Operations and Project Management in GSK: A Case Study

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OPERATIONS & PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 3
OVERVIEW.................................................................................................................................. 4
LO1................................................................................................................................................ 5
LO3.............................................................................................................................................. 11
LO4.............................................................................................................................................. 15
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................... 17
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................ 18
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INTRODUCTION
This assignment revolves around operations and project management, operations are the process
which includes the procedure and plan required to implement in any of the projects. In this
assignment, the concept of operations and operation management will be discussed in detail
followed by the principles of operation management. A plan will be prepared for the chosen
organization that is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). This assignment will include the project life cycle
of the case study and the analysis of the same will be done along with the model of continuous
improvement (GSK,2019).
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OVERVIEW
The organization which is choosing for this assignment is GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) which is a
pharmaceutical company headquartered in London. It is a public limited company dealing into
pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer goods. The company was established in December
2000 and the key person of the company is Sir Philip Hampton (Chairman) and Emma Walmsley
(Chief Executive. The main products of the company are pharmaceuticals, vaccines, oral
healthcare, nutritional products etc. the net income of the company is £4.046 billion and no. of
employees working in a company is 98,462 (GSK,2019).
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LO1
Operation management: Operation management is responsible for the day to day activities
taking a place in GSK with the help of management principles like planning, organizing and
controlling. There is a repetitive output observed in operations management and after completion
of one task, there is the adoption of a new objective (Wang et al.,2016).
Project Management: The projects are of a temporary nature and every time they produce a
unique output to fulfil the requirement. The project is no concerned with day to day activities and
it gets terminated once the project is finished.
The operation management and project management are interconnected with each other though
they both are different. The objectives, schedule, budget, skills set required etc. for both the
purpose are different. GSK has both the operational management and project management takes
place with their respective sources and objectives and the operation management in GSK is done
with the help of the following principles:
1. Reality: Operation management focuses on the real problems and expectations of the
customer by working on the overall problem and not only focusing on the techniques.
2. Organizing: The inputs which are required is to be organized timely so that there is no
gap and delay in the whole process as everything is interconnected(Holweg et al.,2018).
3. Humility: GSK cannot afford to use train and error method for designing and
development anythings it is time-consuming and very costly so managers have limitation
and will help in saving money and time also.
4. Success: The nee and requirement of the customer should be taken into account in order
to survive and be successful.
5. Accountability: The managers in GSK are accountable for checking the metrics and
controlling the operation procedure.
6. Causality: the mangers of GSK focuses on the root cause of the problem and just
superficially work on it but work on the causes of the problem.
7. Change: GSK takes into considerations that with the change in requirement, technology
and medicine it is important for the company to adopt the changes positively.
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8. Collaborating with customers: GSK collaborates with the customer what they use what
they are expecting to know the demand of the product so that production activities can be
arranged.
9. Competition: It is important for GSK to identify the competition by understanding their
product, practices, customer etc.
10. Quality Control: GSK has to very assure that the products which are offered by it are of
high quality and there is no malfunction in it. It is essential to control quality ( Holweg et
al.,2018).
SIX SIGMA
Six Sigma is the methodology which is implemented for improving the quality of the
products produced by GSK. Six Sigma works on the base of DMAIC approaches which are
as follows:
1. Define: This includes the setting of the goals with the SMART approach where the goal
is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bounded. Other things which are
included are the requirement of the customer, project goals and procedure
2. Measure: The goals of the project is being measured in various aspect in terms of its
productivity, attainability etc (Furterer, 2016).
3. Analyze: the plan and procedure is analysed how it is being implemented are there any
loophole or any other possible alternative
(Figure 1: SIX SIGMA)
Source: Furterer, 2016)
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4. Improve: This includes the improvement part of the procedure and the plan so that there
can be improvement made in the product also.
5. Control: The whole plan is being controlled to avoid error and shortcoming in the
procedure
GSK adopts this method so that it can sustain in the market by doing a continuous evaluation
of the products which are being produced by the company. This also enables to implement a
continuous improvement in the products manufactured.
LEAN METHODOLOGY
This mythology helps GSK to reduce the waste with the help of identification of 8 types of
waste in the operation management which is termed as DOWNTIME method which is as
follows:
Defects: This is the fault, mistakes or flaws which are needed to be addressed and given
more time and resources to make the process defect free and better production. Like poor
standards, standards, documentation etc.
Overproduction: There are many organizations which are blindly producing without
knowing the demand and customer requirement and end up with unwanted products which
lead to waste. GSK needs to take into account to avoid wastage.
(Figure 2: 8 forms of waste)
(Source: Arai, 2017)
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Waiting: This occurs due to various reasons because of the fault in the machinery, break
down or waiting for any kind of approval etc. this also leads to the waste of the resources.
Not-utilized talent: GSK has to face waste because of the talent and skills of the employees
are not utilized in a constructive way because of various reasons like lack of teamwork, lack
of training etc.
Transportation: GSK can lead to wastage of its products due to delay in transportation
because of many reasons like over transportation, misaligned process flow, poor plant layout
etc. leads to wastage of time and products.
Inventory: GSK has to maintain the inventory and a proper place to store it so that there is
no damage to the producers. GSK can do this by producing the normal quantity of the
demanded products and by keeping the inventory of those which are less in demand but it can
be manufactured when required.
Motion: GSK can lead to waste and efficiency because of poor motion because of poor
layout the staff and the workers have to walk and commute long distance and so many floors.
This can be sorted with a re-arrangement of the office, change in the layout or accompanying
with some machinery
Excess Processing: This is the unwanted procedure which is done to complete a task which
has no significance requirement in the whole plan and procedure. Like double handling, lack
of standards, poor communication etc. leads to waste of time, energy and sources. This can
also be corrected with the help of checking on duplication, eliminating unwanted meetings
and et employees work (Arai, 2017)
In this way with the help of six sigma and lean management, GSK can lead to effic9net
productivity with continuous improvement and waste management will lead GSK to
maximum efficient production f the medicines and other products in lieu to the customer
demand and requirement.
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LO2
There are so many methods and theories and models with the help of which continuous
improvement can be maintained in GSK other than six sigma kaizen, is another way with the
help of which GSK can maintain its productivity with continuous improvement.
SIX SIGMA: This theory is applied to all the organization where heavy production and
manufacturing activities are taking place. This theory helps in maintaining efficient
production and improvement and its efficiency in the products produced by GSK in the
following manner:
Define: This includes the requirement of the customer, project goals and procedure. The
clear goals and objectives of GSK will help the employees to understand the need for the
production activities to be carried out with an improved version of the last product
produced and hence it enhances the effectiveness.
Measure: The goals of the project are measuring in various aspect in terms of its
productivity, attainability etc. the objectives which are of SMART approach are easy to
understand and gives a base to the employees to accordingly set the goals and work on it.
Analyze: the plan and procedure are analysed how it is being implemented are there any
loophole or any other possible alternative. The analysis of the plan helps to improve the
procedure and eliminate the unwanted steps and hence improving the products to deliver
the best to the customers.
Improve: This includes the improvement part of the procedure and the plan so that there
can be improvement made in the product also. The improvement in the procedure of
manufacturing and the steps will ultimately lead to better and improved production of
products and helps in leading effectiveness in GSK (Furterer, 2016).
Control: The whole plan is being controlled to avoid error and shortcoming in the
procedure. The control and checking of the plans and procedure are very important this
will help in altering the negative steps and will make a room for the new and better ideas
for the improved products in GSK.
KAIZEN: It is a Japanese term which means change for better it works on the motto of
continues improvement in the product is to be made in order to sustain in the competitive
environment. It follows teamwork, discipline, improved morale, quality and Suggestion.
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These five elements help to eliminate waste enables good housekeeping and
standardization. Kaizen believes that there is no perfect end to any of the procedure. It
works on the base of quality control, timely delivery, use of efficient equipment and
elimination of waste which gives effectiveness in GSK. Kaizen is important for GSK as it
will create a work environment where employees think out of the box by their will to
produce the products efficiently,, effectiveness and increased improvement by
eliminating waste also which will lead to cost-effective production to GSK. It follows an
approach of PDCA cycle (Graban, M. and Swartz, 2017)
Plan: The things are to planned first by taking into consideration all the factors which
may affect the plan.
Do: The execution of the plan should be done in this step in the planned manner.
Check: The plan when implemented is to be checked whether there is any error or lack of
anything which is to be fulfilled and corrected or whether the plan is going perfectly fine
Act: If any lack or error is found in the whole process of operation then accordingly the
employees have to act and take decisions which should not negatively affect the
operational method and procedure in GSK because all the activity in the operation and
project is interconnected to each other. This factor plays an important role in GSK.
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LO3
Project life cycle (PLC) is the different stages in every project which describes the phase of the
project step by step so that each and every step can be implemented effectively in the project.
Sunshine drinks in order to launch a new product need to follow this project life cycle so that the
project objective can be fulfilled
Business Case: The business idea of Sunshine Drink is to launch a energy with a combination of
its various drinks by infusing natural spring water which they are selling already. This will help
Sunshine Drink to do something innovative and will also help in attracting the customers and
retaining the existing customers. The target market for this energy drink is the age group from
16-35 years.
Project Plan:
(Figure3: PLC)
(Source: Kerzner and Kerzner,2017)
Initiation Phase
This is the very initial phase of the project cycle where the Sunshine Drinks will identify the
need and requirement of the customer and will also study the strategies and products offered by
the rival companies. This will help the company to set certain objectives.
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Planning Phase:
This is the second step in the project cycle where the planning of various resources, budgeting,
machinery etc. will be done the whole planning for the implementation of the project. This will
give a rough estimation of how much time and costing will be required.
Execution Phase:
This is the third stage where the execution of the planned things is being done. This process will
be under control of the managers and leaders of Sunshine Drinks so that if there is any error it
can be solved (Lock, 2018).
Project Closure:
This is the last phase where the project is about to e4nd and the closure is done with the
implementation of the plans and objectives that are set by Sunshine Drinks. The examining of the
project will be done keenly.
WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE
This is the break down of the project cycle with the framework of the same in terms of the task
which are to be done and the time which will be taken to each step so that the project can be get
fulfilled (Ashtiani, 2017).
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