of the team: As per the traits theory of leadership, there are some
qualities and skills that a leader must have so that he or she could be different from
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the followers. The team representation is one of them. In Vodafone UK, there were
many situations that the employees have completed the task but could not present that
in the front of management. Here, the leaders of the company be the representative of
team and communicated the things to the management so that they could take proper
actions in achieving the goals and objectives of the company.
 Integrates the personal goals with the organisational goals: Other than achieving the
goals for the organisation. The leaders also must be focused about the personal goals
and objective of the followers. As per transitional theory, this behaviour of the leader
could create a positive transaction between the employees and leaders. This could be
very beneficial for the company like Vodafone UK which is offering telecom services
to the customers where the company needs to keep the employees motivated and
happy so that they could help the company in generating new ideas to gain the
competitive advantage
Function of a manager in different situations in Vodafone UK:
The functions of the managers in the different situations in Vodafone UK are explained
below:
 People management: People management in the big organisation like Vodafone UK is
the main function of the managers. Here Vodafone UK must be sure about the skills
and the talent of the managers in handling the people other individuals of the
company (Hoff, 2015). The system management theory explains the functions of the
manager better as this states that the managers must observe the reactions of the
employees and also must be aware of how the behaviour of the employees are
affecting the organisation and vice versa. This information must not be flowed outside
of the organisation only the proper actions are needed to be taken so that the impacts
of these two could be reduced to record level.
 Create communication process: the managers of the company Vodafone UK are
responsible in formulating the strategies so that all the goals and objective of the
company could be fulfilled. Here, the managers needs to be very communicative so
that he could easily communicate what the company wants and how to the
individuals. Here, he also must be able to analyse and identify the problems and issues
of the employees whether it is personal or professional for the better achievement of
the goals of the company.
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3. Apply the role of a leader and the function of a manager in Vodafone
In Vodafone UK, the different roles could be played by the leaders and different functions are
executed by the managers in the different situation. The roles of leaders and functions of
managers are explained below:
Role of leader:
 Solicits the support: For the success of the organisation like Vodafone UK, it is very
important for the leaders to be supportive so that the followers could create a trust
factor on them and also could share their opinion and views to them. In Vodafone
UK, the leaders needs to support more activities that followers wants to achieve
especially while providing the network coverage and other strategies (Siehl and
Martin, J2014). In case, if leader is not sure about the successful completion then he
must tell the followers in advance and also if he finds anything wrong then he must
communicate this with the followers.
 Negotiator: A leader also plays the role of negotiator for his or her followers where he
communicates the demands of the employees in front of the management of Vodafone
UK and vice versa. Here, the leader plays a role of negotiator for the employees and
for management as well.
Functions of manager:
 Sharing knowledge: It is the responsibility of the manager of Vodafone UK to share
the information wherever possible so that the employees of the company could
enhance the quality of their work and could contribute in achieving the goals and
objectives of the company.
 Handle the situations: While operating in the telecommunication sector, the
organisation has to face many ups and downs. Here, it is very important for the
managers to take the decisions on the basis of the situations not on the basis of
employees of the company (Brocato, 2013). A manager of the company like
Vodafone UK must be prepare to handle the tough time in the market so that it could
direct the resources and the goals and objective of the company could be fulfilled
timely.
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Task 2
What are the different key approaches to operations management? Explain them
in details. What roles the leaders and managers of Vodafone play in these
approaches
The operation management is a term or he concept where the production process of the
company is monitored, managed, controlled and designed so that the goals and objective of
the company could be fulfilled successfully. Overall concept of operation management
depends on what the company is producing and also on the nature of the product and
services. The two approaches of operation management of Vodafone UK are explained
below:
Approaches of operation management
 Supply chain approach: This is the approach where the company focus on the total
resources of the company as these are the main aspects that set the capabilities of the
company in front of the competitors and market. This approach also explains the
proper utilisation of the resources so that the goals and objective of the company
could be achieved properly (Sasser, Olsen and Wyckoff, 2017).
 Total quality approach: This approach is used by the company when it is planning to
enhancing the quality of the product or the services that the company is offering. As
per this approach, the quality of the product or service that the company is offering
plays a very important role in the market and could impact the overall performance of
the company.
The roles that leaders and managers of Vodafone play in above mentioned approaches:
The leaders and the managers of Vodafone play a very important role in supply chain and
total quality approaches which are given below:
 Leaders are the key players here as they in indirect contact of the employees so they
could better communicate the vision and mission of Vodafone to the employees and
also could provide the direction to the employees towards these mentioned mission
and vision. The managers in Vodafone measure the performance of the employees
towards the set mission and goals through the quality of the products and services.
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 Managers of Vodafone plays a very important role in bringing the HR and operational
department together where they assigns some responsibilities like training and
development etc to the HR department which are given to the operational department.
All these are done just to improve the quality of the services providing by Vodafone
to the customers. Here leaders also play a very important role as they measure the
skills and also identify the needs of the training for the employees and then
communicate this with the management so that proper action could be taken and the
company could achieve success.
 Along with approaches, the supply and chain management is also the part of the
management or activities of Vodafone where the services are managed and delivered
to the customers. Here, the leaders and managers plays a very important role in
managing and arranging the supply chain activities like transportation, logistics,
storage etc.
What is the key importance and value of operations management in achieving
the business objectives of, explain in detail
The concept of the operation management is very helpful for the industries especially the one
which belongs to the manufacturing industries. Here the operation management concepts help
the industries in obtaining raw materials, procurement and transportation etc. The study
shows the industries in the UK is increasing so as the importance of the operation
management concept as this concepts helps the company to execute the manufacturing
process smoothly and effectively (Otley, 2016). The studies have revealed that most of the
organisation are using the concepts of the operation management just be get a smooth
operations and processes in the organisation so that they could achieve the goals and
objective of the company effectively. Along with this, the concept of operational
management helps the companies like Vodafone in enhancing and formatting the budgets.
The key importance and the value of the operation management concept in Vodafone are
explained below:
 Reduce the wastage: Concept of the operation management helps the company in
reducing the wastage of the resources as this makes it possible for the company to
maximise the utilisation of the resources so that all the skills and knowledge of them
could be fully used by the company. The concept of the operation management also
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uses the concept of recycling where the wastage of the organisation could be
processes further.
 Increase the productivity: The concept of operation management also helps in
enhancing the productivity of the organisation as this reduce the wastage of the
resources then it is sure that the productivity of the organisation would enhanced.
Other than this, through the recycling process, the company could use the product
more than once and here the productivity is enhanced as the company does not have
to pay extra to get the resource and on the other hand, the company also get quality
outcome of the process.
 Time and resource management: With the help of the concept of operation
management, the company could better manage the time and the resources of the
company. Various methods like six sigma, lean product etc could be used by the
company in managing the given time (Ireland and Hitt, 2016).
 Low cost of production: Through using the concepts of operation management, the
company Vodafone could get the low cost in the production unit that directly enhance
the profit margin of the company.
 Proper utilisation of warehouse: The different techniques are explained in operational
management through which the company Vodafone could maintain the quality of the
products in warehouse. Basically, a warehouse is a place where the company could
store its products and raw material for long time. Two methods LIFO and FIFO are
explained by operation management to the company that could help the company in
storing the products as per their nature (Bass and Avolio, 2010).
Assess those factors within Vodafone that impact upon the operational
management and decision making by leaders and managers of Vodafone
The company Vodafone is very large and the business environment of the company is also
very big. Here, there could be many factors in the business environment of the company
Vodafone that could directly affect the operation management and decision making of leaders
and managers of Vodafone. These factors are:
 Economic environment: the factors includes in the economic environment of the
company put a huge impacts on the operation management and also on the decision
making of leaders and managers of Vodafone. The factors included in economic
environment are inflation, employment rate, purchasing power etc. For example: at
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