Operations Management Practice within Sainsbury's

BM563 OPERATIONS AND
SERVICE MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................1
1. Operation management practice within Sainsbury's................................................................1
2. Impact on operation management practice on the organizational efficiency..........................2
3. Embedded technology in the operations management practice...............................................4
4. Evaluation of the supporting functions assisting in the operations practice management......5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Operations management practice refers to governing the routine activities of the business
in order to generate the highest level of efficiency in the company. It is concerned about
managing the inventory, production, supply chain, distribution network and the quality
management in the company. The project shall be highlighting the operation management
practice that is carried out within Sainsbury's. Apart from that it shall be reflecting the impact of
these operations management practice over the organizational efficiency level and the growth
prospects thereby determined by Sainsbury's. It shall also evaluate that how technology can be
embedded to the practices ensuring the achievement of the organizational objectives. Lastly the
report shall be showing the supportive functions that will assist in the operations management of
the organization.
MAIN BODY
1. Operation management practice within Sainsbury's
Sainsbury's being one of the largest retail supermarket chain in UK has to perform its
operations with high degree of efficiency. They have the widespread chain of outlets, supply
chain which has to be coordinated against a single central system in order to derive
organizational performance. This can be ensured by practices that govern the operations
management in the company by managing the routine activities of the business. From managing
the inventory levels in the business, to stocking them up and delivering them timely and
efficiently to the end users as per their demand (Salehnejad, Ali and Proudlove, 2020). This is
challenging task for the company which it has to manage so that the competitive advantage can
be derived.
Sainsbury's has applied the “We Supply” by IBM which is playing the key role in
determining the rightful level of inventory that needs to be maintained by the business. There are
several stages through which the operations of Sainsbury's are passing starting from the
acquiring raw material and its stocking up in the warehouses. An effective system is designed for
the inventory replenishment at the various stores of Sainsbury's so that the products and services
are readily available to the customers (Amirudin, Nawawi and Salin, 2017). The major
operations management practice undertaken by the company is total quality management in order
to satisfy the needs and wants of the customer. This shall also build satisfaction in the consumers
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and will ensure the positioning of the brand in the minds of the consumers of products and
services of the company.
The quality and the efficiency level has to be maintained throughout the organization at
each and every level of the operations for the smooth conduct of the business. Some major
quality objectives of Sainsbury's are that it wants to provide healthy and safe food to the
customers and the fair prices (Support Functions & Operating Models, 2020). Customer loyalty
and the level of satisfaction are the major concerns of the business keeping in mind the future
prospects of the company. For managing the efficient quality in the business the standards are set
up which are to be met by the business so that the organizational efficiency level can be
determined.
The design of the supermarket is also established in a manner that the customers are
retained until they visit and pass from all the shelves. The cash and billing counter are placed at
the end, the arranging and managing the display of the products is part of operations
management (Davar and Pandey, 2020). The interdepartmental activities of the company are
highly integrated so that the coordination of the efforts can be ensured and the performance of
the company can be enhanced.
The four V's of the operations management that are followed by the Sainsbury's company
are volume, variety, variation and the visibility. These factors decide the operational
management practices that are undertaken by the company which are contributing to the
organizational performance of the business. The volume shows that its customers wish to
purchase the more goods from the supermarket that are offered at the affordable prices. The
variety discloses the huge range or portfolio of products and services that are offered to the
customers to meet the needs and expectations of the business. Apart from that variation in
context of Sainsbury's is concerned with the different modes of the delivery system that are used
by the company like the online, purchase from store or the home delivery. Lastly visibility
focuses on the display of the products in the shelves such that the customers are attracted towards
it.
2. Impact on operation management practice on the organizational efficiency
The operations management practices that are conducted within the organization is one of
the major contributors to the achievement of the organizational efficiency. This is governed
through the proper management of the routine activities in the business which are to be
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