Operations and Project Management: Review, Critique, and Improvement Plan for Aston Martin

This report discusses the implementation of operations management principles in the context of Aston Martin, a British luxury car brand. It reviews and critiques the principles and models of operations management, including Business Process Redesign, Six Sigma, and Lean Manufacturing. The report also creates a continuous improvement plan for Aston Martin based on the principles of operations management, with justified recommendations. The subject is Operations and Project Management, and the course code is Unit 16. The college or university is not mentioned.

Unit 16–Operations
and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
P1 Review and critique of implementation of operations management principles in context of
a business firm ............................................................................................................................4
M1 Assessment of operations management in relation to six sigma methodology and lean
principles.....................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P2 Creation of continuous improvement plan with justified recommendation on the basis of
review and critique of operations management principle...........................................................8
M2 Analysis of effectiveness of continuous improvement plan ..............................................10
D1 Application of suitable concepts to justify strategies of continuous improvement plan ....11
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
P3 Application of Project life-cycle .........................................................................................11
M3 Analysis of rationale for project methodologies, tools and leadership within PLC of given
project .......................................................................................................................................13
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P4 Review and Critique of effectiveness of Project Life cycle ...............................................14
M4 Critical analysis of use of concepts in Project life cycle differentiates between large and
small scale projects ..................................................................................................................15
D2 Critical evaluation of project life-cycle to draw valid conclusion and recommendation ...15
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Operational management is a type of management that involves redesigning design,
management, and production for the organization's operational activities, as well as in the
production of goods and services for you. The term "operational management" is becoming more
and more widely used to describe the efficiency and effectiveness of planning activities of
enterprises that have a significant impact on their business (Aziati and Hamdan, 2018). Action
and project management plays an important role in the organization's development. These are
administrative cases, a method that is focused on achieving maximum efficiency of the
organization. In this report, the company chose Ford, a British sports car brand that represents
beautiful, hand-built cars, wanting to be away from 1913. Founded in 1904, the Lagonda brand is
the world’s first luxury car brand which is based on driven by the power train technology.
Overview of the company: Aston Martin is a British car brand that is associated with all
things luxury and performance. Its design is also well known, and many people look at the cars
produced by this company as real works of art. Cars should become a British symbol, despite the
fact that it is a global car brand. The company has established a long history of car
manufacturing, both for cars and those in the car, which is a reflection of their strength, position
and wealth. Most major car manufacturers try to get into sports competitions and they will
succeed, because this is a chance for them to show the speed and power of their work. Aston
Martin is different from other car manufacturers, and is based on that because they are
manufactured with the best possible use of technology. In fact, they pride themselves on hand-
building the car to achieve the quality that their customers expect from Aston Martin (About Us,
2021) Every part of the car is made and assembled by hand into ridges on the inside of the car.
This not only makes that Aston Martin unique in the automotive industry, but it is one of the
reasons why customers are attracted to this type of car. With an individual approach, it gives you
a sense of comfort and quality in the finished product, and also makes it worth paying the highest
price, in the possession of a car from Aston Martin.
Vision:
Aston Martin Lagonda is the only independent luxury car group with more than 100 years of car
design and performance from two brands. It aims to become the largest British car company to
provide you with the best and most versatile cars in the world.
Mission

Art of living demonstrates the core values of Aston Martin, and adds a layer, and interesting
insight into the use of art fields often reserved for the most modern and limited audience.
Immerse yourself in the world of your loved ones, and experience life and take a photo of areas
that will travel, cook, play sports, fashion and culture. Aston Martin is a world-renowned brand,
well known for its ability to produce the best cars and the most durable. In addition to their core
business of creating beautiful automotive art they want to take our products to new and exciting
areas
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1 Review and critique of implementation of operations management principles in context of a
business firm
Operations vs operations management
Operation and its management is important for the manufacturing industry. This is
because production has to take care of so many processes and activities involved in the
production process. Organizations usually start the process of receiving raw materials, then
process them in the order that the product is intended for you. Therefore, the successful
implementation of operations of its activities, in particular, for the manufacturing industry
(Baxley and et. al, 2017). In addition, these services, various processes and in the evaluation of
the customer are expected to take feedback services, etc. Today, the automotive industry is a
major component of economic growth in all industrialized countries. Operation management is
considered an integral part of any organization, and it is a very popular activity in all sectors of
the economy. Operational management is concerned with the decision-making process of
designing processes that ensure the production of goods and services, in accordance with the
standard, in volume and on schedule, and at the lowest cost. The cost of materials, work, and
resources that will be used to purchase goods and services through one or more conversion
processes, converting, thereby replenishing the account.
Operations management principles are essential to ensuring effective functioning of the
company. Violation of these principles leads to business firms experiencing difficulties in
manufacturing and operations management (Brindley, 2017). Aston Martin needs to follow
operations management principles so that operations management efficiency is increased and the

company gains effective results. The review of operation management principles is provided
below: Reality: This principle states that operation managers need to focus on issues rather than
relying on tools, techniques and strategies as there is no universal solution which is
helpful in facing every dynamic challenge. This principle needs to be followed by Aston
Martin as it will helps the company face various obstacles effectively. Organization: Operation process are interrelated and it is important to ensure that every
component is consistent and predictable in order to gain similar profitable outcome
(Compare and et. al, 2017).
 Accountability: It is essential to maintain accountability at the company by maintaining
effective business communications, assigning clear responsibilities and measuring
performance regularly. Operations managers at Aston Martin will be able to ensure that
employees put in necessary efforts so that daily operations are completed in a timely
manner with no compromise in quality.
Aston Martin utilizes the operation management principle of Organization as it helps the
company attain pro0ject goals in a structures manner. In addition to this, project principle of
organization is related to lean manufacturing as it assists it ensures continuous improvement of
the company. This is because organization helps in identification of strengths and weakness of
the project and helps the company determine action to eliminate weaknesses and improve
strengths.
Operations management models
Business process redesign
This management model includes mending vital business processes in order to attain
specific objectives. The primary aim of this operations management model is to radically
redesign a business process so that significant progress in performance metrics such as return on
investment, cost reduction or service improvement is achieved (Danese and et. al, 2017). The
usage of this operations management model by Aston Martin will bring radical change in the
company and help the company remain competitive in the industry. In addition to this Business
process redesign improves efficiency, eliminates excess, reduces costs and refined operations
management which helps the company attain specific goals in a timely manner. Aston Martin
operates in the luxury car industry which is impacted by technological changes and has to

develop technological infrastructure in order to gain competitive edge. Business process redesign
can help the company attain specific goals such as implementation of new technology,
restructuring and streamlining teams easily and quickly to gain competitive advantage and
maintain profitability.
Six Sigma
This operations management model helps enterprises enhance business process
capabilities. Six Sigma leads to increase in organizational performance and decrease in process
variation which improves employee morale, quality of products and profitability. Predictability
and profitability of business processes is increased by controlling and understanding variations.
This model utilizes a data based approach to attain quantifiable business outcomes. Aston Martin
will be able to increase employee loyalty, time management and employee morale with adoption
of Six Sigma. In addition to this, The UK Based luxury car manufacturers needs to utilize six six
because it improves quality control and helps the company provide better products to gain
competitive advantage. High quality auto-mobiles are the main characteristic of Aston Martin
products so adoption of six sigma will lead to better quality control and help the company serve
the target consumer more effectively.
Lean manufacturing
The central concept of lean is to continuously eliminate waste from the manufacturing
process while simultaneously increasing overall productivity of the company. Lean
manufacturing principles, practices and tools help the company stay innovative and agile and
provide holistic approach to continuous improvement of the firm (Kasemsap, 2017). Aston
Martin can utilize this operations management model to increase productivity and reduce waste
continuously. In addition to this lean manufacturing will also contribute to improved product
quality, lead times and employees satisfaction.
M1 Assessment of operations management in relation to six sigma methodology and lean
principles
Six Sigma Methodology
DMAIC is a six sigma methodology with a data driven approach which helps business
firms improve existing products. This methodology improves operations management so that
existing product is improved to meet consumer requirements. DMIAC methodology includes
five phases which are provided below:

 Define: In this phase project target and consumer deliverables are defined (Mohtar and
Abbas, 2020). Aston Martin needs to identify internal and external deliverables in this
phase.
 Measure: Baseline performance is measured in this phase. Aston Martin needs to measure
current process performance in this phase.
 Analyse: This phase focuses on analysing defects. Aston Martin needs to identify various
defective elements in this phase.
 Improve: This phase revolves around improving the process by eliminating defects.
Aston Martin needs to take action to eliminate root cause of the defects.
 Control; This part involves monitoring and controlling future business process (Saberi
and et. al, 2017, 2019). Aston Martin has to implement policies to monitor and control
future business processes.
The primary advantage of using six sigma methodology to improve existing products of
the company is that it ensures increase in efficiency and offers the company superior quality
control approach in comparison to other operations management models. Aston Martin will be
able to develop high quality products with adoption of six sigma methodology as it addresses
ensure production process of a product rather than focusing on the final outcome. This will help
the company build errorless business process and build products which fulfil consumer
requirements while also reducing waste. Aston Martin will be able to attain high profitability
with adoption of six sigma because of it's proactive nature. Operation management defects can
be eliminated before their occurrence by six sigma lading to creation of highly profitability
business processes.
Lean management principles
 Defining value: This principle focuses on identifying consumer needs in order to define
consumer value. Aston Martin needs to understand what the consumer is willing to pay
for by determine consumer requirements.
 Creation of value stream Map: This involves identifying activities which contribute to
value creation for the consumer (Villa, 2019). Aston Martin needs to understand activities
which add consumer value and wasteful activities which do not add or reduce consumer
value so that such activities can be eliminated.

 Flow: This principle focuses on ensuring that activities which remain in the value stream
after elimination of wastes function smoothly without interruptions. Aston martin needs
to create smooth flow in the value stream so that operations are completed in a timely
manner.
 Establish pull: The company needs to develop just in time manufacturing after creating
flow so that consumers can pull products from, the firm according to their needs. Aston
Martin needs to develop manufacturing for just in time delivery to avoid stockpiling and
expensive inventory management.
 Seeking perfection: This step involves incorporating lean process improvement as part
of the company culture (Wang, Lin and Choi, 2020). Aston Martin needs to include lean
principles as part of corporate culture to focus on continuous improvement of the firm.
The adoption of lean principles will help Aston Martin enhance operations management.
The firm will be able to eliminate waste activities and develop value stream which successfully
fulfils consumer requirements and increases productivity of the company. This will have positive
impact on operations management as it will improve productivity and build smooth workflow.
The project management principle of organization helps the company utilize lean
management principles for continuous development and timely attainment of the project
objectives.
TASK 2
P2 Creation of continuous improvement plan with justified recommendation on the basis of
review and critique of operations management principle
The philosophy of continuous improvement focuses ongoing improvement of products,
services and business processes through radical and incremental improvements. Radical
improvement involves improving the process or product at once while incremental improvement
aims to improve process over time with small changes. Aston Martin needs to adopt the
philosophy of continuous improvement in order to ensure that their products services and
business processes are improved to fulfil changing consumer requirements and contribute to
survival and profitability of the company for a long time period.
Lean Principles

 Defining value: This principle involves defining consumer value by identification of
actual and latent consumer needs. This will help the company determine elements of their
products or services which deliver value to the consumer and which are not successful in
providing consumer value (Wei and Li, 2020). Qualitative and quantitative consumer
interviews can help Aston Martin understand consumer needs and accurately define
consumer value.
 Creation of value stream Map: This lean principle is centred around creating value map
of actions involved in taking products from raw materials to final offering given to the
consumer with the aim of identifying process and activities which do not contribute in the
process and don't add value to the consumer. Aston Martin needs to develop value map in
order to identify and eliminate wasteful activities so that every business process only
includes activities which provide consumer value add help the company fulfil consumer
requirements.
 Flow: This principle involves creating a smooth workflow so that activities of the value
stream map are completed without delay. Aston Martin can attain this by creating cross
functional departments so that interdepartmental collaboration assists in ensuring that
every activity of the value stream is completed quickly without delay.
 Establish pull: This involves using consumer needs to direct cost effective and
sustainable approach which enables the company to offer exact quantity the consumer
needs instead of investing in materials production and storage to be ready for consumer
orders (White and et. al, 2017, 2021). This principle can be adopted by Aston Martin by
using just in time manufacturing to decrease flow times in manufacturing systems and
increase response time from suppliers to consumers.
 Seeking perfection: The last principle aims to seek for perfection and continuous
improvement. Aston Martin can attain this by constantly analysing each element to
increase value and focusing on pursuit of perfection rather than attaining perfection.
CONTINOUS IMPORVEMENT PLAN FOR ASTON MARTIN
BASIS CURENT METHODOLOGY PLANNED METHODOLOGY
Cost The cost of production at Aston
Martin is high because the firm
The company needs to adopt lean
manufacturing operations management

operates in luxury car
manufacturing sector.
model in order to decrease overall costs
while still maintaining premium quality
of their vehicles.
Standard Aston Martin has been successful
in manufacturing high quality
products from a long time.
Production of premium quality
auto-mobiles is part of the
branding of Aston Martin.
Aston Martin needs to use business
process redesign operations management
model in order to attain specific goal of
offering high quality electric vehicles.
This model will helps the firm redesign
business processes radically to attain
specific objectives.
Transportation DHL is Aston Martin's logistical
partners which helps the company
in timely delivery of goods.
Just in time manufacturing will help the
company deliver goods in timely manner
while also ensure cost effective inventory
management.
Time needed Time period of 4 to 6 months is
needed to attain devised strategy
of the firm.
Just in time manufacturing will help
Aston Martin improve time management
at the firm and decrease time taken to
attain various business goals.
Accountable
people
Department directors and
managers are the main
accountable people who are
involved in delegation of tasks
and assigning responsibilities.
Aston Martin needs to assign
responsibilities and develop performance
metrics in order to increase accountability
at the company.
M2 Analysis of effectiveness of continuous improvement plan
The continuous development plan developed fro British luxury car manufacturer Aston
Martin is effective in helping the company improve operations management and attain business
objective. The planned strategy of using lean manufacturing will help the company reduce costs
with no compromise on quality of the products. Aston Martin will be able to continuously
improve business processes and ensure that every activity contributes to providing consumer
value with the help of lean manufacturing which will help the company attain business objective

of profitability. The disadvantage of this strategy is that lean manufacturing can lead to delivery
inconsistencies which can decreases the reputation of the firm (Wu and Olson, 2020). Business
process design is advantageous operations management model for the firm as it will help the
company redesign business process to attain the goal of manufacturing high quality electric
vehicles. The disadvantage of business process redesign is that this model does not provide
immediate result and improvement in quality. The planned strategy of using just in time
manufacturing will help the company improve time management and quickly deliver products to
the consumer while lowering inventory costs. This disadvantage of this strategy is that it will
increase reliance of Aston Martin on suppliers.
D1 Application of suitable concepts to justify strategies of continuous improvement plan
The usage of just in time manufacturing in continuous improvement plan of Aston Martin
as it will help the company improve time management and inventory management while
ensuring quick delivery of products to the consumer. The strategy of using business process
design is also justified a it will help the company produce high quality electric cars, improve
business processes, assist in standardization of bet practices and improve transparency. The
strategy of using lean manufacturing is justified as it will help Aston Martin eliminate waste and
reduce cots to ensure uninterrupted delivery of goods.
TASK 3
P3 Application of Project life-cycle
Overview of the case study: Midlands based factory with employees aims to attain
business objective of help staff develop healthy lifestyle and decrease congestion in common
area during lunch time with the help of on-site catering project. The on-site catering project will
provide employees healthy dining at company premise during lunch time and assist in attainment
of business objective.
The application of project life-cycle in case of the on-site catering project for factory
based in Midlands is provided below:
 Project initiation: The fist stage of the project life-cycle is to identify business need or
opportunity and find ways to attain these opportunities (Barnes, 2018). Managers at
Midlands factory need to determine if the on-site catering project fulfils business needs
and successfully attains business objectives. In addition to this, initiation stage involves

determining the deliverables and participating groups in the on-site catering project to
develop high performing project team. Seeking approval from senior authorities is
another tasks which needs to be completed by the project managers at Midlands factory.
Business case
Executive Summary: On-site catering project is developed to help Midlands based
factory provide their employees healthy food on premise of the firm. This will help the company
promote healthy eating in the workforce and decrease crowding at local areas during lunch time.
Problem Statement: The problem faced by the Midlands based factory is to lower
movement of employees outside company premise during lunch and develop healthy eating
habits by providing on site catering.
Problem Analysis: This problem needs to be solved in the near future because the
congestion issues created by increased movement of staff during the lunch could lead to
accident. In addition to this providing on -site catering will help the company attain CSR
objectives by developing healthy eating habits and increase employee satisfaction. This depicts
that the benefits of the project outweigh the costs of the project.
Recommended Solution: The recommended solution for the Midlands based factory is
to provide on site catering of healthy eating options to employees. This will increase employee
satisfaction and help the company lower movement of employees during lunch breaks. Accidents
sue to congestion outside company premisses can be avoided.
Financial Overview:
Implementation Timeline:
Conclusion: The recommended solution to handle the problem of employee movement is
beneficial for the company and it can be completed in short time period. It also does not require
high investment but will help the company attain CSR objectives and improve employee
retention.
The scope of the project is huge as it involves providing catering services to 1250
employees. This involves identification of culinary likes and dislikes of employees to offer
catering services which satisfy every employee and does not financially burden the company.
Stakeholders analysis of the project
High Power Low Power
High Interest Employees Project

Low interest Government Suppliers
Employees: The employees of the company have high power and high interest in the
project as they are the end user of the project. It is important to closely monitor these
stakeholders in order to ensure that the project outcome is able to satisfy their needs.
Project team: The project team is the stakeholder with high interest and low power as
they cannot impact the project but have high interest in successful completion of the project. The
team members for the project need to be communicated regularly in order to ensure that
successfully outcomes will be gained.
Government: The government institutions have high power and low interest in the
project. This is because the employee health and safety regulations of the government influence
the food provided by the company through on-site catering. The government has low interest on
the outcome of the project. The company needs to keep the government satisfied by complying
with health and safety regulations and ensuring that fresh food is given to the employees.
Suppliers: The food catering suppliers have low power and low interest in the project as
they cannot influence the project ar have interest in successful completion of the project. It is
important to monitor these suppliers regarding supply of high quality catering services.
 Project Planning: This stage involves developing detailed plans for the project.
Identification of project planning strategy along with determining the resources and
requirements of the project is that main task of the project planing stage (Berbegal, Gil
and Alegre, 2017). Mangers at Midland factory need to develop project plan outlining
time frame, budget, activities, tasks and dependencies of the project.
Work flow document
GANTT CHART
Gantt chart is type of bar chart which depicts project schedule (Choi, and et. al., 2018).
The Gantt chart for on-site catering project at Midlands factory is provided below:

Gathering Resources: The financial resources for the project will be gained from
overdraft. Catering suppliers will be contracted to provide regular supply of catering services
on-site. The transportation resource will be company vehicle for transferring food on premises of
the company.
Estimate Budget:
 Project execution: Implementation of the project plan is at the centre of the project
execution stage (Chary, 2017). It is important to measure project progress and compare it
with project plan to identify defects or causes of delay and take corrective action.
Managers at Midlands factory need to need to continuously communicate with key

stallholders of the project and review project deliverables with decided criteria to ensure
that the project is being implemented effectively.
Brief team members: Team briefing is defined as the process of managers meeting with
their teams face to face so that information can be delivered, questions asked and feedback
collected. In case of the on site food catering project for Midlands based company, digital
channels such as email will be used by the company to deliver clear messages and encourage
open communication. In addition to this managers will hots regular face to face meeting with
team members to ensure two way communication.
Monitoring Quality: Key performance indicators will be used to monitor quality of
various aspects of the food catering project undertaken by Midlands based factory. The key
performance indicators will be regularly measured and reflect on successful attainment of project
objectives. The key performance indicators for the selected project are current development
backlog, labour costs spent per month, deviation of planned budget and planned value.
Budget management: Activity based budgeting will be used by Midlands based
company to ensure timely attainment of short term goals elated to on premises catering. This will
help manage budget foir the goal oriented operations associated with food catering project.
 Project closure: The aim of this stage is to handle final solution to the consumer and
terminating supplier contracts and examine project to understand which elements gave
positive results and identify elements which failed to provide desired outcome. Managers
ta Midlands factory need to evaluate positive and negative effect of healthy catering on
employees and the company to remover such elements from future projects.
The project results will be analysed at this stage in order to identify areas which had
positive impact on project outcome and areas which posed as barrier to successfully
accomplishment of the project.
Project closure document
Purpose:
Project description;
Scope statement: The scope of the project is huge as it focused on offering catering
services to 1250 employees. This scope was attained as healthy food was delivered to employees.

Project accomplishments: The food catering service was appreciated by employees
which reduced congestion outside company premises and help attain CSR activities of the
company.
Project Milestones
 To offer on-site catering service
 To reduce employee congestion outside company premises
 To promote healthy eating habits in employees
Lessons learned
It is important to identify needs of the employees before developing catering plans. In
addition to this medical history of the employees in context of allergic relations to specific food
items needs to be identified in order to ensure health and safety of the employees.
Project portfolio
Executive Summary: On-site catering project is developed to help Midlands based factory
provide their employees healthy food on premise of the firm. This will help the company
promote healthy eating in the workforce and decrease crowding at local areas during lunch time.
Objective: The objective of this project is to introduce healthy eating habits in employees
and decrease movement of large number of employees seeking food in local area during lunch
time.
Procedure: Research in dining likes and dislikes of employees is needed to select suitable
caterer who provides delicious and healthy food for employees.
Cost: The total cost of this project is £5,000.
Advantages: This project will increase healthy eating in employees which will reduce
stress and help in building community at workplace as every employee will eat together during
lunch. In addition to this it is advantageous for company as it will reduce movement of large
crowds of employees in local area.
Time: Time frame for completion of the project is of 5 months.
Project Strategy:
 Cost: The total cost of this project is £5,000.
 Extent: The extent of the project is huge as it aims to provide catering services to 1250
employees.

 Risk: The risk mitigation method for this project is to avoid risks and introduction of
factors which can have negative outcome.
 Resources: The resources for this project include capital investment to gain catering
suppliers.
M3 Analysis of rationale for project methodologies, tools and leadership within PLC of given
project
The rationale for using six sigma is that it helps decrease process variance and increases
efficiency of the team (Huang, Potter and Eyers, 2020). In addition to this by adopting six sigma
Midland based factory can ensure gaining high quality results from the project. Statistical
approach of six sigma will ensure timely completion of the project which justifies the usage of
six sigma methodologies.
The rationale for business process redesign is that it will help Midland factory redesign
business process to specifically attain this goal of the on-site catering projects. In addition to this
it will reduce costs of the project and improve employee retention to gain outcome from
optimum utilization of resources.
The reason behind usage of lean manufacturing is that it ensures that it increases
productivity, reduces waste and helps the firm gain continuous improvement (Kim and Irizarry,
2019). Continuous improvement is essential for the on-site catering project as it is related to
employee satisfaction and continuous improvement will increase employee satisfaction and help
in attainment of project objectives.
It is important to follow project life-cycle so that the project is completed in a timely
manner. In addition to this, adoption of the project life-cycle creates structure for project delivery
and improves communication between members. In addition to this project life-cycle is critical to
successful completion of the project as it enables regular project tracking cross the company.
Effective leadership is also important for timely completion of the project as it will help in
solving problems and eliminating barriers. In addition to this effective leadership unifies team
members to attain project goals and creates a synergetic project team to gain successful
outcomes.
Agile methodology is used by the respective company as it creates cross functional teams
and collaborative working. The advantage of agile methodology is that it provides superior
quality outcome, enhances control over the project and increases flexibility. The disadvantage

of agile methodology is that it leads to ineffective resource planning and involves limited
documentation.
Project leadership in the respective project helped in timely attainment of project goals.
The advantage of project leadership is that it ensures the the project team is going in correct
direction. The disadvantage of project leadership is that disagreements between project team
and leadership can lead to conflict and effect timely completion of the project.
TASK 4
P4 Review and Critique of effectiveness of Project Life cycle
Project Initiation: In this stage of the project contingency theory needs to be used by the
Midlands factory so that effective decisions are made in various situations. This leadership
theory will help leaders and project managers asses situations of the initiation stage such as
developing project deliverables and seeking approval from senior authorities and make effective
decisions easily which are in the best interest of stakeholders. The adoption of the leadership
theory in imitation stage will increase it's effectiveness as every decision will be made after
assessing situations and provide desired outcome.
Project planning: Agile methodology will be used in this stage in order so that project
needs and solutions are developed through collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross
functional teams. This will increase effectiveness of the project as it will assist in organized
planning and build high performing teams.
Project execution: Six sigma methodologies need to be utilized in this stage of the life-
cycle as it will decrease process variance and improve employee morale to develop high
performing team. Midland factor will be able to increase effectiveness of this stage with the help
of six sigma methodology as data driven approach will improve accuracy,control, policy
compliance and effeminacy of the project activities. This will lead to timely completion of the
project with high quality outcome.
Project closure: Teamwork skills are used in this stage to ensure effective project
closure and understand merits and demerits of the project to improve future projects.
Project plan refers to the document which outlines goals and objectives of the project.
Path taken to complete specific tasks and attain goals is provided in the project plan along with
resources needed to fulfil project objectives including budget and timeline. The project of offerin

catering services to Midlands based factory employees was completed by constructing detailed
project plan.
Pros: The project plan is advantageous as it ensures optimal utilization of resources and guides
the team towards timely completion of the objectives.
Cons: Project plan reduces flexibility and limits creativity to gain unique outcome.
M4 Critical analysis of use of concepts in Project life cycle differentiates between large and
small scale projects
Large scale projects Small scale projects
Six Sigma The usage of six sigma in large scale
projects focuses on quantifying and
measuring financial return of the
project.
In case of small scale projects six sigma
focuses on improving employee
involvement and teamwork.
Lean
manufacturing
Lean manufacturing is used in large
scale projects for continuous
improvement in quality.
In case of small scale projects lean
manufacturing is used to reduce waste
and increase sustainability.
Business
process
redesign
This operations management model
is high risk due to radical changes in
business process at large scale.
There is low risk in case of small scale
projects as radical change does not
affect the firm drastically.
D2 Critical evaluation of project life-cycle to draw valid conclusion and recommendation
Different stage of the project life-cycle assist in effective completion of a project. The
initiation stage helps in determining project deliverables. Ineffective decision sin initiation stage
can lead to failure of the project (Medini, 2018). Planning stage is essential to gain successful
outcome and helps the company develop detailed project plan. The negate aspect of the planning
stage is that selection of unsuitable employee can hinder success of the project. The project
execution stage involves implementation of the project. This stage may introduce disputes
between employees which can negatively affect the project. Mismanagement in closure stage can
negatively affect the outcome. It is important for the Midlands based factory to follow every
stage of the project life-cycle so that project is completed in a timely manner and every objective

is attained. The recommendation for the firm is to utilise operation management techniques such
as six sigma and lean manufacturing to gain effective results.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that operations management helps business firms
attain organizational objectives by contributing in producing products and services which offer
value to the consumer Several operations management methodologies such six sigma, business
process design and lean management principles help business firms increase effectiveness of
operations management. In addition to this adoption of six sigma methodologies and lean
management principles contributes to improving business processes. Continuous improvement is
philosophy which helps the company improve processes, products and services. Lean
metagenetic principle assist in adoption of continuous improvement processes. Continuous
improvement plan includes various elements such as cost, standard, transportation, time and
accountable pope. Project life cycle includes different stages of completion of a project. This
includes initiation stage. Planning stage, execution stage and closing stage.

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