Operations and Project Management: Review and Critique of Operations Management Principles in Unilever

This report discusses the implementation of operations management principles in Unilever, including a review and critique, analysis of its extent, and a continuous improvement plan. It also covers Lean principles and the Six Sigma tool. The report is based on Unit 187 – Operations and Project Management.

ID
Unit Number and Title Unit 187 –
Operations and
Project Management
Title Review and Critique
of Operations
Management (Part
1

Table of Content
Part 1: Business Report
1. An introduction to chosen organization 2
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management 2-
3
3. A review and critique of the implementation of operations
management principles within the chosen organization 3-
6
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of
the organisation in the case study meets the requirements of the
organization 6-
7
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and
describe the Lean principles 7-
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-
9
7. Conclusion 9
References p
2

1. An introduction to chosen organization
Operations are the day to day activities that the performed in the premises of
a business entity by its employees. These operations are necessary as they are
process that leads to the final product or service that the business entity is providing
to its customers (Yu-lu and Fu-hua, 2018). These operations should be managed
properly and when they are managed in a proper way they lead to effective and
increased performance of the employees and the organization. The proper planning
and execution of the operations also leads to fuller utilization of the resources. The
report file is based on the proper management of the operations and projects in a
business entity. The company chosen for the file is Unilever which is consumer
goods company headquartered in London, United kingdom. It is a multinational
company that renders services to different parts of the world. The file first starts from
the conduction of the review and critique in implementing principles of the operations
management. Then there is a continuous improvement plan based on the critics and
review mentioned before. It then moves to the application of project life cycle in a
project that produces necessary documentation. At last, there the review and
critique of the effectiveness of project life cycle using appropriate models.
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management
There are different types of operations that are practiced in a company such
as – the manufacturing, supplying of goods or raw materials, producing of final
products and many more (Li, 2021). When these different types of operations are
organized in a proper format and are already planned in a way to maximize the
performance and making efficient in the business process, this phenomenon is called
operation management. The management of these operations in an effective way not
only helps the firm to manage the quality and amount of production but also helps in
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the strategy making process and to utilize the resources of the company. Basically
the operation management controls all the activities that occur in the company.
Several differences between the operations and operation management are
mentioned in the following in a tabular format :
Operations Operation management
 These are the activities that are
carried out on a day to day basis
in a business organisation
 Operations are comparatively
simplistic.
 The responsibility of maintaining
operations are divided to
individuals or may be small groups
according to the complexity of the
operation.
 When the operations of a
business are regulated and
managed in an efficient manner to
increase the productivity and
quality of the results, it is known
as operation management.
 These are complex to form and
maintain (Wang and et.al., 2020).
 The operation management are
managed and formed by a group
of individuals that form a team.
3. A review and critique of the implementation of
operations management principles within the chosen
organization
The management of operations and projects is a very crucial concept in the
process of executing a business entity effectively. It works in dividing the tasks of a
company into different groups by classifying them according of their work or
departments. Unilever is a large multinational company. It is one of the leading
manufacturer of the consumer goods in UK as well as in the whole world. It is
renowned for its quality products. It makes and serves different products in different
markets / countries according to the demand of the native people. This helped the
company in gaining the trust of a large base of customers. The company works at a
high level maintaining its large scale operations to deliver its products globally. For
maintaining high number of operations it use operation management and projects
(Conway and Leadbetter, 2021). As the demands of the consumers are shifting
towards using non toxic organic products that do not contain harsh chemicals in it,
Unilever has made several strategies to shift and mould its products towards the
concern. The company has used various principles of operations management for
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the related concern. There are several principles of operations given by Randall
Scheffer (A operations management and manufacturing management expert). These
principles are mentioned in the following :
 Reality – Every type of organization faces problems in its working and it is
impossible to avoid or stop all the problems that are coming as a hindrance in
its way. So this factor says that the companies should focus on large
problems that have high effect and ignore the smaller ones,
 Humility – The limitations should be understood by the managers in place of
wasting their efforts on small things. This will help them in saving their time,
efforts and money and also positively impact the company in the long term.
 Organization – Everything is interconnected in the process of manufacturing
goods or producing / rendering services. There should be a prediction and
consistency in all the elements (Exner and et.al., 2021).
 Accountability – There should accountability in the people who manages the
operations and the managers or owners must have check or go through the
balance to assure the accountable.
 Change – The rigid structure and operations are not effective and can not
lead to high productivity and performance. There should be flexibility and
changes in operational issues. New solutions should be tried and welcomed
as the demand of people and way of doing work keeps on changing with the
dynamic environment.
 Quality control – There must be quality controls in the process of
manufacturing as these quality control or quality checks guarantee the quality
the end products. It involves the process of monitoring the whole process of
raw materials as they move through different logistics in the process of getting
the end product.
 Success – In the process of achieving success in the organization, the final
users that are the customers, must be happy with the product or service of the
company (Hanzha, 2020). If the customers are satisfied with the products of
Unilever they will comeback to buy and vice versa.
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 Know your competition – The market is full competition. These are the other
companies they operate in the same industry and decrease the base of
customers by providing service to some of them. The study of these
competitors is important in the consumer products industry as if they are
practicing some effective operations that are not known by the other
companies, they can gain a competitive advantage that will have a negative
effect on Unilever.
 Causality – The problems have some signs that can be seen before they
occur. Managers must keep an eye and determine underlying problems to
avoid them.
 Consumer collaboration – This principle is about the interaction and
understanding of the customers to analyse their wants and satisfy them
accordingly. This can be through collecting insights and feedback of the
customers. This can also help the company in upgrading its products and
services (Heigermoser and et.al., 2019).
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations
management of the organization in the case study meets
the requirements of the organization
The principles of operations mentioned in the above are very important for a
business entity in order to increase profitability, achieve growth and develop a
successful enterprise. With a great position in its industry, Unilever is considered as
the market leader. The ways in which the company uses operational management to
fulfill the demands of its customers are mentioned in the following ways :
 The basic requirement of the consumers in the market for their daily needs is
the availability of cost efficient products that are not too much cheap nor much
expensive and are in budget of the large base of customers that are middle
class.
 The quality is also demanded by the customers. It is also an important factor
that influence its sales in the market (Pokorski, 2020). The quality was first
considered by the goodwill of the company in the market, its packaging and
some important essentials in it. The current market is demanding products
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that are organic and not contain and harmful chemicals. Unilever is trying to
fulfill this demand of the customers and making products accordingly.
 The work place or the premise of the company are well maintained and it is
ensured that they are clean, joyful, healthy and promote the efficiency of the
employees. The vision and mission of the company are considered very
important.
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy
and describe the Lean principles
Continuous improvement is the process of achieving continuous growth by a
business entity through operating in effective and efficient manners. This process
needs creation of plans and their implementation in appropriate manners. This is a
continuous process that needs full focus and hard work with consistency. The
continuous improvement leads a business entity to growth and success with
increased profitability and stability over the market.
Lean principles :
There are some principles used in a business organization have control over
the wastage that has been happening during the process of producing end product.
These principles are known as lean principles. These principles help in reducing the
production costs of the product / service for the company (Han and et.al., 2022). The
lean production is used in many different ways that are known its methods. Some of
the major methods of lean production are mentioned in the following ways :
 Kaizen – It is the most common and old method of lean production. It focuses
on achieving sustainable improvement of the firm through eliminating waste
and improving production. This focuses on making small changes in the
routine that leads to high results.
 Just in time (JIT) – This is the method of lean production that focuses on
inventory management. This elaborates that the goods or raw materials that
are needed in the process of production should be ordered or received when
they are needed and only in limited quantity (Pu and Zhang, 2020). In terms of
Unilever, this method will not prove to be effective as the company needs high
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amount of inventory for its large scale operations and it can lead to reduce the
productivity of it. Bench marking – This is the structured way in which products, strategies,
process and programs are compared and the most effective ones are chosen
for implementation.
Application of six sigmas and their effectiveness :
Six sigma is a tool that is used by business entities for analyzing the dynamic
business environment. This is a helpful tool or technique that are used by companies
to enhance their production capacity and achieve objectives in order to increase its
overall profitability and achieving growth (Shen and et.al., 2020). As the name six
sigma specifies, there are six elements in the tool. These elements are discussed in
the following points :
 Define – The process starts with identifying the goals and objective of the firm
that it needs to achieve from the point of view of the customers. This helps in
analyzing the deep rooted and actual problems that have been affecting the
company negatively.
 Measure – This element is about measuring the extend of the problems. This
also mentions the checking of the level of quality of the products. This
principle can help Unilever when it wants to improve its product quality.
 Analyze – This principle is about the analysation. The analysation can be
about the variations in the planned and actual performance, in the quality of
the products and analysation of various cost effective processes and
materials,
 Design – This is the uniqueness, level of satisfaction it is providing and
attractiveness that the company is giving in it products and services . Unilever
must design its products that can show the involved ingredients, benefits and
can attract the base of customers.
 Verify – This is the last process that is about the verification that all the
process have been done in the most effective and efficient manner.
6. A continuous improvement plan, including your justified
recommendations for improvement, based on your review
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and critique of operations management principles within
your organization
 Plan – A plan is a list of steps that are analysed and put together with
the motive of achieving any task. The planning a crucial activity for a
business entity to achieve its goals and objectives. Planning is also a
complex activity and needs to be properly understand and made with
effectiveness. All the tasks or operations that occur in a firm are based
on the plan and everyone are ordered to follow the plans made. The
plans should be made by considering different influence factors such
as the demand of consumer, available resources and efficiency of the
manpower. With the changing demand of customers towards organic
products, Unilever has shifted its planning accordingly.
 Do – After making the plan by considering various types of
considerations, the step comes to implement the ready plan in the
organization (Heissenberger and et.al., 2022). To cope up with the ever
changing dynamic market, small or short term plans should be made
and implemented.
 Check – The plan made and presented or the changes in the
organization are needed to be checked in detail regularly. When
monitored regularly, Unilever can reduce errors in its operations.
 Act – Needed actions for the implementation of the plan and its
monitoring are essential to be practiced. The step of act is the most
important one as planning only gives us the form or tell about the
operations that can be done to ach9ive success, but acting and
implementing plan is necessary without it there will be no use of the
plans. Unilever should effectively act according to its plan that is clear
with its employees so that there are no confusions.
7. Conclusion
From the above report it has been analysed that operation and project
management is an effective way of controlling the operations and projects of a
company that leads to success of the company and higher profitability. There are
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different and various types of operations that are practiced in a business entity. The
effective management of these operations highly helps a company. The projects
should be formed according to the needed work and results.
References
Write your answer here
Table of Content
Part 2: Project Portfolio
Project Title p
An overview of the case study you have been given p
An explanation of each stage of the PLC that applies to your
selected project, including supporting documentation for each
stage (e.g., business case, the project plan, cost-benefit analysis
and work breakdown structure):
 Project initiation p
 Project planning p
 Project execution p
 Project closure p
Analysis of the project methodologies and tools used p
Review and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC in
application to your project using the appropriate theories models
and concepts p
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Project Title
 Minimising the movement of workforce outside the premises of the company
at the time of lunch break that is becoming to be a congestion issue in local
areas.
 Contribuiting in developing a helathy lifestyle of the staff members to reduce
staff absenteeism and assuring CSR practices (Jamous and et.al., 2018).
An overview of the case study you have been given
Cromwell is a business firm that manufactures different types of tools and is
situated in the midlands. It is a large scale company with around 1250 total number
of employees on the site including the office staff and field workers. The line
manager has given some problems that the company is faci currently and demanded
the ways in which the problems can be solved. The problems are – to reduce the
numbers of staff people that are moving towards the local areas at the time of lunch
breaks and help the workers in leading a healthy lifestyle. The company needs to
take some measures or actions that can work towards the corresponding concern.
An explanation of each stage of the PLC that applies to
your selected project, including supporting documentation
for each stage (e.g., business case, the project plan, cost-
benefit analysis and work breakdown structure):
Project life cycle (PLC)
It is a framework that include the processes that are to be followed and the
steps in which the processes are going to be practiced in a business entity. The
project life cycle is divided into different phases that are expected to be followed in a
according manner and which will lead the company towards successs by reaching its
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goals. There are differences in the project cycle of every company and there can be
difference or similarities in the phases of the cylce according to the industry of
company. The project involves duration and dates of start and end. There are four
stages in it – initiation, planning, execution and closer. These stages have been
discussed in the following :
 Project initiation
The project cycle starts from the ideas and perceptions that can be developed
into a successful project to help the business enterprise grow. The ideas need to be
acutally possible and can be implemented with the possible available resources with
the thinker. The ideas are needed to be shared with each other between the
employees or other related people of Cromwell.
 Project planning
After checking the applicability of the ideas and their expected results, the
process of planning comes. In this, the budget, needed resources like money, goods
and employees are planned. The firm has 50,000 dollars as a fund for employee's
health and hygiene. This money can be used to build a canteen area for the
employees that have good food available and include peaceful or joyful place where
the employees can spend their lunch break happily. Lean principles can be used for
the planning by the company.
 Project execution
After the planning, the step of actual execution of the plan comes. This is the
most hard, important and considerable step of the project cycle (Shi and et.al.,
2020). For the execution of the corresponding plan, the needs and wants to
employee / workforce should be analysed and built that includes choices of food to
eat and things like indoor games that can give pleasure to them.
 Project closure
It is the final step where the project ends. The closing reports are made, investors are
settled and there is the conclusion of the project. The Cromwell company needs to analyse
the results of the project and take measures accordingly.
Building a case:
Executive summary It is a project made for Cromwell company to reduce the number of
employees that leave the premises in the lunch time and assisting
them to live a healthy life that could help it in decreasing the
absenteeism and following CSR activities.
Vision Encourage the workforce and people about living healthy lifestyle
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and maintaining Corporate social responsibilities.
Mission The attract the workers towards the new services / facilities
Objectives To improve the level of health of the employees and decrease their
move outside the premises at lunch time
Strategies Providing simple and healthy food and low prices can be a strategy
for the company to attract the workers.
Innovation They can use buzzers or electric bells that can make sound to tell
the employees about the start and end of the lunch break.
Opportunity The canteen can provide an opportunity for passive side income for
the company.
Improvement The feedbacks or reviews can be taken by the workforce of how
they liked the service. This can highly help in analysing the needed
changes that can help in improvement.
Resources required Resources like raw food, kitchen, food processing machines,
employee that can handle the canteen and playing games are
required for the corresponding project.
Analysis of the project methodologies and tools used
PLC is a very important and effective method that helps in identifying the
various influencing elements that effect the operations of a business entity (Ma and
et.al., 2020). It leads in providing successful projects to a company that help in its
growth and several other achievements. It has been divided into different stages to
assure its applicability. Six sigma and lean methods can also be used together with
the cycle.
Review and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC
in application to your project using the appropriate
theories models and concepts
Project life cycle is a necessary document or process that consider planning,
initiation, execution and closure. These are fur accordingly mentioned different
stages of PLC assure its effectiveness. These are practiced in the according form
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and support the next one. The hazards or errors that can come as hindrance in the
way can also be identified using this. The six sigma can support and make the cycle
more efficient and effective.
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