Management and Operations: Approaches, Importance, and Impact on Unilever PLC

This project report discusses the concept of management and operations, focusing on Unilever PLC. It covers the approaches to operations management, the importance of operational management, and the impact of management strategies on product quality, revenue, wastage reduction, and consumer satisfaction. The report also analyzes the factors in the business environment that affect operations, both internally and externally, and discusses the role of operations governance in achieving organizational objectives.

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................1
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................1
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................1
P4............................................................................................................................................1
P5 ...........................................................................................................................................2
M3:.........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................4
P6............................................................................................................................................4
M4:.........................................................................................................................................5
D2:..........................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Management is refereed as the arrangement and coordination of the actions in relation to
various business activities so that business objectives can be achieved. Operations are defined as
the actions that are taken by managers of business organisations to perform various activities of
business organisation. Management and operations are performed together in order to gain
effective market position (DRURY, 2013). To understand this concept in this project Unilever
PLC organisation is considered. This organisation was founded in the year 1929 at London UK.
Key persons of the company are Marijn Dekkers, Alan Joph, Graeme Pitkethly. Organisation
deals in beauty and personal care products, foods and refreshments, cleaning products and
registered at various stock exchange.
In this project report approaches to operations management with its importance and
value. Together with this factors in business environment that impacts operational management
and decision making by leaders and managers is mentioned in the project report.
TASK 1
Covered in PPT
TASK 2
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
P4
Operational management leads to usage of organisational resources in productive
manner to maximise profits. Operational administrator and leadership plays an essential role
in increasing the productivity of the company by using least resources. Since the process of
the operation involves the activities which transform the raw material into final outputs,
operational managers of the Unilever PLC utilise several key approaches which are
presented below:
Six Sigma: Six sigma is a method that is used by the operational managers to focus
on the team work and efforts made by the various groups in the achievement of the tasks and
goals. This method provides the results by improving the performance of the team (Dutta
and et.al., 2013). The role of managers and leaders while applying the six sigma is to
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implement put the efforts of the team for the betterment of the company and in the
development of global strategy of the selected organization to determine such strategies
which can utilise the valuable resources in most effective manner. Adoption of six sigma as
theory for management will help all the departments of the business organisation to
coordinate their operations and using the resources to improve utility (Grote, 2012).
Total Quality Management: It is elaborated as the process of brining efficiency in
the manufacturing process of the organization. This TQM approach concentrate on the
continuous improvement in the quality of the products and control the process during
production line. For this purpose, it analyse the market trends and customers needs and
desires. Management of the Unilever PLC plays an important role by applying this approach
as this method helps in making continuous changes in the production to bring the
improvement. Leaders also utilise this approach to motivate their team members and
eliminate the resistance of changes among the employees so that new measurements and
standards can be adopted to improve the quality of production (Guang Shi and et.al., 2012).
Lean production: This is an approach utilise by the operational managers to focus
on reducing the wastage along with assurance of the quality by considering the design of the
products through production to distribution. This approach is utilized to cut or minimize
those activities that are of less priorities. In order to perform this approach management
repair faulty products, reduce holding of stock and unnecessary movement of the people can
be decreased. With the help of lean production, managers can control the cost of production
and save the valuable funds of the organization that can be utilised for other necessary and
relevant processes and operation (Huuskonen, Saltikoff and Holleman, 2014). Leaders of the
organization plays an important role in the organization as they motivate their followers to
continuous improvement in their efficiency and with continuous practice, the employees be
able to make less wastage and help the management in cost reduction by improving their
performance and fruitfulness.
P5
Goals and objective of business organisation is achieved through implementing
effective management strategies in its operations (McGeorge and Zou, 2012). When
functions performed in business are operated well then it ensures reduction in cost of
production of minimising wastage of internal and external organisational assets and
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resources. When operational management is implemented in Unilever PLC than in that case
it leads to minimising usage of inputs like raw materials, labour and outputs like products,
goods and services are maximised to enhance profits (Molina-Azorín and et.al., 2015).
Operations management will help in introducing total quality management in Unilever PLC
so that standard of products offered to large number of consumers can be improved.
Following are the values or importance of operational management for Unilever PLC-
Product Quality: Operations management adds value to business organisations by
ensuring for quality management of products and services offered. Product quality served by
Unilever PLC is as per consumers requirement as they are reliable and durable. When
quality products served by large number of consumer group in that case consumer
satisfaction level can be enhanced.
Increase in Revenue: With quality of products and more consumer satisfaction level
Unilever PLC will be able to attract more and more consumers. Enhancement in consumers
base and market share of company will leads to earn more amount of revenue (O'Brien and
et.al., 2014). In long run business will be able to create positive image in the industry for its
goods performance and attracting more number of interested consumers with its quality.
Company will continue to grow and develop and achieve all its objective with effective
operational management.
Wastage Reduction: This value is one of the most important component of
operational management. This could include a lean manufacturing system in which input
resources are used in such manner that efficiency is enhanced and wastage is minimised. For
example in Unilever PLC just in time inventory management system is introduced so that
cost of managing inventory is minimised. Elimination of wastage will help in saving of
money through minimising unnecessary cost and ultimately improving overall production
within the operations (Rasula, Vuksic and Stemberger, 2012).
Consumer Satisfaction: Success of a organisation is highly dependent on level of
consumer satisfaction achieved through consuming goods and services offered by them.
When quality products are offered on such price that possess value for money by Unilever
PLC than it will bring repeat consumer business. Quality management will take care
regarding quality of the product served and helps in developing methods to create products
as per consumers desire.
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Understanding value of operations management and implementing this in Unilever
PLC organisation will help in earning more and more profits and minimising cost of
production (S A and Rica, 2016).
M3:
Different methods adopted by leaders and managers to improve efficiency of
operational management in Unilever PLC. Some of them are as follows-
How Leaders contributes for improvement of operational efficiency:
 Leaders in Unilever PLC motivates all the team members in such manner that their
productivity level can be improved.
 Leaders helps in analysing competent sources for business through abolishing
productivity hierarchical positions which ultimately leads to improve efficiency.
How managers contributes for improvement of operational efficiency:
 Managers helps in intruding a effective and collaborative working environment in
business so that all the employees work at their greatest efficiency for achieving
business objectives.
 New and intensive schemes are introduced in business so that employees can be
encouraged to bring better outcomes.
TASK 4
P6
Environmental components affects internal as well as external enterprise
surroundings and the process of judgement making for the same. It is important for
managers and leaders to assess environmental factors for Unilever PLC so that their impact
can be made more in positive manner (Shepherd and Patzelt, 2013). Some factors as as-
Internal Factors
Human resource: Human resources quality is one of the important role towards
achieving organisational objective. Success of Unilever PLC is influenced through skills,
capabilities, attitude and commitment of its employees. Top management of business can
not deal with all its human resources and managers at each level helps to make source that
employees are performing in the well defined structured manner.
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Organisational Culture: In closed business culture all the decision making power
lies with top management level. This creates lack of trust among subordinate level and
employees work in no sense of belongingness. To minimise this in Unilever PLC open
culture is adopted.
External Factors
For analysing external factors that impacts business environment PEST analyses will
be applied on Unilever PLC.
Political: These factors can impact Unilever PLC's long term profitability in certain
country and market. As the company is operating in number of countries and needs to work
in different political environment that brings risk system for the business operations
(PESTLE Analysis, 2019). While operating in different political environment a business
organisations must analyse political stability, level of corruption, bureaucracy and
interference in personal products and legal framework. This will help to introduce political
stability in business.
Economic: The macro environmental factors such as inflation rate, saving rate,
interest rate and foreign exchange helps in determining aggregate demand and investment in
the country. These factors will be used by Unilever PLC to forecast the growth trajectory.
Social: Society's culture and method of doing things impact the culture of an
organisation in an environment. Attitudes of the population plays a grate role in analysing
the consumers of the target market for Unilever PLC. Social factors such as demographic
and skill level, class culture and hierarchical structure in society will help in understanding
consumers behaviour towards products offered by the company.
Technological: This factor is one of the fastest disrupting factor in all the industries.
To maintain its competitive advantage Unilever PLC must analyse technological changes in
the industry and become competent with adopting these changes.
M4:
Various factors in a business environment affects business operations and these
factors lies into internal and external business environment. Analysing internal factors helps
in establishing more competent internal business structure so that business objectives can be
achieved in well defined manner. External business environment helps business operations
to be performed in more formal and efficient manner. Amendment in political,
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technological, social and economical business environment is adopted by assessing them
and evaluating its impact (Song and Parola, 2015).
D2:
Operations governance in a business helps in performing all the activities in such
manner that profitability is enhanced through minimising wastage and maximising its
profitability. Some environmental factors affects business through internal and external
factors. These factors will be analysed through PESTLE analyses and internal factors will be
analysed through its internal variations. Through this organisational objectives will be
achieved by considering them as priority. Minimising negative impact will help in
enhancing production and maximising quality.
CONCLUSION
From the above analysis of the project report it has been concluded that operations
management is one of the important key plays important role in success of business
operations. Role and functions of managers and leaders is differentiated to assign them with
the work as per their roles and responsibilities. It is also important to assess their role for
performing various business activities in most productive manner. Introduction of different
forms of leadership will help in assessing operational management to provide desired results
to achieve goals and objectives.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
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Grote, G., 2012. Safety management in different high-risk domains–all the same?. Safety
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Guang Shi, V., and et.al., 2012. Natural resource based green supply chain management. Supply
Chain Management: An International Journal. 17(1). pp.54-67.
Huuskonen, A., Saltikoff, E. and Holleman, I., 2014. The operational weather radar network in
Europe. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 95(6). pp.897-907.
McGeorge, D. and Zou, P. X., 2012. Construction management: new directions. John Wiley &
Sons.
Molina-Azorín, J. F., and et.al., 2015. The effects of quality and environmental management on
competitive advantage: A mixed methods study in the hotel industry. Tourism
Management. 50. pp.41-54.
O'Brien, D.P., and et.al., 2014. The urgent need for clinical, diagnostic, and operational research
for management of Buruli ulcer in Africa. The Lancet infectious diseases. 14(5). pp.435-
440.
Rasula, J., Vuksic, V. B. and Stemberger, M. I., 2012. The impact of knowledge management on
organisational performance. Economic and Business Review for Central and South-
Eastern Europe. 14(2). p.147.
S A, P. W. P. and Rica, C., 2016. Forest management.
Shepherd, D. A. and Patzelt, H., 2013. Operational entrepreneurship: How operations
management research can advance entrepreneurship. Production and Operations
Management. 22(6). pp.1416-1422.
Song, D.W. and Parola, F., 2015. Strategising port logistics management and operations for
value creation in global supply chains.
Online
PESTLE Analysis. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://pestleanalysis.com/pestle-analysis-of-unilever/>
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