Operations Management and Continuous Improvement Plan of Burberry Group plc

This report discusses the operation and project management of Burberry Group plc. It reviews the effectiveness of operation management principles, critiques the implementation of operations management in relation to Six Sigma methodology and Lean principles, and applies the concept of continuous improvement in an operational context. A continuous improvement plan is also prepared based on the review and critique of operations management principles within an organisational context.

Introduction
In this report, the operation and project management of Burberry Group
plc have been discussed in detail. Burberry Group plc, a global luxury fashion
brand founded in 1856 in London. The company offers a wide range of options in
ready-to-wear outerwear, sunglasses, trench coats, fashion accessories,
fragrances, and cosmetics. Currently, the company is dealing in the high fashion
market. There are 498 branded stores and franchises across the globe. In
addition to this, the company sells products via third party stores. In this report,
the effectiveness and efficiency of operation management in the chosen
organisation has been critically reviewed. Further, various concepts of
continuous improvement in the operation management have been applied and
discussed. Apart from this, the principle of Project Life Cycle (PLC) have been
applied in context of the Burberry Group plc. Also, the report reviews the use
of PLC in the given scenario.
LO1 Review And Critique The Effectiveness Of Operations
Management Principles
P1 Conduct A Review And Critique Of The Implementation Of
Operations Management Principles Within An Organisational
Context.
Get free samples written by our Top-Notch subject experts for
taking assignment help services.
Operation management has a multidisciplinary nature and is often discussed in
context of manufacturing and production of goods and services. Being delivery-
focused, it is responsible for converting inputs into outputs efficiently. The
inputs can be equipment, technology, or human resource (Ajodhia, 2012). It also
includes managing relations in order to procure organisation’s sustainability.
Operation management is characterised by the activities related to production
of goods and services by transforming the inputs and outputs. It consist of
processes, such as planning, organising, staffing, leading, and controlling.
Operation management in the organisational tasks of the Burberry Group
plc. Major significance of operation management has been described in this
section as follow:-
 Inventory management: It assists the organisation in managing the inventory
as well as helps in bringing the effectiveness in conserving the economic
resources. It also talks about reducing the resource wastage, thereby reducing
the total cost of inventory of Burberry Group plc.

 Cost Reduction: Operation management helps in discarding the unnecessary
and irrelevant processes from the production line. This save the company’s
funds from getting wasted.
 Optimisation of Available Resources: Operation management of Burberry
Group plc helps in optimising the scarce resources of the company. Various tools
and techniques are brought into use, namely linear programming, statistical
analysis, etc.
 Management of the Suppliers: Operation managers have to consider the
distribution networks of the raw material suppliers. They have to keep a record
of their warehouse, customers, number of networking, distribution centres, etc.
 Quality management: It brings the efficiency and effectiveness factor in the
business operations. Operation management transforms the working principles
of the organisation by introducing the quality management concept in the
organisational objectives (Lowson, 2014).This factor is important from the
customer’s perspective as all they want from Burberry Group plc is quality
clothing.
M1 Review And Critique The Implementation Of Operations
Management In Relation To Six Sigma Methodology And
Lean Principles
Six sigma is the method often linked with the operation management. Managers
apply six sigma principles in order to improve the quality of process by
discarding the defects and errors. It reduces the cost and a lot of time.
Implementing the six sigma in organisational operations (both engineering and
service-based) is an expensive option, but it pays for itself and benefits the
company in the long run. This leads to higher quality products and services,
thereby satisfying the needs of the customers.
Talking about the lean thinking approach, it talks about the “no wastage” of
resources, thereby making the operations effective and efficient. This method
cut the production cost and therefore, provide an extra edge to the
organisation. In Burberry Group plc, the lean manufacturing is not fully
implemented. In today’s time, organisations are realising the importance of
waste elimination, improvising the quality, and improving the customer
satisfaction.
LO2 Apply The Concept Of Continuous Improvement In An
Operational Context
P2 Prepare A Continuous Improvement Plan Based On The
Review And Critique Of Operations Management Principles
Within An Organisational Context.
Continuous improvement aimed at improving the organisation’s performance
through some targeted incremental measures in the production processes. The

continuous improvement focuses on linear and incremental improvisation within
the existing operations. It makes use of statistical techniques (Lowson, 2014). In
context of Burberry Group plc, the continuous improvement can be understood
as the process to improve the quality of fabric used to prepare the final clothing
accessories.
Figure 1: CI programs of textile organisation
(Source: Gopesh, 2016)
A continuous improvement plan is a document consisting the strategies for
making the product better. It is different from the reactive plans that defines the
course of actions of a team within a company for managing crises. It helps in
determining the bottlenecks and weak points in the established programs and
processes and assists in finding the ways to improvise them. There are seven
essential steps to prepare the Continuous Improvement Plan for Burberry
Group plc that are mentioned below:-
 Evaluation of the previous year goals
 Data review and analysis
 Evaluation of progress in order to comply with the performance standards
of Burberry Group plc.
 Setting up the SMART goals
 Summarising the planning process
 Compliance
There are wide range of methods that are being used by the top organisation to
carry out continuous improvement. These methods include six sigma, lean
thinking approach, PDCA cycle, and Total Quality Management. All of these
method emphasise teamwork and high employee involvement, reducing the
fluctuation in the process output, and systemising processes. Textile industry
like Burberry Group plc is more into lean manufacturing processes. The
approach focuses on “zero waste” concept from the operations. The lean
thinking approach emphasise on flow. It allows the consumers to pull products
through the process (Ajodhia, 2012). Lean manufacturing leads to simplification
of the organisation’s production line to reduce the fluctuations, thereby
improving the performance.
M2 Analyse The Effectiveness Of A Continuous Improvement
Plan Using Appropriate Theories, Concepts And/Or Models.

It is a well-known fact that continuous improvement focuses on incremental or
breakthrough improvement over time (Hill and Hill, 2012). Among all the widely
used tools for the CI, PDCA cycle is widely used. It is also called Deming Cycle or
Shewhart cycle:
 Plan: This stage includes identification of the opportunity and planning for
changes.
 Do: Implementing the changes on a very small scale.
 Check: Using data for the result analysis and determining whether it makes a
difference or not.
 Act: In case the changes were successful, implement them on a broad scale.