Effective Project Management and Operational Efficiency

The assignment delves into the importance of project management and operational efficiency within an organization. It highlights various operational management principles that can be applied to enhance business activities and provides a detailed explanation of the different stages of the project life cycle. The project life cycle is crucial for executing project activities within a proper time frame, and critical evaluation using the waterfall model ensures effective completion of work related to each stage.

Operations & Project Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
PART 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
1. An introduction to your chosen organisation..........................................................................3
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management .......................................................3
3.Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within organization. ....................................................................................................................4
4.Analyse the extent to which the operations management of organization meets the
requirements of the organization.................................................................................................5
5. Discuss continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles.............5
Map Value Stream...........................................................................................................................6
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on your review and critique of operations
management principles within your organization.......................................................................7
7. Using continuous improvement principles, make at least two justified recommendations
which could improve the operations function.............................................................................8
PART 2............................................................................................................................................8
(a) Project Life Cycle .................................................................................................................8
(b)Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC ...............................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFFERENCES............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operational Management is considered with planning and execution of operations
regarding the manufacturing of goods and services. It is concerned with increasing the efficiency
and effectiveness within the organisation in order to have positive impact on the business process
within the organisation (Binder, 2016). Project Management is concerned with initiation,
planning, execution and controlling the project activities, by achieving the goals and objectives
within specified time period. The chosen organisation under the report is Tesco which is a
multinational groceries and groceries retailer headquartered in London. Project will throw lights
on the implementation of operational management principles and discusses continuous
improvement plan and describes the lean principles. In second part of project sunshine drinks
company has been taken which manufactures and sells fruit based drinks and enjoys a reputed
market image. This part of the project will discuss about application of PLC and the
effectiveness of plc by using appropriate theories and concepts.
PART 1
1. An introduction to your chosen organisation
Chosen organisation under the report is TESCO. It is a British multinational groceries
and general merchandise retailer headquartered in England, UK. Respective company came into
existence in 1919 by Jack Cohen and has expanded globally with its operations in 11 countries
around the world. Tesco along with retail business has diversified into different areas such as
retailing of books, clothing, furniture, electronic, furniture, toys and in financial and telecom
services. Major focus of the company is to provide quality products to the customer to meet up
their satisfaction level and enhance efficiency in operations (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016).
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management
Operational Management is concerned with designing, implementing and controlling the
process of production, using the resources in the effective way to provide desired goods and
services to the individuals. Hence which is vital part of the management is considered with
transforming the resources into desired outputs to deliver maximum value to the customers.
Operations constitute processing, inspection, transport and storage.

3.Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within organization.
Their are various principles of operation management which should be implemented
within TESCO for enhancing their growth and success. As in the given case TESCO is not using
updated technology due to which it becomes difficult for the company to survive in this
competitive market place. In this context respective company should adopt principles of
operational management. It is described as follows-
 Reality- This principle states that TESCO manager should focus on the actual issue to the
problem instead of the tools and techniques. Manager should decide which innovative
method to adopt to resolve the issue.
 Organisation- In Tesco functions of every department are interconnected, manger within
the organisation should check the efficiency of the process and elements needs to be
predictable so as to achieve similar ratio of profits (Harrison and Lock, 2017).
 Humility- Before executing the project it is necessary for the managers of Tesco to
completely evaluate each and every element of the project in order to save cost and time
in further operations.
 Success- Success is the most vital component organisation wants to achieve during its
operations. In context to TESCO their success is based on providing quality products to
the customers by provide effective technology and meet the satisfaction level of
customers.
 Accountability- Mangers of TESCO should be accountable to set rules and regulations
for their subordinates and should regularly check their work against the goals. This will
leads to improved efficiency business process by the use of innovative technology and
employees can perform the delegated task effectively.
 Causality- Problems or issues arises during the manufacturing process due to poor
technology used. In order to eradicate the concerning issue manager within Tesco should
find the root cause to the problem and takes immediate actions (Heizer and et. al., 2017).
In case of TESCO their arises technological issues because of poor and ineffective
technology used which becomes difficult for the company to sustain in this competitive
world. In such case manager should take effective decision so as to increase efficiency
of employees within the organisation.

 Change- Implementing and managing change within the organisation is required for
enhancing growth and success. In context to Tesco change should be implemented
within the business operations and working practices and apply new ideas and concepts
by the use of innovative technological and adopts new practices of performing work so as
to enhance the brand image.
Critical Evaluation
` Principles of operation management adopted and implemented by the respective
organisation assist the company in maintaining efficiency in the business operations. It provides
insights and directions to the managers so as to achieve the desired results. But on the other side,
this requires huge cost and time for the company to implement such principles and also requires
effective research and development which would be expensive for the company. In context to
TESCO they have should apply principles of operational management so as to achieve
efficiency in their process and can survive effectively in global environment (Heldman, 2018).
Apart from this scientific management principle focuses on maximizing the efficiency within the
production and effectively conducts division of labor. Its main purpose is to analyze and
determine best way to perform task which will assist TESCO in conducting their business
activities in a proper manner. . Lean production principle focuses on creating huge
improvements in the production of respective company and maintains efficiency in productivity
and material cost and leads to reduce the unnecessary cost for the company and assist them to
gain competitive advantage
Positive and negative aspects of the implementation of the operations management principle
 Scientific Management- It is a effective theory of management which synthesis proper
workflow within the organization. Its main focus is towards improving economic
efficiency especially to enhance labor productivity within the organization. There are
positive as well as negative aspects of operational management principles as it will help
me identifying the positive effects as well as leads towards enhanced production of work
as well as decreases inaccuracy which leads to proper planning and decision making
within the organization. Moreover it has some negative aspects such as it requires huge
capital regarding to standardization and training of workers. Therefore it also leads to
bureaucratic activity as it made the employees within the organization to behave in a

strict manner which makes the employees dissatisfied and leads to reduce productivity of
work.
 Lean production principle- It is a proper theory whose main goal is to eliminate waste
and remove the non value added components in any process, it lead to waste
minimization as well as lead towards enhanced customer relationships, more over there
are disadvantages associated is the equipment failure or the equipment or the labor failure
may lead to major inconsistencies with the lean and can make the entire operation to
disruption.
4.Analyze the extent to which the operations management of organization meets the
requirements of the organization.
Operational management plays a vital role within the organization as it properly deigns
the production process so as to achieve maximum efficiency in their business activities.
Moreover it is responsible for proper execution and control of business activities so as to
eliminate the issues and the problems arising during the project process and assist in achieving
the goals and objectives of the Tesco in a desirable manner. Apart from this operational
management meets the requirement of the organization by providing necessary insights and
directions to the Tesco's managers and assist them in achieving the positive outcomes within
definite time period. Along with this effective use of innovative technology will assist in
execution of business practices in a effective manner and maintains its sustainability in the
competitive market place.
5. Discuss continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles.
Continuous improvement is an ongoing effort by the managers and employees of the
organization as a way to improve their products, services and processes. It is an incremental
process of improvement through out the company. Manager within the organization should
implement continuous improvement plan for enhancing their profitability and productivity.
Lean Principles
Their are majorly five lean principles which the TESCO should adopt so as to reduce
wastage and achieves efficiency in production process. These are described as follows-
Identify Value- Value for the products is identified by customers need for the particular
product. In this context manager of Tesco should identify and evaluate the performance of their
products and services, whether they are providing values to the customer. It helps in attainment

of strategic goals within the time frame and assist managers of TESCO to provide goods and
services to the customers which delivers maximum value to them (Kerzner, 2019).
Map Value Stream
After determining the value of the products and services offered by the Tesco company, it
becomes the responsibility of the managers to map directions and value so as to achieve the goals
in desirable manner. In context to Tesco manager decides to bring change within the company
process in such case unnecessary processes and steps should be eliminate and communicated to
the employees so as to achieve maximum efficiency.
Create Flow
After eliminating the unnecessary processes and removing the waste, manager within
TESCO should ensure that remaining steps should run smoothly and without any interruptions.
In order to have interrupted production activities manager of TESCO should breakdown the steps
into simple terms, levelling out to the workload and provide training to the employees which
enables them to work effectively (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017).
Establish Pull-
With improved flow in the production process, it becomes easy for the manager of Tesco
to provide goods according to the demands of the customer. Respective company can provide the
products according to the demands of the customer and leads to amount saving for keeping
expensive inventory for both the manufacturers, customers and providers.
Perfection-
At this stage of lean principle managers within the respective organisation seeks
perfection in their business process and activities and tries to implement change within the
respective organisation so as to achieve results in a desirable manner. TESCO which deals in
groceries products aims to bring continuous change in their products so as to remain competitive
in this market place.
These are the effective lean principles which brings necessary improvement in the
business process and activities of TESCO, thereby maintains efficiency in the working process.
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on your review and critique of operations
management principles within your organization.
Continuous Improvement Plan

It is a set of activities designed to bring gradual improvements in their products, services
and processes through proper monitoring, measurement and action.
BASIS CURRENT
METHODOLOGIES
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGIES
COST
Change principle is not used
effectively within the
organisation and old method of
technology used increases the
cost for the products (Kundu
and et. al., 2015).
Respective company should
adopt to effective change
principle and adopt to recent
technology so as to
manufacture products with
maximum efficiency and
minimising the cost of the
products of the company.
QUALITY
In order to ensure quality
principle of success is not
applied successfully as
employees are not clear with
the success measure of the
organisation,.
In order to ensure quality, it is
essential for Tesco to adopt to
recent technology so as to
provide innovative offering to
the customers.
DELIVERY
Causality principle was not
effectively applied within the
organisation and they use
traditional methods of delivery
of goods.
It is necessary for organisation
to adopt to causality principle
within the organisation and use
effective technology for
delivering goods to the
customer.

7. Using continuous improvement principles, make at least two justified recommendations which
could improve the operations function.
In order to sustain in this competitive market place, it is necessary for TESCO to bring
continuous improvements in their products and services and delivers maximum value to the
customers. As TESCO being a multinational corporation operates in various countries needs to
adopt and implement change principle so as to adopt different method and practices in their
working process and should adopt new techniques of doing work. This will leads to the
improvement in the operational function and moreover should adopt accountability principle so
that roles and responsibilities should be given to the employees according to the job related
work (Lientz and Rea, 2016). This helps the individual to perform their job related
responsibilities effectively and leads to the attainment of the organization goals in a positive
manner. Moreover company should upgrade their technology and adopt innovative practices of
performing work which will lead to enhanced brand image and effective completion of business
activities within a set time frame and provide effective key deliverable to the customers.
Company should also opt for inventory management technique so as to reduce the cost of storage
and provide goods according to the needs of the customer.
Continuous Improvement Plan
It consist of four steps which are described as follows-
 Plan- This step is concerned with manager of the respective organization recognizes a n
opportunity to plan a change within its business activities. Tesco identified a need for
adapting technological change so as to perform its business activities in a proper manner.
 Do- Tesco here carries out the change on a small to identify the relevance or the impact
of the change on the business.
 Check- Under this step manager at Tesco should review the results by the adoption of the
advanced technologies to evaluate the extent to which the company is benefited from
adopting change technological factor.
 Act- At this step actions are taken if any deviations are found and necessary changes are
made to plan new improvements and restart the cycle again.

PART 2
(a) Project Life Cycle
Project Life cycle is the sequence of the phases that the project goes through initiation to
closure of its business. It is a four step process followed by the project managers to complete the
project in an appropriate manner. The project is based on Sunshine Drinks company which sells
various fruit based drinks in the market and has now decided to combine range of drinks to a new
variety of energy drinks made with natural spring water. Stages for developing this new product
are as follows-
 Project Initiation- It is the starting phase of the project where the project manager
identifies a business need, problem or an opportunity. Under this phase manager of the
Sunshine Drinks company evaluates whether the new project is feasible or not, whether
it would achieve the company's objective or not. If the manager of the respective
company thinks that the new project will target large sales for the company then it will
continue to execute the plan in a proper manner.
Business Case This business case is about developing a new product which is a new variety of
energy drinks made with the natural spring water by the Sunshine Drinks Company so as to meet
satisfaction level of customers.
 Target Market- Target market for the new product that is energy drinks will mainly
targets young generation, children's and adults. This new product will lead to increase in
sales for the company (Maylor and Turner, 2017).
 Cost Benefit Analysis- It is an approach used by the project managers to take proper
effective decision by analyzing the cost of the project against the benefits of the project.
Cost for this project of introducing energy drinks includes qualified human resource as
well as finance for purchasing the raw materials and carrying the production process.
Thus benefits received against the new product is enhancement in the profitability and
productivity of the company as well as enhanced brand image in the market.
 Project Planning- After completing the initiation phase manager of the respective
company plans for the execution of the project. In this step manager of the Sunshine
Drinks company identifies the task to be completed in project. It also identifies the
various resources required for completing the project in a effective manner. Along with
this strategies need to be planned for completing the project tasks within the specific

time period. In context to Sunshine drinks company it needs to plan effective financial
human and technological resources required for implementing the project in a effective
manner.
 Project Execution- During the third phase finally the project task has been executed and
all the roles and responsibilities related to the project are assigned to the number of
employees. All the resources required such as financial, human and technological are
used in the effective way so as to achieve positive outcomes within definite time period
(Maylor, Turner and Murray-Webster, 2015). Moreover it is the responsibility of the
manger of Sunshine to continually monitor the progress of the project so as to take
necessary actions in order to avoid any issues if arises during the execution of project
activities. Moreover the respective company can use tools such as Proof hub and Zoho
projects as it would assist the organization in measuring its overall progress of the
company. Moreover Democratic Style of leadership should be adopted by the chosen
organization as it would lead to boost morale of the employees and would involve all the
employees in decision making process . This would lead to enhanced productivity of
workforce within the respective organization. Moreover Total Quality Management
would be the most effective methodology as it would assist Sunshine drinks company to
maintain the quality of its products and maintains sustainability of the company(Project
Management Tools and Techniques That Actually Work.). In context to the tools gantt
chart and WBS would help the respective company in developing a effective structure
and manage the project related activities within the definite time period.
Gantt Chart

Work Breakdown Structure
Work break down structure under the project management is the breakdown of the
project into smaller components so that work can be executed properly and team's work can be
organized into manageable sections.

Illustration 1: Work break down Structure

 Project Closure- During the final phase. Project activities should be completed and new
product launched by Sunshine drinks company should deliver maximum value to the
customers. After the completion of the project resources are released as well as
terminating the suppliers and communicating the closure of the project.
(b)Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC
Effective design of PLC provides an effective framework to the companies to conduct
their business activities in a proper manner. Therefore it is very important for Sunshine Drinks
company to effectively review and critique effectiveness of PLC to ensure that project activities

are executed according to the way they are planned. In context to this respective company could
adopt Waterfall model as an approach to evaluate their project life cycle. It is explained as under-
 Requirement- Under this stage manager of the respective company analyses the
requirement of resources before beginning the project. Firm can six sigma methodology
to improve the efficiency of the project and provide effective key deliverable.
 Design- This step of the model is associated with designing of the activities to complete
the project in a effective manner. It is concerned with the planning stage of the project
where company can adopt to inventory management principle in order to reduce the
wastage and moreover autocratic style of leadership is adopted in which employees are
not involved during the planning of new product development. This effectively helps the
organization in attaining goals and objectives within a set time frame (McArthur, 2015).
 Development- At the development stage it reflects the overall development and
execution of the project activities in a proper manner. Respective company can adopt to
Total Quality management methodology to maintain the quality of its products and
moreover democratic style pf leadership is adopted so as to involve all the employees in
decision making process. Moreover Just in time inventory and inventory production
technique will assist the company to reduce its cost for storing raw materials and would
lead to increase in the efficiency of the production process.
Therefore there are various kinds of tools and techniques which are adopted by the
respective organization in order to maintain quality and scope of the project to achieve positive
outcomes. Moreover there are various types of leadership theories are applied in small scale and
large scale projects to complete the project related activities within the specific time frame.
Under small scale projects situational leadership is useful to manage the situation an take
immediate actions and under large scale projects system leadership theory can be adopted so as
to take better decision and brings innovation in the processes and products.
Hence from the above project life cycle it has determined that effective stages within the
project assist the managers of the respective organization by providing them appropriate
directions so that project activities can be executed and completed within the specific time frame.
Effectiveness and Ineffectiveness of Project Life Cycle.
Their are four phases under the project life cycle such as Project initiation stage which analyses
the requirement of project related activities such as sufficient resources for conducting the

business activities in a proper manner, here six sigma approach adopted helps in reducing the
waste and errors but the ineffectiveness of this phase include additional cost for the company for
such resources and project planning stage it leads to deign of processes and methods and is
effective as adoption of inventory management principles assist in reducing the inventory cost
for the company but is ineffective as it require to hire professional staff to plan business activities
in a proper manner. In the project execution stage, total quality management tool is adopted to
ensure quality products are provided to the customers but is ineffective to the extent as all the
employees are involved in which which leads to various idea and leads to conflicts and makes
the process complex of business at the last closure stage actions plans are taken and changes are
made if any deviations are found in the existing project life cycle phase but ineffectiveness to the
extent that manager have to adopt to strategic leadership and able to take tactical decisions to
mange the change effectively.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that operation and project management are
the crucial activities within the organization so as to execute the business activities and provides
key deliverable to the customers. Moreover there are various operational management principles
which could be effectively applied within the organization so as to enhance the efficiency of the
business activities. Apart from this there are various stages of Project Life cycle which helps in
the execution of project activities within a proper time frame as well critical evaluation of PLC is
necessary with the help of waterfall model so that work related to each stage is completed in a
effective manner.

REFFERENCES
Books and Journals
Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Routledge.
Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
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Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heizer and et. al., 2017. Operations management: sustainability and supply chain management,
12/e. Pearson Education.
Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley &
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management. Wiley.
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management: A review using Latent Semantic Analysis. Expert Systems with
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Lientz, B. and Rea, K., 2016. Breakthrough technology project management. Routledge.
Maylor, H. and Turner, N., 2017. Understand, reduce, respond: project complexity management
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Online
Project Management Tools and Techniques That Actually Work. 2018. [Online] Available
Through: <https://www.proofhub.com/articles/project-management-tools-and-
techniques>