Operations and Project Management for Tesco: A Review and Continuous Improvement Plan

This report provides a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within Tesco, including an analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization meets the requirements of the organization. It also discusses continuous improvement as a philosophy and describes the Lean principles including Six Sigma. The report concludes with a continuous improvement plan based on various models and theories.

OPERATIONS AND
PROJECT MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction of Tesco.......................................................................................................................4
P1 ....................................................................................................................................................4
Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within
an organizational context.................................................................................................................4
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management.........................................................4
3. A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within
the chosen organization................................................................................................................4
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations' management of the organisation in the
case study meets the requirements of the organization................................................................5
M1 ...................................................................................................................................................6
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles
including Six Sigma ....................................................................................................................6
P2 ....................................................................................................................................................7
Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles within an organizational context................................................................7
M2 ...................................................................................................................................................8
Analyse the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories, concepts
and/or models...................................................................................................................................8
D1 ....................................................................................................................................................8
6.A continuous improvement plan, including your justified recommendations for
improvement, based on your review and critique of operations management principles within
your organization.........................................................................................................................8
7. CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................9
PART 2 : Project portfolio.............................................................................................................10
Project Title................................................................................................................................10
Overview of the case study........................................................................................................10
Explaining each stage of PLC for the organization...................................................................10
Project planning-........................................................................................................................11
Analysing the project methodologies and tools.........................................................................12
Critically reviewing the effectiveness of PLC applying theories and models...........................13

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

Introduction of Tesco
The report of operation management has chosen Tesco as the organization. It is a UK
based multinational general merchandise and grocery retailer. It has its headquarters situated in
Welwyn garden city, UK. Tesco has a large product portfolio which has products for every group
of customers in the market. It has many subsidiary as well such as Tesco bank, Tesco mobile etc.
it is the largest supermarket chain in UK (Zhen and et.al., 2019). As Tesco is operating globally
in many nations offering numerous product and services it has adapted a very systematic
operational management which has enhanced the business operations as whole. Company is
constantly launching such products under its brand name which suits the changing needs of the
customers. It has its own club card membership which is also a customer retention program.
P1
Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations
management principles within an organizational context.
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management
Operations are the day to day activities of the business which keeps an organization
going. Operation and operation management are different from each other, yet they are essential
part of the organization. Operation management deal with the conversion of raw materials into
final products in effective way. Whereas, the operations are concerned with the manufacturing,
distribution of goods and services (Wolniak, 2020). e.g. Tesco is a large organization which
indulges into bot operations by maintaining the manufacturing and distribution activity and
operation management by creating an effective conversion of raw material into goods and
service.
3. A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within the
chosen organization
Operation management is a broader term which takes care of many productions related
activities such as supply chain management, quality control, conversion of raw material in final
products etc. an organization mainly uses two types of operations such as opened and closed
loop. Opened is about applying the quicker and speedy method to the business process and
closed one is about monitoring the business processes and incorporating the feedback to make
product quality better. Tesco is a product based company which has multiple outlets in the

country, it believes in hiring such employees and staff which brings utmost productivity in the
business.
Also, they believe the customer satisfaction is the key to successful business and it is
important that each process in the organization is directed towards bring the best satisfaction by
the various means such as quality product, value for money goods, best services etc. According
to the Taylor's theory of Scientific Management, an organization can successfully place itself in
the market by optimizing and simplifying the business process and investing into the employee
training and development program which can enhance the overall business (Zhang, Wang, and
Lin, 2019). Yet the amount which needs to be invested for the same remains the limitation of the
company. Tesco relies on the flexible specialization phenomenon which mitigates the production
and distribution quality by bridging the gap between ever-changing consumer demand, as it
supports reduction of production waste.
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization in the case
study meets the requirements of the organization
Tesco is a large scale organization which has multiple department in the organization
such as operation, sales, human resources, marketing, advertising, finance manufacturing etc.
and all these together helps to meet the goal of the organization. Tesco is also incorporating a
collaborative working environment which enhances the productivity in the company. Company
is currently focusing on providing value for money goods, which means high quality goods at
low prices, as due to Covid-19 the spending capacity of consumers has decreased, for this Tesco
is making huge investments for cost reductions (Chen and Jia, 2020). There major product
portfolio is about the consumer need items such as grocery, electronics, home utility etc.
therefore they are using technological advancement to maintain the high quality of goods as
consumers do not compromise n the quality of daily use items. They are modifying the
marketing strategy in such way build itself as a very approachable and affordable brand.
With the help of the operation management techniques company can further enhance the
offerings to the stakeholders according to their requirement in the market place. e.g. Tesco is
hiring more and more staff which can reduce the ques in the stores or supermarket, also they are
adapting technology which can enhance the business process and give customers a great
shopping experience in the supermarket, they have recently acquired the Argos which has the

best delivery chain in the country and Tesco is using this delivery channels to meet the
requirement of the online customer base (Tak and et.al., 2021).
M1
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles
including Six Sigma
Continues improvement (CI) is considered as one of the integral parts of the organization
as the helps in determining the flaws and shortcoming of the business and business processes
which makes an organization work on those things resulting into the betterment of the quality of
the products and service. CI believes in four important principles such as business needs to
improve rather than fix, secondly it focuses on existing practices of the business, thirdly is to
determine the changing behavior of the customer and fourth is if an organization is not failing
than its not even trying on the first place (Liu and et.al., 2018).
Lean method primarily aims to control the waste in the business activities importantly the
production activity. There are various method of lean production. Tesco follows Kaizen CI
which enables its employees to work collaboratively and bring the best productivity in the
business. Next is just in time method which believes in producing only that quantity of goods
which is demanded by the customers rather than storing the large amount of inventory. Next is
Kanban which helps in visualizing the status of each activity and helps monitors the production
floe in the organization (Qin and et.al., 2019). Next is concurrent engineering focuses on low
cost goods with better productivity by enhancing the designing and launching products which
simultaneously operates various activities. Stock control activity enhances the company's stock
by controlling the wastage. There is one more method which brings the audible alarm to alert the
staff to know the changes in manufacturing line or working process.
Tesco follows Kaizen CI and stock control methods to reduce the wastage in the
production process. As inventory management and suppliers chain is important for the company
to understand the demand supply and reduce the wastage of products in the process. These
methods are very productive for the company as it helps in meeting the goals of the company
such value for money goods offering the competitive prices in the market.
Six sigma model comprises techniques which results in process improvement in the
company. There are five important principles which provide framework for reducing the defects.
Tesco uses this model which is evident due to high rate of customer satisfaction. The first

principle is to focus on the customers' expectation, needs, wants and fulfill the same, second is to
eliminate the wastage to reduce the deviations, it will result into standardization giving
customers a better experience. Last principle is to maintain the effective communication and
feedback for the latest standards and practices. It is a suitable method for the company as it
beings flexibility in making changes for the employees and customers both (Guo and Zhu, 2022).
P2
Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles within an organizational context
Tesco's continues improvement plan can be analyzed by applying various models while
identifying the merits and demerits for the company.
Kaizen: Tesco brings small and effective changes by incorporating teamwork or collaborative
activities. Advantage of this is the better productive working environment and disadvantage is
the unwillingness of employees to cooperate with other team members.
Quality Circles: it focuses on plan, do, check and act which ensures identification of potential
hurdles and resolving the same. Benefit of this is the individual improvement and drawback is
the time needed for implementing changes.
Bench marking: this helps in measuring the business dynamics with the competitors of Tesco
such as Sainsbury, amazon etc. pros of this is the improvement of internal process and cons is
lack of customer retention which Tesco is facing (Bazmohammadi and et.al., 2018).
TQM: this will help company to manage the quality of the products and business process which
can achieve the long term goals of the company. Advantage is the quality improvement in the
business and disadvantage is that no quick fixing of problem is maintained.
SCM: supply chain management helps in centralized management of flow of goods and services
in the market place. Better network of supply which enhances the supply meeting the demand
effectively. Disadvantage is wastage of labor and inventory cost.
ERP: it facilitates the maintenance of the daily activities such as accounting, inventory,
compliance etc. Tesco is able to maintain the customer data effectively is the advantage of this
method. Complex use of software to maintain the customer data is a disadvantage.
Value engineering: Tesco uses this method to eliminate the extra cost by evaluating, eliminating
and improving various business activities. It enhances lower operating cost which is advantage

and disadvantage is the agreement between the team to make a decision (Andervazh, Javadi and
Aliabadi, 2020).
M2
Analyze the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories,
concepts and/or models
Tesco focuses on total quality manage and bench marking theories that brings company a
high competitive edge in the market by fetching th high quality products to the customers.
Organization is working towards incorporation the best measures system to check the quality of
products as consumers do not compromise on the quality of the products. Bench marking is
important theory which sets specific target by researching the markets and competitors resulting
in effective operational activities in the organization. These theories and models are effective for
the company as it brings the productivity by incorporating the communication channels, hiring of
effective staff for both production house and stores (Li and et.al., 2021). Supermarkets in UK are
facing tough competition in terms of cost and quality. These approaches can help Tesco build
itself against this competition really well.
D1
6.A continuous improvement plan, including your justified recommendations for
improvement, based on your review and critique of operations management
principles within your organization
Tesco has adapted various effective management principles which are brings the best to
company. Taylor's Theory of Scientific Management is one of the important principle it is
focusing on making the jobs within the organization simple by embedding technology for
employees and staff members. It avails faster decision-making process in the organization. It
happens to be highly bureaucratic which is a disadvantage of this method. Yet this can be
improved in the Tesco if company focus on motivating the employees which makes the
organization becomes employee-centric.
For bridging the gap between consumer demand and product offered, flexible
specialization is another such operation management principle which is followed by the
organization (Wang and et.al., 2022). Low cost of production is the advantage and threat of
employee alienation is the shortcoming of this method. Company also focuses on is the mass
customization which includes techniques of marketing and manufacturing. Advantage associate

with this method is company can charge good amount for premium products which increase
revenue and disadvantage is the negative impact on the supply chain management. Investing
more in digital platform is a better way rather than simple way of marketing techniques.
7. CONCLUSION
The report has concluded that customer satisfaction and customer service is priority for
the Tesco which is being delivered by best quality products at low prices and this can be adapted
by the Tesco using the best operation management concepts and principles. Taylor's scientific
management helps in enhancing the employee knowledge and productivity which works best for
the organization. Yet there were some flaws in the operation management which has been
improved by the organization focusing on continues improvement methodology. Hence, it has
been depicted with the improvement plan by using various methods and theories emphasizing on
TQM and bench marking.

PART 2 : Project portfolio
Project Title
Cooking of food in the house.
Overview of the case study
In the given case study it is based on the company who has secured the employment in
the large manufacturing company that is based in Midlands. The company used to have 1250
employees that used to work in the different roles which includes the office staff and factory
workers. The offices and factory of the company used to have extensive sites in the various
buildings and currently there is no on-site catering by the organization. Cooking of food in house
has two business objectives for the current year that is reducing the movement of staff in the
premises during the lunch break that is creating congestion issues in the local areas. The second
objectives of the company is to help the staff in order to develop the healthy lifestyle which helps
the organization to be the part of CSR and also reduces staff absenteeism.
In this given case the line manager of the company has asked to plan and manage the in
house project. This helps the employees to gain the understanding about the business objectives
and development of the projects with their planning and completion. The main aim of the project
id to provide the best quality of food to the staff in the company.
Explaining the each stage of PLC for the organization
The Project life cycle refers to the sequences through which the project start and ends
with the valid planning. There are different phases of the project life cycle which includes
initiation, planning, execution and closure (Kordi, Belayutham and Che Ibrahim, 2021). This is
the sequence process that must be followed by the person who is gonna planning of the project.
The various stages of the project life cycle is as described below:
Project initiation: This is the starting of the project that helps the person to know how to initiate
the project. This used to involve the various sub- activities that includes feasibility study,
identify the scope, deliverables, identify the project stakeholders and developing the
business case (Jin and et.la., 2019). By this Acme corporation helps to know about the
initiation of the project in order to achieve the objectives of the company.
The project is based on Cooking of food in house, for the staff and employees in the organization
so that activities can be carried out in best way.

Gaols: The goal of company is to reduce the outing and hiking the CSR by providing the better
quality of food.
Scope: The scope of the company is to have all the employees must be covered in the project.
Stakeholders: The stakeholders are employees, society, owners, management, etc. are involved
in this programme.
The role and responsibility is to complete the project in the rational and satisfactory manner.
Project planning-
Scope planning- the process is supposed to cover up 1250 employees of the enterprises and
there requirement for healthy food option for lunch, so they will not go out of the premises in the
break hours. The given project will cover the requirement to succeed the plan (San Cristóbal and
et.al., 2018).
Preparation of the work breakdown structure-

Project schedule development: the project must be completed in the given time frame to not
waste any resource. This will require preparation of the schedule. Project of prepared for a
financial year. Gantt chart will develop which will cover all days and all activities which are
required.
Resource planning
Performer task specialization
Project strategist. Scheduling the project tasks Project management.
Budget manager. Managing the funds Finance
Project executor. Execution Project management.
Other team members. Coordination Knowledge of management
Budget planning
Particulars Budgeted cost (amount in £)
Project planning and research cost. 10000
Documentation and stationary cost. 5000
Cost of hiring specialists. 55000
Cost of raw material. 115000
Cook hiring cost. 80000
Serving and utensil cost. 17375
Cooking plant installation cost. 26000
Project evaluation cost. 15000
Data management cost. 18000

Total budgeted cost. £341375
Project execution-
Project deliverables- All the outputs received need to be reviewed correctly so that proper
actions than might be taken on time. Furthermore, the project progress would be timely reviewed
so that set criteria of food might be met.
Change requests- If there is any kind of mismatch than certain changes would be made so that
alignment could be maintained.
Performance data- It is one where entire progress needs to be the recorded so that any kind of
favourable changes than might be made.
Issue log- Any kinds of bugs or issues would be resolved and would be therefore categorize into
different heads so that corrective actions than might be taken on time.
Documentation updates- Any changes made than it would recorded in the books so that proper
record might be helpful for the future references
Project closure-
This is closing of the project when it would be finally ended during the financial year and
there would be list of certain activities that are to be followed such as deliverable to the
stakeholders, documentation of organization, cancelling of various supplier contracts and much
more.
Post implementation review: It is been the complete review that has to be carried out so that it
will help in finding any kind of mistakes found than future projects could be handled effectively.
Building a case
Project name- “Cooking the foods in house”
Vision, Objectives: To accomplish the whole project in higher quality and least costs
New idea: Through this project better strategies of healthy food would be provided so that
employees are able to reduce the level of outing in the interval
Opportunity: Through better project execution can help the organization to hike the CSR
Improvement scope.: If more efforts are been put on research and development than it could be
improved in much easier way.
Resources: It would include people such as cook, suppliers, equipments and machinery
Project plan.: It would be presented through the Gantt chart that will specify all the activities
that needs to be carried out in specified time frame

Risk and potential benefits: Fluctuation in the changing market prices could be major risk
Cash flow work: The finance department would provide cash on the monthly basis

Cost occurred and brining benefits: The overall cost that has been occurred would be reverted
in the form of higher productivity.
Business strategy for the project: The organization is aiming to bring such kind of productivity
so that maximum employee satisfaction could be provided
Conclusion and Recommendations: From the above project it can be said that it has been
performed in the best form and all the activities were executed in their best that will help in
achieving higher success.
Cost benefit analysis of the project- In the coming years' organization would be able to make
the profits of around 20%
Analysing the project methodologies and tools
Project methodologies: there are various project methodologies such as agile, waterfall,
prince2. For this project agile method has been chosen to fulfil the aim of project. This
methodology is very useful as it has many benefits (Armenia and et.al., 2019).
Pros-
 It is affordable.
 Very flexible.
 Does not need highly trained individual.
Cons-
 Requires deep understanding.
 Not as predominate as waterfall.
Project management tool: it is defined as the tools that makes the project management easier to
handle and manage. These tools enhance the overall project accomplishment. For this purpose
WBS which is work breakdown structure has been used.
Pros-
 It makes the vision clear.
 Have better control.
 Awareness of all activities.
Cons-
 Very rigid method.
 Seems to be outdated one.

Project leadership: it helps with managing the team successfully for completing the project to
its best capacity. Here project management plays a significant role.
Pros-
 Assists in project completion.
 Removes potential misleads.
Cons-
 Creates pressure on the team.
 Needs a very put together plan otherwise it will mislead the project.
Critically reviewing the effectiveness of PLC applying theories and models
Performance management: it comprises a set of activities which makes a project completion
very successful. Under this different activities are being completed which makes a project
possible (Guo and Zhang, 2022).
Pros-
 Facilitates the completion of even the large project.
 It clarifies and does not create confusion.
 Ensures proper usage of resources.
Cons-
 Its rigidity might affect the final outcomes.
 It is dependent on some assumption.
In order to complete the project with the best quality all key components such as
milestones, benchmark, targets and deliverables had been taken into consideration. Various KPIs
have been used such as internal and external key point indicators. For example, satisfaction level
of employees, retention level, productivity of employees and use of break hours during day have
been used as the internal key point indicators. And the higher value of the CSR has been
considered as the external indicators.
This project has used both Gantt chart and WBS model. The core purpose behind these
was to bring the best understanding and establishing better check points which can effectively
monitor and trace the project and its successfulness. Various theories and models have been used
which has made the project more reliable and increased the validity. Hence, project was
successful.

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