Analysis of Operations Management at M&S and Portakabin

This report delves into operations and project management, using Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Portakabin as case studies. It introduces project management and operations, emphasizing their importance for business success. The report critiques the implementation of operation management principl...Read More

Operations and Project
Management

INTRODUCTION
Project management can be define as a process of initiating, planning, executing as well
as controlling activities of a particular project (Heizer, Render and Munson, 2017). Managing
operations is a crucial part of business as it leads to completing required task in effective and
efficient way. It is very important to manage all the activities or task of operation and project in
order to successful complete it and achieve goals and objectives. Company chosen for this report
in M&S and Portakabin. Mark and Spencer group plc is one of the largest company which is
dealing in retail sector. It is a British multinational organisation which is providing high quality
clothing and home products. M&S was established in 1884 and founder of this company is
Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. Portakabin is modular building innovators which is
operating in 6 countries. It is a business to business organisation and its customers are other
business. This report includes detail about operation and operation management as well as
critiques of implementing principles of operation management. Continuous improvement plan is
developed for organisation in order to achieve its goals and objectives. It will consist of work
breakdown structure and Gantt chart for completing task of project.
PART 1
An introduction to chosen organisation
Marks and Spencer group plc is a British company which is dealing in dealing in clothing
retail sector. This company was formed in 1884 and it was founded by Michael Mark and
Thomas Spencer. Headquarter of this company is located in London, United Kingdom and it is
providing its products and services to different part of the world (Harrison and Lock, 2017).
This company is providing high quality clothing, footwear, home ware and other accessory
products to customers worldwide. M&S has more than 1400 stores which is located across 57
countries as well as it has over 50 international websites.
Operation vs Operations management
Operations can be refer as crucial part of an organisation which is responsible for
conducting business activates in most effective manner. This is a department which lead to
successful running of business as well as earning huge profits. Its role in to develop and design
products which can satisfy customers needs and wants. Operation management is term which can
be describe as a process through which activities of operation department can be managed
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effective. Management of different tasks and activities of operations is significant as it helps in
achieving desired goals and objective. Operation management is an administration part of
business practices and it is majorly concerned with converting raw material into finished product
(Kerzner, 2017). Operations is a department which is responsible for developing finished
products of respective organisation where as operation management is a process of managing
and effective conducting task of operations.
Critique and review of implementation of operation management principles
CASE STUDY: Marks & Spencer is planning to enhance its business operations in order
to increase it's market share and improve its customers base. Respective company is planning to
increase its business by launching new store at Poland market area. Increasing market segment
and introduction of new store will help in increase productivity as well as importing profits of
organisation. For achieving this goal respective company have to identify need and want of
Poland customer as well as analyse market situation. M&S have to develop a proper plan and
various strategies which will help in attracting new customer. This company have to conduct
different marketing activities so that new targeted customer have proper information and
knowledge about products and services of Marks & Spencer company.
Principles of operation management refer as a some fundamentals which helps in
completing every day task in most effective manner. There are various operation management
principles which help in providing visibility into operations and achieving desired goals.
Principles of operation management is mention below.
Reality: This principle is very helpful in analysing and identifying reality in order to
conduct business activities in more effective manner. Respective company have to evaluate its
reality as well as focus on problems (Binder, 2016). Operation management of respective
organisation needs to analyse difficulties and issues not only just techniques. This principle will
help in analysing the reality of market area and company and its business operations will not
completely based on tools and techniques.
Change: Company should change in its business process and technology as per new
market area. Change for better is good as it will help in conducting business activities in better
manner. Respective company have to adopt new technology and techniques for conducting its
business operations in Poland. Organisation have to identify needs and wants of customers and
then develop new strategies as per requirement of new market area.
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Competition: Competition is a critical part of organisation and it is very important to
analyse and identify products and services of rival companies. Knowing and understanding about
the competition will be helpful in developing new strategies as well as gaining competitive
advantage over other its competitions. M&S company have to identify business practices,
products as well as customers of companies which are dealing in same industry. This will leads
to gain competitive edge.
Quality Control: Quality of product is the most important for developing better products
then other companies. Respective company should control the quality of its products in order to
satisfy its customers. For developing high quality product it is very important to use best
materials for developing product and managing the quality of products.
Analyse extent to which operations management of an organisation meets the requirement.
Operation management is a crucial process of organisation which help involve planning,
organizing, managing as well as controlling and supervising of production process. This is very
important in meeting with organisational needs and requirement (Ramasesh and Browning,
2014). This is beneficial in designing and developing products as per needs of customers and
increase sales of business. Principles of operation management such as reality, changes,
competition and quality control will help in conducting business operations in effective and
efficient way. M&S is providing effective training to its employees and enhance their skills and
knowledge. This is very helpful in successful completing business functions and increasing
productivity of company. By analysing and identifying needs and wants of customers, respective
company will be able to develop products which is required by consumers of Poland market area.
Continuous improvement as a philosophy by describing lean principles.
Lean principles define as a method or techniques which helps in minimizing waste form
the production process. This principle focus on enhancing overall productivity and profitability
of organisation by conducting its operation function in more effective manner (Sears and et.al.,
2015). It is creating a manufacturing process by eliminating the waste and improve the efficiency
of organisation. Lean principle is very beneficial for M&S company as it will lead to reducing
waste and increasing quantity of products. By managing operational activities though lean
principles company can focus on reducing the waste and providing more valuable products to
customers. This is beneficial in enhancing productivity and efficiency of M&S company as
employees will be focusing on delivering value in more effective manner. Lean management is a
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smarter process and able to meet with desired goals and objective of organisation. Lean
principles are founded in 1997 by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. According to them,
there are five key lean principles such as identify value, map the value stream, create flow,
establish pull and seek perfection. All of these principles are mention below in detail.
Identify value: This principle state that value of products should always be defined as per
need of customers. Team of lean management focus on producing products which can satisfy
needs and wants of customers (Beringer, Jonas and Kock, 2013). Identifying the value of
products offered by company is a crucial part of organisation and they should develop product
which can satisfy customers requirements. By adding more value in M&S products, company
can attract more customers as well as increase sales of its products.
Map the value stream:It is very important to analyse and evaluate all processes of
organisation as well as its products. After identifying the value, now respective company needs
to focus on mapping the value stream. This will help in determining which product or process is
providing less value. Mapping value stream will be eye opening experience for M&S company
that will be helpful in identifying different actions that is required for final delivery of product.
Create flow: Create flow is a step which includes steps and actions that helps in reducing
waste form value stream. This step is very essential in making sure that remaining steps flow
smoothly without any delay and interruptions. It is a step that leads to provide tight sequence in
order to make products flow smoothly to customers.
Establish pull: Creating established pull system is significant in securing the stable
workflow. By improving the flow and delivering more value to customers company can achieve
its goals and objectives. Through this system work is pulled only when there is demand of it and
M&S company will be producing products as per customers want and demand.
Seek perfection: This is the last principle of lean management and in this team of lean
management will focus on improvement changes which lead to accomplishing goals (Sterman
and et.al., 2015). This step will help in providing greatest value to customers and enhancing
productivity of organisation. It focus on eliminating those elements which are not able to provide
value.
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Build a continuous improvement plan after reviewing and critique of operation management
principles.
Improvement is necessary for the growth and development of organisation. Contentious
improvement can be describe as a process that is designed to bring ongoing improvement to
products and services as well as task or processes of organisation. This will be very helpful in
enhancing the strengthen of actions and accomplishing set goals of organisation. M&S have to
continuous improve its business activities in order to gain larger market share. By developing
continuous improvement plan respective company can improve its efficiency which lead to
improving its productivity and profitability (Jerbrant, 2013). Continuous improvement plan
includes four steps such as plan, do, check and act. By applying this cycle M&S company will be
able to identifying new opportunities as well as achieving them.
Plan Do Check Act
Identify customer's
requirement
For identifying
requirement of
customers company
need to conduct a
market research. This
will be helpful in
determining and
analysing needs and
wants of targeted
customers of Poland.
Though this M&S
company will he able
to develop product
which as per
customers
requirement. Research
term of M&S
company is
responsible for
M&S company needs
to create a strong
research team that is
able to conduct market
research in effective
and efficient way. This
team is responsible for
collecting data and
information about
customers
requirement. So that
they can identify
products requirement
of Poland customers.
Through this process
respective company
will be able to create
products as per
demand of Poland
customers. Producing
and manufacturing
products according to
information collected
by research team will
be helpful in attracting
customers as well as
creating strong
relationship with them.
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identifying what is the
requirement of new
area customers so that
operation team can
manufacture products
according to customers
requirement.
Improving
productivity of
employees
M&S company have
to improve
productivity of its
employees so that they
can work in effective
and efficient manner
(Fleming and
Koppelman, 2016).
Improving in
productivity of
employees will help in
enhancing profitability
of organisation and
well as gaining
advantage over other
rival companies. This
will lead to timely
completion of task and
achieving desired goal
of respective
organisation.
In order to increase
productivity of
employees, company
should focus on
providing training.
Proper training to
employees will help in
enhancing their skills
and capabilities. There
are various ways
through which M&S
company can provide
training to its
employees in order to
increase their
productivity.
This process will help
in improving
employees potential
and ability to perform
task. Training will
motivate employees to
work in effective and
efficient manner as
well as boost their
moral (Pemsel and
Wiewiora, 2013). This
will be helpful in
creating positive work
environment and
developing strong
relationship with
employees.
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By using continuous improvement principles and recommend to improve the operations
functions
After analysing the above scenario there are some recommendation for M&S company.
These recommendation will help in enhancing its business operations and gaining competitive
advantage over its competitors (Alias and et.al., 2014). Respective company should identify
demand of market and customers so that company can develop product according to customers
of Poland. Training employees as well as developing their skills and capability will help in
enhancing their performance and productivity.
PART 2
INTRODUCTION
Operation management can be describe as a business practice which is helpful in
developing and creating products. This is a department of organisation which is majorly
concerned with conversion of raw material into finished goods. Chosen company for this report
is Portakabin. This is a business to business organisation which is a leading modular building
innovator. Portakabin is a UK based company and it is operating in 6 counties. It has more than
1300 employees and it is recently lunching new products Yorkon Building System. This report
includes life cycle stages of this project as well as work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.
An overview of the case study
Portakabin is leading modular building innovator company which is dealing in a business
to business sector. It is a UK based company and operating its business activities in 6 countries.
Portakabin is employee over 1300 people and it is operating in both secondary and tertiary sector
(Todorović and et.al., 2015). It has supplied its first portable building in 1961 and this business
has gain success through its continuous improvement. It is launching new product Yorkon
Building System and this product has cutting edge of modular building technology.
A description of PLC and explanation of each stage
Project life cycle can be define as a series of step which helps in successful completion of
a project. This is a series of activities which is essential in achieving desired goals and
objectives. PLC is important in providing proper structure as well as directing the flow of task. It
will aid Portakabin company in communicating as well as defining the roles and responsibilities
of employees. There are four stage of project life cycle and each stage will help in completing all
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task of project in effective and efficient manner. Project plan is a helpful techniques in achieving
objective and it ensure that projects goals are achieved. This company have to careful conduct
each and every stage of project plan for successful implementation of Portakabin company's
project. Different steps and stages of project plan is mention below in context of respective
company.
Initiation: This is a first stage and it involve project objectives. Project initiation stage is
includes developing strategies and policies which leads to solving problems and achieving
desired objectives. At this stage scope and time that is required to complete a project as well as
outcome from completion of project has been identified.
Planning: In this stage a proper plan needs to be developed and it includes defining the
project purpose, vision as well as identifying risks. Planning stage involve creating project
budget and allocating other resources. At this stage of project plan of Portakabin company an
effective plan is developed which helps in solving all issues and meet with project aim.
Execution: After developing a proper plan, Portakabin company needs to execute it in
effective manner (Vasenev, Hartmann and Doree, 2014). This is actual implementation of a plan
as well as conducting different activities in effective and efficient manner of project in order to
achieve set targets. At this stage plan which is develop needs to be carefully executed in order to
accomplish desired goals of the project.
Closure: Project closure is a last stage and it emphasis on delivering final product to
targeted customers. After meeting the project criteria project will be closed. This is consider as
as final stage of project plan as all activities of project is achieved. In this project is closed and
desired aims of project is achieved.
Business case: It can be refer as a formal documents that are associated with the project.
There are various documents which are necessary for successful completion of project as well as
achieving set goals.
Milestones: Milestones includes a particular stage for reaching something. For respective
company milestones is to be the number one company which is dealing in this particular sector.
Targets: It refer to the specific objective that should be reach by company. Target of this
company to to increase its customer bases and earn more profit.
Deliverable: It includes all those things which can be divided into several parts.
Deliverable is important to achieve development and growth of organisation.
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Benchmarks: Benchmarks are the set standards for achieving desired objectives.
Benchmarks can be considered as a references in order to compare the things.
Key performance indicators: It includes all those indicators which help in measuring
the performance of employees as well as the task. Key performance indicators is an effective
ways to achieve organisational goals.
Work break down structure: This can be refer as a key element of project deliverable
as it is very helpful in managing different task of a project. Work breakdown structure is a
method which is helps in solving complex task by dividing it into smaller task.
Gantt chart: This is a commonly used techniques in project management and it helps in
completing task in effective and efficient manner. Gantt chart was developed by Henry Gantt and
motive of developing this chart is tracking project schedules.
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Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using
appropriate theories, concepts and models
There are various theories and models which will help in Portakabin company to
effectively launch its new products Yorkon Building System. This company needs to promote
and market this product in effective and efficient way. Model that will help project manager to
complete its task and achieve desired goals is mention below.
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Waterfall model:
It includes a series of step or phases and in each phase must be complete before next step.
This model was developed in 1970 by Winstom Royce. Different stages of this model in mention
below.
Requirements: This phase helps in identifying and determining different needs and
requirement of company that will help in achieving objective of project.
Analysis: After determining requirement company needs to analyse the idea of business.
This model will help in examining feasibility of financial resources as well as technology.
Design: In this step specification of products as well as project needs to be designed
(MarcelinoSádaba and et.al., 2014). Design should be as per requirement of company and this
will help in developing a better product.
Implementation: In this stage a proper implementation of plan in effective and efficient
manner. Design that is developed needs be to executed so that objective can be achieved.
Testing: Product needs to be test properly so that end user or client does not face any
issues. Testing will help in identifying whether goals and objective is properly achieved or not.
Operations: In this step respective company have to provide support to its clients so that
their issues or problems can be addressed timely.
Maintenance: Maintenance is a last phase of this model and in this Portakabin company
have to update and do modification whenever required.
Recommendation:
There are various recommendation which will help Portakabin company to increase it
performance as well as gain competitive advantages over other rival companies. It is very
important that company develop and design an effective product which is able to meet with the
requirement of company. Company should maintain high quality standard in order to satisfy
customers and achieve organisation objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that project and operations management is an
important function of organisation. This will be very helpful in timely completion of task as well
as achieving desired goals and objectives. There are various principles of operation management
such as lean management, six sigma etc. all these principles will be very helpful in enhancing
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productivity and profitability of organisation. Project life cycle should be implemented correctly
so that desired task could be accomplished.
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