Roles and Functions of Managers and Leaders in an Organisation

Tesco Plc., a UK-based multinational retailer company that is engaged in providing multiple products such as clothing, electronics, furniture, financial services, and many more is selected for the purpose of preparing this report. The project includes the roles; and functions of managers and leaders in an organization along with their application in various situations. In addition to this, different theories and models along with their strengths and weaknesses are discussed in this report.; The project also describes the key approaches of operational management and the roles of managers and leaders in enhancing their efficiency level (Accomazzi and et. al., 2012).

TASK 1

P1: Define and compare the different roles and characteristics of a leader and a manager

Introduction to Organisation:

Tesco is a multinational retailer company in the United Kingdom which were established in the year 1919 by Jack Cohen. The company offers multiple products such as clothing, electronics, furniture, toys, financial services and many more. It has become the third-largest retailer in the world in terms of gross revenues. At the year 2016, Tesco employed more than 335,000 employees who were engaged in serving millions of customers (Average number of employees at Tesco, 2018).

Tesco Plc follows a flat organizational structure in which it has attained various functional departments where management exerts authority and control in the form of a chain of command.

Meaning of Manager:

A manager is an individual who holds different authority and power of directing and controlling staff. They are held responsible for managing and monitoring each business activity so as to ensure the organization achieves desired goals and objectives within the pre-determined time period. They perform several key functions such as planning, budgeting, staffing, problem-solving, and controlling.

Meaning of Leader:

A Leader is an individual who is responsible for providing proper guidance and motivating employees; to work in a team so as to achieve the maximum possible result. They play a major role in bringing out the maximum from their employees which can be either through identifying their needs and requirements at the workplace or rewarding them for their high performance (Baird, Jia Hu, and Reeve, 2011).

Differences between the role of manager and leader

Characteristics of Managers

Versatility: It is an important characteristic that managers of Tesco Plc should possess as it enables them to make quick and efficient responses to changes and be reactive to consider new and innovative ideas and methods generated by their employees. It can be possible through making some changes in their existing working style.

Knowledge: Another important characteristic that the manager of Tesco Plc should attain is to have a thorough knowledge base about their field of work. It helps managers to develop appropriate actions and makes them more capable of dealing with market situations which are uncertain (Benjaafar and Daskin, 2013).

Characteristic of Leaders

Good communicator: Communication is an important characteristic that enables leaders to provide guidance and motivate their team members to perform in the right direction. Identifying needs and issues of staff at the workplace can be easily identified by having better communication. Therefore such quality is essential to be present in an individual to become a good leader.

Empathy: It is another important characteristic that a good leader should attain as it helps them understand the problems and issues of their employees and accordingly provide a viable solution so as to maximize their working behavior in an organization. A leader should be dedicated and motivated towards its target due to which they can motivate others as well to deal with complex situations in order to achieve competitive results that can help them in achieving personal as well as professional goals.

TASK 2

P2: Role of leader and function of manager in different situational contexts

Tesco Plcis a multinational retail company in the UK which are having effective management and skilled leaders who lead organizations in present dynamic business environments that are more competitive in nature.; It concentrates on following managerial leaders where the roles and functions of both managers and leaders are reshuffled according to situations in order to achieve desired goals within the pre-determined time period (Blomme, 2012). Here are the functions of managerial and roles of leaders of Tesco Plc and their application in various situational contexts:

Functions of Managers:

Planning:

It is an important function that is performed after identifying the availability of resources and the mission, vision, and objectives of an organization. Managers of Tesco Plc should prepare effective plans and policies to assist an organization in dealing with future contingencies that can affect the performance of a company. It enables a company to achieve a competitive advantage in the market.

Organizing:

This is another function that needs to be performed by the Managers of; Tesco Plc as it is important to organize the entire workforce and structure more effectively and align activities so as to maintain a better work environment and achieve maximum positive results. Managers are responsible for recruiting and training the right people for the right job profile so as to make their workforce more capable and educated (Bromiley and Rau, 2016).

Commanding:

The performance of an organization is based on the efforts and contributions of employees which can be gained through sharing the company's objectives and policies with their employees. They are required to supervise staff in their routine work and command them to maintain consistency by following the company's policies and plans.

Coordinating:

Another function that is to be performed by the managers of Tesco Plc is coordinating with the employees in order to analyze their performance to ensure whether they are performed according to the desired goals and objectives of an organization. Managers are responsible for both internal coordination in order to bring harmony among employees as well as external coordination that involves better coordination with external parties such as the government, the public, trade unions, etc.

Controlling:

Managers are accountable for controlling excessive costs of operations that affect the profitability of a company. For this, managers of; Tesco Plc are required to properly observe, evaluate, and report any deviations in performance from the original plans. This will enable to make corrective actions to remove potential gaps more effectively (Drake and Spinler, 2013).

Role of Leaders:

Goal setting:

The main role of the leader of; Tesco Plc is to lay down goals and policies in order to influence their team members to work hard and perform with enthusiasm and confidence.

Initiating actions:

Another important role of leaders is to make the right decisions in complex situations without depending on others to initiate an action.

 Direction and Motivation:

I]t is the more important and primary role of leaders of; Tesco Plc wherein they are responsible for directing and motivating its team members through adopting motivational theories, training and development programs, appreciation of work, etc It increases the satisfaction level of employees which in result increasing their work commitment with the company as well for longer period of time.

Tesco Plc is an international brand due to which the company has faced various complexities and contingencies that can affect their working style as well. Here are some roles of leaders and functions of managers in different situations:

Stable situation:

It refers to such a situation which involves little or no sudden change encountered by an organization. In order to achieve competency in such situation, it is the responsibility of managers to analyze the market situations and accordingly make effective decisions and plans to cope with the changes that arise due to such situations (GarciaSabater, MarinGarcia and PerelloMarin, 2012). In the context of Tesco Plc performance appraisal forms to be a stable change as it is conducted once in year due to which no sudden or unexpected change can be identified in; the performance of the workforce. The role of the leader also provides maximum support by tracking records of the performance of each worker which assists the manager in making relevant decisions related to promotion, training, transfers, etc.

Moderate situation:

It refers to such a situation that demands of bringing some changes such as innovation or renovation in a product, customer demand, market, etc.; Tesco Plc is engaged in providing multiple products such as clothing, electronics, furniture, etc. which is mainly depend on the customer's needs and preferences. Therefore, any changes in customer requirements, purchasing power, etc. affect the profitability and sustainability of; Tesco Plc in a competitive market. In this regard, the manager needs to monitor the market scenario by conducting research and should be more flexible in bringing new changes in their existing pricing policies, products, etc. Along with this, leaders are also required to act in such situations in terms of making their staff more capable of dealing with customers and communicating about the benefits of purchasing from the company's stores (Ham; Hitomi; and Yoshida, 2012).

Rapid situation:

It refers to such a situation where sudden or unexpected changes occur which adversely affect the stability and profitability of the company. In the context of; Tesco Plc, such a situation may arise due to the sudden popularity of buying products through online platforms. For this, the managers need to react more fast and should focus on analyzing the market trends so that proper actions to be taken in favor of the market. Such actions may be related to upgrading existing technologies, and investing more funds in launching a new mobile app to facilitate its targeted customers to buy their products by using such an app without visiting their store. In addition to this, the leaders also play an important role in communicating the benefits of new technology introduced in business operations to the employees so that it can be profitably utilized by them for the betterment of the company (Javadian Kootanaee, Babu, and Talari, 2013).

P3: Apply different theories and models of approach

In a business organization, leadership forms a multidimensional managerial function that enables managers to gain maximum contribution from their subordinates in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the company within a pre-determined time period.; Tesco Plc is a customer-centric organisation whose success and growth are very much on their targeted customers.; The main objective of the company is to enhance the satisfaction level of customers which can be possible through educating and motivating its employees. For this, various leadership theories are more beneficial for; Tesco Plc to adopt which are briefly described as under:

Situational leadership:

This is such leadership theory which implies that there is no single theory that can applied to every business scenario. Therefore, it is the responsibility of a manager to first identify the situations and on the basis of which decide which theory shall become more effective to deal with such situations. Tesco Plc is a global brand employing a large number of employees. Therefore, to deal with such a situation with the help of; skilled and knowledgeable employees democratic style will be better to adopt as such a style allows employees to share their ideas and suggestions in the decision-making process. On the other hand, when dealing with unskilled and experienced workers in such situations authoritarian styles will be better as it allows managers and leaders to make decisions single-handedly (Jones and Robinson, 2012).

System leadership:

This is the leadership approach which is defined as leadership across company boundaries, beyond individual professional discipline within the limit of organizational and stakeholder cultures. Adoption of such an approach enables leaders to not only think about their own perspective but to apply the broader approach to developing a firm as well as its stakeholders. In; the context of Tesco Plc, using such a leadership style helps leaders have a long-term vision for the company to build strategies and procedures that will enable an organization to gain new uniqueness in its business functions that is hard for competitors to attain (Kusluvan and et. al.; 2011).

Contingency theory:

This is the theory that states that there is no best theory that can be profitable for every situation of a company. Therefore, it requires proper actions to be taken on the basis of the capabilities, skills, tasks, and composition of a team. In the context of Tesco Plc, using such theory leaders try to match their leadership style to a given situation.

Impact of leaders and managers

These leadership theories when applied within an organization more effectively then it will help the organization to design new and innovative ways so that the employees should be encouraged to maximize their contribution towards organizational objectives. The managers and leaders play a prominent role in the adoption of such theories as they are very aware of the working procedure and goals of an organization which drives them to bring out maximum efforts from the workforce. Both managers and leaders form cornerstones for a company to achieve growth and success in a competitive market as it enables the company to gain a competitive advantage with the help of proficient and committed teams (Lewis and Brown,; 2012).

TASK 3

P4: Key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and managers play

Operation management is a subset of functions and activities that allows one to gain profit by transforming; inputs into output. The inputs of operation management include materials, capital, machinery, and labor while outputs involve finished goods and services. It is the responsibility of operation management to make optimum use of resources and produce finished goods to meet customers' satisfaction. In the context of TESCO, managers, and leaders follow various methods of operational management to gain a competitive advantage over other competitors in supply chain management. Some of the methods are as follows:

Total Quality Management:

TESCO managers and leaders are making continuous efforts, and taking responsibility in order to identify errors and; reduce them; to produce effective finished goods and products for their customers. They are focusing on continuous replenishment in their supply chain management that is triggered; by the changing demand of customers. TESCO is earning a competitive advantage over its competitors by implementing creative ideas in the supply chain like automated warehouse control and the use of point-of-sale scanning. This method adopted by TESCO is crucial for maintaining effective supply chain management and finding out any errors to take corrective actions in the production of goods and products (Paryani; 2011).

Six- Sigma:

Six- sigma approach is implemented by managers and leaders of TESCO to reach; the goal of zero defects. It allows operation managers to create a central idea that helps them identify defects in their implemented operation process. With the help of the implementation of Six Sigma, managers are able to focus on initiative integration which includes future strategic planning, knowledge management, benchmarking, and improvement teams. With the implementation of the Six Sigma approach, TESCO is able to reduce defects and scrap work. Moreover, with the help of Six Sigma managers are able to simplify operations and improve their competitive position (Prahlad and et. al., 2012).

Continuous Improvement:

TESCO managers are concerned about continuous improvement and changes in their supply chain management. They emphasize the needs and demands; of customers, and then make changes in supply chain management. TESCO managers are familiar with changing business environments, so to survive in the competitive market they prefer to make changes and update operation procedures to maintain competitive advantage over other competitors. For continuous improvement TESCO managers focus on reducing errors, making the operational process safer and more satisfying for the workers. They implement improvement strategies that include repair, refinement, renovation, and re-invention (Smilowitz, Nowak and Jiang, 2013).

Just-In-Time:

Another approach that is adopted by TESCO to improve its operational management is just-in-time. Managers mainly emphasize operating with minimum limited resources that are required to deliver finished products with consistency.; Managers and leaders at TESCO usually believe in demand forecasting to identify what is needed by the customers within what amount and time frame. The Just-in-time method helps TESCO managers to find out which products are in demand, and where and when produced products are needed. Just-in-time is a long-time continuous process for the improvement and development of operation management. This method helps TESCO to maintain levels of cost, improve customer satisfaction, and responsiveness and improve quality (Swink and et. al., 2017).

P5: Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives

Operational management performs several functions such as monitoring, designing, and managing the process of production and distribution with an objective of maximizing efficiency level in the process of production to deliver final goods to targeted people. In the context of Tesco Plc wherein there are various departments that are more dependent on the operation department it is important to understand the importance of operation management. It is further understood under the below:

Control and distribution system:

It is an important function of operation management as they are liable to manage and handle the production process and enhance the distribution system so that; finished goods can be successfully delivered to targeted clients (Tenera and Luís Carneiro, 2014). It has a direct positive impact on the satisfaction level and buying behavior of customers which in results achieving huge customer strength. In the context of Tesco Plc which is the retail company of the UK thus it requires maximum support from the operations department to serve millions of customers.

Quality improvement:

Quality is an important factor that attracts the interest and buying decision of customers as nowadays people prefer quality over price. Therefore, operation management should focus on selling quality products of known brands so that it maximizes the satisfaction level of customers and retains their loyalty to the company for a longer period of time.

TASK 4

P6 Assess the factors within the business environment that impact operational management and decision-making by Leaders and managers

There are many macro factors of business environment that directly effect the operational management and decision-making by operation managers. These factors are necessary to improve the effectiveness of operation management:

PEST Analysis

Political Factors:

TESCO is the most famous retail company that serves all over the world, due to its operations practices in different countries political factors affect TESCO directly. Political factors include legislation acts and rates of tax of different countries in which TESCO operates. Every country has its own legal laws and practices, similarly, tax rates also vary from country to; country. Moreover, financial status is unstable due to the government's insist that TESCO as a retail; company; hires employees from parent countries and creates opportunities for employment (Wu; and Pagell, 2011).

Economical Factors:

In context with economic factors, TESCO should be concerned with different factors which include demands, prices, profits as well as leverage cost. TESCO should focus on and be aware of changing policies that are associated with the accessibility of finance. The main economic factors affecting TESCO are the differences; in inflation rate varies due to which value of items are affected in different countries. Moreover, TESCO as a retail company has a wider market share which increases its competition. Products served by TESCO have a number of substitutes already available at cheaper rates.

Social Factors:

In context with social factors, TESCO is adopting the continuously changing process according to the needs and demands of customers. As customers' needs are changing they get more concision towards their eating and buying habits. TESCO has developed club cards that give discounts on products and along with this organic as well as dietary products are introduced to serve the best customers' needs.

Technological Factors:

TESCO is concerned about technological changes, they offer online shopping; for the convenience of the customers. They invest in social media which includes advertisement and public relationships. TESCO also focused on the delivery of products door to door. There is an option of self-service checkout points provided by TESCO to their customers that reduces its manpower costs. To reduce carbon footprints TESCO has invested in effective energy projects (What is PEST Analysis?. 2018)

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CONCLUSION

It has been concluded from the above project report that operation management plays a significant role in the growth and success of an organization as it mainly contributes to maximizing the commercial activities of a business. Managers and leaders play a critical role in enhancing the performance level of the workforce by providing them guidance and direction with the help of the application of various leadership styles. It is also more beneficial for an organization to adopt various approaches such as TQM, Quality Management, Six Sigma, etc. that can help in enhancing the quality of work as well as products and services. PEST Analysis is also required to be conducted for organizations operated at a global level such as Tesco Plc in order to analyze external influencing factors such as political, economic, etc. which enables to take corrective actions to deal with such factors in more effective and efficient manner.

Also Read: Effective Organisational Functions With Their Objectives

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