Operations and Project Management for Marks and Spencer

OPERATIONS AND PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
PART 1.......................................................................................................................................................4
LO1.............................................................................................................................................................4
Review and critique on the extend at which six sigma and lean principles could improve the delivery
and efficiency of operations in chosen organization................................................................................7
Analysis of how operations management meets the requirements of the organization............................8
LO2.............................................................................................................................................................9
Continuous Improvement plan.................................................................................................................9
Effectiveness of the proposed continuous improvement plan:...............................................................10
Application of theories, concepts and models to justify the strategies of continuous improvement plan
for attaining improved efficiency...........................................................................................................11
PART 2:....................................................................................................................................................13
LO 3..........................................................................................................................................................13
Project title............................................................................................................................................13
An overview of the case study...............................................................................................................13
Explanation of each stage of the PLC in context of in-house project.....................................................13
BUSINESS CASE.................................................................................................................................17
The project methodologies and tools used to complete the project........................................................19
Rationale for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within the PLC for the given project.....20
LO 4..........................................................................................................................................................21
Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using appropriate
theories, concepts and models...............................................................................................................21
Use of appropriate theories, concepts and models in the PLC will differentiate between large and small-
scale projects.........................................................................................................................................22
Critically evaluate the PLC through a practical and theoretical exploration of its effectiveness to draw
valid conclusions and recommendations for improvement....................................................................24
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................25
REFERENCES:.........................................................................................................................................26

INTRODUCTION
Operations management refers to the approach that deals with the everyday strategic
business issues in a systematic way. Project management on the hand, focuses on the planning,
motivation, organization, controlling and monitoring of various resources in an organization to
attain desired outcomes. Operations and project management (OPM) together provides the
expertise in the designing, planning, management and controlling of operations, logistics, supply
chain management and other project issues (Choi, Wallace and Wang, 2018). Marks and Spencer
is a British Multinational retail company which is specialised in selling clothes, accessories and
jewellery.
The report will contain 2 parts in which part one aim to critique and review the
implementation of operational management and its principles in chosen company as well as
design an improvement plan for company’s operational management principles. Part 2 will aim
to analyse the application of Project life cycle and review its application in the chosen company.

PART 1
LO1
Introduction to chosen company
The chosen company is Marks and Spencer. The company was found in 1884 by Michael
Marks. It is the largest retailer in United Kingdom and have more 300 company owned stores. Its
products include the home furnishing, footwear, gifts and clothes which all comes under the
private label brand. It is specialised in the sale of luxury food, clothes and home-wares. It have
its stores in more than 57 countries in all over the world. The financial unit of the company also
offers the customers personal investments, pension plans, savings and insurance services as well.
More than 17% of revenue of the company comes from outside the United Kingdom. Vision of
the company is to create a standard through which quality of other companies can be measured.
The mission of the company is to make the quality which is aspiring to all. The values of
company involves quality services, quality values, trust and innovations as well.
Figure 1Mark & Spencer launches online operations in 46 markets, 2021
Operations v/s operations management

Operations are the functions of the company. The objective of operations to enable the
company in production of goods as well as services. The operations function is involved with the
procurement of resources, their conversion into final product and then distribution to the final
customers. In simple words, operations involves all the activities which are required for creation
and delivering of the products of the company to their final consumers.
Operations management emphasis on the management, improvement and designing of
the systems which are concerned with the manufacturing of the goods and services of the
company (Benjaafar and Hu, 2020). The operations management is the administration of
business management practices which are concerned with creation of highest levels of efficiency
in the company. Operations management is also concerned with conversion of labour and
material into finished goods and services as soon as possible so that the organization can
generate maximum profits and outputs.
Figure 2: What is Operations Management - Definition & Guide, 2021.
Review and critique of implementation of operational management principles in company
There are various principles of operational management which are significant for the
Companies such a Marks and Spencer. As the primary focus of the company is towards the
creation of a supply chain which is smooth as well as to gain a competitive advantage. Through
the adoption of principles of operational management Marks and Spencer can gain the
competitive advantage and the desired outcomes (Lee, 2018). Some principles of operational

management which are crucial for the company to evaluate for implementing the best practices
are as follows: Organisation principle: A key principle of operations management is organization,
which states that all the elements of production should be consistent and predictable. As
M&S is a manufacturing company it organises all its resources which essential in the
production process. The company also emphasis more on its planning processes so that
productivity of its operations can be managed effectively (Oliveira, 2018). The company
uses hybrid trucks in order to improve its supply chain. It also updates the technologies
from time to time so that it can save costs as well as the funds through which the overall
costs of production can be reduced. However, it require huge time and costs in the
research and development department so that new ways of doing things can be generated. Quality control: This principle states that the company must have appropriate quality
control measure in it. These measures ensure and guarantee the quality of the product
manufactured by the company. Marks and spencer uses various quality control measures
such as Total quality management in various areas such as production, material
management, logistics and warehousing (Iravani, 2021). However, it needs to put more
emphasis on monitoring of its raw materials because the materials revolve all the way
through whole logistics and the supply chain as well. These raw materials are later
converted into the finished good which means they needs more monitoring then the other
resources. Humility principle: The humility principle of Operations management states that the
company should understand and respect the limitations of a project. It should avoid errors
and trails in order to save money and generate positive outcomes in organization. Marks
and Spencer focuses on the optimum utilization of the resources to generate effective
productivity. Through optimum utilization of resources, the company showcases the
efforts of the company towards environment and its protection (Ocon, 2020). Also
optimum utilization helps the company to save costs of material and their procurement as
well. Principle of change: This principle of operations management stated that the change is
inevitable in operational issues. So the companies need to accept continuous