Unit 187: Review and Critique of Operations Management in M&S

This report provides a detailed analysis of the operations management practices at Marks and Spencer (M&S). It begins with an introduction to the organization, followed by an explanation of the difference between operations and operations management. The report then reviews and critiques the implementation of operations management principles within M&S, analyzing the extent to which the organization's operations meet its requirements. A discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and the description of Lean principles is provided. The report concludes with a continuous improvement plan, offering justified recommendations for improvement based on the review and critique of M&S's operations management. The report emphasizes the importance of operational management tools, continuous improvement methods, and the implementation of new technologies to improve productivity and customer satisfaction. The report also suggests the importance of focusing on problems rather than techniques and the need for effective inventory management.

Learner Name ID
Unit Number and Title Unit 187 – Operations and Project Management
Credit Value 15 Unit Level 5
Academic Year 2020-21 Cohort January 20
Project Title Review and Critique of Operations Management (Part 1)
Project Life Cycle (PLC) (Part 2)
Statement of Authenticity:
I certify that the work submitted for this unit is my own and the research sources are fully
acknowledged.
Learner Name: Date:
0

Table of Content
Part 1: Business Report
1. An introduction to chosen organization p
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management p
3. A review and critique of the implementation of operations
management principles within the chosen organization p
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of
the organisation in the case study meets the requirements of the
organization p
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and
describe the Lean principles p
6. A continuous improvement plan, including your justified
recommendations for improvement, based on your review and
critique of operations management principles within your
organization p
7. Conclusion p
References p
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1. An introduction to chosen organization
Marks and Spencer’s group Is major multinational retailer organisation who are
having the good reputation all over the world and they are specialist in selling
product that are made up of the clothes and their portfolio off product also include
the product’s like food products, home furniture and more many more retail products.
currently this company have around 959 stores all over the United Kingdom that
includes 61Only the food stores and through their advertisement on the table
television they are able to attract customers who can buy their product and services
and they also probably offered the joint venture and food delivery services with the
Ocado.
Any year 1998 this company become the 1st retailer store who fill the pre tax profit
off over 1 billion that makes them famous within the United Kingdom and their
stakeholders were also surprised by their performance. This company is one of the
top most retailers due to their quality food products and they also maintain quality in
all other product and services sell by them.
2. An explanation of operation vs operations management
Operations Are the work that are managing in the inner working of the business so it
can be run effectively and generate a profits. Weather company make a product,
provide services or whether they sell their services every small business owner has
oversee the design and management of behind the sense of work. The operational
management is responsible to manage the all activities at the workplace an part of
the production of goods and services. they are direct responsible to the activities that
are part of the company include the managing both of the process from operations,
planning, designing an improving the operational strategies that help them to take
competitive advantages within the market where they are operating their business.
On the other side operational management is the administration of business
practices that helps to create a high level of productivity and efficiency that is
possible for the organization to take competitive advantages. it is directly concerned
with the developing a raw material into the finished good and the Labor into goods
and services as efficiently as possible to maximize the companies revenue and profit
that make them top in the industry and they are able to take competitive advantages
within the market. Marks and Spencer stop most reader within their industry due to
their operational management practices that help them to grow effectively. Weather
company make a product, provide services or whether they sell their services every
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small business owner has oversee the design and management of behind the sense
of work.
3. A review and critique of the implementation of
operations management principles within the chosen
organization
There are some operational management principles that could be applied by the
Operational managers. it is necessary for the Marks and Spencer Follow the
principles of operational management so they can take competitive advantages and
they can effectively increase their effectiveness of the operations and I do success
within the business.
Reality
It is necessary that operational manager of the company should be focused on the problems Not on
the techniques, it is becausr no tools has a proper solution so it is necessary for the operation
manager to focus toward the problem so they can solve it an make their operations more effective
so they can produce better quality of product I said it says that can satisfy the customers needs and
demand.
Organisation
The process of manufacturing are interconnected and all of the element that should be predictable
and constant in order to achieve some better outcome for the company and coming again increase
their profits. it should be properly organised and process of manufacturing should be better so
company can increase their production level an achieve success within the market where their
operating their business and they can show their results.
Fundamentals
The manager within the operations should know that how to comply with the fundamentals of the
operational management becausr this is the only key off get this access within the business. it is
necessary and ascential to ensure that accuracy of inventory data and other general task to achieve
the desired result. have the inventory will be managed then company will able to deliver the goods
and services to the customers so operational management have to ensure that inventory of the
company should be maintained.
Accountability
Managers of the company are expected to get the matrix and rules, determine the responsibility of
their subordinates and regularly cheque have the companies objectives are achieved or not.
Accountability is necessary to get this access in the operational management becausr without having
a proper knowledge about the process and progress they cannot be successful.
Casualty
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Sometimes the problems can take place an it can still arise even when the best efforts are made by
the organisation and the staff who are working in the operations. The managers of the company
should find the cause of the problem so they can overcome the issue an they cannot get the worse.
Humanity
No one wants to work with the aggressive no it all. Thus it is also important for the operation
manager to position themselves as the ordinary people who don’t know everything and can also
make mistakes.
4. An analysis of the extent to which the operations
management of the organisation in the case study meets
the requirements of the organization
On the basis of analyses of marks & Spencer’s It can be identify that there is no
operational management tool is used by the organazation. According to the case
study company is facing some operational issues due to the lack of presence of the
employees who are working within the company Due to lack of catering Near the
stores , it means that employees who are working within the company I have to go
so far so they can have a mean for a day. it is wasting the time of organisation and
employs both I’m making them effect from this issue.
There are some operational process take place within the workplace off Marks and
Spencer where they back the food products and also make them wash and clear so
it can be manage properly and provide quality to the customers. this processes of
the company are part of their daily routine it helps them to meet customers needs. In
case study it is also said that organisation staff have to move out to have lunch.
Therefore, there is no specific operation regarding this and no process of it as well
5. Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy
and describe the Lean principles
Continuous improvement philosophy:
It is one of the important philosophy with the concern of every organization
including M&S. As per this philosophy an organization need to perform its business
operation in such a flexible manner that it can inculcate the required changes as per
the need. Adoption of this philosophy will lead to have better and efficient operation
(Alvarado-Ramírez and et.al., 2018). This is because companies will instead of
following the standard approach will adopt the [practice of continuous improvement
which will lead to better exploration and performance of the company product. M&S
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by implementing this principle will not only meet the changes and the need but at the
same time its operation regarding the customer satisfaction will also rise and
enhance.
Lean principles:
There are mainly 5 lean principles:
Value:
It is one of the important principle because as per this concept more focus is
lied over the creation of value and offering the valuable product so that the customer
need will be satisfied and it can pay the most appropriate sum for it.
Map the value stream:
Here the customer value is set as a goal and all the activities are directed
towards the achievement of that goal. It will lead to the better grabbing of customer
by M&S.
Flow creation:
Under this after the removal of all the waste the flow of other steps and
operation is created. This will lead to smooth operation of the business of M&S. this
is because once the removal of the waste the flow regarding the business operation
is easy to create with a high focus over the concerned step (Middleton and Sutton,
2020).
Establishment of pull:
As inventory is one of the biggest waste with reference to the system and
organization. So by pulling the resources and the inventory, and enabling the
availability of sufficient level of inventory necessary for business operation will lead
to have reduction of waste and establishment of lean system in M&S.
Pursue perfection:
The above 4 steps will lead to reduction of waste in M&S. However, this step
enables the M&S to have perfection by adopting the practice of continuous
improvement till grabbing perfection in production. This perfection will further lead to
the better performance and grabbing of more customers.
Thus, by enabling and implementing the lean principles in the M&S, it will not
only able to reduce the percentage of waste but it will also enable the company to
have better customer share and earning of high percentage of sales and revenue.
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6. A continuous improvement plan, including your justified
recommendations for improvement, based on your review
and critique of operations management principles within
your organization
It is necessary for region or every organisation to continuously improve their
operational activity so they can take competitive advantages within the market where
they are operating their business. some of the recommendations for improvement in
M&S. One of the top most recommendation for the improvement is using the
operational management tools and methods that could be helpful for the organisation
to improve their quality and productivity of the company and they will able to satisfy
their customers. some of the methods like quality management methods of lean
manufacturing, Monitoring and measuring tool that could be used to monitor the
process and also give focus on the quality improvement and productivity as well. one
more strategy that could be used by the organisation is implementation of new
technology within the industry that could be helpful for them to increase their
production level so they will be able to satisfy customers if they want product and
services from the company in bulk. this is necessary for the company to use
continuous improvement plan that could be helpful in improving their performance
and they were able to also measure the implementation of the continuous
improvement plan. it is helpful tool that could be help on in improving various
activities of the organisation including the operations and departmental activities.!
And company can take competitive advantages within the market where they are
operating their business and they could show their presence effectively. It is
necessary that operational manager of the company should be focused on the problems Not
on the techniques, it is becausr no tools has a proper solution so it is necessary for the
operation manager to focus toward the problem so they can solve it an make their
operations more effective so they can produce better quality of product I said it says that can
satisfy the customers needs and demand.
7. Conclusion
From the above report it is concluded that the management of operation and its
implementation will lead to have better performance of the company. Performance of
operation by M&S will be of worth if it will be performed with adequate management.
Implementation of the operation management principles in the form of reality,
accountability, humanity and various other will lead to have efficient operation of
M&S. It will also assist the company to grab its objectives. Likewise, an execution of
lean management and its principles will also assist the company to have better
operation along with reduction of wastages. This will also lead to have better
perfection in products. This report also summarizes the continuous improvement
plan and practice that further lead to the emergence of better products by M&S.
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References
Alvarado-Ramírez, and et.al., 2018. Kaizen, a continuous improvement practice in
organizations. The TQM Journal.
Middleton, P. and Sutton, J., 2020. Lean Production—Five Principles. In Lean
Software Strategies (pp. 21-48). Productivity Press.
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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
Development of on side catering For save time of employees and organization both.
An overview of the case study you have been given
This case study is based on one of the large manufacturing company who are having
a 1250 employees. this company is operating their business in Midlands. This
company has effectively organized there individual or staff members responsibilities
and roles that will be performed by each and every members. Does it has also their
contribution toward smooth operation within the business by reducing the conflicts
and confusion regarding the task that is needed to be completed by some specific
employees of the organization. Moreover, This organization do not have any catering
So the employees have to go long to eat their food and have lunch. Now
organization has decided to develop new on site country so stop will able to eat
without going so far. it will save both the time of employees and time off
organization. The company is taking the CSR activities such as developing healthy
lifestyle of people that will result in reducing staff absence.
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 specify about the sequence or phases of project or the way it goes from initiation to
closure so that end objectives can be achieved. So there are various activities performed in the
project by different staff member that contribute in getting maximum outcome. The project
manager of company has divided task into various stages such as initiation, planning, execution,
monitoring and control and closure. The numerous phases or stages of project management can be
illustrated as follows:
 Project initiation
Project initiation is the first stage where all the beginning activities are decided and
also project manager develop goals and objectives. They also have visuals about
what they need to achieve an they also try to identify the stakeholders of this project.
goals are set by the researchers or project manager that can be achievable and
provide better objectives of the whole process. in this stage documentation are
developed by the project manager and according to them they decide the activities
that will be performed when the project will start. Moreover, This organization do not
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have any catering So the employees have to go long to eat their food and have
lunch. Now organization has decided to develop new on site country so stop will able
to eat without going so far. it will save both the time of employees and time off
organization. The company is taking the CSR activities such as developing healthy
lifestyle of people that will result in reducing staff absence.
 Project planning
Project planning is another stage of project life cycle , in this stage project manager
perform various activities and plan the whole project so the objectives and aims of
the project can be achieved. in this stage project manager already decided what are
their goals, activities that will be performed, the task schedule that needed to be
performed by specific individual or the better outcomes. all people and team
members are aware of task they have to perform to make the project on catering
can be developed. Agile is popular method that helps in continuous flow of process
as well as testing of PLC. However, on other hand, prince 2 method is flexible as
compared to agile. In waterfall method customer and stakeholder needs are
identified and then planning is done.
Thus, for this project the prince 2 methodology is applied. It will help in making
project flexible and complete it irrespective of its scope, size, etc. as it is flexible
method so changes can be easily made into that by which it becomes easy to attain
results by completing tasks.
 Project execution
This is the third and most important part of the project life cycle where the project
plan designed by the project manager is implemented with the effective action of the
organisation. It is one of the largest space of project management plan in which
resources are effectively used by the project manager to achieve the goals and
objectives of the project and they can make it successful. so in this stage team
members already take all the steps that are necessary for the project so that the
service is related to the catering Can be provided to the and blocks were working
and their time can be saved, thereby they they will not need to go outside long by
walking to have a lunch, They just need to go onside Catherine that will save their
time and companies time as well. it will make the organize and more effective
because their employees will be present effectively and they were able to achieve
success within the market where they are operating their business
 Project closure
This is the last stage of project life cycle in which project manager
announced to close the whole project and they measure the outcomes of
the project. They also hand over the final report to the sponsors. this
means that the All the documents will be handover to the company by the
project manager after the end of project. the success will be measured so
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it can be identified that objectives are achieved of developing catering For
save time of employees and organization both. In this stage employees
were able to have lunch in the catering And satisfy their needs and
demand.
Analysis of the project methodologies and tools used
There are many project methods which is available and that can be used in
project management and implementation. The use of project methods depends on
nature and type of project. Also, it is used n basis of cost and time within which
project has to be completed. Basically, there are several common methods used that
are agile, scrum, waterfall, prince 2 method, etc. but among them prince 2 is highly
used because it is easy and simple method. Moreover, the method is easily
understood and applied. Along with it, PLC is also integrated with project method. It
has been analysed that there are many features and benefits of project method that
vary from one another. So, it is necessary to evaluate method in effective way.
Hence, methods are defined as :
Agile is popular method that helps in continuous flow of process as well as testing of
PLC. However, on other hand, prince 2 method is flexible as compared to agile. In
waterfall method customer and stakeholder needs are identified and then planning is
done.
Thus, for this project the prince 2 methodology is applied. It will help in making
project flexible and complete it irrespective of its scope, size, etc. as it is flexible
method so changes can be easily made into that by which it becomes easy to attain
results by completing tasks.
There are some tools also used in project. For preparing schedule Gannt chart is
developed. Alongside, network diagram is prepared to find out which task is
dependent on another one. There is also use of WBS which shows broken down of
project into sub tasks by which it is easy to work in systematic way.
Review and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC
in application to your project using the appropriate
theories models and concepts
The project PLC shows that there are all 4 stages which is highly important. It is
because with that project is completed within specified time and goals are attained.
Basically, effectiveness of PLC can be identified with help of various ways that is as
below :
Initiation and planning
The first stage where project in which manager comes with new ideas and
also diffusion innovation theory is applied. This helps in understanding project in
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