Project Management and Operations Research

This assignment involves analyzing a collection of academic sources related to project management and operations research. It includes various books, articles, and online resources that provide insights into different aspects of project management, such as strategies, methodologies, and tools. The sources cover topics like construction management, supply chain management, logistics, and operations research. This study guide is ideal for students, researchers, or professionals looking to gain a deeper understanding of project management principles and practices.

Operations & Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within an
organisational context.............................................................................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................5
Continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations management
principles ...............................................................................................................................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................7
Apply each stage of the PLC, producing necessary supporting documentation for completing
project.....................................................................................................................................7
LO4................................................................................................................................................12
......Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using
appropriate theories, concepts and models................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Operations and project management is used to perform routine functions of an
organisation successfully. It involve various process like planning, organising as well as
controlling the resources of organisation to attain the goal of an organisation. Efficient and
effective management of project as well as operations helps the fund in optimum utilisation of
resources in order to achieve long term sustainable development (Heizer and et. al., 2017). To
better under the report Sainsbury and Sunshine company has been selected which is divided in
two parts A and B respectively. Sainsbury is one of the leading multinational retail store of UK
that offer various goods and services to customer. Whereas, Sunshine drink they engage to
activities like manufacturing as well as sale of fruit drink to build the confidence of customer
towards the product. Furthermore, first part comprises of information regarding review and
critique of effective management of operation for continuous improvement of company.
Similarly the other part of the report carry application on project life cycle to review and critique
its application (Harrison and Lock, 2017).
LO1
Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within an
organisational context
Operations refer to the job or task performed to transfer the raw material into desirable
product by delivering value to the customer. It basically emphasize on activities only associated
with production or operation management. On contrary, Operations Management include the
activity like designing or redesigning the operations of business in order to produce desirable
good and services. Further, it include activities like planning, controlling, coordination,
management as well as marketing the operations of business.
Sainsbury is one of the largest supermarket retail store of UK which was founded in 1869
and has occupied huge market share within its home country by dealing in various product such
as grocery, furniture, electronics and so on. There are over one thousand retail stores of company
that has engaged diverse number of population which result in increase the footfall of each store
(Binder, 2016). Therefore, the continuous improvement of company in terms of project and
operation management has given a tough competition to other retails store of UK that is Asda,
TK Maxx and so on.

Operation management has various principle which can be implemented by Sainsbury
company in order to strengthen its operations that include supply chain as well as logistics.
Therefore, these principle are defined below (Lientz and Rea, 2016):
Variance: Variance refer to the deviation that causes because of gap between standard
performance as well as actual performance of business. To minimise the chances of deviation
and expenditure of company respective principle is adopted. Herein, Sainsbury takes effect to
manage their logistic in order to make the product available to customer but this process ends up
in increasing the expenditure of company. As it consumes huge time as well as fund to
recruitment the workforce and train them. Thus, company need to select most optimum
technique in order to reduce excess cost.
Organisation: To gain long term profitability company should manage its operations
effectively (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). Like, Sainsbury makes effort to manage its
operations of logistics and supply chain by hiring big vehicles like trucks. Therefore, with the
growth and diversification of company it becomes tough for the organisation to manage all the
operations with same level of efficiency which can act ineffective to run operations.
Change: Changes are significant for the organisation with passage of time like the
existing desirable operations needs to be enhanced in future. In relation to Sainsbury company
can adopt new theory or model to the better management of its supply chain as well as logistics.
Along with that instead of fastest mode standard delivery technique are adopted by company that
leads to increase in cost as well as delay in delivery of items which makes it an ineffective
principle .
Fundamentals: According to this principle there are rules or norms of the company
which needs to be abide by the internal staff so that best possible output is delivered to the
customer (Pheng and Meng, 2018). In order to promote sustainable development respected
company makes measure like “green” clause to maintain the interest on environment as well as
society due to which it is an effective principle.
The motive to implement the principles of operation management is to work on the area
which are ineffective and provide essential solution to meet the upcoming requirement of an
organisation. The analysis of operation management is stated below:
 In order to meet the requirement of selected company they need to make significant effort
to lower down the cost of overall operations (van Aken, Chandrasekaran and Halman,

2016). For instance, company is apply the principle of variance for its wide variety of
products whether it is related to clothes, grocery or furniture. Henceforth, the motive of
this principle is to increase the variety instead of reducing the cost. So if the purpose is to
minimise the cost then this principle fails to fulfil the requirement.
 Along with that it is significant to manage the logistics as well as supply chain of
company for which they need to implement such principle which can manage the whole
diverse operation effectively. Therefore, to perform each activity the requirement should
be met that helps in minimise the chances of that can affect the organisation principle.
 It is significant to adopt most desirable technique to maintain the supply chain. Like
company has adopted principle of technique to manage the logistics of company. Thus,
this principle are trying to meet the existing requirement because of the progressive
development (). Therefore, organisation must make sure they must need the upcoming
requirements as well.
Principles of operation management: Operation management is a driving force that helps to
make the plan, business decision as well as conduct organisation process to make the business
decision successfully. According to Randall Schaeffer there are various principles of operation
management and some of them are defined below:
Principle of reality: Within this principle operation management must focus on the issue
of operation management rather than the technique. This is because the organisation can not have
the universal solution due to which issue needs to be identified effectively.
Positive aspect: It helps to avoid the same problem again even if the problem rises again
then internal member will gain the knowledge about how the things can be tackled.
Negative aspect: It is time consuming problem as huge time gets wasted in understanding
the problem.
Principle of Inventory management: The principle of inventory management includes
the participation of various employee to perform their role as well as responsibility effectively.
Proper management of inventory helps to decrease the chances of defects or spoilage by avoid
wasteful expenditure.
Positive aspect: It is an effective principle which can be adopted by respective company
the identifying the requirement and availability of inventory accordingly this gap is filled
effectively.

Negative aspect:It is time consuming process and if the demand is not forecasted
property then it may lead to shortage of good.
Therefore, these are the effective principle of operation management that helps to manage
the internal operation effectively.
LO2
Continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations management
principles
Continuous Improvement Plan is the ongoing improvement plan where company takes
significant effort to enhance the quality of product on the basis of review from the potential
customer. Sainbury can adopt continuous planning plan to enhance the operations of business
and produce desirable output within stipulated time period.
Lean principle aim of application of this methodology is to provide maximum value to
the customer by minimising or controlling the unnecessary expenditure of company. It comprise
of five principles that is define, value, map the value stream, create flow, establish pull as well as
pursue perfection (Verzuh, 2015). These principle enhance the overall productivity as well as
profitability of firm.
Hence, the continuous improvement method for Sainsbury in order to enhance its
performance is defined below:
BASIS CURRENT
METHODOLOGIES
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGIES
COST MANAGEMENT
Principle of variance is
implemented for multiple
goods of Sainsbury that
manage the operations of
business rather than
expenditure of company
The variance of company
between actual and standard
performance can be minimised
(Logistics, 2019). Along with
that company can lower down
its cost, manage its logistics
that further minimises the cost
of labour intensive technique.
QUALITY The principle implemented to
enhance the quality of
To maintain the quality of
services respected company

customer services as well as
supply chain management
needs to be enhanced to gain
better output.
make sure they manage the
internal operations effectively
through just in time method.
Along with that company can
formulation good supplier
relation in order to gain the
quality inventory without
facing its shortage.
DELIVERY
The current methodology
require change, as the product
needs to be delivered
effectively for which company
needs to enhance its operations
and choose those mode that
delivery to ultimate user within
stipulated time period.
Company and enhance its
distribution channel like
instead of only delivery the
product to retailer company
can choose more effective
modes such as airways or
seaways to make the delivery
of product.
Recommendations
 Instead of just maintaining existing innovation Sainsbury can enhance its method of
operations through continuous improvement programme. This can help the company to
adopt advance technology that can give company core advantage over others.
 Along with that company can use just in time method that helps to reduce the storage and
wastage cost of inventory for the company (Kerzner, 2019).
PDCA Cycle: It refer to plan do check and act which is a continuous improvement
process that enhance the quality of the product. It include four stages which are defined below:
Plan: Plan include the problem which needs to be addressed for which all decision are
made like how data will be collected to eradicate the root cause of problem.
Do: It refer to the action which needs to be implemented as a solution of the problem.
Check: After the solution is implemented check help the business tgo identify the
ultimate result and variation by comparing the data.

Act: Within this the further changes are imposed by the company based on the
recommendations of the problem.
LO3
Apply each stage of the PLC, producing necessary supporting documentation for completing
project
There are various phases of product life cycle such as initiation, planning, execution as
well as closure that helps to perform the overall work of an organisation effectively.
Business Case:
BASIS DESCRIPTION
Importance
Sunshine Drinks Company is into manufacturing, market as well as
sell the fruit drinks of various flavour such as tropical fruit flavour
and summer fruit flavour. Along with that company serve special
drink based on the season like natural filtered soft drink are served
during the spring season. These drinks are basically served to
refresh the consumer by eliminating added preservatives, flavour
and sugar content and making the drink healthier to consumed
Target Market
Sunshine drink target to youth, middle as well as old adult who are
the local resident of UK. This target group especially include those
people who are health freak or conscious and likes to intake organic
food or beverages (Simpson and et. al., 2015).
Cost Benefit Analysis:
Particulars Situation 1 Situation 2
Costs 100000 120000
Benefit 0 20000
(BEP point)

C os ts B en efit
0
2 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 0 0 0 0
1 4 0 0 0 0 C h a rt T itle
C olu m n C
Project Initiation:
If is the first stage of product life cycle which is used to determine objective,
requirement, opportunity which is needed for the project (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018).
Herein, respective company with the help of this stage checks the feasibility of overall project
and that value it will derive to the customer. It include decision making process where the ideas
of internal member are put forward to solve the issues meet the requirement of business.
Objectives
 The objective of Sunshine drink company is to increase the
market share of company by at-least 5% so that customer
starts recognising the product and leads to repeat purchasing
and word of mouth promotion.
 Moreover, the purpose of company is to enhance the
customer base rapidly as the organisation cannot force the
people to make purchase from their company only but they
can compel them to switch to their brand (McArthur, 2015).
Strategies
To accomplish the same, this company would be developing a top
quality energy drink along with robust advertising and marketing
through social media to gain popularity. Further, pricing penetration
strategy would be used by the firm to sell this product.
Thus, at this stage the project manager further passes the report to the higher authority or level
for approval to rectify the omissions of company. Sunshine energy company can apply the six
sigma methodology to improve the existing function of business. Along with that it helps to
lower down the expenditure of company and making the project more feasible.

Project Planning:
This stage require detail planning regarding the development of new or innovative
product. Moreover, it include the role of top management as well as project manager to gain deep
insights about the project. Along with that there are various factors which are associated with
implementation of project such as availability of resources and fund. Thus, management makes
discussion regarding all of these factors and accordingly budget is prepared to fill the gaps of
organisation. Therefore, the project planning for Sunshine is mentioned below:
Cost
Sunshine company has to incur expenditure on the technology as well
as resources require to perform the activities associated with the
project. The estimated total expenditure which company needs to incur
is approximately £95,000
Communication
In order to maintain smooth business process company conduct two
way communication where both the management as well as staff
remain free to share their views (Maylor, Turner and Murray-Webster,
2015).
Quality
To maintain the quality of innovative product company adopt upgraded
technology to maintain the quality of product and prepare the product
within stipulated time period.
Scope Scope of project is to employee the most suitable workforce and can
maintain the quality and helps to achieve sustainable development.
Therefore, at this stage lean principle can be used by company to control their waste that
result in lower downing overall expenditure of company. Along with that company can adopt
autocratic leadership style instead of democratic because this stage require allocation of roles

which are delivered by the top managers. Thus, to better understand gantt chart as well as work
breakdown structure has been prepared.
Gantt Chart:

Work breakdown structure:
Project Execution:
At this stage the planning related to the project are converted into the reality with the help
of execution of plan. Based on the allotted task work is performed in favour of organisation.
Along with that the manager of selected company make effort to enhance the knowledge of
employee by provide them training so that work is carried out based on the predetermined
discussion by reducing the chances of deviation. For instance, company can use Zoho project as
it gives the guidance to company regarding execution. Hence, democratic leadership style is used
by company to encourage the performance of employee in order to influence the behaviour of
company. Further, adoption of Total Quality Management can help the company to mange the
inventory of company (Heldman, 2018).
Document on Feedback Report for the project:
Objective To ascertain whether the prototype is easily accessible and
gives a high customer experience to the sample size of 50
individuals.
Feedback Questions Yes No

Does the images projected
have a high quality with
smooth audio-visual
experience?
✓
Is the price of the model
relevant to the quality of the
product?
✓
Were there any issues faced
while operating the model?
✓
Project Closure:
Within this phase overall performance or the success of team is analysed and
communication is conduced between the management as well as staff on the basis of conclusion.
In context to selected company this stage helps to determine whether the task are met
successfully based on the budget. Also if there are variances then it is identified to update the
strategy and modify plan for the future.
Document of Project Review for the project:
Project Review of Prototype
Risk Management ✓ (Excellent)
Quality of the product ✓ (Good)
Customer Appreciation ✓ (Satisfactory)
Cost Overrun ✓ (Nil)
Scheduling ✓ (Controlled)
Error-free ✓ (Very Good)

LO4
P4 Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using
appropriate theories, concepts and models
It is necessary for the manager at Sunshine Drink Company to properly implement PLC
as it provides effective guidance regarding performing project activities in an appropriate
manner. Therefore Waterfall model is an effective model to determine the effectiveness of PLC.
It is described as follows (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017)1-
 Requirement- This step is concerned with manager of Sunshine Drinks should
effectively analyse the requirement of resources such as financial and human resources so
that project related activities can be performed in an appropriate manner. In order to
provide key deliverables company adopted six sigma approach to reduce waste and errors
and achieve maximum efficiency in production. This approach adopted will enhance the
scope of providing quality products to the customers.
 Design- This step is concerned with development of suitable design and process so as to
complete overall project within effective time frame. This is concerned with the planning
stage of PLC where the company has made effective use of lean manufacturing to reduce
wastage and adopts autocratic leadership style which should be changed to democratic
style and increase employees participation assist towards the growth and development of
company (Project Management Tools and Techniques That Actually Work, 2018). This
increase the scope of modifications for developing the new products with better ideas and
thoughts.
 Development- This stage is concerned with developing and executing the whole project
in a appropriate manner. During executing the project Sunshine drink adopted TQM
approach which focuses on providing quality products to the customer and ensures
democratic style of leadership is adopted so that employees can positively contributes
towards the success of the project. Moreover the company can also adopt Just in Time
Inventory technique so as to reduce the inventory storage cost as well as provides quality
and cost effective products to the customer.
 Testing and Maintenance- In this step of testing and maintenance which is used to
evaluate the overall process which the business used and analysed effectivenesses of the
plan. Thus in order to gain the whole scenario strategic leadership is used within

respective company (Emerson, 2015). This method is significant used for project
manager to deal with the situation accurately.
Thus there are various technique which can be used by organisation to enhance its
performance. Like, Scrum methodology which is a simple technique and a part of agile
development. It is basically used for the self managing team which require low or no supervision
of leader with Sunshine Energy. Therefore, implementation of such methodology help in the
proper project management by enhancing the overall productivity (Kundu and et. al., 2015).
METHODOLOGIES SMALL-SCALE PROJECTS LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS
Six Sigma
In case of small scale projects
like labelling this method is
adopted to lower down the cost to
perform repetitive work
effectively.
Large project adopt this method
because it is controllable approach
that is used to manage the project
wisely, boost up the profitability
and maintain customer satisfaction
(Schönsleben, 2016).
Lean Principles
In terms of small scale work like
packaging the unnecessary cost
are avoided even for the finest
work
Within large scale business which
require huge operation as well as
managerial activity for the
development of new product
require planning as well as
decision making process while
consumes not only fund but also
resources of an o4rganisation due
to which company remain more
keen to adopt such principle
which are cost effective and
provide long term sustainable
advantage to the company.
Cost saving techniques

Cost saving technique is the tool which is used by the organisation to reduce the cost of
business activities as well as organisation in order to maximize profits. Every organisation apply
this techniques to solve the problems which is arising due to high cost. Business organisation
uses following cost saving techniques that is given below-
Preparation of budget: Every organisation should prepare budget that gives estimation
of cost which may incur within business industry. Moreover, it help to understand the upcoming
risk in business and can make changes accordingly.
Lean manufacturing: This process help to perform business function smoothly. It
operate business function in an enterprise that help to reduce the production cost and can use
available capital efficiently.
Use performance measurements to evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC
With the help of performance measurement can be defined of effectiveness of the PLC –
Through performance management can measure the performance of different activities in order
to identify effectiveness and it is consider as a tool. The company planning about the to launch
new product so they can develop project life cycle. In every stage analysis the performance of
product then if analysis any problem that will be reduced through evaluation of product. To
analysis the effectiveness use different factors like benchmarking, target customers and key
performance indicators. With the help of these factors know effectiveness and apply qualitative
and quantitative techniques.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that operation and project management is an
essential part of an organisation that helps to maintain the productivity and profitability of
business for long duration. Operation management basically emphasize to enhance the operation
by effectively converting raw material into finished good. Thus, for this organisation can
implement various methodology such as continuous improvement plan or lean principle.
Additionally, project management helps to initiate the development cycle of new product by
critically evaluating and reviewing innovative product. Further, Waterfall model and comparison
of methodology such as six sigma is used to evaluate the product life cycle for the development
of project.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Heizer and et. al., 2017. Operations management: sustainability and supply chain management,
12/e. Pearson Education.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Routledge.
Lientz, B. and Rea, K., 2016. Breakthrough technology project management. Routledge.
Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Pheng, L.S. and Meng, C.Y., 2018. Managing productivity in construction: JIT operations and
measurements. Routledge.
van Aken, J., Chandrasekaran, A. and Halman, J., 2016. Conducting and publishing design
science research: Inaugural essay of the design science department of the Journal of
Operations Management. Journal of Operations Management. 47. pp.1-8.
Verzuh, E., 2015. The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2019. Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project
management. Wiley.
Simpson and et. al., 2015. Professional, research, and publishing trends in operations and supply
chain management. Journal of Supply Chain Management.51(3). pp.87-100.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Maylor, H., Turner, N. and Murray-Webster, R., 2015. “It worked for manufacturing…!”:
Operations strategy in project-based operations. International Journal of Project
Management.33(1). pp.103-115.
Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley &
Sons.
McArthur, J.J., 2015. A building information management (BIM) framework and supporting
case study for existing building operations, maintenance and sustainability. Procedia
Engineering.118. pp.1104-1111.
Kundu and et. al., 2015. A journey from normative to behavioral operations in supply chain
management: A review using Latent Semantic Analysis. Expert Systems with
Applications.42(2). pp.796-809.
Schönsleben, P., 2016. Integral logistics management: operations and supply chain management
within and across companies. CRC Press.
Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., 2017. Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.
Emerson, R. W., 2015. Causation and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Journal of visual
impairment & blindness. 109(3). pp.242-244.
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