Differences and similarities between a leader and manager considering their roles and characteristics
According to Peter Drucker, a leader is simply anyone with a follower (Cohen, 2009). Gaining this followership requires both influence and integrity. (Koontz, 2010) defines a leader as someone who gets things done through others and with groups that are organized formally. Based on these two definitions, it can be seen that differences between leaders and managers exist. Most successful entrepreneurs are both leaders and managers. The main difference between these two is the fact that while leaders have followers, managers have people who work for them (Go2HR, 2018).In an organization, managers are known to give direction in all tasks and projects, on the contrary, leaders delegate and maintain less control over assigned tasks and responsibilities. While leaders are happy when their juniors excel in their assigned tasks and responsibilities, managers may perceive it as a threat to their positions (Lucas, 2016).
Differences exists in where the focus of a leader and a manager lies. While managers are focused on the moment, leaders focus on the future. The focus of the manager is always getting the current job done. On the contrary, leaders always have a picture such as ensuring that the current tasks are in alignment with the individual employee and organizational goals. They will always try to interrogate how, various tasks are in alignment with the wit the overall plan of their organization (Lucas, 2016).
While leaders may play a contributory role, leaders perform their duties by playing a supervisory role. By being contributors, managers act as people that subordinates can look up to for guidance. Through their contributory role, leaders naturally win the hearts of their followers. Managers have to play an active role in ensuring that all tasks are carried out as they would want them to be carried out. In addition, while leaders are focused on establishing relationships in their organizations, managers create processes and system. Leaders believe that all they need only their influence is what is needed in the realization of organizational goals. By maintaining positive relationships with their subordinates, they can influence them. On the contrary manager’s efforts are centered on ensuring that the necessary systems are available in an organization for the realization of the desired outcome.
The two differ also in that while managers have employees, leaders have followers. Leaders inspire their subordinates to act in a certain way. They focus on making them their number one fans. They work in collaboration to achieve organizational goals. The realization of organizational goals brings some sense of fulfillment and satisfaction for both leaders and their subordinates. On the contrary, employees create directions to be followed by their subordinates. In their everyday schedule, employees seek ways of pleasing their managers by following directives (Koontz, 2010). Its therefore evident that while leaders lead subordinates towards success, managers constantly tell their subordinates what to do to meet targets. Managers always want to be in control while leaders can sometimes let things evolve without their involvement.
Managers focus on numbers while leaders focus on people. Managers will do anything to ensure that their employees hit the targets agreed upon including overworking them. To them, numbers are the most important aspect of organizational success. For leaders, however, numbers are not the only thing that matters. Leaders take their actions with their people in mind. For example, while a manager might fire employees whose numbers do not add up, a leader many approach the issue by trying to understand the issues that could have led to the underperformance and trying to resolve them.
Managerial functions according to Fayol
Henry Fayol devised a management in which he identified various ways in which the management interacts with subordinates. In his model, he described the 14 principles of management out of which he identified five ways in which the management should interact with employees. He summarized these ways of interactions into5 functions of the management, namely planning, organizing, controlling, coordinating and commanding (R?ducan and R?ducan,2014).
This function involves creating plans of actions for various levels of the organization. They schedule all parts of the organizational processes. Planning has been viewed as one of the hardest managerial functions. In creating a good plan, the management is required to involve all levels of the organization. The realization of the plan should be preceded by effective coordination across all levels. Planning acts as a bridge between where an organization is and where it intends to be in the future. It defines what needs to be done, by whom, where and when, and how it needs to be done (Bârg?u,2015). An example of how this function is carried out in my organization is the creation of quarterly sales forecast plans
Managerial organizing function precedes planning. It is the process through which the management brings together organizational resources such as physical, human and financial resources. Fayol perceived it as the process of providing a business with resources necessary for its effective functioning. Organizing also involves establishing an effective relationship between these components of the organization for the realization of organizational goals. Under this function, the management identifies activities that need to be carried out, classifying these activities, assigning duties and responsibilities for completion of the activities, delegation of authority.
After plans have been created and necessary resources channeled towards their implementation, the third managerial function comes in. Commanding is the process through which the management gets things done. It involves instructing employees and ordering them to carry out certain activities needed for the realization of the plans. Employees need to be provided with clear instructions on what they need to do; when they are needed to do it and how they are required to do it (Renz,2016). Effective communication is key to this process.
For organizational goals to be effectively realized, various activities need to be carried out harmoniously. Coordination is the process is the process of streamlining group efforts by the management to ensure all parts of the organization work harmoniously towards a common purpose (Lunenburg, 2011). Better functioning is achieved when organizational activities are harmonized. This function is aimed at achieving group discipline and motivation.
For organizational functions to be realized there is a need to ensure that all plans are carried out as anticipated. Controlling function involves setting standards, comparing performance against standards and taking necessary corrective actions. It is meant to ensure that the performance meets the agreed-upon criteria. Performance can be controlled through appraising performance, crosschecking financial statements, rates of customer satisfaction among others (Whitehead, Weiss and Tappen, 2010).
Situational leadership is a leadership style that depends on the situation at hand. It is based on the assumption that no single leadership style is best. Situational leadership style involves putting to work strategies that are best suited to address the current task or situation. Situational leadership involves managers adjusting their style to accommodate the needs of their subordinates and the organization (Bush, 2008). For example in a situation where an employee is highly committed to the organizational course but lacks critical skills a manager may adapt to situational leadership by directing the employee and giving them specific instructions to ensure that they understand what they are needed to do.
Situational, Systems, and Contingency Leadership Theories
This style of leadership is based on the assumption that the alignment of a leader’s skills with the situation at hand is what determines their effectiveness. It involves solving the right problems in the right way. Contingency leadership the success of a situation does not depend on the manager’s skills but how these skills are used in different situations (Bolden, 2016). It is therefore dependent on the situation at hand based on its specific factors such as the task, the composition of a group and the individual leader. Prediction of success is therefore difficult. Maximizing the potential of success, therefore, requires leaders to adapt to different situations. For example, a leader may adopt different approaches when dealing with two employees with different attributes.
In the organizational context, a system refers to a whole organization that is made of different parts, interacting together. This in kind of interaction, a change in one part would necessitate a change in the other. A system leadership is, therefore, a type of leadership where the management creates a system for the whole organization. The system is developed to maximize the productivity of business units, teams, individuals and an entire organization (Briggs, Morrison and Coleman,2012). This approach can be used by leaders across the different level and in different organizations. System leadership needed in order to maintain high performance within an organization. An example of this includes establishing departmental targets aimed at achieving a single organizational goal. This approach ensures that all parts of an organization work together towards a single organizational goal.
Operations management entails organizing; planning and overseeing organizational processes. It also involves making necessary changes to organizational processes to improve profit levels in an organization. These adjustments are made in everyday operations and need to be in line with an organization’s strategic goals. Operations planning occur after a detailed analysis of current processes. This analysis ensures that no deviation from an organization’s strategic plan is caused by changes to organizational processes. Successful operations management requires a number of skills. These skills may include organizational skills, Analytic capabilities, and ability to coordinate processes, high level of creativity, effective people skills and a deep understanding of technology.
Total quality management approach is an approach centered on a continuous improvement of an organization as a way of bringing effectiveness in organizational processes and improving the quality of products. This approach emphasizes teamwork, maintenance of a strategic approach for improvement, maintenance of work quality, teamwork and client orientation. This approach is aimed at improving quality and performance in order to meet the expectations of customers. Organizations that adopt this approach incorporate quality aspects in all organizational processes and functions, across different levels (Russell and Taylor-Iii 2008). All quality measures are taken into account trough collaboration will all employees and across all levels of an organization. This approach, therefore, analyses organizations quality measures such as quality assurance, quality improvement, and quality maintenance and control and quality design.
Total quality management is founded on several principles. The first is total management control which stresses the role of the top management as the driver of the process. Training is also an integral part of the approach. Employees should be trained regularly. It also emphasizes that decisions should be informed by measurements (Foster and Ogden, 2008). The total improvement should also be focused on improving the satisfaction of customers. Organizations are also required to work on improving the quality of processes on a continuous basis. Employees across all levels should also be fully involved in the identification and finding solutions to quality problems. Finally, a collaborative culture should be adopted to ensure employees can work together to address quality concerns.
Task two
This approach is used by organizations to identify and eliminate defects in a bid to improve services, products, and current processes. This Approach is majorly used by large organizations in managing quality in their operations, products, and services. Its central focus is on finding out and eliminating any defects attributed to quality variations. It achieves this by defining a set of steps around the various targets (Peng and Lai, 2012). The assumption here is that errors and defects in the processes are likely to have a negative impact on the quality of the final products or services. Six Sigma approach works on the principle of Smaller is better, which specifies the upper limit; larger is better, which specifies the lower limit and Nominal is best which focuses on the middle ground.
My Store uses the total quality management approach because of its various attributes identified above
The role played by an operations manager is one of the most important roles in business, government or any other organization. Although their role depends on a range of factors including the size and nature of the organization in which they operate, organization’s success is to a large extent depend on their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities (Lewis and Brown,2012). My job as a store manager is to a large extent similar to that of an operations manager. It is my duty as a store manager to ensure that to oversee day to day operations in my retail store. In broad terms, these roles can be classified into the following
Just like an operations manager, I play an integral role in the management of both human and financial resources in my retail store. One of my primary roles as a store manager is the recruitment of human resources. Not only do I hire them but also train and develop them in order to improve their productivity and ability to work in the retail store efficiently. It is my role to ensure that the store functions correctly by facilitating all employees to record optimum productivity (Johnston and Clark, 2008). This responsibility requires me to keep them updated on the latest trends in the industry, keep them motivated and provide ongoing support. In addition, I am also responsible for monitoring financial performance and ensuring the employee’s customer service meets the expectations of customers.
An operations manager plays a great role in enabling different parts of the organization to work together. This is the reason why they need to possess interpersonal and good communication skills. This is basically what I do as a store manager, I create a culture founded on positive relationships and where employees can work together to maximize profits and meet targets (Galindo and Batta, 2013). In addition, I also resolve any disputes and disagreements between employees at the store.
Just like operation managers set departmental goals for their organizations, plan for sales and play a role in sales forecasting, I am also responsible for setting targets for my store, and ensuring that these targets are met.
Different approaches to operations management used in a large retail store
My role also includes ensuring that the store remains attractive to customers. It is my responsibility to ensure that the store meets customer’s expectations and the image of the brand. This responsibility requires me to keep the store clean, ensuring proper stocking of products and lighting of the store among other responsibilities (Kumar and Suresh, 2009). Apart from working to ensure that customers are comfortable, I also work towards ensuring that their safety is guaranteed.
Operations management is the process of managing the day to day operations. It focuses on the techniques and tools used in the store to improve efficiency in the production process (Jacobs and Chase, 2017). Various benefits emanate from operations management as discussed below
It’s the aim of any business to remain competitive against its competitors. Competitiveness is directly proportional to high profitability. Operations management enables the organization to manage both their internal and external factors. Handling of internal and external factors improves employee’s satisfaction levels and leads to reduced employee turnover. It also helps the organization to match the strategies adopted by competitions and adapt to changes in the economy. Operations management, therefore, helps the store to understand its external and internal environment, enabling it to adapt to any changes effectively (Drake and Spinler, 2013). An understanding of internal and external factors and enables the store to maintain its competitiveness.
Through operations management, the existing organizational processes are reviewed from time to time with new ideas on how the process can be improved being implemented. Adoption and implementation of new ideas to improve processes mean that the store’s expenses and revenues will be monitored (Hitt, Xu and Carnes, 2016). This process, therefore, helps to manage the profitability of the store.
Regulatory compliance is an important aspect of any business. Violation of governmental regulations can lead to heavy penalties or shutdown of a business. Management of operations in the store ensures that internal controls are put in place to ensure that all tasks are carried out in accordance with the law (DeHoratius and Rabinovich,2011). Some of the regulations at the store include maintenance of healthy and safe working environment.
Operations management facilitates organizational processes to be reviewed, updated and improved where necessary. The efficiency or lack of efficiency in these processes has a direct impact on how goods are produced and how the storage of finished products and raw materials is done. This aspect, therefore, enables the store to prevent any losses which can affect its ability to service debts (Akkerman, Farahani, and Grunow,2010). The financial health of the store helps in ensuring competitiveness in the manufacturing processes.
The amount of input to organizational processes is directly promotional to the level of output. This input to output ratio defines the productivity of an organization. Operations management streamlines organizational processes Making both employees and the manager more efficient in their operations. Operations management, therefore, improves the overall productivity of the store.
Management of organizational processes promotes optimum utilization of resources. With little or no wastage of efforts and resources incurred, It means that human resources and raw materials are effectively utilized. Effective utilization of resources in the store improves its overall productivity and quality of services (Krajewski, Ritzman and Malhotra,2010). Production of goods is dependent on appropriate system maintenance, operations, and design. These aspects are taken care of in operations management. Operations management, therefore, leads to optimum utilization of resources in the store.
Role of a store manager as an operations manager
Human resources are the most important component of an organization. The success of an organization is as a result of the skills and competencies possessed by its employee’s (Manuj and Mentzer, 2008). Changes in the labor market are likely to affect the number and type of employees available for the organization. With affected capacity and quality of human resources, the operations in the organization are likely to be affected.
The legal environment is one of the most dynamic business factors. The government can enact new policies such as those regulating the use of the internet or basic operations in organizations. These may include tax regulations, changes in health and safety regulations among others (Fitzsimmons, Fitzsimmons and Bordoloi, 2008). This, therefore, means that organizations have to adjust their operations in order to remain within the confines of the law.
Raw materials are the key ingredient in the manufacturing process. They determine the level of output as well as the quality of an organization’s products and safety. Operations management is largely dependent on the availability and affordability of raw materials (Chhajed and Lowe, 2008). An increase in the prices of raw materials or scarcity is therefore likely to have a negative impact on operations management.
Innovativeness is an important organization process. Organizations become operational innovators if they can offer affordable, high-quality products and services in a faster and better way. The adoption of innovative production techniques by competitors, therefore, means that other organizations to have to adapt to competitive techniques in order to remain competitive. Organizations that device new and more efficient operational processes are more likely to outsmart their competitors (Bozarth and Handfield, 2008). Such aspects will, therefore, require the organization to adjust its operations accordingly
Organizations usually depend on third parties for basic supplies. In the event that man-made or natural disasters strike and suppliers of basic supplies such as raw materials are affected, operations management is likely to be affected (Heizer and Render, 2008). For example, if an organization depends on farm produce to manufacture its products, calamities such as foods are likely to have a negative impact on its operations.
As a store manager, these factors are likely to have an impact on the kind of decisions that I will make for my organization. First I will consult all stakeholders and put their views into considerations before making any decision. This approach will mean that the decision taken is one that effectively deals with the situation at hand. I will also delve deep into industry related publications to gain more insight on how some of these situations can be handled without affecting the productivity or operations of the organization (Barratt, Choi, and Li, 2011). Finally, I will include the employees and others stakeholders in all the decision making processes to ensure that any crisis is handled in the best way possible.
Conclusion
In conclusion operational management is an important function in the effective functioning of organizations. It ensures that all activities within an organization are carried out effectively by facilitating acquisition of human resources, enabling organizations to reviews their processes and facilitating changes where necessary. Operations management is also important in that it ensures that organizations finances are closely monitored in order to maintain the financial health of organizations. Numerous differences exist between managers and leaders. Among these is the fact that managers are focused on the moment while leaders are future oriented. For leaders building positive relationships in an organization is one of the basic functions. For managers however numbers are what matters. Targets have to be met no matter what. Managers however play significant roles in their organizations. These roles include coordinating, commanding, planning, controlling and Organizing.
Importance of Operations management in a retail store
References
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