Production Management In Food Industry

Here in this assignment, different concepts relating to leadership and management and the application of operations management have been discussed.

Task 1- Case study

a) Describing and distinguishing different roles played by the team leaders and the managers

Both the managers and the leaders play an important role in the organisation.The role of managers and the leaders are different from each other. The leaders play a major role in the organisation and it has been that the proper leadership styles help the organisations to achieve the good reputation in the market. On the other hand, the good, effective leadership style also helps the business organisations to achieve huge of profit from the business. Therefore, the concept of the leader is important for the organisation.

A leader is a person who holds the superior position in the organisation and who has the potential power to motivate the employees to meet their organisational objectives. On the other hand, the leaders have good professional standard and need to maintain the good behavioural attitude towards the employees. Apart from this, the leaders need to be friendly to the employees that they can share their problems, issues freely with the leaders (Chuang, Jackson & Jiang,2016)..

Besides the concept of leaders, the concept of manager is also very important to Bidvest Foodservice Australia as the business activities of this organisation is controlled by the managers. The managers hold one of the topmost positions in the market. The managers take the necessary decision for the employees and it has been observed that the managers of an organisation' play various kind of roles. As per the opinion of some scholars, the managers focus on the performance level of the individual, manage the customer relationship services. On the other hand, the managers also operate production and also look at the fact that they can offer their customers good quality products, services. On the other hand, the managers of Bidvest Foodservice Australia also provide the internal support to the groups. On contrary, according to some scholar, managers act as a medium between the employees and the senior executives, higher authority in order to incorporate high-level strategies for their organisations (Bovens, Goodin & Schillemans, 2014)..

The differences between the role of the leaders and the managers is huge. The leaders only focuses on the performance of the employees whereas the managers have to focus on the whole business activities including the performance level of the organisation. On the other hand, the main role of the leaders is to guide their team properly and to understand the problems of the employees Whereas the role of the managers is to operate their business activities successfully that they can have the huge amount of profit from the business and maintain their brand loyalty among the customers.

The leaders of an organisation follow various kind of leadership theories such as trait leadership theory, behavioural; theory and contingency theory whereas the managers follow various kind of the marketing strategies, business planning strategies. The main functions of the leaders is to motivate their employees and help them to develop their professional skill whereas the main functions of the managers is to make plan for the business, organise, control over the business activities and to give direction to the various department and to guide them what kind of activities they need to perform in order to achieve huge amount of revenue from the business.

b) Illustrating roles of team leaders and the managers

Suppose we can take the example of the distribution chain of the product Premium Grain Fed Red Beef, one of the famous product offered by the organisation. This product was first developed in the region of lush New England and thereafter developed in the rye grass regions of the north eastern part of the state of New South Wales. The process of the production of Grain Fed Beef is unique in nature and depends on the land, weather, soil, related breed and the many other related factors that affect the manufacturing of the product. This Grain Fed Beef accounts for the best-produced beef all over the world. It is composite of multiple flavours and tenderness. This beef amounts to Australia's largest produced beef.

We can describe the role of the team leaders and the managers in a particular situation by taking the example of the Distribution channel for the product Premium Grain Fed Red Beef.

In this Distribution channel, the beef is developed by the application of classic meats and the Bideford Branches. All the customers have a clear access to the the product Bounty Beef. In the event of placing the orders or for gathering of additional information the related vendors and the customers can contact Local Classic Meats Branch. The branded lambs and the Beef are made available Throughout branches in Australia. The consumers can also call at the Hotline number to the nearest Vendor. Orders can also be placed online via the portal of different E-commerce websites (Schyns & Riggio, 2016)..

After all the focus is on the operational management issue. Here in the distribution channel, we need to see the hierarchy of the operations. Here in this process Distribution- Premium Grain Fed Red Beef we have a senior manager, a manager, a vice manager and three team leads and under each team leads we have an average of 6-10 members.

The manager receives the delivery target from the company directors and thereafter he distributes the work among the three respective teams. The senior manager supervises the work of the entire department along with all the other processes. The vice manager ensures the task being uploaded timely. He is actually a support to the manager.

Now coming to the part of the team leads we can see that they primarily receive the orders from the managers in their respective software Envoy. Through this Envoy, they distribute the tasks to the respective team members in accordance with the level and the quality of the work. It is also the responsibility of the team leaders to timely upload the tasks. The team leaders also need to review the task received from their team members prior to the uploading them in the Envoy.

The particular distribution is occasioned when the primary team members deliver the product to their customers through the particular website.

So it can be seen that by following the related chain of hierarchy, the entity is able to process the sales in an effective manner. The company is also able to reduce the cost of distribution.

Therefore it can be concluded that maintaining a proper hierarchy in a particular process can help the organisation in the context of achieving the objective of minimisation of cost. The firm can also able to enjoy economies of scale.

c) Solving different issues by application of different management theories relating to the leadership

Different theories relating to the leadership management evolved in the past few decades and is very much applicable in the business environment in the era of cross-border flow of capital.

Some of the leadership- theories can be listed as follows:

Situational Leadership: Situational leadership can be referred to as the style of leadership that invented by K. Blanchard and Paul Hersey. This theory got first applied in the context of Life Cycle Theory of Leadership in the mid of 1970s (Grötsch, Blome & Schleper, 2013). In the context of situational leadership, we can say that no single type of leadership can be applied in all the situations. It focuses on the concept that leadership should be relevant to the task to be performed and leaders must be ready to adapt new leadership styles in the dynamic business environment. Leadership will vary with the level and category of the job to be performed (Starik & Kanashiro, 2013)..

So in the context of our organisation, we can see that this firm also applies the concept of situational leadership in the various process. In the Process Distribution- Premium Grain Fed Red Beef the application of Situational Leadership is clearly visible. When the number of orders rises especially in the busy season the team leaders appoint some of their team members as semi team leads since the burden of the reviewing the orders increases at that point of time. So in order to reduce the burden and also to bring efficiency in the operations the process of delegating the task is necessary on the part of the team leads.

Systems Leadership:Systems Leadership can be depicted as a system whereby the formal and the informal lines of the organisational structure and-and policies are channelled together to exercising the leadership. It can be referred to as a model of improvement by which the styles of leadership and management is enhanced within an entity (Annarelli & Nonino, 2016).

In the context of our entity, we can see that the system leadership is applied in an effective manner, like we can see that the entity maintains a separate managers for the different processes. In this, all the jobs related to different processes is completed efficiently.

Contingency:Contingency can be referred to as a theory which focuses on the concept that no particular way for organising an enterprise or for leading a company for the purpose of decision making rather the course of action is dependent on the external and the internal factors of the business environment (Grötsch, Blome & Schleper, 2013). It gives stress on the concept that the organisation should be able to adopt multiple courses of action in the dynamic business environment. It is to be noted that for the purposes of the organisational improvement the concept of contingency within the entity (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013)..

In the context of the Bidvest Foodservice Australia, we can see that the management applies the theory of contingency in an effective manner time to time. Sometimes it does re shuffling or cross teaming of the team members in the busy season to manage the burden of overload.

d) Determining the different pros and cons of the application of management and leadership theories

The leadership theories helps both the management and the leaders to meet the organisational objectives. It has been observed that the leaders follow various kind of leadership such as situational leadership, systems leadership and contingency leadership. As per the opinion of some scholar, these leadership styles have both the advantages and the disadvantages (Pasaribu, 2015).

The main advantage of the situational leadership is that this type of leadership style is easy to be followed. This type of leadership also helps them to the needs of the employees.By following this kind of leadership, the leaders of Bidvest Foodservice Australia can understand the problems, issues of the employees and it also helps them to make the good bond with the employees. Apart from this, the situational leadership styles also helps the leaders to develop their efficiency level in such a manner that they can handle any situation. It also helps the leader to improve their ability and the level, of the confidence.

On the other hand, the situational leadership also has many disadvantages. By following this leadership styles, the leaders have to face excessive pressure before making any decision. On the other hand, the other disadvantages of this leadership styles that it may lead the leaders towards the false depiction about the maturity. On the other hand, this kind of leadership only focuses on the situational problems. By following this kind of leadership, the leaders have to work in a limited flexibility.

The advantages of the system leadership are that this kind of leadership style helps the leaders to conduct a business project based on the needs of the customers. On the other hand, it also helps the management of the organisation to modify the functions, responsibilities of the employees. Apart from this, the particular leadership theory also helps them to provide possible solutions for the project that they can promote their business project in an effective manner. On the other hand, this kind of leadership also helps the leaders to create an effective, good team. This kind of leadership styles also helps the leaders to have relevant data in order to develop their human resource planning (Jean & Davies, 2016).

On the other hand, it has also been seen that these leadership styles have many disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that this kind of leadership fails to focus on the various types of actions. On the other hand, the other disadvantage of this theory is that the nature of this leadership is complex. Therefore, it will be problematic for the leaders of Bidvest Foodservice Australia to apply this leadership theory due to its complex nature.

The advantages of the system leadership are that this kind of leadership helps the leader to maintain the systematic approach in their performance. On the other hand, this theory also helps them to maintain the balance between the constancy and the flexibility of the activities. Apart from this, system leadership also helps the leaders to achieve the stability, potential power to manage the team effectively. The disadvantages of this leadership style are that this kind of leadership only focuses on the flexibility however, it fails to focus on the behavioural attitude of the employees. On the other hand, it only helps the leaders of the respected organisation to manage the situation however, it fails to focus on the specific situation (Pasaribu, 2015).

Task 2- Case study

a) Depict the picture of approach to operations management and roles played by the team leaders and the process managers.

Operational management is a kind of approaches that helps the business organisations to managerial transform system and it also helps the management to make good communications with others. On the other hand, as per the opinion of some scholar, the operation management system is a part of management that aims to focus on the design and on the control process of the organisations. Apart from this, operations management also helps the managerial section of organisations to maintain the resources and also reminds them to notice that they can use the resources efficiently. Apart from this, the operations management also helps the managerial sections of Bidvest Foodservice Australia to ensure the fact that they can fulfil the requirements of the customers (Herron-Williams, Hoffman & Brown, 2017). On the other hand, it also helps the management to manage the external variables and the internal variable in order to operate the business activities effectively. On the other hand, It also helps the managers to secure the input of business and also help them to meet the organisational objectives, helps them to business market effectively (Christofi, Leonidou & Vrontis, 2014).

The role of operational managers is important in the operational management process. The process managers play an important role in the operational management process. The process managers of Bidvest Foodservice Australia manage the business resources and also helps the managerial sections to manage the activities of HR department. Apart from this, the process managers also have to maintain proper budget business, have to control the pricing strategy, and also have to keep the track report of finance (Mohammad Mosadeghrad, 2014).

The process managers also play a vital role in setting goals, objectives for the purpose of business activities of organisations. Apart from this, they also have to look at the fact that they can prepare effective policies for the different sectors of the organisations successfully and look at the fact that they can implement their policies, procedures effectively. On the other hand, the other role of process managers is to maintain good communication level and good interpersonal skills in order to make good relationship with the employees (Middlehurst, 2015).

The role of leadership is also important in the operation management and the main role of leaders of Bidvest Foodservice Australia to motivate the team towards their organisational objectives. The leaders also need to make the employees, team to understand the organisational rules, procedures and also help them in following the organisational rules. The other role of the leaders is to guide their properly that they can develop their performance level successfully.

b) Highlighting the essentials of the operations management

Operational Management can be depicted as a concept which focuses on the idea that the administration of the business to be managed in an appropriate manner to achieve the greatest level of efficiency possible in the course of delivering business tasks. The concept of the operational management gives stress on the fact that every business process must be managed in a proper and effective manner in order to achieve economies of scale (Wai Foon & Terziovski, 2014).The operational management is concerned with the proper application of the levels of management in all the activities carried out in the organisations in order to achieve the desired level of performance. Operational Management is very much related to the concepts namely Logistics and Supply Chain Management (Schyns & Riggio, 2016). Operational Management can also be depicted as the chain of the business network designed to enhance efficient flow of production in the business entities.

Below are some of the importance of the operational management in the contexts of business:

• It is very beneficial to the manufacturing industries.
• It also helps in the process of delivering tasks in the service industries.
• It helps in making meeting the customer needs for the companies.
• It also helps in the process of reducing the duplication of efforts and thereby reducing costs and time.
• It also helps in the process of effectively following of the six levels of management.
• It also helps to follow the strategic management effectively.
• It also helps in the process of achieving the the desired profit margin of the entity, if followed effectively.
• Operational management helps the business to achieve the efficiency of operations in the different process.
• Operational management if followed in an effective manner can lead to effective teamwork within the organisation.
• It also helps in the context of interlinking the objectives of the different departments within the organisation effectively to achieve the common goals of the entity.
• Operational management also helps in the process of identifying the loopholes of the process to reduce the chances of revenue leakage.
• Operational management is also effective in the context of employee motivation.
• It also helps the entities in the context of building the expertise in the field of business tasks.
• Operational management overall helps the business to achieve the objectives namely: Sales maximisation and Profit Maximisation.

In the context of our entity, we can see that operational management is very much visible in almost all the types of activities and processes. It has also been able to determine all the weak areas of their operations and thereby has been able to achieve the economies of scale in almost all the processes.

c) Identifying the factors operating around the business environment

The business environment of the operational management is affected by various kind of microenvironmental factors such as organisational structure, labour inefficiency and cultural diversity (Heldal & Antonsen, 2014).On the other hand, the various macro environmental factors such as technology, innovation, perceptions of the consumers, economic stability and governmental issues, regulations also have the great impact on the activities of business activities of Bidvest Foodservice Australia. It has been observed that the poor organisational structure hampers the business growth of the organisation. The organisation fail to meet the satisfaction level of the customer due to poor organisational factors. Apart from this, it has been observed that the increasing level of the labour inefficiency also hampers on the brand loyalty of the organisation. The changes in customers perceptions also hamper on the operation management as the business organisations need to plan their business strategy based on the requirements, demands of the consumers. On the other hand, the poor economic stability also effects on the business economy of Bidvest Foodservice Australia as the huge amount of capital is needed to run a business (Jean & Davies, 2016). The changes in government, corruption in government activities and changes in regulations also decline the service level of business that leads them towards the business loss.

d) Judging the importance of the operational management

There are some of the factors that may impact on the operations of a business entity. These factors can be classified into two divisions:

• Internal factors
• External Factors

Internal Factors can be described as those factors which may arise within the organisational structure and may affect the operations of the business entities. It refers to those factors that are within the control of the organisation or we can say that the organisational has a significant control over these factors (Boons & Lüdeke-Freund, 2013).

These factors may be the firm’s own suppliers, workers, directors, the internal control and the internal management of the company. It has been analysed that the organisations need to focus on these factors in order to ensure the stability of operations in all the processes. Proper focusing on the internal factors can be beneficial to the entity in various ways like it can help in reducing the employee turnover, can help in improving the relation with the suppliers and the customers, increased efficiency of the operations, etc. These internal factors are essential in modern business context since they provide the business with a base for survival. These internal factors if not managed properly can amount to the weakness of the concern (Engelen et al.2015).

We can see that in the context of our organisation i.e. Bidvest Foodservice Australia the internal factors are appropriately taken care off. It is clearly visible from the financial statements that it has been able to generate a revenue of AUD $ 182164453 in the financial year 2015.

External factors refer to those factors which operate outside the business premises but the behaviour of which can significantly affect the business of the entity. External factors can also be depicted as those factors over which the business can exercise little or no control (Zhao et al. 2015). These external factors can further divide into two parts:

• Micro Environment
• Macro Environment.

Micro Environment includes the factors such as the change in tastes and preferences, entry of new competitors, increased governmental regulations in the related business, etc.these factors affect only the related or the specific business.

The macro environment includes basically those factors which affect all the business of all the economy as a whole like inflation and deflation, change in disposable income of the people, change in the political and legal scenario and other related factors (Mills & McKimm, 2016).

These factors can impact the business either positively or negatively. So it can be said that every business entity needs to be prepared as and when these situations arise. It is a good practise if the entities make a prior provision considering the occurrence of these situations (Tarí, Heras-Saizarbitoria & Dick, 2014).

In the context of Bidvest Foodservice Australia, we can say that it maintains a minimum provision for AUD $ 501611 for the occurrence of undesired situations.

We can say that operational management is always helpful in controlling the factors of the internal and external environment. It is also helpful in mitigating the risks of the business as well as helpful in achieving the objectives of the business in a successful manner. We can see that in the contexts of the Bidvest Foodservice Australia the organisation is able to milk out gross profits amounting to AUD $ 42597764 in 2015 which is much more than the previous year, which is clearly the result of the effective application of the concept of Operational Management.

Conclusion

We can say that effective leadership and management play an important role in the growth of an organisation. It is also visible from the fact the employee turnover has reduced in the Bidvest Foodservice Australia due to the proper application of the leadership theories since proper leadership provides a solid base for motivation to the employees.

It can also be seen that the application of the concept of operational management is very essential in the era of cross-border flow of capital. It helps the business to achieve the target of both the profit and sales maximisation as well as wealth maximisation objective. It is clearly relevant from the Consolidated Income Statement whereby it has been disclosed that the business is able to generate AUD $ 6159376 for the accounting year 2015. It can there be concluded that the application of the relevant theories of management including the operational management is beneficial to the business entities in the long run to achieve the efficiency of the business operations.

You may also like to read: 

• Management Operations
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