Operations & Project Management

Operations & Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Overview of the company..................................................................................................1
2. Explanation of operation vs operation management..........................................................1
3. Implementation of operations management principles.......................................................2
5. Continuous improvement plan as a philosophy and describe the lean principles..............3
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan and critique of operations management principles.5
7. Recommendations to improve the operations functions....................................................7
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
1. Overview of the Portakabin case study..............................................................................7
2. Explanation of each stages of life cycle in relation to Portakabin case study....................8
3. Business case and explain the importance of new product................................................9
4. Work Breakdown Structure for developing a new product................................................9
5. Gantt chart based on WBS above clearly depicting critical path and project completion
time frame.............................................................................................................................10
6. Theoretical and conceptual arguments to justify the use of project methodologies.........11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is a business utility which is answerable to administrate the
procedure of manufacturing of products and services. It consist preparation, arrangement,
coordination and controlling all the origin that are needed to manufacture goods and serveries of
a specific company (Zwikael and Smyrk, 2015). Project management is a way through which a n
individual organise and manage resources which are required for the completion of the peoject
and task. This assignment is based on Unilever which was founded in 1929 by William Lever, 1st
Viscount Leverhulme, James Darcy Lever and Samuel van den Bergh. It is a British-Dutch
transnational consumer goods company and headquartered in London, UK. This document will
discussed about the effectiveness of operations management principles and the concept of
continuous improvement in an operational context. Further will define the project life cycle and
critique the application of PLC.
PART 1
1. Overview of the company
Unilever is a multinational organisation which selling consumer goods consisting foods,
beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. This firm was founded in 1829 and
headquartered in London, UK. There are 163,000 employees are working in this firm and
making their contribution in the growth of the organisation. Operating income of this company is
€12.535 billion, net income is €9.808 billion and total equity is €12.292 billion. This firm
operating its business in more than 100 nations with the help of more than 400 brands.
2. Explanation of operation vs operation management
Operation refers to a process, activity and action which is formulating by the
management of a firm to complete a task and project. For example, in Unilever, if the
management of the company produce or manufacture new product then they do some activities
like planning, budgeting, manufacturing and others. Whereas operation management indicates to
the procedure of managing these activities and operations so that the administration of the
organisation can achieve its set aims and objectives (Aarseth and et. al., 2017). It is a ongoing
function which performs activities that help in managing production of goods and services.
Operation vs operation management
1

Operation Operation management
 Operation refer to the activities and
actions which are made during the time
of producing goods and services.
 It concentrate on formulating acts
regarding product in adequate way.
 Operation management refers to the
management of these actions and
activities so that are formed in structure
way.
 It focus on running the business
effectively and efficiently.
3. Implementation of operations management principles
Principles of operations management
Reality: This principle states that operation management should concentrate on business
problem instead of techniques. The managers in Unilever generally focuses on the current
scenario of the enterprise by carrying out investigation about the market like whether the product
launched task is successful or not (Pärn, Edwards and Sing, 2017). If the management of the
company will not focus on the organisation and task's issues then it negatively affect the
company in term of profit and productivity. But if the administration focus on techniques and
strategies then it positively affect the employees performance.
Organisation: According to this principle, organisation consists of various departments
where the working of each function is connected with the other function. The management in
Unilever can perform their operation in co-ordination with every other department to manage
flow of communication. It will help in effective running of the production process because there
are various department which make their contribution in it. If the company will not interlinked
with other function of the management then it will not perform well and not achieved its set
objectives.
Fundamentals: This principle help in maintaining appropriate inventory records, general
systems disciplines etc. This principle assists the organisation in reducing the cost of the
operations. It utilises various other options which helps the company in minimising the costs.
Unilever in order to maintain the proper balance in costs and intensify the creativity among
employees may use this principle. If the company manage the inventory and cost of operation
then it will use this finance in other activities of the company which positively affect the growth
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