Operations and Project Management Report

This report examines the role of operations management and project management in the launch of new LED screens and stadium screens by XYZ company. It analyzes the effectiveness of continuous improvement plans using principles like Six Sigma and Lean, explores the stages of the project life cycle, and examines methodologies like Scrum and Kanban. The report also analyzes the differences between large and small-scale projects.

Operations
and
Project Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................1
Critically evaluate the appropriate theories and concept of operation management..............1
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................4
2. Analyse the effectiveness of continuous improvement plan by principles of operation
management............................................................................................................................4
ACTIVITY 3....................................................................................................................................7
3. The stages of Project life Cycle..........................................................................................7
ACTIVITY 4..................................................................................................................................12
Critically analysing the theories, concepts, and models that will differentiate between large
and small scale projects........................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Operations Management is very important. It is concerned with creating as well as
delivering the services and products. Operations management focuses on carefully managing the
process in order to produce as well as distribute products and services (Ko and Han, 2017). On
the other hand, project management is the practices of initiating, planing, executing, controlling
as well as closing the work of a team in order to achieve specific goals as well as to meet specific
success criteria a specified time.
This present report is context to XYZ company which operates in home appliances. The
main product of the company Fridges and Freezers, Gas and Electric Cookers, Washing and
Electric Friars, Organisation is going to introduce Large Screen TV and Stadium Screen in the
Market.
This report will critically evaluate theories and concept of operations management. The
effectiveness of continuous improvement by using operation management principles will also
include in this assessment.
ACTIVITY 1
Critically evaluate the appropriate theories and concept of operation management.
Operation management is very important and essential for every organisation irrespective
to their size and resources, It is very important that operation management should be very
effectively and efficiently functions within organisation because the level of customer
satisfaction is directly depended on them. XYZ company use appropriate theories and concept of
operations management so that their goals and objectives should be attained successfully. The
manager of operations department of XYZ company is going to launch Large Screen TV and
Stadium Screen which requires effective functioning of operations department (Keller and
Patton, 2016). There are approaches of operations management which is used by the manager of
XYZ company are as follows-
Six Sigma Approach- This is the very useful strategy of business that aims at improving
the quality of process by reducing and measuring the errors as well as variations. Motorola in
1986 introduced this concept of operations management when the senior manager of company
complained for the bad quality of the products (Six Sigma Approach in Operations Management,
2018). It is fact that in the success and failure of the organisations, quality plays a very important
role. The operation managers of XYZ company could use Six Sigma approach so that they can
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achieve the greatest heights of success in the market. There are two methods of Six Sigma
Approach which are as follows-
 DMAIC
 DMADV
DMAIC- There are five stages in DMAIC which are as follows-
D- Define the problem- This is the first stage where it is very essential to define the
issues and problems that needs to be addressed. Operation manager of XYZ company should
take feedback from customers on the quality of the products and services.
M- Measure- Once the issues are identified it is very important to discover the key points
of the current process as well as workers gathered relevant data which provides an insight into
current processes of XYZ company.
A- Analyse the data- After collecting relevant data, it is very important to study and
investigate the root cause of defects that are affecting the whole process of XYZ company.
I- Improve the current process-Based on the analyse and investigation done in earlier
stage, it is important that operation's manger should remove all the earlier defects in the products
of XYZ company and market product of superior quality (Rai, Xerox, 2016).
C- Controlling the process.
DMADV- There are also five stage in DMADV are as follows-
D- Design procedure and plan that ensure optimum satisfaction to the customers.
M- Measure- identify the parameters which is essential for quality standard.
A- Analyse- it is very important to study and investigate the root cause of defects that are
affecting the whole process.
D- Design- Entire detailed and processes.
V – Verify- Checking different procedures and finally implementing the same,
Advantages and Disadvantages of using Six Sigma Approach when it is applied in XYZ
company.
Advantages Disadvantage
 It completely focuses on customer
motivation.
 Defects and errors are reduces and
 It requires high cost to implement.
 It creates rigidity and bureaucracy.
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eliminated.
Lean Principle- This is also one of the most important approach of operation
management. By using lean principles XYZ company can create huge improvements in the
efficiency, productivity, cost of materials, scraps and cycle time leading to lower costs as well as
improved competitiveness. There are five principles in lean principles which are s follows-
Value- According to this principle, value is always defined by the needs of customers for
specific products. For example, price, delivery time, of products. It is very important that needs
and expectations of customers of XYZ company should met (Kuster, Hippolyte and Rezgui,
2018).
Value Stream- After defining the value or end goals of XYZ company , next step is to put
these values on map. This precess is called value stream. The main goals of this principle is to
value steam to is to discover each steps which does not creates value or useless and find ways to
eliminate them.
Flow- This is next step after value steam, the waste or useless things are removed, than
according to this principle, it is very important to ensure that remaining steps should flow very
smoothly.
Pull- According to this principle, it is very important that the products of XYZ company
which is manufacture should be deliver on right time. Just in time approach is supported by this
principle.
Perfection- This is most important step as constant improvement is very essential fort
perfection. Products and services that XYZ company is offering should needs constant
improvement.
Currently the XYZ company is using six sigma approach which is effectively used by the
organization which in turn leads to high operational growth and sustainability of the business.
Six sigma approach is very useful as it helps in continuous improvement by effectively
eliminating the defects and issues in the products, services and process. This approach helps in
effectively measuring the performance of the particular set of products and services of XYZ
company. This approach focuses on defining, measuring, analysing, improving and controlling
the various operational issues. Adapting and implementation of six sigma approach helps XYZ
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company in continuous improvement plan in order to attain higher improved operational
efficiency and productivity.
ACTIVITY 2
2. Analyse the effectiveness of continuous improvement plan by principles of operation
management.
The continuous improvement plan in order to improve the operation of the business
mainly includes various objectives like use of advanced technology, improving the quality of the
product, consistency in reducing wastage and cost, improved working environment and
improved innovation. This can be effectively improved with the help of Kaizen approach as it
helps in continuous improvement and is very useful in making radical changes in order achieve
transformation in a systematic and appropriate manner. The Kaizen principle is based on quality,
productivity ad maintaining labour relation in order to effectively achieve the aims and objective
of the XYZ company in an appropriate and efficient manner. Re-engineering is an effective
approach as it is useful in effectively creating core business process in order to improve the
quality and output of the business. Re-engineering is a business process which is useful in
determining the strengths and weakness if the company.
There are various principles of operation management that could be used by the
operation's manager to bring continuous improvement so that the quality of products and services
are improved and the level of customer satisfaction is also raised. Here are the principles of
operations management which could be used XYZ company are as follows-
Principle of Reality- According to this principle, there is not universal solution of any
problem. Operation manager should use lean, total quality management, theory of constraints
and other tools or techniques that solve the problems quickly but according to this principle it is
very important to understand the real issues or root cause of the problem rather than directly
implementing these tools (McKettaJr, 2017). For example, When stock is growing out of control
than managers use lean but it is very essential that manager should know the actual cause of
stock out.
Principles of Accountability- According to this principle, it is very important to divide
the roles and responsibilities in a designated manner as well as accountability should also be
assigned. This is because, employees usually do not put efforts into that for which they are not
held answerable. So, operation manager should establish accountability, authority, responsibility
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relationship in XYZ company for seamless. The problem of mismanagement will be solved by
using this principle.
Principle of Change- According to this principle, changes are very important and it is
duty of operation manager to manage the consequences of changes in very effective manner. It is
fact that when changes are implement or introduce, it creates resistance of employees. For
example, for cost efficiency (Martens and Carvalho, 2016), XYZ company could introduce new
machinery in their production process for enhancing the productivity, however it might be
happen that employees resist for their job security.
Principle of Organisation- According to this principle, it is very essential that all aspects
of production must be organised into a coherent whole. Organisation should have systematic and
well-defined structure for smooth functioning of processes and strategies. It is the duty of
operation manager that right from acquiring raw material to selling of goods and services to end
users. It is very essential that there should be continuity in the flow of goods and services from
its beginning to the distribution of goods to end users and it should satisfy the needs and wants of
customers.
Principle of Humanity- According to this principle, it is very essential that operation
manager should treat every employees in the organisation in a please manner because it no one
knows everything. Organisation hire managers for not achieving profits but they are hire for
getting the things done form employees. So, it is the responsibility of operation manager to make
the work done from employees (Lin and et.al., 2016).
Continuous improvement plan
Need Principles Justification Time Duration Actions
Effective
Inventory
management
Principle of Reality By using this
principle,
operation
manager
defined the root
cause of the
problem which
is stock out and
2 months Kaizen concept is the
approach is used by
operation manager as a
action to solve the
problem of inventory
management. Kaizen
approach will focus on
Good house keeping,
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stock in. waste elimination and
standardization.
Defined
roles and
Responsibili
ties
Principle of
Accountability
By using this
principle,
operation
manager will
assign the roles
and
responsibilities
as well as
accountability
to employees so
that
mismanagement
in the work is
solved (Li, and
et.al., 2016).
1 month In order to overcome of
defining the roles and
responsibilities,
operation manager take
an actions by applying
Re-engineering
process. This process
mainly focus on
rethinking and radical
redesign of business
processes to achieve
dramatic improvements
in critical contemporary
measures of
performance like cost,
quality, speed and
services.
Successful
implementat
ion of Plan
Principle of Change By using this
principle,
operation
manger will
successfully
implement any
change within
organization
without any
resistance.
1.5 months Successful
implementation change
can be achieved by:
Business process re-
engineering. There are
five stages that
operation manager can
follows-
 Initiate change:
 Process
Diagnosis
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 Process
Redesign
 Reconstruction
 Process
Monitoring
 Envision New
process
Business process re-
engineering is useful in
the examination of
redesigning the
business process. It is
an effective approach
as it is useful in
achieving the goals and
objectives of the
business.
Effective
Procedure
for delivery
Principle
Organization
By using this
principle,
operation
manager will
deliver the
products and
services to end
users.
2 months The effectiveness in the
delivery of process can
only be achieved by the
application of Kaizen
continuous
improvement by using
automation approach.
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ACTIVITY 3
3. The stages of Project life Cycle.
Project Life Cycle is the sequence of phases that a project goes through from its initiation
to its closure. Each and every product passes trough these stages. XYZ company is going to
introduce a new project which will introduce in the market and afterwards it will passes through
these remaining stages.
Here are the stages of Project Life Cycle which are as follows-
Initiation- This is the first stage of introductory where XYZ company will launch its
product in the market. At this stage, XYZ company will introduce its big LED screens to build
the brand awareness and to develop a market for the product. It might be happen that company
faces loss but product will not be eliminated, it will move forwards (McArthur and et.al., 2015).
Planning: The planning stage focuses on building a blueprint for achieving the project’s
goals, on time and on budget. This roadmap will be used to guide the team through the execution
of the project. In this present project, manager will plan all the strategies, objectives for sucessful
launching of big LED screens.
Execution- Execution is the stage that is most commonly associated with actual project
management. At this stage, the LED screens of XYZ company will generate profitability for the
business at increasing rates. At this phase, the acceptance or rejection of product will be
depicted.
Monitoring and Control: This is the next stage of project life cycle where products of
the company reached to the stage of maturity which means that product will generate enough
returns but with diminishing rate. It is the stage where proper monitoring is required for
successful and smooth function of the project.However, at this stage popularity does not
increases because product reaches to the stage of saturation. This is very important company
should focus on bringing improvement and innovation otherwise company will reach to the stage
of decline.
Closure Stage- This is the last stage where product reaches to the phase of decline. At
this stage, product incurred loss for the company. This stage is occurred when company does not
bring any innovation or improvement in the products, as a result a substitute entered in the
market and customers will move towards other products. Thus, XYZ company will focus on
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innovation at the stage of maturity so that product can avoid the phase of decline stage (Wang
and Henson, 2017).
Documentation which are required to be prepared for executing a project of developing
Stadium Screens and LED screens.
BUSINESS CASE:
This is very important document when company is going to introduce or planning any
project to launch in the market. There are five elements in the business case which are described
as below-
Executive Summary- This preset business case is preprepared for XYZ company. XYZ
company which operates in home appliances. The main product of the company Fridges and
Freezers, Gas and Electric Cookers, Washing and Electric Friars, Organisation is going to
introduce Large Screen TV and Stadium Screen in the Market. The target audience will be
middle and average income group (Kimoto, 2016).
Goals of XYZ company- The main goals of XYZ company is to provide the best and
standard quality of product to the customers. Offering the best quality is the main gaol of the
company. But there are some challenges which XYZ company will face like threat of
competition, high cost of R&D etc.
Determining and Breaking Cost- It is very important to determine the cost for
manufacturing and launching LEDs and stadium screens. The cost which is determined is
allocated systematically to all the departments of the company like R&D, marketing, finance,
sales, production, etc.
Advantages of products- If the profit of the product is greater than the cost incurred in the
production of products than it will leads to the highest benefits to the firm. The profitability will
be calculated by sales and level of customer satisfaction.
Execution Timeline- It is very important to set an execution timeline for the product. In
the production of LED screens and Stadium screens, it will take 6 months approximately.
PROJECT PLANNING:
Project planning is a part of project management that related to the scheduling all the
activities of project. XYZ company is manufacturing LED screens and Stadium screens which
requires proper scheduling the activities right from production to selling of goods in the market.
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Once the business case is approved, then it moves forward to the planning stage. The project
manager of XYZ company divided all task as well as assigned roles to each member (Mas,
2017). The detailed of work carried out is presented in the project plan.
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Task Name 1 day Mon 04-02-
19
Mon 04-02-
19
Market identification 5 weeks Mon 04-02-
19 Fri 08-03-19
Market selection 4 weeks Tue 05-02-19 Mon 04-03-
19 1
Undertaking market research 3 weeks Mon 11-03-
19 Fri 29-03-19 2,1
Defining goals and objectives 5 weeks Mon 01-04-
19 Fri 03-05-19 4
Identification of Target customer 2 weeks Mon 06-05-
19 Fri 17-05-19 5,4
Developing a marketing plan 2 weeks Mon 20-05-
19 Fri 31-05-19 6
Execution of marketing plan 1 week Mon 03-06-
19 Fri 07-06-19 7
Testing of product 2 weeks Mon 03-06-
19 Fri 14-06-19 6,7
Launch of LEDs and Stadium
screenings in target market 1 week Mon 17-06-
19 Fri 21-06-19 8,9
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Illustration 1: Gantt Chart
Methodologies of Project Management: There are some project management methodologies that
proposes process as well as principles in order to improve delivery of the product to end users.
Scrum Methodology- This is one of the most important methodology for executing the
project. The project manager of XYZ company could use this methodology to improve the
performances of team in the organisation. This methodology supports principles, ideas and
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processes which focuses in fast delivery (Hildebrand, 2015). However, with the use of this
model, it could improve the efficiency in team work, effective communication as well as
enhancement is speed of development of stadium and LED screens.
Kanban Methodology- This is another philosophy of project management that could
considered by the project manager of XYZ company. The main purpose of using Kanban
methodology is that it directly increases the speed and quality of LED screens and Stadium
screens as well as time of delivery. As per this methodology, things can be done in very effective
and systematic manner if focus is to be on one task and limiting multi tasking activities. The key
activities in this Kanban are confining as well as restricting excess work in progress, evaluating
lead time, visualization of workflow, developing a clear policy of process and a system of
continuous valuation of performances of various teams in XYZ firm (Wang, Wang and Yang,
2018).
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE:
In project management, it is very important to divide the work in very systematic and
authentic manner so that mismanagement of work could be avoided. It is the duty of project
manager to design all the task in very designated way to each members. The work break down
structure of XYZ company is hierarchical in nature that states that roles and responsibilities of
each member at each level.
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Illustration 2: Work Break Down Structure
ACTIVITY 4
Critically analysing the theories, concepts, and models that will differentiate between large and
small scale projects.
The activities and function of operation management plays a critical role in the
development of new product. XYZ company is also going to launch the big LED screens and
stadium screens in the market. Lean principles, Six Sigma were included in the development of
product planning.
Critical Analysis if Lean Principle are given below-
According to Moussa, (2018) lean principles is one of the best approach for improving
qualities and bring huge improvements in the efficiency, productivity, cost of materials, scraps
and cycle time leading to lower costs as well as improved competitiveness. The implement of
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lean participles is not costly affairs as it saves cost of production. It also saves time by
maintaining lean human resources in the organisation. Further the monitoring is also very easy
and effective in implementing lean approach in operation management. The best advantage of
lean principle is that it improves the customer relationship management within organisation, But
Ko and Han, (2017) said that, lean principles sometimes creates negative perception by staff
because it might be happen that workers are over frustrated. This usually happen when
organisation put extra large efforts on quality and performance it creates over burden on the staff
members. In addition top this, it has been also noticed that delivery of products is also delayed
and sometime missed.
In addition to this, project management usually faced some challenges in implementing theories
and models (Kanban and Scrum) which are as follows-
 Outdates kanaban board Act hindrance in the process of new product
development.
 Complexities is arisen by using this theory in the operations.
 Time frame is not considered in this theory which is the major drawback of this
theory.
But still it is very effective for the company as author said that using Kanban model increases the
level of flexibility in the process of manufacturing (Kimoto, 2016). The time of delivery of
product is also quick by using this process. The time of production is also reduced by minimizing
the waste.
These models are very useful in evaluating and measuring the performance of the
company in order to attain set goals and objectives in an efficient and appropriate manner. It act
as a key performance indicator, deliverables, benchmarks, milestone and targets.
Kaizen : Kaizen approach helps in continuous improvement of the particular product,
services and business process. This approach is very useful in making radical changes in order
achieve transformation in a systematic and appropriate manner. The Kaizen principle is based on
quality, productivity ad maintaining labour relation in order to effectively achieve the aims and
objective of the company in an appropriate and efficient manner.
Six Sigma approach: This approach which is effectively used by the organization in
turn leads to high operational growth and sustainability of the business with the help of
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continuous improvement by effectively eliminating the defects and issues in the products,
services and process.
Total Quality management: This approach is useful in improving the quality of the
goods and services with the help of continuous innovation and benchmarking the quality. This
approach is useful in detecting errors and effectively streamlining the supply chain management.
Lean management: this approach is useful in creating huge improvements in the
efficiency, scraps, productivity, cost of materials and cycle time leading to lower costs as well as
improved competitiveness. This in turn helps in improving the efficiency and quality of the
particular products and services.
CONCLUSION
The above report comes to the conclusion that operation management should be very
effective and efficient within organisation because it directly aims at achieving goals and
objectives of firm. Further, the practices of initiating, planing, executing, controlling as well as
closing the work of a team in order to achieve specific goals in time is also very important for
effective project management. In addition to this, the application of Six Sigma and lean
principles was also included in this report that helps in creating the products very effective as
well as to it also improved the quality of new products. On the other hand, Kanban and Scrum
methodologies of project management was also applied for managing the new product
development in very effective manner.
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