Operations and Project Management

Verified

Added on  2023/06/07

|18
|4469
|345
AI Summary
This article discusses the concepts of operations management and project life cycle with examples of TK Maxx and Sunshine Drinks Corporation. It evaluates the application of operational managing concepts and suggests plans for ongoing growth and lean management. It also includes a cost-benefit analysis and program management strategies for Sunshine Energy, a new product by Sunshine Drinks Corporation.

Contribute Materials

Your contribution can guide someone’s learning journey. Share your documents today.
Document Page
Operation and project
management

Secure Best Marks with AI Grader

Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
Document Page
Contents
Contents...........................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
Operations as compared to Operations Management..................................................................1
Evaluate and comment on the application of the concepts of operations management..............1
How well operational managing concepts satisfy the criteria.....................................................3
Plans for ongoing growth and lean management.........................................................................3
CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................5
PART 2............................................................................................................................................5
Project life cycle..........................................................................................................................5
Business Case..............................................................................................................................6
Cost benefit analysis....................................................................................................................6
Evaluation and Criticism of PLC Performance.........................................................................12
Various Approaches Used for Big and Smaller Projects...........................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
Document Page
Document Page
INTRODUCTION
In a broad corporate context, projects managing relates to the comprehensive
implementation and scheduling of a particular initiative (Bouras, Kokkinos and Michos, 2020). It
is a vital duty which enables a company to execute its operations accurately, sustainably, and
effectively. Additionally, projects managing gives businesses the ability to properly evaluate the
viability and scale of their various initiatives, and also conduct a thorough examination of the
initiatives' long-term reliability. The TK Maxx and Sunshine Drinks Company-related research
that follows is split into 2 sections. The implementation of continual enhancement is covered in
Section 1, along with a discussion and evaluation of the efficacy of specific operational
managing concepts. While Section 2 goes into great insight on the projects life cycle and
evaluates it in a venture to see how successful it is.
PART 1
Business Overview
Established in the United Kingdom in 1994, TK Maxx offers a variety of goods for its
patrons, including shoes, apparel, home goods, mattresses, furnishings, etc. Throughout its
founding, the business has provided a wide range of high-quality items to clients across the
nation and abroad.
Operations as compared to Operations Management
All the actions and procedures that companies do to accomplish their corporate goals are
referred to as operations. The preparation, administration, and actual implementation of specific
organisational practices and methods that are linked to manufacturing, advertising, and other
duties inside the corporation are also included in the definition of operations management
(Chiarini and Vagnoni, 2017).
Evaluate and comment on the application of the concepts of operations management
There seem to be a number of efficient operations management concepts that must be
thoroughly examined in order to be properly understood and applied in an institutional setting. In
the example of TK Maxx, the corporation's distribution network and logistical are key business
activities, and the corporation devotes a fair deal of emphasis to making sure they function
effectively. The below describes how TK Maxx is putting operational managing concepts into
practise:

Secure Best Marks with AI Grader

Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
Document Page
Modification: To provide improved transportation and supplying network
administration, transformation is required as a fundamental operating managerial
philosophy. Moreover, they might aid in achieving good and on-time supply of their
goods to clients with innovative ideas and concepts. To cut down on carbon footprints,
TK Maxx follows a conventional method that involves resource collaboration with other
shops. Notwithstanding the existence of various and superior techniques, businesses opt
to supply their services using a standardized strategy because doing otherwise would
increase costs overall.
Principles: This operational managing principle states that in particular to achieve the
highest quality of the system, specific rules and principles should be strictly followed. TK
Maxx, in its transportation and supplier chains administration, adopt “ecofriendly” phrase
as a foundation to assure greatest security to environmental and improved sustainable
development. Therefore, adoption of this idea is successful inside the business (Cohen,
2019).
Variability: Every procedure the organisation uses is based on this operational managing
premise. Yet, this concept must be monitored and regulated in terms of reduction. To
assure that this concept is successfully applied in supplying network administration, a
number of actions, including cost-cutting initiatives, should be implemented. In the case
of TK Maxx, the corporation manages its supplies completely that can raise the price.
This is due to self-management will need hiring additional workers that is expensive
given the expenditures associated with their education and growth. Because of this, the
company's implementation of this operation is ineffective.
Organization: As per this theory, operations should be properly structured into an
unified unit in order to maximise productivity and revenue. TK Maxx uses a variety of
techniques to start managing the supply network and procurement, including composite
waggons including the utilise of dual-fuel automobiles. However, these techniques are
hard to arrange since it is challenging to start managing various processes with the same
efficacy, making the organization's utilisation of these techniques very inefficient.
Document Page
How well operational managing concepts satisfy the criteria
To determine the extent whereby the operational managing concepts are being applied
inside the organisation, TK Maxx must properly evaluate its execution of the standards.
Following is a discussion of the assessment of the same:
The company also has a need for operational uniformity (Dogru and Keskin, 2020). The
organisation engages in a variety of operations related to supplier network administration
and transportation that makes it challenging for the business to execute this concept
successfully. This is due to the reality because each task does have its unique collection
of criteria therefore makes it difficult to carry out the organising concept.
Making ensuring that the finest strategies and procedures are applied to handle the
company's distribution network is another essential. The business, meanwhile, embraces
the idea of transformation and advocates for novel logistical methods. However, due to
continual industry advancements, the corporation must implement this idea to its supplier
network administration more regularly. As a consequence, these conditions are satisfied
to a considerable level.
In order to operate more cheaply, TK Maxx's main need is to cut costs. Regarding the
variation concept, the company is utilising the similar approach to increase the diversity
of products they sell, such as a wide selection of apparel, furnishings, etc. Yet, because
this technique is used to enhance variability instead of cut costs, it's doesn't help the
company lower its costs. As a result, this concept doesn't really satisfy the needs of the
business.
Further necessity of TK Maxx is security, which is why the company effectively applies
the basics approach in order to guarantee it. Every worker is held to the same security
regulations with reference to their own security and wellbeing of the business. As a
result, this concept effectively fulfils this condition (Ferro, Ordóñez and Anholon, 2017).
Plans for ongoing growth and lean management
To guarantee continual progress in all of its supply chain-related procedures, TK Maxx
must execute a continual enhancement strategy. A comprehensive list of all the activities
intended to produce a constant and high production is referred to as a continual enhancement
strategy. Another of the key strategies the company must employ to guarantee successful and
ongoing growth is this. Lean Thinking is one approach that can be used to achieve this. This
Document Page
approach focused on carrying out tasks and processes in a manner that eliminates wasteful
actions and thereby increases efficiency. It is composed of 5 concepts: valuation, value
generation, flowing, pulling, and excellence. Each of these concepts is linked to minimising
wastage and boosting production. Yet, in order to significantly increase the efficiency of its
logistical and supplier network administration, TK Maxx must create a continual enhancement
strategy. This strategy is described beneath:
Basis Current methodologies Proposed methodologies
Costing The variety of the line of
products is used to execute the
concept of variability instead
of the pricing and effective
management of activities
(Forgacs, 2010).
The business should employ
variation to lower costs, and
robotics should have been
employed as a means to handle
the operations that could lower
employment costs.
Qualities In order to ensure excellence
in transportation and supplier
network administration,
strategies like dual-fuel and
hybridization cars are utilised
because the organisational
concept is not successfully
applied.
It is critical for TK Maxx to
plan out every step of the
supplier network
administration process in
addition to guarantee
excellence. The organisation
might employ the Just-In-Time
approach to achieve the
highest level of excellence in
transportation in place of
employing other methods.
Deliveries Transformation as a concept
wasn't really applied correctly,
as well as other merchants
contributed capabilities to
meet efficient distribution.
The company needs to make
organisational changes, and
rather than shared capacities
with other shops, they might
supply their products via
various means of
transportation like aviation,

Paraphrase This Document

Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
Document Page
railway, and shipping freight
(Grimmelikhuijsen, Tummers
and Pandey, 2017).
CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS
There are a number of suggestions the company might implement to assure development in
operational activities, according to the evaluation of TK Maxx's operational management
concepts and continual development strategy. The following are these suggestions:
As a result of technological improvements, TK Maxx is forced to employ cutting-edge
techniques like robotics and digital learning to maintain a cost-efficient and high-quality
organisational framework.
Just-In-Time stock can assist the business in assuring consistency in business processes.
This indicates that stock will not be held for more than three days following the order.
Additionally, doing so will reduce overhead expenses that could enhance supplier
network administration and transportation (Jogaratnam, 2017).
PART 2
Project life cycle
The Sunshine Drinks Corporation intends to successfully add a different kind of energetic
beverages for their clients by combining their varied selection of beverages with the pure well
freshwater they presently sell. Sunshine Energy will be the name of this new line. The firm's
initiative demands them to operate efficiently throughout each part of the project life cycle that
comprises all the phases connected to a project's timeframe from its inception to its conclusion.
The corporate instance and project life cycle for Sunshine Drinks Corporation's new good or
service are as follows:
Significance Sunshine Energy is created by combining a
variety of beverages with pure well freshwater,
both of which have numerous medical
advantages, including improved cognitive
ability (Kaun and Uldam, 2018). Additionally,
it eliminates the medical risks associated with
caffeinated and organic sugars thanks to the
Document Page
organic taste provided by berries.
Business Case
Customer Base The broad population in the United
Kingdom between the ages of 18 and 50 who
earn and over £1000 a year, are wellbeing, and
regularly consume beverages will be the core
demographic for the new product (Marin-
García and Alfalla-Luque, 2019).
Cost benefit analysis
Particulars Situation 1 Situation 2
Costs 100000 120000
Benefit 0 20000
(BEP point)
Project initiation: It is the first stage of the project life cycle. At this phase, Sunshine
Drinks Corporation must decide the venture's goals as well as evaluate the program's prospects
and risks. Company is essential to evaluate the total idea based on both its worth and viability. In
order for the business to satisfy customer wants and produce variables that contribute to
possibility assessment, proper thinking is necessary.
Tactics In order to achieve the similar goal, this
business will create a premium beverage and
engage in active online networking promotion
and branding. Furthermore, the business will
market this item using a pricing penetrating
approach (Müller and Birkel, 2020).
Goals Sunshine Drinks Corporation hopes to improve
its competitive place with its innovative item
by at minimum 4% within the next three
months after its release. Over a year of making
and selling its beverages, the business likewise
intends to grow its consumer pool by 15%.
Document Page
The project administrator must present the document for clearance to senior
administration. Technologies including Windows Projects 2019 Professionals can be used by the
business. Additionally, the Six Sigma Technique might be used at this point, enabling the
company to do a deeper preliminary design. This approach is being used because it will assist the
company establish objectives and find ways to lower operating costs, which will increase the
venture's viability. Leadership-wise, the company may benefit from transformative management.
This is due to the fact that it will contribute to the development of a cohesive program concept.
Program Management: The program's subsequent phase will focus on the general
strategy of Sunshine Drinks Corporation's innovative item creation. The program supervisor and
development group must develop a thorough strategy following executive approval. In order to
determine what assets are required to be used for the work, they will have to evaluate the
capacity shortages (Ng, Henshaw and Carter, 2017). In this phase, program plans and flow charts
will also be developed, together with budgetary estimates and financial forecasting. The
Sunshine Energy initiative design is shown below:
Excellence The company will be investing in new
technology, including robotics, to assure the
best production without compromising the
excellence of the creation of innovative
products.
Range The venture's total reach is broad because the
corporation is prepared to hire bright people as
well as innovative tools and procedures to
guarantee a high-calibre and long-lasting line
of products.
Costing It involves spending money on the materials,
labour, and technologies needed to create
Sunshine Energy. The total expense of
developing a unique item will be between
£90,000 and £110,000.
Communications To maintain a continuous and efficient flow of
data, the company will engage in interior,

Secure Best Marks with AI Grader

Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
Document Page
exterior, horizontal, and also longitudinal
communications during the expansion of
Sunshine Energy (Palšaitis, Čižiūnienė and
Vaičiūtė, 2017).
Sunshine Drinks Corporation can apply lean concepts at this point. The reality that such
concepts are linked to reducing wastes, which really is essential in preparation phase, and will be
significantly assisting in the creation of the innovative item by business, might be evidence of its
efficacy. When it comes to management, Sunshine Drinks Corporation might employ
authoritarian style, which might enable the plan management to assign duties and obligations to
their workers in an effective manner to guarantee that they are carried out as effectively as
possible. As for technologies, the Work Breakdown Framework and Gantt chart can assist the
company in creating a strong system and timeframe.
Document Page
Document Page
Implementation of the Project: Due to the fact that all concepts and thoughts are
successfully carried out during this period, it is among the most important stages of the project
life cycle. In order to organise processes, the program director at Sunshine Drinks Corporation
must assign assignments to the appropriate groups. For example, one group may concentrate on
acquiring basic materials, whereas others might be committed to creating the item by combining
tastes with the well freshwater's inherent essence. Additionally, they must inform existing team
participants and provide individuals with essential process-based education. The business must
also closely evaluate the program's general progress in respect of schedule, cost, and
performance at this phase in order to spot any anomalies and change the plan accordingly.
Technologies including ProofHub and Zoho Initiatives might be used by the business because it
will assist direct it through the full implementation stage. Both of those programmes give
customers the ability to keep an eye on the general performance and notify any discrepancies

Paraphrase This Document

Need a fresh take? Get an instant paraphrase of this document with our AI Paraphraser
Document Page
clearly, both of which are essential for a good implementation. The company can choose for
democracy management because this will increase subsidiary engagement and encourage them to
participate imaginatively to the venture's implementation. The similar justification applies;
cooperation and innovative influence from superiors are essential for successful implementation.
Since Total Quality Management will aid the company in maintaining Sunshine Energy's
performance, it may be selected as an efficient strategy. To assure the highest grade, this might
concentrate on the combining and purification processes of the beverage. Total quality
management will regularly evaluate its entire manufacturing system to make sure that
requirements for excellence, price, security, and hygiene are well met throughout its growth
(Pärn, Edwards and Sing, 2017).
Project Completion: Sunshine Drinks Corporation must evaluate the program's actual
quality for the final phase. In evaluating group effectiveness, the structure is equally necessary.
Additionally, thorough paperwork should be created concerning program closing and budgetary
reporting. As the corporation will be alerting all the parties based on the effective conclusion of
the procedure, and in this instance is the innovative item creation, communications performs a
crucial part in this procedure. The business can utilise Drop box as a method to evaluate the
entire program excellence and completion. The corporation might then assess the venture's
general criteria and the degree toward which Sunshine Energy is generated in accordance with
those requirements. As operational judgments will be needed to alter the program to accomplish
the goals given out at the program's beginning in event of all those discrepancy, efficient
management might function as an appropriate type for the organisation to examine the efficiency
and also adjust the schedule carefully.
Evaluation and Criticism of PLC Performance
A company may administer and oversee a program successfully and efficiently by
formulating and executing a project life cycle since it provides a foundation and a well-structured
guidance. In order to apply the best strategies, tactics, and procedures for the purpose, Sunshine
Drinks Corporation must successfully evaluate and assess the life cycle of their products. The
company can analyse their Project Life Cycle using the Waterfall Methodology to achieve this
successfully. This idea is presented as follows:
The business must evaluate the funds needed to start the program as part of this phase of
the strategy. The organisation used Project Life Cycle throughout the program's
Document Page
beginning stage to identify key needs. To identify objectives, the organisation used the
Six Sigma Process. The rigidity of the ideas used by this approach, though, limits the
potential for changes in advanced parts.
Layout as this prototype stage is linked to the creation of an adaptable and ecological
layout for the entire undertaking. This illustrates how the PLC applied lean concepts
throughout the designing phase to assure minimal waste. This was a good action to take
during the preparation phase to assure little waste. Yet, authoritarian management is
utilised at this point, totally eliminating worker engagement in the innovative item
creation strategy process. It can pose a risk to the business because it can cause
employees to contribute fewer in the future that will impede Sunshine Energy's growth.
Progress as in terms of growth, the system' general planning and implementation are
reflected in this phase. Sunshine Drinks Corporation utilized both democracy governance
and total quality management throughout implementation. Although TQM can just
improve item excellence and not on economic feasibility that is important at this stage, it
might assure efficient involvement and optimum output. To reduce money at this point,
the company might have adopted a number of cost-effective approaches. Stock control is
however one method that will also enable the company to maintain Just-In-Time
operations, reducing expenditure as the purchase of basic resources will rely on the
precise demands from clients. Utilizing the System Costs Reducing Capabilities in the
manufacturing procedures was another method that might have guaranteed both
reliability and costs efficiency. This technology will assist the business in identifying
procedures and pieces of machinery which might be changed or eliminated in order to
improve and more efficiently grow Sunshine Energy.
Monitoring and Management as the waterfall approach's final phase addresses efficient
monitoring and upkeep of the entire strategy. It may also be utilised to evaluate the
program closing phase. This phase entails properly assessing the success of the entire
strategy for which Sunshine Drinks Corporation exercised strategy management. It is a
practical choice that will assist the program supervisor in accurately and effectively
handling the evaluation (Sahin and Soylu, 2020).
Alternatively, the company might use a number of alternative ways to evaluate the entire
program's performance, size, and duration. For example, the program's concept planning, design,
Document Page
and performance might have all been improved with the adoption of agile approach across the
project life cycle. Another approach that might have been employed was the Scrum Process that
allowed for the formation of smaller, cross-functional, and self-managing groups for the creation
of Sunshine Energy. It could guarantee increased efficiency and improved control over Sunshine
Energy's manufacturing, packing, and marketplace delivery.
Various Approaches Used for Big and Smaller Projects
Principles Small-scale projects Large-scale projects
Lean concept The lean concepts can be
utilised to a simple task
including marking boxes to
cut down on wasteful
activities including tagging the
covers from the inside out.
Such concepts might be
utilised to planned procedures
for the creation of innovative
products so that all pointless
and inefficient operations
would be fully eliminated.
Six sigma Six Sigma may be applied
extremely leniently for small-
scale ventures like item
packing, and environmental
sustainability might be
accomplished by analysing
and enhancing the assembly
operations.
In terms of a totally innovative
product, Six Sigma
methodology and concepts
will be implemented to the full
operation that could involve
establishing criteria,
monitoring and evaluating
assets, designing and verifying
a brand-new procedure, and
also managing it effectively.
CONCLUSION
As a result, it can be said that program managing and operations are crucial for the business
to assure uniformity and excellence across all of its initiatives. If used correctly, operational
managing concepts can assist in enhancing processes. Additionally, a continual enhancement
strategy promotes uniformity among the processes. Regarding program managing, it is crucial to
adopt the project life cycle because it will serve as a roadmap and structure for the initiatives of a
company. Additionally, it needs to be critically evaluated using ideas from the Waterfall

Secure Best Marks with AI Grader

Need help grading? Try our AI Grader for instant feedback on your assignments.
Document Page
methodology to guarantee that every step is completed and executed to the highest standard. To
establish the strength of both in various initiatives, it is crucial to analyse how techniques are
used in small and large-scale initiatives.
Document Page
REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bouras, C., Kokkinos, V. and Michos, E., 2020. An online tool on sustainable water
management. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal. 68(4). pp.450-465.
Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2017. Strategies for modern operations
management. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Cohen, M. J., 2019. Introduction to the special section: innovative perspectives on systems of
sustainable consumption and production.
Dogru, A. K. and Keskin, B. B., 2020. AI in operations management: applications, challenges
and opportunities. Journal of Data, Information and Management, pp.1-8.
Ferro, R., Ordóñez, R. E. C. and Anholon, R., 2017. Analysis of the integration between
operations management manufacturing tools with discrete event simulation. Production
Engineering. 11(4-5). pp.467-476.
Forgacs, G., 2010. Revenue management. Lansing, Mich.: American Hotel & Lodging
Educational Institute.
Grimmelikhuijsen, S., Tummers, L. and Pandey, S. K., 2017. Promoting state-of-the-art methods
in public management research.
Jogaratnam, G., 2017. How organizational culture influences market orientation and business
performance in the restaurant industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Management, 31, pp.211-219.
Kaun, A. and Uldam, J., 2018. ‘Volunteering is like any other business’: Civic participation and
social media. New Media & Society. 20(6). pp.2186-2207.
Marin-García, J. A. and Alfalla-Luque, R., 2019. Protocol: How to deal with Partial Least
Squares (PLS) research in Operations Management. A guide for sending papers to
academic journals. Working Papers on Operations Management. 10(1). pp.29-69.
Müller, J. M. and Birkel, H. S., 2020. Contributions of Industry 4.0 to lean management within
the supply chain operations reference model. International Journal of Integrated Supply
Management. 13(1). pp.74-89.
Ng, A., Henshaw, C. and Carter, M., 2017, May. Partnering to develop a talent pipeline for
emerging health leaders in operations research. In Healthcare Management Forum (Vol.
30, No. 3, pp. 146-150). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Palšaitis, R., Čižiūnienė, K. and Vaičiūtė, K., 2017. Improvement of warehouse operations
management by considering competencies of human resources. Procedia
Engineering. 187. pp.604-613.
Pärn, E. A., Edwards, D. J. and Sing, M. C., 2017. The building information modelling trajectory
in facilities management: A review. Automation in construction. 75. pp.45-55.
Sahin, B. and Soylu, A., 2020. Multi-layer, multi-segment iterative optimization for maritime
supply chain operations in a dynamic fuzzy environment. IEEE Access. 8. pp.144993-
145005.
1 out of 18
circle_padding
hide_on_mobile
zoom_out_icon
[object Object]

Your All-in-One AI-Powered Toolkit for Academic Success.

Available 24*7 on WhatsApp / Email

[object Object]