Operations and Project Management (Part-1)

This report discusses the importance of operations and project management in a business. It covers the principles of operations management and reviews the implementation of these principles in Unilever. The report also explains continuous improvement as a philosophy and recommends improvements based on a review of Unilever's operations management.

Operations and Project
Management (Part-1)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Explanation of operations v/s operations management...............................................................3
Review and critique of the implementation of operation management principles within
company......................................................................................................................................4
Analysis of the extent to which operations management of the company in the case study
meets the requirement of organisation .......................................................................................5
Discuss the continuous improvement as a philosophy and also explain the Lean principles.....6
Discuss continuous improvement plan with the justified recommendations for the
improvement which has to be based on a review and critique of operations management of the
company......................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals.....................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is concerned with the activities which are related with the
production, manufacturing, in service sectors which covers the planning, organizing and the
supervising of all the operations(Zareei, 2018) . It is related with the management of the best
practices which has to be conducted in a business so that the maximum level of efficiency and
productivity can be achieved. It is important that all the components in the operations
management are managed from the planning to the final evaluation. On the other hand, project
management is related with the application of knowledge, skills, processes and the experience so
that the objectives of specific business projects can be achieved. It is the somewhat different
from that of management because it is considered to be an ongoing process which covers the new
projects or the packages so that the agreed goals can be achieved. Unilever was started in 1929
and is having its headquarters in London, UK is a biggest consumer goods company which
provides all the products that are required by consumers. This report will cover reviewing the
effectiveness of operations management principles and application of continuous improvement in
an operational context.
MAIN BODY
Explanation of operations v/s operations management
Operations can be defined as the management of working which is taken place in the company.
There are different activities which takes place in the company which can cover the
manufacturing, marketing or the accounting function. In Unilever there are different activities in
which the operations of a business is considered to be as a growing in which the management of
a company must work according to the changes that are taking place.
Functions of operations-
 Planning- It involves planning of all the things which has to be undertaken in a business
so that no discrepancy can be faced by the organisation(Azhar, Riaz and Robinson,
2019). Unilever conducts all the planning so that the employees does not have to face the
problem of misguide which will directly make an impact on the achievement of goals.
 Finance- Finance plays the most important role in carrying out all the business activities
because without any finance it would be impossible for the company to carry out their
daily operations. It is essential that the finance department of a company is working with

the proper utilization of funds so that product can be developed at a low cost. Unilever
management always tries to fulfil the objectives of a company which covers the proper
utilisation of the finance.
Operations management is that area of management in which the designing and controlling of
activities which are related with production, manufacturing takes place. The main motive of
operations management is to make the conversion of raw materials into the good and services so
that they can provide the maximum profits.
The way in which operations management is applied in Unilever covers the supply chain
management which is the most effective and most important in terms of keeping the inventory on
time and restocking all the materials(Aćimović, Mijušković and Obradović, 2021). It is based on
the transportation of materials in which the company is linked with the operations management.
The other can be production of some products which are done the by production department of
Unilever.
Review and critique of the implementation of operation management principles within company
Operations management is related with the production function which helps in making
the production of manufactured products in a more effective and productive manner. In each of
the business there is some or the other operations which helps in providing the goods and
services to consumers. The main objective of operations management is to make the
management of every operations so that in can help in supporting the goals of company and
Unilever tries to focus on making the improvement in the process which they are using in the
proper working of operations. But for the proper implementation their are certain principles
which has to followed and those are explained below in context with Unilever-
 Reality- The management which are part of a operations department must make their
focus on working at a larger problem which covers the maximum area rather then
working on the small methods which are the part of that problem(Martinsuo and
Hoverfält, 2018). Unilever is a bigger organisation which provides all types of products
that are required by consumers and coming of any type of problem is very usual to them
because they work at a very large scale. So the management of a company have always
tried that they are working on a larger problems in which small problems will
automatically be achieved.

 Organization- It is seen that the production department is connected with all the other
departments because they are working on the main area of providing the products to
consumers. It is very important that all the elements are very much compatible so that the
outcome can be achieved in a fixed area. Unilever always tries to work in a organised
manner so that the strategy can be achieved and the outcomes can be achieved.
 Accountability- The accountable will mean that the person is responsible for the work
which are doing for the production of goods(Kester and Olatunbosun, 2019). Unilever
always develop the rules and metrics in the production department so that the workers
know as to how they have to work and what will be their area of operations. But this
principle is not undertaken by them in an effective way.
Analysis of the extent to which operations management of the company in the case study meets
the requirement of organisation
Every company has their main requirement which is to make the reduction in cost of
production which will be helpful for the company in increasing their profits. The owner of
business would be able to make their full concentration on the sales and varieties of products
which they have to sell in the market(Kaiser and Doleski, 2020). Unilever have always focussed
on working with quality and providing the products which are giving the motivation to
consumers to pay even the higher prices. The reproducibility is also good which Unilever has
always mentioned in the objectives of a company so that they work with great strategy and can
gain competitive advantage in the market. As the company have made the establishment of its
brand in many different countries because of which they have to provide quality and the
reduction in cost can be made with the help of increasing the activities of production.
Operations management have always made and helped in achieving the profitability of a
company because with this the management or the executives of a company can work on
different areas of company operations. Their are lot of area in which the employees have to work
and as operations management helps in working effectively on the activities which covers the
monitoring of revenue and expenses which will be useful in income and profitability statement of
a company. The other factor is that the implementation of proper operations management

activities helps in delivering the quality of products and services to consumers. Unilever have
always tried that they work with effectiveness in the provision of providing quality to the
consumers in the products so that they can attain good position in the market. If good planning
and proper strategies will be made then with this company would be able to deliver the best
products at a best values to the consumers. It is also helpful in providing the productivity to the
businesses because Unilever with the help of it makes the proper management of the resources
during the process of production.
Discuss the continuous improvement as a philosophy and also explain the Lean principles
Continuous improvement plan is related with working with different set of activities in
order to bring improvements and some new changes in the products and services which the
company wants to provide to the consumers. Unilever have always tried to make the
modifications in their existing products so that consumers can make it significant that the
company is providing them some differentiated products then the others in a market (Leite,
2018). It has been seen that not every company works with great efficiency and productiveness
and to bring the improvement they makes it very sure that they make some of the changes which
are good and unique helping the company to give them the profitability. If the processes will be
improved then not only the production process will be improved but with it the engagement of
employees will also be undertaken. It is because the culture of a company will be developed
which will lead to more open and flexible communication.
Lean can be considered as the careful and rigorous elimination of the waste which is happened
because of the different methodology which is used by the companies(Sopadang and Wichaisri,
2021). This is helpful in making the development of most effective and efficient environment
which will be helpful in fostering the growth in a business. There are five principles of lean
which are discussed below-
 Identify value- The first principle explains the identification of consumer needs which
will be helpful in achieving the success in a market. The managers of a company have to
make the evaluation of it so that they can deliver the same products according to the
needs of consumers.

 Map the value stream- The other principle explains the identification of all the activities
which are required to make the completion of a project. Unilever managers makes the
identification of all the factors so that they can find out all the inefficiencies.
 Create a flow- When the waste gets removed the next step is to make the workflow so
that their is smooth process of activities(Mishra and et. al., 2020). Thus, with this the
whole project gets divided into smaller parts so that the projects gets completed in a
sequence.
 Establish pull- It is important to make the maintenance of inventory so that the
objectives of a company can be achieved timely. But excess inventory maintenance will
create difficulty to the company as they have to face higher cost.
 Continuous improvement- The last is continuous improvement which makes into
consideration all the factors which can help in providing success to the business.
Discuss continuous improvement plan with the justified recommendations for the improvement
which has to be based on a review and critique of operations management of the company
Continuous improvement plan are the efforts which is undertaken by the organisation so that
they can make improvement in the procedure of developing the products and services. These
improvements are done on the basis of insufficiency which is determined by the manager as it
can make some impact in the efficiency of a company. The process involves various stages
which are discussed below-
 Plan- This process explains the identification of opportunity and then making some
improvements and changes in it.
 Do- The other is to make some changes which will be helpful in the improvement
process.
 Check- It is essential to make the analysis of changes so that the management of a
company could be able to make a difference(Li and et. al., 2021). Act- If the changes which have been made by the company are good then it can be
implemented at a larger scale.
Recommendations- It is very essential that Unilever makes the specific changes in the
accountability which employees at time becomes responsible for it. Continuous improvement
plan is the strategy which will be useful for the companies to make some changes. Unilever have

always tried to make some or the other modifications in its products but at some point of time the
products which they deliver to consumers does not meet the standards which at times creates
problem to the company.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is important for the organisation to work
in a managed way for the different operations of a business because with that the company would
be able to get the best results in manufacturing and production. But for this, there are certain
principles which has to be applied in operations management in order to get the effective
management of the activities conducted. Project management is also important because it helps
in brining leadership and a roadmap to the projects. If the project management principles would
not be used then it can become very difficult to work with efficiency.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aćimović, S., Mijušković, V.M. and Obradović, J., 2021. Standardization of Global Logistics
Business Operations. In Eurasian Business Perspectives: Proceedings of the 29th
Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference (pp. 87-97). Springer International
Publishing.
Azhar, S., Riaz, Z. and Robinson, D., 2019. Integration of social media in day-to-day operations
of construction firms. Journal of Management in Engineering. 35(1). p.06018003.
Kaiser, T. and Doleski, O., 2020. Advanced Operations. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Kester, A. and Olatunbosun, A., 2019. Modelling and Simulation of a Closed Loop Control
System for Automated Drilling Operations. i-Manager's Journal on Instrumentation &
Control Engineering. 7(3). p.1.
Leite, F., 2018, June. Automated Approaches Towards BIM-Based Intelligent Decision Support
in Design, Construction, and Facility Operations. In Workshop of the European Group
for Intelligent Computing in Engineering (pp. 276-286). Springer, Cham.
Li, M. and et. al., 2021. Digital twin-driven virtual sensor approach for safe construction
operations of trailing suction hopper dredger. Automation in Construction. 132.
p.103961.
Martinsuo, M. and Hoverfält, P., 2018. Change program management: Toward a capability for
managing value-oriented, integrated multi-project change in its context. International
Journal of Project Management. 36(1). pp.134-146.
Mishra, A. and et. al., 2020. Sourcing structures and the execution efficiency of information
technology projects: A comparative evaluation using stochastic frontier analysis.
Journal of Operations Management. 66(3). pp.281-309.
Sopadang, A. and Wichaisri, S., 2021. The role of lean sustainable logistics in business
operations. International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management. 39(1). pp.111-
126.
Zareei, S., 2018. Project scheduling for constructing biogas plant using critical path method.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 81. pp.756-759.

Operations and Project
Management

Table of Contents
PART 2............................................................................................................................................3
The overview of the case study..............................................................................................3
Project Life Cycle...................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the project with the help of tools and methodologies.........................................8
Review and critique the application of the PLC used in a given project...............................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10

 PART 2
Project Title:
 Reducing the movement of staff from the premises during the lunch break which is
currently creating congestion issues in the local area
 Helping staff to develop a healthy lifestyle which the organisation believes is part of their
CSR and will also reduce staff absenteeism
◦ The overview of the case study
It is examine that large company in Midland such as Cromwell tools operating their
activities and their business practices so that they can accomplish their goals and objectives in an
appropriate manner. For that aim, the company is concentrating on completion of their activities
in the dust on them particular timeframe that help them to achieve their targets. The organisation
have different and many workers at Their work please so that the company can complete their
project and their activities. For the growth and for the success of their activities as well as for the
company the company is required to achieve their targets within a particular timeframe and In
the efficient manner (Wang, Shao and Tang, 2017). These all kind of activities can be done by
the support of appropriate planning and execution of the project. From the investigation and from
the case study it has been analysed that Day by day the interest of this stuff is getting low. It also
has been analysed that the absentee rate as well as moment of the stuff from the premises during
the lunch break is increasing. These all kind of activities represent that the productivity in the
fish and sea of the organisation is affected and it is not good for the success of the company. In
order to achieve the task and a golden objectives, the organisation analyse that they should
develop a plan that going to support them to overcome the problems and clear out the rules and
responsibilities of the every staff so that they can improve their productivity as well as they can
help in the staff to develop a healthy lifestyle so that they can reduce staff absent day in the
company. Apart from this, this case study also going to focusing on the developing of healthy
lifestyle that is a part of the corporate social responsibility.
◦ Project Life Cycle
The project life cycle is a systematic process that begins with the program's conception
and ends with its execution. It is a crucial process for organisations because it allows them to
fulfil their aims and outcomes via the use of a well-designed and well-executed project life cycle.
If production is interested in improving project life cycles, they will surely perform effectively

by offering clients with the finest goods and services. It is analysed that providing the greatest
goods is a component of business social responsibility since organisations are obligated to
deliver high-quality products as they use general societal natural environment. As a result, it is
critical for businesses to concentrate on enhancing their project life cycle. The project life cycle
has four critical steps that manufacturing companies must understand in terms of improving
them. Project commencement, planning, execution, and closure are all crucial steps. It has been
determined that a program is defined for a specific period, implying that it has a set time limit
within which it must be completed. It will be easier to comprehend if every stage is explained
separately.
Project initiation
Project imitation as the name already tells about the concept of project initiation that it is
the first step in which the organisation start the project or any activity. That means the selected
company that is growing very tools inside their objectives of the project. It isn’t very important
stage or important step for the company because in this the company decide what are the
objectives which are required for the company in order to achieve their goals and objectives and
get the success in on particular timeframe. By the support of setting objectives and targets the
organisation become Capable to initiate their project in an appropriate manner with appropriate
direction and goals (Gonzalez, Aleu, and Diaz, 2017)
.
Project Planning
This is the stage which is very important for each and every step because it helps the
company to develop the plan and formulate the strategies in an appropriate manner so that the
company become capable to achieve their targets and goals. Project planning is the kind of
strategy that looks like a roadmap and it is also look like a blueprint that helps the organisation to
direct about the every and each person so that the individual and a company can achieve their
targets of the project. Cromwell tools organisation are required to list every important component
in the project planning so that they can formulate if active project without any confusion. Would
you planning is the activity where the organisation engage the objectives of the different projects
like rolled in the Spons ability of every member that are participating in the project while making
a budget or while making or developing a strategy for the organisation and many more. The
whole important component should be considered in the project planning. For that in the

organisation developing a business case that helps them to evaluate about the strategy and also
give conclusion of the plan that how the company can execute their project (Pasaribu, Vanclay,
and Zhao, 2020). Apart from this, it also caters or appropriate guidance about The
responsibilities and roles of every members. This all is strategies in the steps can be understood
by the help of work breakdown structure that are below mentioned:
Executive summary Crumble tools and the company that deals in
catering of industrial equipment such as
handles, power tools and cutting tools and
many more. For the growth and success of
the organisation the company which is
Cromwell tools are developing and
formulating best plan for the project so that
they can achieve their goals and objectives
and improve their productivity innovations
in the marketplace. Project planning plays an
important role for the organisation in order
to execute important components which are
required by the organisation in order to
become effective in the market place.
Mission From last 50 years, the organisation
Cromwell tools have a one mission to
become a most effective market leader in the
industry tools so that the organisation can
improve their brand image and can stand at
their position.
Project This project is completely rely on Making
end of looking a healthy environment that
reduce absentee and waste time in the
moment of staff and workers. For that aim,
The company or the organisation is
formulating the friendly strategies and

providing and purpose of project that is all
about making the best industrial for their
clients.
Resources From the investigation it is been analysed
that the organisation require different kind of
sources so that they can manufacture the
tools and products according to the survey
and a different kind of manufacture towards
the required data is plastic, steel, iron,
machinery, land and many more. These all
are resources which are needed by the
company so that the company can make the
industry tool (Di Maddaloni, and Davis,
2017). But one thing that the company is
captain in their mind that they are going to
manufacturing industry tools with minimum
wastage and eco-friendly so that the
company can maintain environmental
sustainability and cannot harm environment.
These all activities are part of corporate
social responsibility because the organisation
wants to improve the awareness in the
context of corporate social responsibilities.
Allocation and management of finance In order to collecting and gathering the
resources and data that is required by the
company so that the company can
manufacture the product it is very important
for the company to have a appropriate
financial stability. There are different kinds
of sources of finance that adopted by the
company that are launched from financial

and banking like, share capital, retaining
earnings and many more. These all are the
resources which are considered by the
company in order to maintain their financial
stability(Pärn, Edwards and Draper, 2016)
Competition Competition is very essential for the
company in order to focusing and
concentrating on stay more competitive and
efficient in the marketplace. For that M, the
organisation is using different kind of
marketing strategies and tools so that the
company can achieve their goals and
objectives and bring more opportunities for
the company in order to get more
competitive advantages.
Project Execution

After formulating the plans and strategies in this stage the organisation is implementing
there is strategies according to the plan. It is an essential stage for the company as the company
have to implement in the same bed which day plan. In order to achieve their goals and objectives
and complete the project within a particular timeframe, the project manager is required to
evaluating and monitoring their performance after implementing. These all activities support the
company to ensuring that their activities are operating in an appropriate manner so that they can
overcome the uncertainty and problems (Helmold, and Terry, 2021). Project manager of the
organisation are also evaluating an on analysing that every work is done on the basis of the plan
in which each member is performing in operating their own duty and responsibilities in an active
manner.
Project closure:
project has a fixed time period that closed after completing it. Project closure is the thing
that helps the organisation to concentrating on the next project in order to improve their
efficiency. Project closure on stage is very essential for the company in order to satisfy their
requirement and target their objectives so that they can achieve their long-term target.
From the above mentioned discussion of the project life cycle defined that project
Planning is the thing that considered for the stage that that project In addition, project planning,
project executing and project closure. Every stages of project life cycle should be efficiently
operating in an appropriate manner so that the company can achieve their goals and objectives.
◦ Analysis of the project with the help of tools and methodologies
It is very apparent that the project is under Goes with different kind of important stages
that is discussed above. The effectiveness and success of the project is completely rely on the
analysis of the project by the support of the Different tools and Techniques that are adopted by
the project manager of the project. That means the project managers of the organisation are
required to adopt a different kind of tools and techniques that support them to evaluate and
analyse the success and growth of the project (Visser, 2020). There are different kind of
important tools and techniques that are considered by the company so that the company can
analyse the success of the project. There are different kind of important tools which are below
mentioned:
Classic technique:

Classic technique is a very important tool for the project planning because it carries every
important activities in the project. By the use of classic technique, the organisation become
capable to effectively formulating their strategies. In this strategy the company set down each
task in an appropriate manner and step-by-step. This activity supports the company to
maintaining quality of the project and also improves the performance. It also support the
company to monitoring the performance of their workers so that they can make sure the workers
of the company are performing Their activities according to the standards. Classic technique is
the very important to us because it also set the particular deadlines of the project and also give
priority to the task so that the individual can complete the task in a particular timeframe and
according to the priorities. This technique is less complex is compare to the another techniques
because it is very easy to use and provide different kind of benefits to the company.
Waterfall technique:
Waterfall technique represents the meaning of this technique according to their name.
This technique waterfall that is slightly move down in an appropriate an authentic Manner.That
means in the project management every activity or every task start from the upper level that is
moved to the lower level and these all activities are done in a smooth manner so that the
company cannot facing any kind of problems (Omar, and Nehdi, 2016). It also helps the
organisation to overcome the complexity and ambiguity of the project. Apart from this it also has
been analysed that this technique assist the organisation to use Gant chart that helps the company
to work on the basis of the structure and complete their work according to the particular
timeframe. The selected organisation that is Cromwell tools are adopting this techniques when
they are producing And manufacturing their tools and techniques because it helps them to
achieve their goals and objectives and also support them to get more positive outcomes(Wu,
Huang, and Jiang, 2020).
◦ Review and critique the application of the PLC used in a given project.
By the analysis of the project life cycle and by the analysis of the important unessential
tools and techniques it has been analysed that the company should concentrating on the critical
evaluation of every stage and taught. It helps the organisation to achieve their goals and
objectives within a particular timeframe. By the support of the application of project life cycle in
a company that helps the company to make them capable to officially manufacturing their
products and improving their every stage of project life cycle. It also has been analysed that the

project life cycle is very important to all and in project life cycle project planning and project
executing is the most important stages In which the organisation are required to concentrating on
their implementing and planning stages in order to achieve their target. But the support of this
case study, the organisation also required to the club corporate social responsibilities practices in
their company so that the company can make healthy lifestyle in the company and also improve
the environmental sustainability (Kumar, Mittal, and Joshi, 2019). Apart from this it also has
been analyse in mind that healthy lifestyle in the company environment support the company to
reduce absenteeism and wastage time of workers.
 CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned reported has been concluded that operation simple form by
every organisation should be manage according to the organisation in order to achieve their goals
and objectives. Apart from this as this report covers project life cycle that is the matter of
managing and handling the operation that support the company to reduce cost and complete the
project in an appropriate manner within the particular timeframe. Apart from this, this report also
cover for important stages of the project life cycle that a project in addition, project planning,
project executing and project closure. Further more, project manager required to analyse every
stages of the projects that the project manager can make sure about their success and growth of
the organisation. For that purpose, the organisation are required to use important kind of
methodologies and tools that support them to analyse and monitoring the performance of the
project.

 REFERNCES
◦ Books and Journal
Wang, J., Liu, J., Shao, A. and Tang, L., 2017. Operations analytics and optimization for
manufacturing, logistics and energy systems. Frontiers of Engineering Management, 4(3),
pp.239-241.
Gonzalez, R.M., Aleu, F.G., Valdez, L.M. and Diaz, J., 2017, October. Operations management
in hospitals: A literature review. In Proceedings of the International Conference on
Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (pp. 532-542). IEOM Society.
Pasaribu, S.I., Vanclay, F. and Zhao, Y., 2020. Challenges to implementing socially-sustainable
community development in oil palm and forestry operations in Indonesia. Land, 9(3),
p.61.
Di Maddaloni, F. and Davis, K., 2017. The influence of local community stakeholders in
megaprojects: Rethinking their inclusiveness to improve project
performance. International journal of project management, 35(8), pp.1537-1556.
Pärn, E.A., Edwards, D.J. and Draper, R., 2016, May. A Case Study of Building Information
Modelling Enabled ‘Information Totem’for Operations and Maintenance Integration.
In Proceedings of the CIB World Congress.
Helmold, M. and Terry, B., 2021. Lean Principles in Operations and Supply. In Operations and
Supply Management 4.0 (pp. 65-76). Springer, Cham.
Visser, W.F., 2020. A blueprint for performance-driven operations management. Mining
Engineering, 72(5).
Omar, T. and Nehdi, M.L., 2016. Data acquisition technologies for construction progress
tracking. Automation in Construction, 70, pp.143-155.
Kumar, M., Mittal, M.L., Soni, G. and Joshi, D., 2019. Selection and Scheduling of
Interdependent Projects using a Modified Genetic Algorithm. In Proceedings of the
International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management
Bangkok, Thailand, March 5 (Vol. 7).
Wu, X.J., Huang, W.W., Jiang, J., Klein, G. and Liu, S., 2020. Boundary buffering: limiting
interference and information leakage in design teams. International Journal of Operations
& Production Management.