Management and Operation

Operations management can be referred to as an area that is concerned with processes like designing and controlling of production during the production of goods and services. This report is based on Tesco, which is a multinational British groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in England, United Kingdom. The company is third-largest retailer when measured by gross revenues in the world. It analyses the differences as well as similarities between a leader and manager based on their roles and responsibilities by applying various approaches of leadership and also explains the importance of operations management.

Comparison of different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager

A leader within an organisation can be defined as a person who influence a group of people, usually his/her team members in order to achieve certain goals and objectives. The various roles and characteristics of a leader are explained below -

Roles

A team leader plays different roles in an organisation to ensure that all the tasks are completed and presented on time without any delay. The different roles of a leader are -

• Supervisor - A leader within Tesco plays the role of a supervisor where he/she evaluates, monitors as well as controls the various activities and ensure that they are carried out in an effective as well as efficient way (White, 2016). He also tracks the performance and overall productivity of his team members to remain informed of how the team is progressing overall.

• Inspire and motivate - The leader inspires and motivates his subordinates to ensure that they work with a lot of zeal and confidence instead of being lousy and showing disinterest. Effective communication can  act as a key to overcome this situation (Positive Leadership: Roles Of The Leader, 2020). Struggling with your assignments? Order assignment help from our experts! 

Characteristics

• Communication - A good leader has excellent communication skills both written as well as verbal. He/ she also has good listening skills and all of these skills help in motivating and inspiring the team members in some or the other way (Espa and et. al., 2016).

• Confidence - A good team leader is also very confident of what he speaks and makes decisions regarding. This characteristic make him/her stand out from the rest of the crowd and thus inspire others.

Manager

A manager is a person who has the responsibility of managing the employees within an organisation and performs activities like planning, scheduling, evaluating, monitoring etc. to achieve goals and objectives.

Roles

• Figurehead - A manager has several social, legal responsibilities and thus, is expected to act as a source of inspiration to other employees so that they look up to him.

• Spokesperson - Managers are people who represent the organisation and thus act as spokesperson in front of clients and in the market. As a spokesperson, the manager transmits information to people outside the organisation about its goals and objectives.

Characteristics

• Result oriented - A effective manager is always result oriented and works effortlessly towards achieving goals and objectives (Jabbari-Sabet, Moghaddas-Tafreshi and Mirhoseini, 2016). He is self motivated and also encourages his team members to put in their best efforts.

• Feedback - A good manager provides feedback to his team members from time to time about their performance which helps them in improving the way in which they work and get things done.

Comparison between the role of leader and manager

How role of a leader and function of manager apply in different situations

Henri Fayol identified 5 functions of management and stated that these functions can be used universally by managers across various organisations. The description of these functions according to a situation of conflict among the team members is stated below -

• Planning - Planning is considered the most important function out of all the five functions and a manager is expected to effectively plan the coordination and implementation of various tasks at different levels. This helps in utilising the resources effectively and achieving goals effectively. He also plans and assigns different tasks to different team members so that the situation of a conflict can be avoided.

• Organizing - Managers should also organise various activities efficiently among all the team members. Managers in Tesco have the responsibility of hiring and providing training to the right and educated people who are a fit for a particular job position which ensures that the staff is skilled properly (Lathrop and et. al., 2019). The activities are organised in such a way that each member of the team is assigned tasks based on his specialisation and interest.

• Directing - Managers should supervise the performance of their team members regularly to ensure that all tasks are carried out effectively and that the team members are working responsibly. Managers in Tesco direct their team members whenever an issue or challenge comes up but should not treat them out of the standards of the company.

• Coordinating - Managers ensure that all activities in the organisation are well coordinated with each other and that there are no gaps in their functioning and the output is delivered effectively on time (Liu, Wang and Wang, 2017). Tesco is a company with a large number of employees and thus, they should be managed to ensure that the overall activities are coordinated and there is no situation of a conflict in the same.

• Controlling - Managers in Tesco ensure that the activities of the organisation are in line with the company's policies and has the responsibility of reporting and delays and deviations in the same to the management of the company. The manager also controls that the employees follow the company policies and standards.

There can be various situations that can come up during the functioning of company wherein a leader plays different roles depending upon the nature of the situation. For example- when a situation to implement new technology comes up, a leader should supervise that his team members do not face any challenges with using new technology and are comfortable working with it. To ensure this, proper training should be provided to the employees to ensure an increase in their overall productivity as well as performance.

Thus, a leader and a manager play different roles within an organisation to ensure that tasks are completed on time and there is no delay in the generation of output. Also, they help in avoiding and overcoming various situations like rise of a conflict and implementation of new technology.Need example assignments, Talk to our experts! 

Different theories and models of approach including systems, situational and contingency leadership

There are different theories and models of approach that leaders and managers make use of to deal with various situations that arise in the company. Various theories and models in context to Tesco are explained below -

• Behavioural Theory - The theory states that characteristics of a leader can be learnt and are not inherited. The theory explains the behaviour of a leader and attempts to differentiate leaders from non-leaders based on their behaviours (Lv and Ai, 2016). Tesco can use this theory to identify employees who have the behaviour of a leader and are potential of becoming one.

• Trait Theory - The theory is based on the assumption that leaders are born, not made and is primarily focussed on identifying as well as measuring individual personality characteristics of people. The managers at Tesco can make use of this theory to evaluate their overall position in the organisation and how can they make it stronger (Minchala-Avila and et. al., 2016). The different traits of a leader are motivation, intelligence, confidence etc.

• Systems Theory - This theory enables the leaders of an organisation to create conditions so that employees at all levels can work productively to their best potential. Implementing this theory can help Tesco to build systems that are effective and ensure that there is a productive behaviour within the organisation.

• Contingency Theory - The theory states that there is no best way of leading a company and that the effectiveness of a leader is dependent upon how he changes his style of leadership depending upon different situations.

Fiedler Model Theory : The model states that the effectiveness of a leader is determined by how well he matches his leadership style to the situation. This theory can be used in Tesco to predict if a leader who performed well in a certain position will perform equally well in some other position.

Cognitive Research Theory : The theory primarily focuses on experience, intelligence and states that stress can affect a situation but intelligence as well as experience can lessen its influence on a leader. The model can help Tesco in predicting whether a particular employee will be able to perform effectively in a stressful situation.

Situational Theory : The situational theory can help leaders of the respective company by providing them with valuable and useful guidelines that can in turn help in enhancing the overall leadership (Reddy, Park and Jung, 2016).

Path Goal Theory : A path goal manager constantly supports his team members and is dedicated towards helping all of them to succeed as individuals. The leaders in Tesco are in constant contact with their team members during the path of a project.

Models of leadership

• Leadership styles

Autocratic : Leaders in Tesco can use autocratic style of leadership in situations where control is required. They can implement this style by listening to their team members and establishing clear goals and objectives.

Democratic : This leadership style can be used in situations where the members of the team are skilled and want to share their knowledge with each other (Roka-Madarasz,  Malyusz and Tuczai, 2016). This will allow the leaders of the respective company to take advantage of the talents and skills of their team members.

Laissez Faire : Implementing this style of leadership will help the leaders of the company to let things take their own time to get complete without interfering in them.

• Charismatic Theory

Transactional Theory : This theory primarily focuses on the basic processes of controlling, organising as well as short term planning and can help the leaders of the respective company to attain short term goals and also award the employees who are self motivated.

Transformational Theory : Adopting transformational style of leadership will allow the employees to feel connected with the organisation and also encourage motivation among them.

Key approaches to operations management and the role of managers and leaders

The key approaches to operations management and the role of leaders and managers is explained below -

• Kaizen - Kaizen is an approach that is based on the idea that small and ongoing changes can help gain major improvements. The leader plays role of leading a team of people who work towards identifying various processes of quality improvement within Tesco. Whereas the manager plays the role of a coach and takes emergency measures if something goes wrong and thus creates a safe  environment to work.

• Total Quality Management - The concept is valuable as it helps in increasing the awareness of quality within an organisation (Thaler, Priest and Fuchs, 2016). A manager assists the employees in implementing total quality management and appoints the right people who can work as line managers and lead an entire project. Whereas a leader inspires and motivates his team members by opting the right means.

• Just In Time -  The leaders in Tesco provide direction and support to the team members as and when needed and also plan for the future. On the other hand, the manager schedules different processes and ensures that they function effectively.

• Lean Management - It is an approach to manage an organisation that follows the concept of continuous improvement to achieve small changes in the processes in order to improve overall efficiency (Zare and et. al., 2016). The lean manager in Tesco understands the complete process and improves the same by implementing lean strategies. Whereas a leader ensures that all the workers contribute towards providing the customers with value.

• Six Sigma - A six sigma leader at Tesco has the responsibility of approving and  selecting various projects. The leader helps in removing barriers that can act as hurdles and impact the completion of a project. Managers play an important role and create a working environment that help the employees to gain success and also clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team.

Other approaches of operations management are also explained in brief below -

• Goldratt - Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt presented the Theory of Constraints in the 1980s in his book The Goal. The theory is based on three principles- consistency, convergence and respect. The approach is an organised way of proceeding towards a business operation and trying to improve it.

• CEDAC - CEDAC stands for “Cause and Effect Diagram with the Addition of Cards” and was developed in Japan in the 1970s (Lean Manager's Problem Solving Techniques: CEDAC, 2020). It is one of the many problem solving techniques used by a lean manager which provides the management with a tool for continuous improvement.

• DMAIC - It stands for Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control which is an improvement cycle that is data driven and is used for improving, stabilizing and optimising business designs as well as processes.

Thus, Operations management is an essential function within an organisation which is associated with the design and various processes that are related to the production of products and services and involves several approaches to it (Manzini and et al., 2018).

Importance and value of operations management

Operations management is important as it helps an organisation in managing its day to day activities which will enable Tesco to utilise its resources like labour, money, raw material etc. effectively. It will also allow the respective company to improve its overall productivity and performance in the market. Operations management is valuable as helps in motivating the employees as well as reducing the overall waste that is generated during the manufacture of the products.

The store manager of Tesco plays the role of understanding the needs and requirements of customers and thus develop quality control processes that are effective. He also sets the requirements of raw material to be ordered from the suppliers. The team of the store manager  helps the store by meeting the needs of the customers and fulfilling their expectations effectively.  The members of the team keep a check on the shelves and inform the store managers about the products that are running low and need to be reordered. Thus, operations management holds an important place within an organisation and ensures that all processes are carried out efficiently.

Factors that impact operations management and the process of decision making within the organisation

The various factors that impact the process of operations management which are explained below -

• Corporate Social Responsibility - Corporate Social Responsibility impacts operations management as it regulates how consumers of an organisation look at its overall business . Since customers are becoming more aware about the environment, the decision making process of managers and leaders is greatly impacted as they now seek ways to formulate environment friendly strategies (White, 2016).

• Organisation's cultural values - Organisation culture represents beliefs, policies etc. of  the same. The cultural values can impact the operations of the company in a way that the processes can have a specific way and method of getting conducted. The managers and leaders make decisions in such a way that the culture motivates the employees to achieve goals and objectives.

• Ethics of the organization - Ethics of an organisation can affect operations management in several ways which includes its overall rapport and productivity. Positive ethics helps in improving employee morale which can in turn increase their productivity (Espa and et. al., 2016). Thus, decision making process is impacted in the way that if a decision will impact the local community significantly, the leader and manager will feel it necessary to invite a community representative to participate in the process.

• Sustainability of the organisation - If an organisation is sustainable, its operational processes will be aimed at generating less waste and causing less harm to the environment. The manager as well as leader should make decisions that are sustainable and help the company to gain a competitive advantage. Get Management Dissertation Topics from our experts!

These factors can influence the operations of Tesco retail store as follows -

Heading on raw materials requirement : The sustainability of an organisation will help it in maintaining sustainable levels of raw materials and not completely running out on them.

Hiring of required skilled people : If a business is sustainable, more people would like to be a part and work for it. Thus, skilled people will be hired for the same.

Processing the retail store : If ethics are followed in the organisation, various processes in the retail store will also function according to the same ethics.

Planning customer needs : The sustainability of the organisation can influence the process of planning customer needs as it will enable it to conduct a research which will provide it with the idea of needs of the consumers.

Giving quality in the operation : If a business regularly conducts CSR activities, more customers will become aware of the brand and a message will be spread among them that the company has quality operational processes.

Conclusion

From the above report, it can be identified that a manager and leader have distinct characteristics and play different roles within an organisation. Their roles change according to various situations that may arise during the functioning of the company. The leader motivates his team members by encouraging them that the change will make their workload less and that the change is implemented for their benefit.

Also, various theories and models of leadership can be implemented to enhance the productivity and overall performance of the organisation in the market. There are various approaches to operations management like Kaizen, Lean Management, Six Sigma etc. which can influence the role of a leader as well as manager. And there are many factors that can impact the overall decision making process of a leader and manager within an organisation.

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