BM563: Operation and Service Management Analysis of Marks & Spencer

This report examines the operations and service management practices at Marks & Spencer, focusing on the application of Theory X and Theory Y in managing the marketing department. It highlights the impact of remote working during COVID-19 and how the company's initial reliance on Theory X affected employee morale and productivity. The report suggests leveraging technology for training, development, and communication to improve employee engagement and overall organizational efficiency. It also explores the use of core competencies and flexibility strategies to enhance performance and optimize workflow across different departments, ultimately aiming for sustainable growth and success in the retail industry. The report emphasizes the importance of technology in managing employee performance and productivity, especially in remote working environments, and suggests tools like time tracking, project management, and videoconferencing to facilitate better communication and collaboration.

BM563 Operations and
Service Management
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Operations management is effective administration of business activities as well as practices
in order to offer quality product and services to customers with higher efficiency. Operation
management is mainly associated to convert the labour and material into finished goods and
services with higher efficiency which helps in enhancing organisation profit. Present report is
conducted to identify the concepts and theories of operation management that Marks and
Spencer is utilising. This report states that in order to manage remote working during covid-19
company undertaken advantage of theory X which affected employees morale and motivation
and also affected their quality of products and services. In this with the help of taking advantage
of technology to provide training and development to employees leaders and managers can
encourage them which helps them to gain overall success in industry.
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.........................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
4. MAIN BODY...............................................................................................................................4
4.1...........................................................................................................................................4
4. 2..........................................................................................................................................6
4.3...........................................................................................................................................6
4.4...........................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
Business environment is inclusive of number of factors which is having positive or negative
impact upon overall sustainability and profit. Operation and service management is mainly
associated to providing services to consumers at greater extent with high quality. This involves
proper understanding of the need of target set of consumers and manage the process in order to
ensure that objectives are fulfilled in an effective manner (Benjaafar and Hu, 2020). In this
organisation is required to constantly make improvement in their products and service. Present
report is conducted on Marks and Spencer which is operating British multinational retailers and
headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. organisation is operating in Retail industry
and was founded in the year 1884. This company is taking advantage of theory Y and theory X
by which is basically theories of human work motivation and management. With the help of the
theory Marks and Spencer is operating in industry as a leading organisation and offer higher
satisfaction to customers. The main aim of this report is to significantly identify operation
management practices within Marks and Spencer and the manner in which it is impacting phone
organisation. Along with this report discuss the manner in which with the help of technology
Marks and Spencer is achieving overall goals. The scope of this report is wide as it outlines the
effectiveness of operation Management strategies that helps in improving the marketing
department functions within organisation in retail industrial sector.
4. MAIN BODY
4.1
The area operation that has been chosen is marketing department of Marks and Spencer. This
department is having responsibility to conduct campaign management for marketing initiatives,
monitor and manage social media, produce internal communication, create content, use search
engine optimisation for websites, produce marketing and promotional materials, promoting,
selling and distributing products and services to the target set of consumers (Heinonen and
Strandvik, 2020). In order to manage operations of this area Marks and Spencer is taking
advantage of theory X and Y. In terms with theory by it has been identified that in these people
are self-motivated and enjoy the challenge of work. Employees in Marks and Spencer are highly
skilled and talented in this managers and leaders with the help of collaborative relationship with
their people significantly motivate them by providing them to work on their own initiative in
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which they give them responsibility and also empower them to make decisions. While in contact
with theory X in order to persuade employees towards accomplishment of organisational goals in
challenging times managers and leaders use theory X to manage remote working. It is somehow
more negative as comparatively to theory Y, as in this employee are encouraged under tight
control and supervision.
However during the time period of covid-19 in order to manage remote working managers
and leaders within Marks and Spencer’s somehow take use of theory X in which they guide
employees under supervision and control (Helo and Hao, 2019). This however do not encourage
innovation which affected performance of employees and company. Thus, according to the
above mentioned analysis it has been identified in order to manage the operational area of Marks
and Spencer which is the marketing department. The best practice that company is undertaking is
the use of theory y. In this managers and leaders create and encourage work environment in
which they provide opportunities to employees to take self-direction and initiatives and
employees are provided with opportunities to contribute in organizational success (Kreye, 2019).
With the help of this theory managers and leaders are encouraging teamwork participated
decision-making to fulfil overall objectives of company. However the worse practice of the
chosen functional area is that in order to manage remote working during the time period of
covid-19 leaders and managers uses theory X in order to increase employee productivity under
tight control and supervision which affected their overall level of motivation.
4. 2
During the time period of covid-19 Marks and Spencer leaders and managers uses theory X in
ordered to significantly enhance productivity and manage performance of employees under strict
supervision and control. It has been identified that with the help of taking advantage of this
theory or operation management techniques marketing department employees performance
affected in adverse manner (Leimeister, 2020). In this with help of taking advantage of
significant operation management strategies company can significantly make improvement on
the adverse practice that has been identified. It will significantly help them to enhance company
efficiency. It has been identified that with the help of managing remote working company can
take advantage of core competencies strategy. This will help them to develop and enhance their
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key resources, capabilities and strength. For Marks and Spencer employees are its one of the core
competencies which enhances overall sales growth profitability and also contributes in
enhancing consumer satisfaction. In this with the help of increasing motivation company can not
only reduce the cost of production, as motivated employees perform their business roles and
responsibilities in effective way which helps in reducing wastage but also helps in improving
revenue and cardinal relationship and also enhances company positive image in public (Roy,
Shah and Gajjar, 2020). In addition to this Marks and Spencer can also take advantage of
flexibility strategy which is an effective operational management strategy. This will help
company to provide flexibility to employees during remote working. In this company can also
undertake advantage of implementing necessary digital tools which helps in creating a culture of
trust and also encourage open communication to motivate remote working. Company with the
help of employee engagement with the help of digital tool can enhance the motivation which
play big role in success of company Marks and Spencer can take advantage of time tracking tool,
remote communication tool, project management tool, videoconferencing tool and can also
undertake use of Kanban board that significantly helps in optimising the flow of work and helps
in enhancing productivity. Along with this in order to manage employees during remote working
company can also introduce employee recognition program which significantly help leaders and
managers to enhance employees productivity even during the time period of pandemic. With the
help of taking advantage of these operation management strategies and practices Marks and
Spencer can overcome the challenges and can significantly boost organisation efficiency in a
well-defined and effective manner that will significantly assist company to gain overall success
and higher growth in the industry.
4.3
Operation management plays important role for an organisation as it helps them to convert
labour and raw material into finished products to generate value for company. In the time period
of covid-19 Marks and Spencer leaders and managers to boost productivity of employees
implemented theory X to strictly manage them. This acts as worse practice which affected
performance of marketing department in Marks and Spencer employees and also impact on
efficiency of company. In this to significantly manage performance and productivity of
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employees during the time period of pandemic and remote working leaders and managers can
significantly implement technology to manage marketing operations. With the help of taking
advantage of technology Marks and Spencer leaders and manager can track workers health
related behaviour with the help of tracking tools. Along with this company can also take
advantage of webcams and other types of productivity and tracking software in order to
significantly monitor performance and productivity of employees closely while working from
home. In addition to this with the help of technology of monitoring of employee emails and
response into them. This will also benefit company to manage employees performance (Shen,
Mao and Ran, 2019). Along with this with the help of taking advantage of technology Marks and
Spencer can provide training and development to employees in terms of managing their
behaviour productivity and enhancing their skills and significantly. This help company to
manage their marketing department operations in more effective manner. It is essential for an
organisation to manage performance of employees as well as their behaviour on simultaneous
manner. During the outbreak of covid-19 employees are required to perform their work from
home which not only affected that performance but also affected productivity. In this leaders and
managers take use of strict practices that will impact upon company productivity and growth. In
this with the help of technology company can manage employees performance in a well defined
and effective manner with significantly assist Marks and Spencer to enhance their overall growth
and sustainability in industry. Thus, according to the above mentioned analysis it has been
identified that technology is playing crucial role which organisation in this modern business
environment to gain success and growth in industry. In this Marks and Spencer with the help of
taking advantage of technology can enhance the efficiency and productivity of employees in
marketing process will not only help them to maximize performance and productivity of
employees but also help leaders and manages to motivate guide and direct employees in remote
working. This will help facilitate Marks and Spencer to enhance overall growth and profitability
in industry with significantly help them to make their growth rate.
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4.4
It has been evaluated that there are different departments of treating their roles responsibilities
and functions toward the same goal which is to accomplish higher growth and profitability in
industry. Marks and Spencer is a leading organisation in retail industry sector which was having
number of functions. This organisation is offering high quality products and services to
consumers in industries around the globe. It been identified that with the help of taking
advantage of operation management practice such as flexibility, use of technology to manage
employees performance, introducing employee recognition program with the help of digital
platform, providing team with project management tool to optimise the workflow flexibility
strategy and core competencies strategy Marks and Spencer can significantly enhance the
effectiveness of functions like finance, sales, research and development etc (Shen, Mao and Ran,
2019). With the help of managing tools and techniques of marketing department employees these
technologies can be utilised to manage employee performance which are operating other
functions. This will significantly help Marks and Spencer to maximize their overall growth and
success. In addition to this it has been evaluated that that with the help of this operation
management practice company can significantly enhanced success in a well defined and effective
manner. Technology significantly playing important role in any industry and helps in managing
performance of employees along with their productivity. In this with the help of taking
advantage of Kanban board company can significantly optimise the flow of work of different
functions such as finance, research and development. Along with this with the use of time
tracking tool, project management tool, videoconferencing tool, communication tool extra Marks
and Spencer can significantly assure success and can enhance overall growth and profitability in
a well defined and effective manner. This will significantly assist Marks and Spencer to ensure
long-term sustainability and success in industry is not only helps them to manage employees and
a well defined and effective manner but also allow them to gain success in industry in efficient
manner.
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CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report it has been concluded that, operation management plays
important role within an organisation as it emphasizes upon undertaking advantage of systematic
and effective administration of business practices which helps in creating highest level of
efficiency. With the help of efficient operation management practices or strategies organisation
can convert material and labour into goods and services that will significantly provide them best
possible results. The organisation that has been selected in this report is operating in retail
industrial sector where there is high competition. Company is taking advantage of theory y
however during the time period of covid-19 to manage operations organisation undertake use of
theory X which effects of employees motivation. In this with the help of taking advantage of
significant operation Management strategies like flexible strategy, core competency strategy and
employing global talent organisation can significantly boost their efficiency and can also manage
employees on remote working. This is an effective business strategy through which company can
also in hence efficiency of their global employee management strategy and can focus upon
quality management to enhance their success in respective industry.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Benjaafar, S. and Hu, M., 2020. Operations management in the age of the sharing economy:
What is old and what is new?. Manufacturing & Service Operations
Management, 22(1), pp.93-101.
Bordoloi, S., Fitzsimmons, J. and Fitzsimmons, M., 2019. Service Management: Operations,
Strategy, Information Technology, 9e.
Heinonen, K. and Strandvik, T., 2020. Reframing service innovation: COVID-19 as a catalyst for
imposed service innovation. Journal of Service Management.
Helo, P. and Hao, Y., 2019. Blockchains in operations and supply chains: A model and reference
implementation. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 136, pp.242-251.
Keskinocak, P. and Savva, N., 2020. A review of the healthcare-management (modeling)
literature published in Manufacturing & Service Operations
Management. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 22(1), pp.59-72.
Kreye, M.E., 2019. Does a more complex service offering increase uncertainty in
operations?. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
L. Plambeck, E. and Ramdas, K., 2020. Alleviating poverty by empowering women through
business model innovation: Manufacturing & service operations management insights
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Leimeister, J.M., 2020. Service Management und Service Operations.
In Dienstleistungsengineering und-management (pp. 279-342). Springer Gabler, Berlin,
Heidelberg.
Liu, X., Tong, Y., Xu, A. and Akkiraju, R., 2020, December. Using language models to pre-train
features for optimizing information technology operations management tasks.
In International Conference on Service-Oriented Computing (pp. 150-161). Springer,
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Meyer‐Sahling, J.H., Mikkelsen, K.S. and Schuster, C., 2018. Civil service management and
corruption: What we know and what we don't. Public Administration, 96(2), pp.276-
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Mohanty, S. and Vyas, S., 2018. It operations and ai. In How to Compete in the Age of Artificial
Intelligence (pp. 173-187). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Reis, J. and Melão, N., 2021. The path to digital transformation: Overcoming prejudice in the
digital era with service operations. International Journal of Services and Operations
Management, 39(1), pp.81-97.
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Roy, S.N., Shah, B.J. and Gajjar, H., 2020. Application of simulation in healthcare service
operations: A review and research agenda. ACM Transactions on Modeling and
Computer Simulation (TOMACS), 31(1), pp.1-23.
Shen, Z.J.M., Feng, B., Mao, C. and Ran, L., 2019. Optimization models for electric vehicle
service operations: A literature review. Transportation Research Part B:
Methodological, 128, pp.462-477.
Sherringham, K. and Unhelkar, B., 2020. Business Operations and Service Management within
Blockchain in the Internet of Things. In Security and Trust Issues in Internet of
Things (pp. 239-255). CRC Press.
Williams, S.J. and Caley, L., 2020. Introduction to Public Service Management and Service
Operations. In Improving Healthcare Services (pp. 1-13). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
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