Essay on leadership and management

Management

Part 1: Report
The environmental policies of Tesco cover a wide berth but the context of this report will concentrate on waste management and energy management. Since 2007, Tesco has put in place plans that are aimed at reducing waste during operations especially in the form of distribution packaging. In the same year the company started using re-usable transit trays in addition to recycling all of the waste in stores and distribution centers. The company does this by recycling waste that was in the past sent to landfills for example cardboards, plastics, carrier bags and also meat waste to create energy (Tesco). However the company should look into ways of not only recycling waste but reducing it. This could be done by converting the company’s cooking oil into bio-fuel and increase automated recycling machines at the stores.
Energy management in terms of energy efficiency has been allocated a significant amount of revenue at Tesco in the past couple of years. Contemporary energy saving schemes includes the installation of fan inverter drives in a number of Tesco stores that reduce energy consumption by controlling air flow. Tesco has also installed ‘ intelihood’ systems in bakeries and restaurants. The system is simply an extraction system that halves energy consumption. The company can however increase its energy efficiency program by further reducing is water consumption through leakage reduction/rainwater collection, use of solar powered panels and phasing out refrigeration units with high energy consumption like HFCs.
The management at Tesco has continuously tried to improve the working arrangement of Tesco employees. Flexible working is one of the popular working arrangements at Tesco especially in the IT department. Staffs are thus allowed to work part-time which includes flexible hours, job share and job split (Computer Weekly ). As such the staff members can be able to arrange their schedule to fit other things like study time. Tele-working at Tesco is not a common phenomenon except in the sales department as Tesco is largely a brick and mortar store. health and safety at Tesco is however strictly adhered to as the company incorporates safety pre-cautions into their operations for instance by ensuring that the staff is properly trained. The company can however improve their working arrangements by incorporating Tele-working in other departments and improve safety standards by ensuring that safety signs/warnings are put in place.

Part 2: Leadership

Clark defines leadership as a process through which one person influences others to achieve certain objectives or to accomplish certain tasks (Clark). Richard Branson and Gordon Ramsay are in all ways leaders in that they all steer their respective organizations to achieve certain set objectives. Branson has led the Virgin group for decades and it now is a huge conglomerate with a number of companies like the Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Cola. Ramsay on his part has used his culinary skills to steer the growth of one of the largest hotel chains- the Gordon Ramsay Holdings. For both leaders they have different sources of power. Expert power is when a leader has expert knowledge or skills in their domain for instance Ramsay is a skilled chef with a good sense of the culinary business. Positional power on the other hand is derived from legitimately holding a position for instance Branson being the founder and highest shareholder of the Virgin Group. Other sources of power are coercive, reward and personal (Clark).
The success of leaders and understanding leadership in general is attributed to leadership theories. The behavioral and style theories for example, assert that the success of leaders is attributable to behavior of the leader. The theory asserts that successful leaders must have a certain personality for example strong ego. A ripe example of this theory is Gordon Ramsay whose leadership success is inherent in his behavior and style. Ramsay says things as he sees them, has a high drive, strong work ethic and an attitude of achieving success no matter the cost (Geocities). He is indeed often quoted as an autocratic leader thanks to the obscenities he throws at his employees and his taskmaster style. In deep contrast to this theory is the situational theory. In this type of leadership a leader’s style changes according to the situation. Branson is very knowledgeable about his business and makes decisions according to the situation. He is a relation- oriented leader who delegates and appreciates the output of his staff (Walenius).
Both leadership styles have their advantages and disadvantages especially when it comes to group dynamics and total quality management. An autocratic leadership style like Ramsay’s is undeniably a good style in total quality management. This is because TQM is a formal discipline which requires strict adherence to set standards if quality parameters are to be met. A participative leadership style on the other hand like is practiced by Branson is highly effective in group dynamics. This is because the output of individual group members is appreciated therefore resulting in cohesion.

Works Cited

Clark, Don. ” Concepts of Leadership.” n. d. . NW Link. 13 June 2012 .
Computer Weekly . ” Flexible working is a real winner.” Computer Weekly 2 April 2010.
Geocities. ” LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT .” n. d. . Geocities . 13 June 2012 .
Tesco. ” Reduce, reuse and recycle.” n. d. Tesco. 13 June 2012 .
Walenius, Michael. ” The leadership style of Sir Richard Branson.” 15 July 2011. 13 June 2012 .