Operations and Project Management Report: Dyson Case Study Analysis

This report delves into the realms of operations and project management, using Dyson as a central case study. Section A meticulously examines Dyson's operational strategies, comparing operations and operations management, and critically assessing the implementation of operations management principles. It explores lean production and Six Sigma, evaluating their impact on Dyson's business needs. A continuous improvement plan is proposed, grounded in models and theories, leading to actionable recommendations. Section B shifts focus to project management, presenting a case study of a Midlands-based manufacturing company. The report outlines the project life cycle, conducts a business case analysis, and critically evaluates project methodologies. It assesses the effectiveness of the project life cycle within the context of the case study, drawing on relevant theories and projects, culminating in a comprehensive understanding of operations and project management.

Operations and
Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................4
SECTION A ....................................................................................................................................4
Background of the company.......................................................................................................4
Comparison of operations and operation management ..............................................................4
Reassessment and criticism of enforcement of of operations management principles in context
of Dyson .....................................................................................................................................5
Analysis of the extent to which operations management of Dyson meet business needs...........6
Discussion of continuous improvement and lean principles ......................................................6
Continuous improvement plan prepared on the basis of reassessment of operations
management principles with reference to models and theories .................................................7
Recommendation formed with the utilisation of continuous improvement principles ..............8
SECTION B ....................................................................................................................................8
Summary of the case study ........................................................................................................8
Project life cycle with information of each stage........................................................................9
Business Case............................................................................................................................10
Critical analysis of rational for project methodologies ............................................................11
Potency of Project life cycle in context of respective project with use of appropriate theories
and projects .............................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................12
REFRENCES ................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Operations management plays a crucial role in successful completion of a business
project. Business firms are able to manage their daily activities seamlessly with the help of
operations management. This report is based on operations management and the organisation
selected for section A of this report is Dyson which is an international technology company
headquartered in UK. The firm creates and sells wide range of household appliances.
Reassessment of effectiveness of operations management principles is provided in this report.
Continuous improvement principles are discussed along with creation of continuous
improvement plan in context of Dyson. Project life cycle is applied to project of Midland based
manufacturing company and potency of PLC is is reviewed in relation to the respective project
with use of suitable projects and models.
MAIN BODY
SECTION A
Background of the company
Dyson is an international technology company which was founded in 1991 and is
currently headquartered in Wiltshire UK. The firm has seen exponential growth since its
formation and has created a strong international presence with their products being sold in more
than 65 international markets. The company employees more than 13,000 workers on a global
scale which includes more than 1000 skilled engineers. Dyson various business operations in
order to manufacture products which exceed consumer expectations which contributes to
successful expansion of the firm in various international markets and technological fields.
Turning raw material into physical goods, staff administration, inventory management and
effective utilisation of advanced technology to improve system, equipment, people and processes
are some of the main business operations conducted by Dyson. Dyson needs to implement
effective operation management in order to increase organisational efficiency and help the
company accomplish business objectives in a timely manner.
Comparison of operations and operation management
Operations Operations Management
 The term operations is defined as the  Operations management focuses on

foundations of the firm through which a
company enforces every business
action which are essential to operating
successfully in their industry (Al-
Mazrouie and et. al., 2020).
 Operations aim to generate continual
income, increase value of business
assets and secure income and value of
business.
administration of business practices to
reach maximum effeminacy level of the
company.
 The aim of operations management is
to turn inputs into outputs in an
efficient manner, to balance revenue
and costs to maximise operating profit
of the company.
Reassessment and criticism of enforcement of of operations management principles in context of
Dyson
Lean production
Lean production helps a business organisation streamline and enhance manufacturing
system by boosting productivity and eliminating waste. Lean production creates minimal waste
manufacturing process by determining business activities which provide additional value and
activities which provide less value to the consumers. The firm is able to remove business
activities which provide less value to while investing in activities which provide additional value
to the consumers which lessens wastage. In context of Dyson, lean production helps the company
minimise waste and increase organisational efficiency of the company. Lean manufacturing
requires a continuous pursuit of eliminating anything that does not provide additional value to
the consumer which helps the respective company seek continuous improvement (Berbegal, Gil
and Alegre, 2017). Dyson is able to manufacture products which provide high additional value to
the consumer and reduce wastage with the help of lean production. The firm is able to maximise
their profitability as a result of enforcement of lean production.
The main disadvantages associated with lean production which have negative effect on
Dyson include inconsistent delivery of products, increased consumer dissatisfaction and
possibility of machinery failure.
Six Sigma
The main focuses of six sigma is to utilise statistical analysis to improve business process
for the growth and development of the company. Enforcement of six sigma includes

understanding complexities of various business process and controlling variation. This helps the
company build predictable business process which contribute in increasing profitability of the
organisation. In context of Dyson, enforcement of six sigma will help the company improve
business process, minimise defects, lower variability in busies process and lower costs on the
basis of statistical data. Dyson will be able to increase profitability and consumer satisfaction
with the implementation of six sigma. The main demerits associated with implementation of six
sigma is that it creates rigid bureaucratic structure which reduces creativity of the company
(Bérubé and Gauthier, 2017). This demerit of Six sigma will have negative effect on Dyson as
the company has gained success in their industry by creating innovative and creative products.
Analysis of the extent to which operations management of Dyson meet business needs
Lean production helps Dyson reduce waste while maximising additional value provided
to their consumers. Implementation of lean production helps the respective company accomplish
their business objective of maximising consumer satisfaction. Dyson operates in the technology
industry which requires high costs and recurring investment for technological up-gradation of
various products. Lean production is highly beneficial for Dyson as it helps the company
minimise costs and wastage which increases profitability of the firm despite high investment
requirement for technological enhancement.
Discussion of continuous improvement and lean principles
Continuous improvement is an combinatorial philosophy of management which focuses
on continuously improving the product quality and various business processes in order to gain
maximum consumer satisfaction. Continuous improvement initiates product improvement along
with improvement of various business processes which leads to the creation of sophisticated and
overall more economically competitive offerings (Chaikovska and Chaikovskyi, 2020)(.
Continuous improvement is highly advantageous to Dyson which depends on technology and
creative employees for developing profitable products. Dyson need to implement continuous
improvement processes such as lean in order to align their products with latent consumer values.
This will help the respective company construct products and services which forecast consumer
needs before they identify such needs themselves. Dyson will be able to offer innovative
products which cater to consumer requirements and gain competitive advantage with the help of
continuous improvement.
Lean principles

 Determining value: The first lean principles revolves around identification of business
operations which provide value to the consumers. Consumer value is defined as the
business operations for which the consumer willingly pays. This principle involves
determining latent needs of the target consumer base of the firm (Chen, Cannon and
Taylor, 2017). Dyson needs to utilise qualitative and quantitative techniques in order to
identify latent needs of the consumers as consumers are unable to articular their neds in
case of technological products. Creation of value stream map: This principle involves using consumer value to identify
business processes and operations which provide consumer value and activities which
provide low or zero value to the consumer. Dyson needs to follow this principle by
constructing a map of activities which provide consumer value and determining activities
which provide low additional consumer value in order to eliminate activities which are
not beneficial for the firm. Building flow: This principle revolves around assuring that activities which provide
value to the consumer follow smooth workflow so that such process and operations are
finished without interruption and delay. Dyson needs to create effective workflow of
value adding process in order to adopt this lean principle. Utilisation of a pull system: This system consider perspective of the consumer on the
final product which includes business activities in reverse on the value stream map.
Dyson needs to utilise latent needs of the consumer to direct a business model which
ensures optimum utilisation of resources.
 Pursuing perfection: The last step includes creating an organisational culture which
seeks perfection in and aims to deliver products according to the need of the consumer
base (Choi, Wallace and Wang, 2018). Dyson needs to focus on continuously improving
their process in order to delver perfect products to their consumer base.
Continuous improvement plan prepared on the basis of reassessment of operations management
principles with reference to models and theories
Continuous improvement plan for Dyson
BASIS CURENT METHODOLOGY PLANNED METHODOLOGY
Cost Dyson is produces household Dyson neds to utilise lean principles in

electrical appliances which is the main
reason behind high costs of the
company. Dyson regular invests large
amount of financial resources into
R&D in order to produce unique
products. The firm has recently
invested £1 billion dollars into R&D.
order to identify consumer value so that
technological investment directly increase
consumer value. This will help the
company gain assured return on their
technological investment for the growth of
the company (Demeter, 2017).
Standard Primary business objective of Dyson is
to build high quality products. Dyson
focuses on creating high quality
products which has increased brand
value of the company and helped the
company expand swiftly.
Dyson needs to utilise just in time in order
to ensure timely delivery of their high
quality products while ensuring optimum
utilisation of various resources. This will
increase brand value of the firm and
advance response rate of the company.
Distributio
n
Dyson has adopted different
distribution strategies for different
international market. The company
uses online and physical stores to sell
their products in UK and has adopted
mass distribution strategy in US.
Dyson needs to utilise Just in time
approach in order to improve their
distribution strategy and manufacture
products according to the needs of the
consumers. This will reduce inventory
costs and help the company expand
swiftly.
Time
required
The company requires 7 to 8 months
to complete goals of the business
strategy.
Operations management practices such as
Just in Time need to be utilised by the
company in order to ensure swift
completion of their business objectives
(Erjavec and Trkman, 2020).
Recommendation formed with the utilisation of continuous improvement principles
 Dyson needs to utilise Six Sigma approach to operations in order to control variation and
create consistent and predictable business process for the benefit of the company. This
will increase profitability of the firm and help the firm deliver high quality products.

 Adoption of lean principles will help the respective organisation make optimum
utilisation of resources and remove wastage caused by the presence of business activities
and processes which do not contribute in increasing consumer value of the firm. This will
reduce wastage of the firm and help the company understand latent needs of the
consumers.
 Dyson needs to utilise lean production approach as it will increase overall efficiency of
the organisation. This will free employees and resources and enable the company to focus
on quality control and innovation. Dyson will be able to produce high quality products
which offer unique solutions to consumer problems with the help of lean production.
SECTION B
Summary of the case study
A production company which is headquartered in Midlands and has employed 1250
workers on their production premises conducts various business operations which includes
officer and factory workers. The firm does not provide on premises food services to their
employees. This has increased movement of staff members in the company which has created
over-crowding in the surrounding region (Feng and Shanthikumar, 2016). The business
objectives of the firm are to handle the matter of over-crowding and promote flourishing
employee lifestyle. Increasing employee well being is a part of the CSR initiative of the
organisation and will help the company lower absent rates of their employees. Internal
theoretical project of the company aims to attain these objectives by providing food services to
the employees on organisational premises.
Project life cycle with information of each stage
Conceptualisation stage
This stage of the project life-cycle includes defining main objectives of the project along
with development of the conceptual aspects of the project. In context of the food serving project
of the Midlands based firm, this stage involves identification of purpose of the project in order to
devise suitable solutions for the completion of the project (Filimonau and Naumova, 2020).
Business case is developed in this stage which will help the company complete their project in a
timely manner. In addition to this approval from high authorities is gained in this stage of the
project life-cycle.

Planning stage
This stage involves creation of progress measurement parameters along with planning a
budget of the project. In relation to the food serving project of the Midlands based manufacturing
company, this stage includes construction of a project budget and outlining the requirements and
risks associated with the project. Resource allocation is also a part of this stage of the project
life-cycle.
Execution stage
This stage includes the beginning of work required for completion of the project.
Strategic planning and implementation of strategy are the main tasks conducted in this stager of
the Project life-cycle (Kiani and et. al., 2019). In relation to the food serving project of the
manufacturing company, this stage includes revolves around transforming raw material and tools
in order to reach the desired goal. Managers at the respective organisation continuously track the
progress of the project in order to ensure timely completion of the project along with optimum
utilisation of resources. In addition to this identification and removal of barriers is another
important part of this stage.
Project closure stage
This stage revolves around demobilisation of the project after the project is completed. In
context of the food serving project at the Midlands based manufacturing company this stage
includes identifying if the main project criteria are met along with reassignment of workers and
equipments to other projects. The management at the respective organisation needs to ensure that
the problem of over-crowding is solved and worker well-being is improved in this stage of the
project.
Business Case
Project Portfolio
Executive summary: Food serving project focuses on providing on premises food to the
employees working at Midlands manufacturing company. This project involves daily delivering
healthy food items to the employees at the company and it is funded by the manufacturing firm.
Objective: The main objective of this project is to lower over-crowding at the area
surrounding of the company which is caused by high movement of employees during lunch
break. This project aims to improve well being of the employee by providing them healthy food
and decrease employee absenteeism.

Procedure: The procedure followed for the completion of this project involves
understanding employee opinion about their food choices and ensuring daily delivery of food
items which are healthy and cater to food choices of the employees.
Cost: The cost of this project is £12,000
Merits: The chief merit of this project is that it increases employee well-being, lowers
absent rate and removes over-crowding in the surrounding region of the organisation.
Time required: The time required for the completion of this project is of 2 months.
Project strategy
Cost: The cost of this project is £12,000
Scope: This is a project with large scope as it aims to provide daily food service to 12500
employees.
Risk: The main risk associated with the project is the employees disliking the food items
which can lead to increase employee absence along with low employee dissatisfaction
Resources: The main resources needed for this project is delivery services and research
about culinary choices of employees.
Critical analysis of rational for project methodologies
Initiation stage: This stage of the food serving project conducted by Midland based
manufacturing company involves the usage of democratic leadership style. The main reason
behind adoption of this leadership style is that this project aims to fulfil need of the employees
(Sheibani, 2018). Democratic leadership style allows employee participation which will help the
respective company gain employee opinion about food items of their choice . The firm will be
able to gain maximum employee satisfaction by adoption of this leadership style.
Planning stage: Dispatching model of management which emphasises the importance of
causal relation between action of the management and outcomes of the company. Utilisation of
this model will help the company build effective plan which contribute to successful completion
of the project.
Execution stage: The respective company has utilised 360 degree feedback as the
primary model for this stage (Van Aken and et. al., 2016). This will help the company track
employee progress and ensure that the project is on tack.

Project closure stage: The stage includes ensuring completion of every business
objective. This stage is critical to success of the project as it helps the company gain desired
results.
Potency of Project life cycle in context of respective project with use of appropriate theories and
projects
Application of the Project life-cycle has helped the Midlands based manufacturing
company complete their food serving project and gain desired results. The initial stage of the
project which involves the usage of democratic leadership style helped the company formulate
plan which included choices of the employees. This helped the company complete a project
which provided tasty and healthy food items to each employee during their lunch brake. The firm
was able to effectively accomplish the objective of increasing employee well-being with the help
of this project (Yoo and Glardon, 2018). The second stage of the company included usage of
dispatching management model which helped the company construct effective plan for their
project. The third stage of the project life-cycle focuses on creation of effective enforcement the
plan for food serving project. The 360 degree model helped the company keep track of employee
progress and complete their project in a timely manner. The last stage of the project revolves
around demobilisation of resources. The respective firm was able yo gain their business
objectives by using project life-cycle.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that the operations management is essential to
organisational growth and development. Business organisations need to apply various operations
management principles in order to increase organisational efficiency and ensure timely
completion of daily objectives. Lean production and six sigma help the company produce high
quality products or services while reducing wattage of various resources. This helps the
company increase their profitability and focus on innovation and production of creative
products. Business firms nee to apply project life cycle in order to ensure swift completion of
their project . Different stages of the project life-cycle require completion of various tasks which
help the company finish their project in a timely manner. Business firms are able to assure
optimal utilisation of resources and track the progress of their project by applying project life
cycle.