Operations and Project Management: A Case Study of Burberry Group plc

This report examines the operations and project management practices of Burberry Group plc, a global luxury fashion brand. It critically reviews the effectiveness of operations management principles within the organization, applying concepts of continuous improvement and the Project Life Cycle (PLC). The report analyzes the implementation of Six Sigma methodology and Lean principles, and explores the rationale for project methodologies, tools, and leadership within the PLC. It also critically evaluates the effectiveness of the PLC through a practical and theoretical exploration, highlighting its strengths and limitations in the context of both large and small-scale projects.

UNIT 16 OPERATIONS AND PROJECT
MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT
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Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
LO1 Review and critique the effectiveness of operations management principles................................4
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within an organisational context........................................................................................................4
M1 Review and critique the implementation of operations management in relation to Six Sigma
methodology and Lean principles......................................................................................................5
LO2 Apply the concept of continuous improvement in an operational context.....................................6
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles within an organisational context...................................................................6
M2 Analyse the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories,
concepts and/or models.....................................................................................................................8
D1 Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to justify strategies of a continuous
improvement plan for achieving improved efficiency.......................................................................9
LO3 Apply the Project Life Cycle (PLC) to a given context...............................................................10
P3 Apply each stage of the PLC to a given project, producing necessary supporting documentation
for completing the project e.g. a business case project plan, work breakdown structure.................10
M3 Analyse the rationale for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within the PLC for the
given project....................................................................................................................................11
LO4 Review and critique the application of the PLC used in a given project......................................13
P4 Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using
appropriate theories, concepts and models.......................................................................................13
M4 Critically analyse how the use of appropriate theories, concepts and models in the PLC will
differentiate between large and small-scale projects........................................................................14
D2 Critically evaluate the PLC through a practical and theoretical exploration of its effectiveness.
.........................................................................................................................................................15
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................16
References...........................................................................................................................................17
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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) has been applied in context of the Burberry Group plc. Also, the report
reviews the use of PLC in the given scenario.
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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
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 saves 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.
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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.
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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 define the course of actions of a
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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 ranges 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 this 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.
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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.
This way one can improve the existing process of Burberry Goals plc.
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D1 Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to justify strategies of a
continuous improvement plan for achieving improved efficiency.
The continuous improvement is the process of intervention in issues to improvise
performances. It aims at creating a sustainable culture by making each and every employee a
part of the waste elimination process. For the application of continuous improvement
processes, various programs are being used, such as TQM, lean thinking, six sigma, PDCA
cycle. The six sigma talks about reducing the fluctuation in the processes, whereas TQM
focuses on increasing the level of satisfaction external and internal consumers. Lean approach
targets to improvise the flow of production line. The lean and six sigma strategy aims at
waste reduction and discarding variations.
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LO3 Apply the Project Life Cycle (PLC) to a given context
P3 Apply each stage of the PLC to a given project, producing necessary supporting
documentation for completing the project e.g. a business case project plan, work
breakdown structure.
Every project has three important phases: the beginning, the planning, the implementation,
and the termination phase. All of these phases when taken together represent the path of the
project. It is often called as “life cycle.” Talking in the context of Burberry Group plc,
during the initiation phase, the manager aims at defining and exploring the team with suitable
skill set and knowledge. Once this is done, the project team start to develop methods and
procedures for accomplishing the tasks and creating healthy relationships with other strategic
partners.
During the planning phase, the team create an integrated schedule that coordinated the tasks
of the designing, procuring, and constructing teams. The team is also responsible for creating
a budget and controlling the expenses. Even if planning is an on-going process, the planning
phase focused on figuring out every aspect of the project so as to coordinate efficiently with
the team and allow the team lead to make relevant decision.
The implementation phase includes the work done in order to furnish the requirements of the
process. The project team completes the task given in the plan and make suitable adjustments
when the scenario changes.
In the termination or the close out phase, the documentation of the overall process is done.
The accounting books are analysed and closed, the final report is formulated and distributed
to stakeholders. Once this is done, a new project is allocated to the manager.
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M3 Analyse the rationale for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within the
PLC for the given project.
In order to accomplish an objective, manager develops a project based on the defined budget
and schedule. There are numerous methodologies that help them at each stage of project from
the beginning to the end. There are many methodologies in project management that are
discussed below:
 Adaptive Framework for Project: In this approach the cost and time are constant
while the scope is variable. During the implementation phase, the scope of the project
is adjusted so as to get maximised business value.
 Crystal Methods: In this, the manager put the project processes under low priority
tasks. This method emphasise more on team interaction, communication, skill
development, etc.
 Lean Development: Lean development emphasises on creating a change-tolerance
system. Customer satisfaction is given the highest priority. The team is inspired to
give the maximum value for the charge paid by the consumer.
 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC): This is more a concept-based model used
in the project development. In this method, two or more project concept can be
clubbed to get the best outcome. It greatly focuses on documenting the process and
follows strict guidelines.
PLC depends on the leadership of the organisation. Leader should understand the
significance of developing a collaborative culture within the organisation. In addition to
this, management and staff should feel empowered to be a part of the process.
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LO4 Review and critique the application of the PLC used in a given project
P4 Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project
using appropriate theories, concepts and models.
The PLC is an effective tool often used by the organisational managers, marketers, and
strategists to produce product strategies. Burberry Group plc is a clothing brand and for that
marketing plays a crucial role. One of the many benefits of the product life cycle is that it
helps in defining the strategies based on the different stage of the life cycle. So if the
organisation is planning to launch a new product, then a lot of investment and marketing
planning are needed to sustain the product in the growth stage. Hence, creating strategies
become a cakewalk with the help of PLC.
Coming on the decision-making, it helps in making decision faster manner as it provide both
previous year’s performance and sales data to the manager. In addition to this, it makes the
forecasting process of easier and subtle. Once a manager is familiar with the PLC process, it
is easier for him to forecast the sales of it. Moreover, it gives the managers an edge by
preparing them against their competitors marketing plan (Anderson, et.al, 2015). For
instance, a competitor’s product is in the initial stage, whereas the organisation’s product has
achieved the maturity. The company would start advertising and pulling consumers toward
their product so that the newly launched product of the competitors never achieves success.
There are certain limitations of the PLC that are also mentioned in this report. One of them is
that it cannot deal with the fluctuations in the data. The fluctuations can take place due to
seasonal variations, production issues, etc. Apart from this, PLC process is time consuming
as the data collection and analysis takes a large amount of time.
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M4 Critically analyse how the use of appropriate theories, concepts and models in the
PLC will differentiate between large and small-scale projects.
Large scale businesses are organised and structured intentionally. They follow the pre-
defined hierarchy, whereas the small scale businesses are often poorly structured and work
informally. PLC in large businesses maximises their success because of their structure. PLC
ensures their dominance in the domain of expertise. It sets a clear chain of command in the
production line at every stage. Small businesses lacks this feature and often taste failure.
Small businesses focus on increasing the sales and maximisation of profit by any mean. No
doubt they may succeed in their goals, but they cannot avoid failure. The PLC of small
businesses does not say anything about what to do with the final goods or services. In case of
failure, the PLC would probably direct to create a plan to either rejuvenate it or cease the
production process.
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D2 Critically evaluate the PLC through a practical and theoretical exploration of its
effectiveness
Although there are many models, theories, and concepts available on project management,
each one of the lacks in explaining different stages of PLC. The practical approach of PLC
often face challenges in executing the project successfully. It may sometimes take time to
adopt the upgraded version of the planning. Since the company deals in wide range of
products, the operations become complicated at times. Allocation of resources across various
projects and clients becomes a bit tough and perplexing if an organisation relies on four step
PLC. The theoretical aspect of PLC sounds effective and a handy tool for the managers, but
in practical world, it fails in repeating the past success or forecasting the future plans.
Schedules can be narrowed down to optimise the current processes (Anderson, et.al, 2015).
Without a PLC that consists of feedback phase, the organisation would fail in meeting the
rising demands of the customers. It is suggested that a company must have a platform that
works with the PLC. Organisation should include RM,PM, invoicing, time tracking, and
business intelligence in a collaborative scenario and to analyse the previous projects to
optimise the PLC.
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Conclusion
The following report detailed out the operation and project management of Burberry Group
plc. In this report, the effectiveness and efficiency of operation management in the chosen
organisation was critically reviewed. Further, various concepts of continuous improvement in
the operation management were applied and discussed. Apart from this, the principle of
Project Life Cycle (PLC) had been applied in context of the Burberry Group plc. Also, the
report reviewed the use of PLC in the given scenario.
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