Management and Operations Assignment sample

Management and Operations Assignment sample

INTRODUCTION

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In the highly competitive business environment, it had become important for the businesses to focus on managing all the business operations in an effective manner so that they can lead the firm towards success. The effectiveness of the company is depended on how the business is being managed and how the different business operations are working.The entire management team is responsible for managing business operations in an effective manner(Ramos, et. al. 2018). The leader and the managers of the company plays a significant role in the company and in the management of the firm. It is important for the leaders and the managers to do work effectively for the company which is required for managing the company effectively.

The present report will focus on explaining the different concepts associated with the operations and management within the organisation. In this report, the role of leaders and functions of managers are explained on the basis of different parameters, and their roles and responsibilities are also explained in the different situational contexts. Also, the role leaders and managers are being explained in the context of the operational functions of the company. Moreover, the report will also focus on explaining the relationship between leadership and management in decision making and overall business management. For explaining all these things, the present report focuses on Tesco, which is a multinational organisation operating in the retail sector.

COMPARING THE ROLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADER AND A MANAGER

For all the business, the leader and the manager are equally important and better leadership of the leader and the management of the manager are crucial for the success of the company. However, the leaders and the managers have different roles and functions to perform within the organisation.If the leaders and the managers perform their roles effectively, then they will be able to satisfy the employees and the customers and will manage the firm effectively.

If we differentiate the leaders and the managers on the basis of their definitions than the leader is the one has followers, and the manager is the one who is having a team or the peoples who work for them. The leader is the one who is responsible for motivating the employees to deliver better performance in the company and to lead the company towards achieving the aims and objectives of the company. The leader has effective leadership skills which help them in leading the businesses effectively and focusing the employees of the company on improving their performance and increasing the productivity of the company. On the other hand, the manager is the one who is responsible for managing the employees and workers in the organisation. Also, the manager is responsible for controlling and managing all the business operations effectively, which can lead the company towards success and development. Both the leaders and the managers can be classified on the basis of their roles and characteristics.

Comparison of a leader and manager on the basis of their roles

Leader: the leader of the company is responsible for motivating the employees of the company to work towards the aims and objectives of the company, and the major responsibility of the leader is to lead the company in such as way that it should move towards achieving success. The leaders need to create a vision for the company and follow it. Along with this, the leader is also responsible for motivating the employees to enhance their level of performance and to set a direction for the company, which can lead the company towards success. It is the responsibility of the leader to focus on the behaviour of the employees and on the basis of it apply appropriate leadership style so that they can lead the firm effectively(Chiu, et. al. 2017).

Manager:the manager of the company is responsible for managing the different tasks and operations of the company. It can be said that the manager is the one who needs to manage all the different tasks in the organisation and needs to develop better coordination among all the team members or the employees of the company so that they can manage them effectively. It is the responsibility of the manager to focus on competition of all the tasks on time and to direct the employees to work effectively and to complete their assigned tasks on time. The important function of the manager is to develop better strategies and implementing them in an effective manner, so that manage the firm in an effective manner. For example, the manager of Tesco is developing better strategies which are helping them in managing all the stakeholders of the company effectively.

Comparison of a leader and a manager on the basis of their characteristics

Leaders	Managers
The leader focus on the employees of the company.	The manager focus on the resources of the company.
Leaders work on the basis of the objectives of the company.	Managers develop the objectives for the company on which the leaders work.
The leaders of the company havethe ability to bring challenge and take the risk.	The managers had the ability to direct the tasks to the employees.
They focus on leading the employees.	They focus on managing the employees.
Leaders are follower oriented.	Managers are task-oriented.

Differentiating the leader and manager on the basis of theories and concepts

The leader and the manager of the company are having different roles and functions to do in the organisations and on the basis of their roles and responsibilities they use different theories and concepts for managing and leading the firm effectively. The leader of the company needs to focus on applying different leadership styles on the basis of the situation, which can help them in leading the firm effectively.Leaders usually apply leadership theories such as transactional theory, transformational theory, contingency theory, autocratic, democratic, etc. The leaders of Tesco apply the democratic theory of leadership, which is helping them in leading the organisation in an effective manner(Furtner, et. al. 2017). On the other hand, the managers of the company apply the theories such as human relationship theories, system theory, X and Y theory, etc. for managing the organisations effectively.

ROLE OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS

The leaders and manager both are important for the businesses, and it is important for both of them to work effectively in different situations. If we consider the case of Tesco that being a large organisation, the company is also having a large number of employees in an effective manner. For delivering better performance and satisfying the employees with the products and services offered by company it is important for the managers to recruit effective employees and then the leaders are responsible for leading them effectively so that they can add value to the company.

If we consider the situation in which the team needs to work cooperatively, then the leader of Tesco needs to focus on motivating the employees to deliver better performance and should work on developing better connectivity among the employees. On the other hand, the managers need to ensure that all the employees should perform their task effectively so that the employees can develop better coordination among themselves and can deliver better performance. For example, the cited company working effectively for making better improvements in the customer's services and for this both the leaders and the managers need to work effectively so that they can achieve the goal of improving the customer service of the company.

In this situation, the leader of the company needs to focus on motivating the employees of the company to deliver better performance in the company and delivering better customer service. On the other hand, the managers need to develop the strategies and should take the steps which can motivate the employees. The managers can focus on rewards and incentives, which can help them in motivating the employees delivering better performance in the company. From this example, it can be said that both the leaders and managers act differently and have to apply different approaches for being effective in different situations.

Theories and models of leadership

When the leader is leading the employees, then it is important for the leader to understand his followers effectively, which can help them in applying effective theories or the leadership styles for leading the company effectively. The leaders of Tesco can apply differentleadership styles which can help them in being effective ina different situation. Some of the leadership styles are explained below, such as:

Contingency theory of leadership:according to this theory leader can be effective in one of the situations and can be ineffective in another situation. This theory states that it is important for the leader to be contingent their leadership styles or use the different skills as per the situation which can help them in being effective in all the situations. It can be said that the leaders need to analyse all the factors which are affecting the particular situation and then should apply any of the leadership styles(Vidal, et. al. 2017). The strengths of this theory are that it is an innovative approach and can help the leaders in solving all the random issues which are being faced by them in the company.On the other hand, the weakness of this theory includes that this theory can delay the leaders in decision making.

System leadership:according to this theory the leader of the company should treat the entire organisation as a complete system and the leaders using this focus on bringing improvement in all the departments of the company and focus on motivating the employees to work productively. If the leader of the company apply the system theory than it is having a positive impact on the organisational behaviour as it creates better interconnectivity among the entire organisations and the firm becomes more adaptive to the changes. This leadership is easy to implement and can provide better results as well. Along with this if the leaders apply this theory than it helps the controlling the performance of the employees effectively and this can also motivate the employees to work as per the demand of the organisation, and this makes the improvements at all the levels of the organisations.

Situational leadership:this theory states that there is no particular leadership style which can fit appropriately on all the different situation. According to this theory, the leaders needs to examine the situation and then apply the most relevant theory style, which can help them in leading the situation effectively(Thompson, and Glasø, 2018). On the basis of this theory, the leader is effective if it adapts the leadership style on the basis of the situation and can lead the company towards success. This theory is a creative approach to dealing with different situations, and this enhances the skills and knowledge of the leaders and even the employees of the company. This theory helps the leaders in being effective in all the diverse situation, which is having a positive impact on organisational performance.

ROLE OF LEADERS AND MANAGERS IN THE OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Effective operational management is one of the most important things for the success of the company, and it is also important for gaining a competitive advantage over organisations. The leaders and the managers are having specific roles to play in the operational management system of the company(Mitra, and Karathanasopoulos, 2019). As the cited company is operating in the retail sector, the company need to manage the business operation in an effective manner. The key approaches on which Tesco focus for operational management are mentioned below, such as:

Six Sigma:This is an effective approach which is widely applied by the businesses for improving the profitability and productivity of the company by managing the operations in an effective manner. This approach focuses on five different steps which are defining the problems, measuring the process, analysing the issues, making improvements in the process and controlling the problems in future. This strategy is helping the cited company in continuous development and making improvement in their operational management effectively. For the effective implementation of this strategy, both the leaders and the managers are making combine efforts toensure that all the employee perform their roles effectively so that the overall performance of the company can be managed(Sreedharan and Sunder 2018).

Total Quality Management: quality of the products offered by the company is very important for all the businesses and due to this reason the cited company focuses on implementing the approach of total quality management which is helping the company in maintaining the efficiency of the production department of the company. This approach is also helping the cited company in satisfying the customers by offering better products to them. The entire organisation has efforts to improve the quality of processes and services which can help them in better operational management. When this approach is applied in an organisation than the leaders and the managers of the company work effectively to motivate the employees to deliver better performance in the organisation so that high-quality products and services can be offered to the company(Abbas, 2020).

Just in time inventory: this is the most effective strategy which is being used by the cited company for reducing the waste and managing the inventory and production effectively. This strategy is helping the cited company in meeting the demands of the customers on time and satisfying them with the products and services which are being offered to them. For the better implementation of the strategy, the managers of the company are focusing on placing the order just in time to all the suppliers so that all the products can be offered to the customers on the basis of their demands(Franco, and Rubha, 2017). Along with this for implementing this strategy effectively, it is important that the leaders should motivate the employee to perform well and deliver their roles and responsibilities effectively as it helps the company in managing the inventory and the production in an effective manner.

Importance and value of operational management

Operational management is considered to be the most important aspect of business management as it is having a significant impact on the overall business performance and success of the company. Managing the operations isvery important as it is having an impact on the profitability of the company. The effective operational management system is important for reducing the production cost of the company and can also help the firm in enhancing sales by offering better products and services to the customers. Effectiveness of the operational management of the company is having an impact on the customer satisfaction, and satisfied customers are the key to success for all the businesses so it can be said that it is important for the company to focus on operational management(Teller, et. al. 2018).

Better operational management also helps the businesses in developing relations with the suppliers, which is important for getting a better supply of high-quality products, and it also helps the company in managing the supply chain effectively. When the company focuses on operational management, then it also helps them in developing the operational skills of the employees. It can be said that the operational management is having a significant impact on the company as it is having an impact on the overall business environment and ensures that the company deliver high-quality products and services(Reed, et. al. 2018). Moreover, if the company is having better performance than it will lead the company towards success and development and will help the company in achieving its aims and objectives. It can be said that operational management is having a significant positive impact on the achievability of the business objectives.

Role of leaders and managers in improving the operational management

The leaders and the managers are playing a significant role in the operational management, and if the leaders and the managers of the company are effectively, then only the operations can be managed nicely. It is important for the leaders and managers to have better interconnectivity and relations among them which can help them in meeting the business objectives and making effective use of the resources for managing the business operations effectively and leading the company towards success(Wu, and Fang, 2017). Both the leaders and the managers are important for ensuring that the employees should work effectively for the organisation and can help the company in better operational management. It can be said that combine efforts of both leaders and managers are important for effective operational management and leading the company towards achieving its aims and objectives.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Although both the leaders and the managers are having different roles to play in the organisation, they are working for achieving the same goals, which is managing the businesses effectively and leading them towards success. For effective business management, the managers are responsible for making effective use of better strategies and focusing on different roles such as staffing, directing, controlling, planning and organising the different tasks in the company. But the leaders are responsible for making these tasks more effective.

The managers can make the objectives, but the leaders work effectively for leading the employees and the teams to move towards the objectives which are being set by the managers. Both the leadership and management are interconnected with each other and are equally important for the better management of the business(Azad, et. al. 2017). It can be said that these two concepts are different but are interconnected and both the leaders and the managers should focus on implementing better leadership and management respectively, which is crucial for the success of the organisation.

Factors affecting operational management and decision making of leaders and managers

While managing the operational management, it is important for the leaders and managers to focus on different factors of the business environment in which they are operating so that better decisions can be made by them for better operational management. The competition in the industry both at national and international level is important to be considered. Tesco being a multinational organisation, faced global competition from the retail giants such as Sainsbury, Walmart and ASDA. The cited company have to focus on their strengths, such as product differentiation and online shopping which can help them in gaining a competitive advantage over others(Alefari, et. al. 2017).

As the company is operating as a multinational level, it is important for the leaders and managers to focus on the social responsibilities of the company while making decisions for the company. The world is moving towards modernisation and the technological advancement it is important for the leaders and managers to focus on making better decisions for investing better capital in the research and development department which can keep the company technologically advanced. The cited company is making better use of technology in their inventory and production management which can help them in delivering better performance in the company. Also, the legal considerations associated with the legal system of the country needs to be focused while making a decision in the organisations(Adamyk, 2019). Moreover, it can be said that there are different important factors of the business environment which needs to be considered by the leaders and managers at the time of decision making.

CONCLUSION

The above-mentioned report had explained that operational management is very important for the businesses and different concepts related to it are explained in the report. The study emphasises than the leaders and managers are most important for the company and the roles played by them in the businesses are having a significant impact on the success of the company. Both the leaders and the managers of the company are being differentiated on the basis of their roles and characteristics, which proves that both had different functions to do in the company. The different theories of leadership which are being used by the leaders of Tesco are explained, and it is being found that the effectiveness of the leader depends on his ability to apply different leadership styles which can help him in being an effective leader in all the situations.

A situation of Tesco is taken for explaining how the leaders and the managers act in the situation for managing the situation in an effective manner. Along with this, the different approach which is used in the cited company for operational management is being explained, and the role of leaders and managers in the efficient management of operational management is also explained. Moreover, the report had also explained the interrelationship between leadership and management and how the business factors affect them is also explored. The report concludes that the operational management is very important for the success of the company, and the leader and managers of the company should work effectively for managing the operational management.

References

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