Analysis of Leadership and Management Styles at Waitrose Supermarket

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes leadership and management at Waitrose.

[MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS]

INTRODUCTION
Management & Operation plays a key role in managing the business activities of the
organization. The report is prepared with the purpose of highlighting the role of manager and
leaders to improve the production efficiency and assess the strength & weakness in the
organizational work environment. The report provides insight on the operational function of
Amazon and provides approaches so as to achieve the business objectives (Welford, R., 2016).
Furthermore, the report will produce different theories and models of leadership so as to
reflect the different strength and weakness of Waitrose (Peaucelle, 2015). It also demonstrates
an appreciation of the role of manager and leader in order to manage the capacity and
schedule the executive operations. Moreover, it identifies different factors of the business
environment in which Waitrose operates so as to provide effective recommendations to the
management at the workplace.
Waitrose is the largest supermarket chain in the UK. The company is growing very rapidly and
becoming competitive in the supermarket sector (Starr, 2016). The objective of the company is
to serve customers with desired quality products and provide a fresh product at an affordable
price.

LO1
This section highlights the role of manager and leader at Waitrose and also discusses various
styles and approaches that can be used by manager and leader in order to make effective
decisions for the smooth running of the business (Krajewski et al., 2015).
P1 DEFINE AND COMPARE DIFFERENT ROLE OF MANAGER AND LEADER AT
WAITROSE
Manager
Manager at Waitrose is responsible to oversee the overall working process in order to achieve
pre-determined goals. They provide specific direction to the employees for the accomplishment
of business objectives. Besides this, the manager is responsible to frame the strategic policies
and other plans so as to fix the responsibility with various departments at Waitrose. Apart from
above, manage is Waitrose is also concerned about performance appraisal of the employees at
regular intervals (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Leader
Leaders refer to the individuals who influence the followers so as to get the work done and
achieve the predetermined goals (Lehner, 2015). The leaders at Waitrose play a significant role
in improving the motivation level of the employees and enhancing their communication skills so
as to coordinate their efforts in a stated manner. Thus, the role of a leader is to inspire the
employees and motivate them to provide their cent per cent efforts to the organization.
Difference between Managers and Leaders
The role of manager and leader is considered interchangeable but there exists some difference
among the various functions of manager and leader at Amazon (Heizer, 2016).
Particulars Managers Leaders
Meaning A manager at Waitrose A Leader refers to

required making effective
utilization of resources in
order to achieve business
objectives.
individuals who motivate
their team in order to
achieve predetermined goals
or objectives at Waitrose
Role A manager is responsible for
setting the vision, mission
and objectives (Fiorentino,
2016).
Leader persuades the
employees in order to follow
the objectives set by the
Manager.
Direction A Manager at Waitrose
provide directions and
instructions to groups
Leaders provide direction to
them.
Focus Manager focus on Objectives Leader focus on people.
Characteristics A Manager possesses
potential qualities and
interpersonal skills so as to
do effective planning.
Leader possesses an
excellent communication
skill so as to inspire the
employees to work.
Responsibility A Manager is responsible to
oversee overall functioning
at Waitrose (Ferrell and
Fraedrich, 2015).
Leaders at Waitrose require
to the effective direction to
their team members and
coordinate their efforts in
order to persuade the
organizational objective
within a specified time.
MBO- Management by Objectives
This is an important management approach that helps in setting clear objectives and targets for
management and employees in an effective manner so as to ensure transparency (Lewin,
2016). It further provides clarity with respect to the division of work and enhances the
motivation level of the employees through involving them in decision making at Waitrose.

Thereby, it is required by Waitrose & partners to effectively apply this concept in order to
achieve organizational objectives in a timely manner and attain sustainable growth in the
market.
Classical theory
This theory considers the aspects of satisfying the physical, economic and social needs of the
employees so as to maximize the overall profitability at Waitrose (Rahim, 2017). Furthermore, it
emphasizes on maintaining the ideal workplace culture in order to enhance the efficiency of
employees.
Behavioural theory
This theory is also known as Human relation theory and tends to address the different
dimensions of a human at work. Leaders at Waitrose must focus on studying the behaviour of
employees so as to provide a reliable solution for workplace conflicts and enhance productivity
(Krajewski et al., 2015).

LO2
P2 EXAMINE WITH EXAMPLES THE ROLE OF LEADER AND FUNCTION OF
MANAGER THAT CAN BE APPLIED IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONAL CONTEXT
According to Henry Fayol, there are various functions of the manager and the role of leader as
follows:
Planning This is the important function of management that requires manager at
Waitrose to prepare the plan and frame the strategies so as to achieve
competitive advantage in the retail sector of UK (Sekaran and Bougie,
2016).
Furthermore, the leader plays an important role so as to communicate
the set goals and integrate the efforts of the employees in order to
accomplish the objectives in a timely manner (Winston, 2018).
Organizing Manager at Waitrose must use the organizational resources in an efficient
manner so as to improve the overall productivity of the organization. Also,
the leader plays an important role so as to allocate the resources
efficiently in order to achieve the best possible outcome.
Directing Manager at Waitrose required providing effective directions in order to
accomplish the task in an efficient manner while the leader requires
directing the efforts of the employees in a stated manner.
Controlling The manager controls the operations at Waitrose by formulating
strategies and implementing those strategies in an effective manner. The
actual outcome needs to be compared with the planned outcome. The
leader plays an important role to guide the employees in order to correct
the deviations (Wheelen et al., 2017).

MANAGERIAL PERFORMANCE IN CONTEXT OF WAITROSE
A Manager working at Waitrose required to plan and control budget in an efficient manner. This
further helps in keeping a track of operational activities at various stores of Waitrose.
Moreover, the manager required to allocate the task on the basis of specialization so as to
achieve efficiency in the work (Welford, R., 2016).
A proper division of work according to Fayol principle will enable the manager to effectively
utilize the potential talent of employees. Also, a training and development program needs to be
arranged for the purpose of enriching employee's skills and talent.
FUNCTION OF LEADERSHIP
 Setting goals
This is the basic function of leader at Waitrose to set the goals for his team so as to
achieve the desired objective within the specified time.
 Initiating action
A leader is required to initiate the proper implementation of policies and procedures
framed by the manager of Waitrose. Moreover, he is required to make effective
decisions for Waitrose (Starr, 2016).
 Motivation and direction

This is the important function of leadership that requires a leader to inspire and
motivate employees working at Waitrose and provide them continuous direction so as
to coordinate their efforts (Rahim, 2017).
 Link with management and worker
The leader acts as an important medium between executive and employees and thereby
establish a link in order to accomplish the task in an effective manner.
VARIOUS LEADERSHIP STYLE ADOPTED WITH RESPECT TO WAITROSE
Leadership style set the manner for managing and directing the people in the right direction
(Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015). It also defines the behavioural pattern that could be adopted by
the leader in order to influence the followers. The different leadership style that could be
adopted by Waitrose as follows:
Autocratic This is known to be the boss centric leadership style where
superior holds all the authority and gives direction and order to
the employees to be followed by them. Waitrose can adopt this
leadership style in order to make quick decisions and improve
productivity (Bolden, 2016).
Democratic This is also known as participative leadership style where leader take
active participation of the employees before making final decisions
(Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015). The leaders at Waitrose can adopt this style
in order to order to distribute the job responsibility and create employee
job satisfaction.
Transformational The leaders at Waitrose can adopt this style so as to inspire and motivate
the team members to understand the need for changes and adopt such
changes in a flexible way (Fiorentino, 2016). This will further help in
achieving the desired target and improving the overall performance.
Laissez-faire This is called free-rein style where employees are allowed to make
decisions but ultimate responsibility rest with the leader. This style can be
adopted by Waitrose to give importance to subordinates and to take
control of their own decisions (Devalkar et al., 2018).


P3 APPLY DIFFERENT THEORIES AND MODELS AND DEFINE THE APPROACHES
OF SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP, SYSTEM LEADERSHIP AND CONTINGENCY
THEORY
The application of varied management styles and theories will enable the manager to smoothly
run the business operations and help to effectively utilize the potential talent of the employees
(Rahim, 2017).
Situational Leadership
This is a style of leadership where the manager or leader adjusts his style according to different
situations. It does not require a leader to follow a particular model in every situation. This
model of leadership further consists of different behaviour of a leader such as Directing,
Coaching, Supporting and Delegating (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
Figure: Situational Leadership Model
[Source: Lehner, 2015]

The model requires leaders at Waitrose to adopt the style that best matches with subordinates’
behaviour that further directs his behaviour towards achieving common goals. Also, this
leadership style considers two types of behaviour:
Task Behaviour- Leader is required to give proper direction and guidance for the
accomplishment of the task in an effective manner (Haksever and Render, 2018).
Relational Behaviour- This requires the leader to develop an interpersonal relationship with the
subordinates.
System Leadership
A leader requires creating productive working conditions in order to utilize the potential talent
of the employees at Waitrose (Furterer, 2016). They are required to apply sound principle and
policies for the purposes of designing an organizational strategy and system process.
Furthermore, it ensures the effective building of systems that can help in driving the productive
behaviour of the employees and achieving organizational growth and success.
Also, this model provides
effective tools for the leader to
predict the people's behaviour
and drive their efforts toward
the realization of
organizational purpose.
Further, it is important to
communicate the need and
different perspective of
employees so that can work with full potential and achieve organizational aims and objectives.
Thereby, Leaders at Waitrose requires modifying the system structure and organizational
process so as to derive maximum benefits out of it. The application of a creative and innovative
approach will make effective utilization of corporate resources and thereby achieving
sustainable growth in the competitive environment (Haksever and Render, 2018).

Contingency Model
This model is given by Fried Fiedler and puts emphasis on situational variables. As per this
model, the most effective leadership style is the one that is based on the situation (Răducan
and Răducan, 2014). It encourages the leader to use the preferred leadership style by
considering the aspect of the internal and external environment in which Waitrose operates.
This style considers three situational variables that help in determining the effectiveness of
leadership style. These three dimensions are:
 Task structure – This refers to task goal, process and relationship as clearly defined by
the leader to his followers. For example-Leader at Waitrose clearly defines the task
structure to their subordinate and well directs them so as to enhance individual
performance (Peaucelle, 2015).
 Leader’s position power – This refers to authority possessed by a leader that is derived
from his position held at the organization. For example- Leader at Waitrose possesses
absolute power in order to drive the behaviour of employees.
 Leader-member relations – This variable of model talks about the extent of trust,
confidence and faith between the leader and his follower (Lewin, 2016).
Thus, Waitrose can be benefitted by using this approach and determining the effectiveness of
leadership so as to enhance overall productivity.
Figure: Contingency Model
[Source: Lehner, 2015]