Project Management and Operations Management Principles

This assignment delves into the realm of project management and operations management, exploring key principles and concepts essential for effective business execution. It discusses product life cycles, waterfall models, and the importance of feedback in managing complex projects. The report provides a thorough analysis of various operational management principles and their applications in enhancing business activities and efficiency. It also highlights the significance of using new technology to run businesses effectively and efficiently.

Operations & Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
1) Introduction to organisation...............................................................................................3
2) Operation Vs. operations management..............................................................................3
3) Review and critique of implementation of operations management principles.................4
4) Operation management of organisation to meet requirements..........................................5
5) Continuous improvement as philosophy and lean principles.............................................6
6) Prepare Continuous improvement plan on basis of review and critique of operations
management principles...........................................................................................................8
7) Recommendation for improving operations function........................................................9
PART 2..........................................................................................................................................10
A) Product Life Cycle (PLC)...............................................................................................10
B) Review and Critique of effectiveness of PLC.................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is defined as administration of enterprise practices for
creation of high level of efficiency within organisation. This is mainly concerned with
conversion of material into finished goods for maximizing profits. Similarly, project
management is practise of planning, initiating, controlling, executing and closing work of
group for achievement of goals and meet success in given time period (Binder, 2016).
Both are important for organisation to get success and growth of business. This report is
divided into two parts where first chosen organisation is Marks and Spencer which is
multinational retail business located in United Kingdom. It covers operation
management principles and their implementation. It also highlights about continuous
improvement plans and lean principles along with some recommendation provide for
improvement. The second part of assignment is based on Sunshine Drinks Company
which manufactures, sell fruit drink in market and has created goodwill and image in
competitive era. This section covers application of PLC and their effectiveness with
helps of using theories and concepts.
PART 1
1) Introduction to organisation
The chosen organisation is Marks and Spencer (M&S) which is multinational
retail organisation founded in 1884 at United Kingdom that is specialised in selling
luxury, home and cloth products. It is famous and renowned brand in competitive
market. There are 979 stores running their business across UK and included 615 stores
selling food products. It has 1463 number of locations where goods and services are
provided for consumers. The number of employees working in M&S is 80,787 and
providing products to individuals. This brings innovative and unique products every year
for their consumers for survival, growth and sustainability.
2) Operation Vs. operations management
The work consists of more than one elements or subtasks performed in one
location. Operation is the process where data is converted into finished goods and
create value to consumers. When more than two are connected then it form process
which has four categories such as inspection, storage, transport and processing

(Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). Similarly, operations management include organising,
planning and supervising procedures in order to make improvement for higher
profitability. It uses resources in effective manner for providing goods and services to
consumers.
3) Review and critique of implementation of operations management principles
There are different operation management principles that need to be
implemented by Marks and Spencer for enhancing success and growth. The respective
organisation has not implemented updated technology which create problem for
organisation to get success and survive in competitive market. Marks and Spencer
should adopt principles of operation management which are as follows:
Reality- according to these principles, M&S should focus on issues and
problems rather than using tools and techniques. As there is not a single tool which can
provide solution to problems. Here, respective organisation should use innovative
methods to resolve issues (What are the Principles of Operations Management, 2019).
Humility- It is very important for manager of M&S to evaluate every element of
projects before executing it. This helps in saving time and cost for other operations.
Accountability- In manufacturing operation, accountability principle is regarded
as key success. It is responsibility of M&S manager to check work on regular basis to
know that goals are met or not.
Change- It is very essential for M&S to implement and manage change for
success and growth. It has implemented change and applied new concepts and
theories with use of technological practices and performed work for enhancement of
brand image and goodwill in market.
Knowing Competition- If M&S can analyse about their competitors then they
can easily know about their consumers, products, practices in competitive market. This
can help them in producing better quality of goods and services for their consumers.
Organisation- All work is interconnected which should be predictable and
consistent. Each and every task helps in achieving goals and objectives of business and
earns profits and growth.
Success- It is the most important principle of operation management. Under the
context of Marks and Spencer, success depends upon the goods and services provided

by firm to their consumers through use of latest technology in order to meet consumer
satisfaction.
Causality- While doing manufacturing process, problems arises due to use of old
and outdates technology. For getting solution of it, manager of M&S need to find actual
root cause of problem and taking immediate actions. This situation has been faced by
M&S due to use of ineffective technology which create problem in sustaining in
competitive market. Thus, effective decision should be taken by manager for increasing
efficiency of staff.
Collaborating with Consumers- This is important principle where M&S need to
know about taste and preference of their consumers and produce products accordingly.
Critical Evaluation
The principles of operation management should be implemented and adopted by
Marks and Spencer in order to help business in maintenance of effective and efficiency
of operations business. This helps in providing directions and insights to managers in
order to achieve set outcomes. Similarly, on other side, it needs huge time and cost for
organisation to choose and apply principles and requires research and development
work that is expensive for firm (Harrison and Lock, 2017). Marks and Spencer should
implement and apply operation management principles for achieving efficiency in
system and survive in global surrounding.
4) Operation management of organisation to meet requirements
Operation management is very essential for organisation and plays vital role in
designing process of production in order to achieve maximum efficiency in activities of
business. This management is also liable for execution of work and controlling
operations management principle using of various activities for eliminating problems
and issues which can arise at project and helps in achieving desired goals and
objectives (Heizer and et. al., 2017). The operational management give directions and
insights in meeting requirements of Marks and Spencer and achieving outcome at given
time period. It also provides helps in using of innovative technology in execution of
practices in better manner and maintaining sustainability at competitive market. There
are various principles which also provide help to M&S to follow them and work in better

and systematic manner. It should be updated with change in time and situation so that
work can be done in better manner.
5) Continuous improvement as philosophy and lean principles
Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is defined as ongoing efforts by employees, manager
and staffs of corporation in order to improve their goods, services and processes. This
is regarded as incremental process for improvement in company. The manager of
Marks and Spencer should adopt continuous improvement plan in order to enhance
productivity and profitability.
Lean Principles
There are five major lean principles which should be followed by Marks and
Spencer in order to reduce wastages for achieving efficiency in process of production
which are given below:
Identify Value- The value of product should be identified by consumer as per
need and requirement of products. Manager of M&S should evaluate and identify
performance of goods and services so that value products are provided to consumer or
not. This can help in achievement of goals and objectives within given time period. It
can also aid manager in providing products to customers for delivering high value to
them (The Five Lean Principles Explained, 2019).
Map Value Stream- It is second principle after identification of value of goods
and services provided by Marks and Spencer, it is manager responsibility for directing
map and creating value in order to achieve goals in effective manner. The M&S
manager need to adopt changes in process of company and taking further steps in
communicating and eliminating extra process so that employee’s efficiency can be
increase and reach to maximum.
Create Flow- It is third lean principle after removing unnecessary steps and
removing wastage, manager should ensure that other activities and steps are running
smoothly and effectively without interruptions. If any interruption found then manager of
M&S should break down work into smaller parts and provide training and development
to staffs in order to make them to perform in effective and efficient manner.

Establish Pull- After improving production process, it creates easiness for Marks
and Spencer manager to fulfil need and demand of consumer. This process can helps
to manufacture and provide goods and service as per need and demand of consumers.
It also assists in saving amount for extra inventory as manufacturing is done as per
customer requirements.
Perfection- It is last stage of lean principles where manager overview their
business activities and make changes for achieving desirable goals and objectives. This
is called perfection where all work and activities are done in perfect manner. Marks and
Spencer need to bring continuous changes for remaining more competitive at market
place.
The positive and negative aspects of implementation of operations management
principles are discussed below:
Scientific Management- This principles helps in analysing and synthesizing
workflows of organisation. Mark and Spencer can implement such principle in order to
improve economic efficiency and productivity. It is regarded as earliest principles which
is applied in business for manufacturing process. The positive aspect of this principles is
improving efficiency of economy and enhancement of productivity at business. With
adoption of such operation management principles, respective organisation can control
activities and work, decrease autocracy and inaccuracy, improve pay system, decision
making can be done quickly, increase in efficiency and reduction of management
disputes and labour turnover. Similarly, there are some cons of such principles such as
requirement of huge capital, planning can reduce productivity, work division, not suitable
for team, increase in employment and stress.
Flexible specialisation- According to this principles, business is specialised in
particular products which can change themselves for producing different good. It is
business strategy which can make Marks and Spencer more competitive. For flexible
specialisation, respective organisation requires employee with various skills so they can
perform any work easily and effectively. With implementation of such principles, Marks
and Spencer can get some advantages such as risk reduction, saving money for hiring
large number of skills having particular knowledge and managing work accurately and

timely. Similarly, the disadvantages can be inflexibility, isolation and make employees
complacent because of doing same work again and again.
Lean Production- According to this principles, management should focus on
declining and cutting waste along with maintaining high quality. It is applicable to all
types of business for better outcome. It is new concept which should be adopted by
each and every company for reducing waste and producing high production. This
principle can be implemented by Marks and Spencer for increasing value of product and
reducing unnecessary cost. This principles carry some advantages and disadvantages
which are discussed here. The pros of principles are minimization of waste, lean
infrastructure and enhancing customer relationship. Similarly, disadvantages are failure
of equipment and delivery inconsistencies.
From above it can be concluded that operation management principles are
essentials for business to carry their activities in effective and efficient manner. This can
helps them for goal and objectives achievement. This principles have proper guidelines
to carry out work and achieve growth and success.
6) Prepare Continuous improvement plan on basis of review and critique of operations
management principles
Continuous Improvement Plan
Basis Current Methodologies Proposed Methodologies
Cost In this organisation does not use
change principles in business and
use of old method increases cost
for goods and services.
It is advice-able for Marks and
Spencer to adopt change principle in
better and effective manner along with
use of technology for manufacturing
goods which helps in increasing
efficiency and cost minimization of
products.
Quality For good quality products,
organisation is not using success
principles as staff and employees
are unaware and unclear
For maintaining quality of goods, it is
important for M&S to use updated and
latest technology for providing
innovation and unique products to

regarding success measures. customers.
Delivery Organisation has not used and
applied causality principles which
does not provide effective
outcome as they focus on
traditional methods for delivering
products.
Marks and Spencer should use
causality principles within business
and new technology in order to deliver
products and services to their target
consumers.
7) Recommendation for improving operations function
For surviving in competitive market, it is recommended to Marks and Spencer to
carry continuous improvements in goods and services in order to deliver high quality
value to their target people. Marks and Spencer is running their operations in different
countries which should implement and adopt change principle for adopting practices
and methods in performing work. This helps in improving operational functions and
adoption of accountability principles helps in assigning roles and responsibilities as per
job assigned to employees. It leads to perform their work in better manner for
achievement and attainment of goals and objectives. It is also recommended to M&S to
upgrade technology and adopting innovative practices for completion of business work
at given time frame work in order to deliver high products to consumers. It is also
recommended to M&S to use inventory management techniques for cost of storage
reduction and providing products as per consumer needs and requirement.
The continuous improvement plan using PDCA cycle are described below:
Continuous
Improvement Plan
Description
Plan For improving operation management, they should identify
problem, collect data and information and finding root cause of
problems.
Do In this step, solution should be developed and implemented for
effectiveness.

Check The result should be confirmed with help of before and after
comparison of data and information.
Action It is the last stage, where results should be documented and
inform to others about changes and making recommendation in
order to address problems.
PART 2
A) Product Life Cycle (PLC)
In marketplace, sunshine company possess a good brand image, to increase its
product line further, organisation is going to produce a new drink which will be called as
Sunshine Energy. This drink will be prepared by mixing spring water with different fruit
flavours. To perform this project, product life cycle will be used which is mentioned
below:
Business Case:
BASIS DESCRIPTION
Importance
Sunshine Energy will be produced with the combination of
different fruits and spring water which is very beneficial for
human health. Also, it will help people in revitalising their
brain functions.
Target Market Company has Targeted UK population which is health
conscious and aged between 20 to 60 years.
Cost Benefit Analysis:
Particulars Situation 1 2

Costs 100000 120000
Benefit 0 200000
(BEP point)
C os ts B en efit
0
2 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 0 0 0 0
1 4 0 0 0 0
C h a rt T itle
C olu m n C
Illustration 1: Cost Benefit Analysis
Project Initiation:
It is the first level in product life cycle in which objectives and strategies of project
will be formulated. Entire project will be measured to acknowledge its feasibility and
value. New and innovative ideas will benefit organisation in meeting their current and
future needs.
Objectives
 Firm aims to enhance their market share by 10% in
next 4 month of distributing product.
 Other objective is to increase customer base by 20% in
next 6 months of launching drink.
Strategies
This product will provide high quality drink for the customers.
Promotion will be carried out with the help of social media
tools. And to sell product in large quantity, price penetration
scheme will be implemented.

Project manager in firm is required to report the details to management. For this
step, required tool will be Microsoft project tool. Beside this, six sigma methodologies
can be implemented. It will benefits in reducing cost and gaining high profits.
Participative leadership will allow employees to share their opinions due to which
decisions will be taken in a strategic manner.
Project Planning:
It is next stage in product life cycle where detailed planning for entire project will
be carried out. This will allow the project manager in identifying resources which will be
less in number so that they can be ordered on timely basis. Also, budget and other
financial transactions will be estimated in this stage.
Cost Estimated cost for this project is 60, 000 pounds. Both direct and
indirect costs are added in this amount.
Communication For communication, project team will use mediums like SMS,
emails, telephonic conversations, video conferencing etc.
Quality To assure good quality, Company will use advance technology
like Automation.
Scope Scope of this project is very high as skilled employees will work
on it with the help of advanced tools and machines.
At this stage, lean methodology can be used by company to eliminate and
reduce waste. For leadership purpose, situational leadership is best as it will help in
taking decision as per situation. In case of tool, company will use work-break down
structure and Gantt chart so project can be completed in allotted deadlines (Kundu and
et. al., 2015).
Work breakdown structure:

Gantt chart:

Project Execution:
It is an important stage in PLC as different activities and operations are executed
during this step. Due to WBS and Gantt chart, project will be divided into small sections
and allotted to different employees. This will assists the company to complete project in
allotted time. Tool that can be used to execute project is Proofhub and Zoho. In case of
leadership, democratic style is best and suitable operational methodology will be total
quality management which will helps in enhancing quality and reducing cost.
Project Closure:
This is the last stage in which project will be completed. Here, documentation
process will be carried out in detailed manner. Efficient communication plays a vital role

as it will update employees, management and stakeholder about project activities. Tool
that can be used is Basemap and appropriate leadership style will be autocratic. Due to
this, project manager will allot work to team according to their efficiency and high
outcomes will be attained (Lientz and Rea, 2016).
B) Review and Critique of effectiveness of PLC
Designing PLC in a proper manner will provide effective framework to the firm so
that business operations can be performed in a proper way. It is essential for sunshine
company to properly review and critique PLC effectiveness. This will assure that project
activities are carried out as per the plan. In this regard, company can adopt waterfall
model is mentioned below so that PLC can be evaluated in a proper manner:
 Requirement- In this stage, manager of firm analyzes the need of resources
before starting the project. In this context, company can use six sigma so that
efficiency of project can be improved and effective key deliverable can be
provided. Here, with the help of participate leadership, objective and strategies of
company can be formulated as per the opinion of entire workforce.
 Design- During this step, different project activities are designed so that project
can be completed in a proper manner. It is related with planning stage of project
in which to reduce wastage, inventory management principle can be adopted.
Here, situational leadership style is adopted due to which decision is taken in
strategic manner so that organizational goals can be attained properly (Maylor
and Turner, 2017).
 Development- At this stage, overall execution and development of project
takes place. Here, company can adopt total quality management so that quality
and cost of services can be maintained in a proper manner. Here, democratic
style of leadership is used which helps in understanding the opinion of
employees towards a certain activity or operation. Also, inventory production and
just in time can be used so that cost of storing raw material and resources can be
reduced.
 Testing and Maintenance: It is the last stage related with waterfall project which
helps in checking overall details. It will help the company in carrying out
modifications so that future projects can be handled in a more organised way.

Hence, there are different techniques and tools that are adopted by the company
so that quality and scope of the project can be managed in a proper manner. It will
benefits in achieving positive outcomes with the help of enhanced profits. Also, there
are different leadership theories which can be applied to both large and small scale
projects. They will benefits in completing project in a timely and systematic manner. In
small scale projects, situational leadership can be used as it will benefits the
organisation in taking those decision s which will be beneficial for the company in that
situation. For large scale projects, participative leadership can be used so that decision
can be taken in accordance with the opinion of entire workforce and management of the
company (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017).
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 of PLC: It is a structured approach which helps in delivering a
project properly. This benefit every individual working on a project to identify the
progress of project. It also helps in defining output for each phase. Beside this, it helps
in specifying roles of workers within project and a framework so that different individuals
related with project can get updates on timely basis.
Ineffectiveness of PLC: In this cycle, work will be completed at the last stage
only due to which risks and uncertainty is quite high. This is the reason, this model is
not treated as a priority for complex projects and considered suitable for object oriented
project. Beside this, it is difficult to measure each stage when project is in progress and
integration takes place at the end only. Lack of feedback results in identification of
problem at last stage due to mismanagement takes place.
CONCLUSION
From above report, it can be summarised that project and operation
management plays an effective role in organisation in executing various activities of
business and providing all deliverable to consumers. There are different principles of

operation management which can be applied to business for enhancement of activities
and their efficiency. The recommendation has provided for use of new and updates
technology in order to run business and their functions in better and effective manner.
Product life cycle assist in project execution activities within given time period and there
should be proper evaluation of PLC with assist of waterfall model in order to complete
work of each stage in efficient and effective manner.
REFERENCES
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. Project Management Institute.

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 & Sons.
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chain management: A review using Latent Semantic Analysis. Expert Systems
with Applications.42(2). pp.796-809.
Lientz, B. and Rea, K., 2016. Breakthrough technology project management.
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technology. Routledge.
Online
What are the Principles of Operations Management. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.planettogether.com/blog/what-are-the-principles-of-operations-
management>.
The Five Lean Principles Explained. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://theleanway.net/The-Five-Principles-of-Lean>.