Zara: Evaluating Management, Leadership, and Operational Efficiencies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Zara's management and operations. It begins with an overview of the company, its management structure, and the roles of leaders and managers. The report defines leadership and management, supported by relevant theories such as system theory, chaos theory, management by objective, and behavioral theory, and applies them to Zara's context. Task 2 delves into Zara's key operations, operational functions, and approaches to operations management, including the impact of external business environmental factors like PEST factors and corporate social responsibility. The analysis further explores how management and leadership approaches improve operational efficiencies and concludes with suggestions for future improvement, offering a holistic view of Zara's operational strategies and management effectiveness.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. An overview to the company and management structure.......................................................1
2. Definition and role of leader and manager..............................................................................1
3. Role of management and leadership supported by theories and concepts and application of
the theories to Zara......................................................................................................................2
4. Conclusion and recommendation............................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
1. Key operations of Zara............................................................................................................3
2. Key operational functions and identifying the role of manger and leader..............................4
3. Key operational approaches to operations management and their value................................4
4. The impact of external business environmental factors that affect decision-making by
leaders and managers..................................................................................................................4
5. How management and leadership approaches improve operational efficiencies....................5
6. Suggestion for future improvement........................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Operation management refers to the way company produce their products and services. It
is an essential part of the organisation that administer the activities of the company and improves
the quality. The study aims to evaluate the management and operations of Zara that is the
Spanish retail fashion industry that operates under its parent brand, Inditex. The study will
evaluate management structure of Zara and will determine the role of leaders and managers in
the industry. Some theories and concepts of leadership and management will be discussed in the
study and will be end with recommendation for future improvement.
TASK 1
1. An overview to the company and management structure
Zara is a clothing brand that is owned by its parent brand, Inditex. Inditex is one of the
largest fashion distributor in the world (ZARA, 2019.). The company is public listed industry that
also owned other popular clothing brands. It was founded in 1975 by Rosalia Mera and Amancio
Ortega and opened the first shop in La Coruna. Zara is a distributor of apparels that offers a wide
range of choices for men, women and children. Along with the apparel, company also launched a
line of perfumes, cosmetics and products regarding household. The brand has over 10,000 stores
worldwide with the revenue of $18.9 billion annually. They deliver their products through the
physical stores as well their online website called Zara.com that was launched in 2010.
Zara operates with a lean management structure that emphasize high performance. It is a
vertical integrated company that has control over all the production and distribution activity
involve in the creation of products. Inditex follows functional structure and Zara follows hybrid
structure where employees report to the store manager who report to region who reports to head
of Zara ((Bolman and Deal, 2017)).
2. Definition and role of leader and manager
Definition of Leader
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Illustration 1: Zara Logo
(Source: ZARA, 2019)

An individual person who influence the people of the group by going first and lead them
by examples. In other word leader is a person who commands or leads others in the organisation
to achieve a similar goal.
Definition of manager
A person in the organisation who is responsible for planning and directing the work of
individuals or groups, monitor their work and take effective decision an action when required
(Christopher, 2016). Manager is the person who handles, controls or directs the activities of
others in the organisation.
Roles of Manager and leader
 Role of leader is to set a clear vision and define the goal of Zara to the employees.
Leading and motivating them to achieve the setted vision. By developing leadership at
every stage they are responsible for handling the people in the organisation according to
the situation (Dugan, 2017. Overall leaders are responsible for setting direction, aligning
and motivating people.
 Role of Manager in Zara is to effectively planning, directing and controlling the activities
in the company. The role is divided in three major parts; Informational role, interpersonal
role and decisional role (Dumez, 2018). Manager of Zara has to perform the function of
communicating, motivating and encouraging team spirit to reach the organisational goal.
Overall managers are responsible for planning and budgeting, organising and staffing,
controlling and problem solving.
Management Vs Leadership
Management Leadership
Management can be defined as a disciplined
act of organising and co-ordinating the entire
activities of Zara to achieve the objective,
vision, mission that is set by leaders.
Leadership can be defined as a quality or
ability to lead the organisation and its working
people to a common goal by developing a clear
vision.
Management maintain their focus on the
present situation in the organisation and take
actions accordingly.
Leadership looks towards the future and take
actions thinking about the long-term condition.
Management is process or task oriented. Whereas, leadership is result or outcome
oriented
A person become manager by virtue of his
position
An individual become leader by his or her
person capabilities (Lussier and Achua, 2015).
3. Role of management and leadership supported by theories and concepts and application of the
theories to Zara
Leadership theories
System theory- This leadership approach help leader of the industry in promoting
creativity and innovation in the company and allow them to not only think about their own
perspective but also to look into the broader concept across the organisational system. It will help
them to bring a change in the system and organisational process (Mahadevan, 2015).
 System leadership theory is takes a holistic view and deals with high complexity in the
system. The disadvantage of this theory is that it does not specify techniques and tools for
practising leaders and it cannot be easily and directly applicable to the practice problems.
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Chaos theory- This theory from the leadership point of view states that at a certain point
of time the market undergo. Under this theory, organisation is living, self-organising system that
are self-adaptive and complex. The role of the leader in Zara is to build resilience, encourage
creativity and maintain balance. It is best applied in the project based organisation and for the
effective application, flexibility and creativity are necessary to adapt the change.
 The strength of this theory is that it make easier to change as the company gets adaptable
in nature and due to flexibility it is able to adjust by the leader in various situations. The
weakness of this theory is that it does not give a clear view that what change should be
adapted with time and it can reduce the productivity of employees.
Management theories
Management by objective theory- MBO model aims to improve the productivity and
performance of Zara by clearing defining the objective that is agreed by both management and
employees. According to this approach, manager are responsible to set an objective that should
be follow by the subordinates. By applying this model Zara will be able to carry out their tasks
and objectives in a systematic process (Mittal and Dhar, 2015).
 Strength of this approach is that it improves management as manager adapt different
objective time to time and the weakness is that it is difficult to measure specific goal as
they changed by the manager time to time.
Behavioural theory- Behavioural theory of management is effective that enable
managers of Zara to undertake specific behaviour, skills and abilities of the employees. Under
this approach, managers are required to fulfil the emotional needs of employees that motivates
them to work more and make them feel belonging and participated in decision-making. It can be
applied by manager for a sustainable growth and productivity by giving a reason to the
employees
 Behavioural theory enhance the engagement of between employees and managers and
increase their loyalty towards the organisation. The disadvantage of this theory is that it
only can deals with observable behaviour that limits the style and its effectiveness in the
workplace (Northouse, 2018).
4. Conclusion and recommendation
Leaders and managers are an essential part of organisational growth and productivity in
Zara. Both leaders and managers play their role effectively by adopting the best suitable style
that required by the situation results in proper manage and utilisation of resources and talent that
help the company in achieving the target. Manager and leader have positive impact on the
industry. Leader influences the organisational culture in positive way. In Zara, management is
concerned with planning, efficiency, consistency while leadership is associated with creativity,
risk taking, vision and change (Yamashita and Kimura, 2019).
It is recommended to the leaders and manager of the organisation to analyse the situation
and adopt the style and approach accordingly rather than sticking to only one style. Both
managers and leaders are dependent on each other so both are required to work together
effectively to achieve the common goal. Manager and leader of Zara can praise their follower
and subordinate to motivate their performance and confidence by rewarding them according to
their work.
TASK 2
1. Key operations of Zara
Covered in PPT
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2. Key operational functions and identifying the role of manger and leader
Covered in PPT
3. Key operational approaches to operations management and their value
Covered in PPT
4. The impact of external business environmental factors that affect decision-making by leaders
and managers
PEST factors
This factor is the sum of external environmental factor including; political,
environmental, social and technological. Zara operates in many countries and the laws and
regulations regarding political situation and environmental conditions affect the business as well
as decisions of the leaders and mangers in the company. Both are responsible to evaluate the gap
and identify the policies regarding employees, workers, environment, waste management and
take decisions accordingly. Along with it, changing demand of consumer affect the decisions in
the operations as they are required to produce products according to the technological and trend
demand (What is PEST Analysis, 2018).
Corporate social responsibilities
Corporate social responsibility is a approach of the industries that contributes to
sustainable development by maintaining values, beliefs, morale of environment, society and
economic. Zara is socially responsible organisation and leader and managers are required to
maintain the standard of the company in the society. The decision must be consider the norms
and values of the society by the leader and manager. They are also need to consider the
requirements of companies stakeholders (Christopher, 2016).
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Illustration 2: PEST factors
(Source: What is PEST Analysis, 2018)

5. How management and leadership approaches improve operational efficiencies
Covered in PPT
6. Suggestion for future improvement
 It is recommended to leader and manager of Zara to develop strategic plan that help the
industry to tackle the environmental factors effectively.
 The Leader and manager are required to provide necessary training to their followers for
effective operation management and perform ion the operation function (Key Functions
of Operation Management, 2019).
Conclusion
From the above study it has been analysed that leaders and managers are essential p[art of
the organisation and they are required to adopt the style according to the situation. It also has
been concluded that the theories have some advantage as well as disadvantage that need to be
consider by Zara's manager and leader before adapting and implementing.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bolman, L. G. and Deal, T. E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership.
John Wiley & Sons.
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Dugan, J. P., 2017. Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons.
Dumez, H., 2018. Henri Fayol. Performativity of his ideas and oblivion of their creator.
Lussier, R. N. and Achua, C. F., 2015. Leadership: Theory, application, & skill development.
Nelson Education.
Mahadevan, B., 2015. Operations management: Theory and practice. Pearson Education India.
Mittal, S. and Dhar, R. L., 2015. Transformational leadership and employee creativity: mediating
role of creative self-efficacy and moderating role of knowledge sharing. Management
Decision. 53(5). pp.894-910.
Northouse, P. G., 2018. Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Yamashita, A. and Kimura, K., Isuzu Motors Ltd, 2019. Operation management device,
operation management method and operation management system. U.S. Patent
Application. 16/100.066.
Online
Key Functions of Operation Management. 2019. [Online]. Available
at:<https://www.mitsde.com/Blog/key-functions-of-operations-management/>.
ZARA. 2019. [Online]. Available at:<https://www.zara.com/uk/>.
What is PEST Analysis. 2018. [Online]. Available
at:<https://www.visual-paradigm.com/guide/strategic-analysis/what-is-pest-analysis/>.
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