An Analysis of Operations Management at Marks and Spencer

This report analyzes the operations management principles at Marks and Spencer (M&S), a major British multinational retailer. It explores various operational management principles such as accountability, organization, change, and causality, and critiques their implementation within the company. The report assesses how well these principles meet M&S's requirements, particularly in inventory and supply chain management. It further examines the positive and negative impacts of principles like scientific management and lean production. The report then discusses continuous improvement and lean principles, including the PDCA cycle, and proposes a continuous improvement plan for M&S. Finally, it provides recommendations for improving the operations function based on the analysis, aiming to enhance efficiency and address challenges in the competitive market.

Operations & Project
Management
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INTRODUCTION
Project Management is the application of the processes concerned with initiating,
planning, executing and controlling the specific tasks in order to achieve specific goals and
objectives within the definite time frame (Becker, Kugeler and Rosemann, 2013). The following
report is associated with Marks and Spencer as well as Sunshine Drinks company as it is divided
in two parts. The first part is based on Marks and Spencer which is large multinational retailer
specialises in selling clothes and luxury food products. It reviews and critiques the effectiveness
of operation management principle and apply the concept of continuous improvement in
operational context. The second part is based on Sunshine Drinks which sales fruit based drinks
and enjoys a good market reputation. This part will cover the detail project life cycle process and
reviews the application of PLC in the project.
PART 1
1. An introduction to your chosen organisation
Chosen organisation under the report is Marks and Spencer which is founded in 1884 and
is a major British Multinational retailer specialises in selling clothes and luxury food products,
headquartered in London, UK. It was founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer and has
around 979 stores all across UK. It has around 80, 787 employees throughout the organisation
which are working effectively to attain the organisational goals and objectives (Haber, 2017).
2.An explanation of operation vs operations management
Operation Management refers to the proper planning, executing, controlling and
monitoring the business operations related to production and manufacturing of products whereas
operations is concerned with transformation of resources into desired goods and services and
delivers value to the customers. It is concerned with the activity of processing, inspection,
Transportation and storage.
3. Review and Critique implementation of Operations Management Principles
In the context of case of TESCO
There are various principles of operation management which needs to be effectively adopted by
Marks and Spencer to maintain a continuous supply of their products in the market. In the case of
M&S which is a Multinational retailer should adopt operation management principles and
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effectively maintain their inventory stocks and continuous supply of products to achieve growth
and success in the competitive market place. Company's manager should change their working
practices by adopting the innovative technology and maintains proper supply chain management.
These principles are discussed as follows-
 Accountability- This principle is concerned with manager within the respective company
should set standardised rules and regulations and assist employees to work accordingly.
This will lead to effective performance of work and moreover there would be efficient
supply of products and effective inventory management within organisation (Ingason and
Shepherd, 2014).
 Organisation- According to this principle, in order to manage business activities in a
effective manner all the departments and activities should be arranged and interconnected
in a effective manner so as to maintain their inventory stocks and supply its products in a
effective manner. This will maintain efficiency of business operations and allows growth
and success of the company.
 Change- This principle ensures M&S to maintain effective inventory and supply chain
management. It provides respective company to adopt to recent methods and procedures
to meet the requirement of the customers by providing them a timely delivery of goods.
This ensure firm to adopt standard practices for delivering and effectively reduce the
overall cost of the company.
 Causality- Problems and issues arises in every organisation and needs to be eradicated fir
the success and growth of organisation. In case of Marks and Spencer where company
faces a problem of supply chain and effective management of stocks, it is necessary for
the company manger to identify the root cause of the problem and takes effective actions
to manage its business operations effectively (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).
4. Analyse the extent to which Principles of Operations Management meets the Requirements
After analysing the various principles of operation management it is necessary for M&S
to analyse the extent to which it meet the requirements of the company. This is discussed as
follows-
 As M&S wants to adopt innovative technology for efficient inventory management and
makes the supply chain process in regular and a smooth form. For this company adopt the
principle of change so as to adopt innovative tools and techniques for effective inventory
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and supply chain management. This will allow the company to maintain efficiency in its
business operations and therefore leads to overall reduced inventory cost for the
company.
 As the company want to make consistency in their business operations so that it can
manage all the departmental activities in a effective manner. For this organisation
principle can be effectively applied within the organisation and rules and regulations
should be made clear so that employees work productively towards the success of the
organisation. Applying this principle met the requirements of the organisation and leads
to efficiency in supply chain management (Kerzner, 2017).
 In order to achieve maximum efficiency in it business operations, rules and regulations
should be made clear to the employees so that they work effectively according to
standardised rules and regulations and helps in effective logistics management and
ensures timely delivery of their products in a effective manner.
Therefore Principles of Operation management meets the requirements of Marks and Spencer in
adopting the recent technology and attains maximum efficiency in business operations.
Positive and Negative impacts of operational Management principles
 Scientific Management- This principle focuses on selecting and choosing the best way
of performing the task and to effective do specialization and division of labor. It has a
positive impact as it assist the company to help the employees in perform the task with
the one best method and thereby increase efficiency and negative impact is that
employee skill cannot be enhanced as they are allowed to conduct business practices with
the one best way.
 Lean production- It is the principle which focuses on reduces waste and errors in the
production process and thereby achieving maximum efficiency in the business practices.
Positive impact is that it helps in removing non essential features and errors during the
production process at M&S and therefore negative impact is that there is high cost for the
company to implement such principle and it also changes the overall work process which
is not accepted by the employees within the organization.
CONCLUSION
It has been analyzed from the above information that operational management principles
assist the business in functioning business activities in a proper manner, thereby reducing
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wastage and errors and achieve maximum efficiency, moreover enhances brand image of the
company and therefore enhances brand image of the company and with planned change of
technological advancement it maintains growth and success of business.
5: Discuss continuous improvement and lean principles
Continuous improvement plans are the practices and the procedures that brings gradual
improvements in their products and services through constant review of business activities,
measure the progress and takes the effective actions to enhance and improve the business
performance. It is necessary for Marks and Spencer to adopt continuous improvement plans so
as to improve their profit margins and maintains its sustainability in the competitive business
environment.
Lean Principles-
Lean principles are concerned with performing the business activities and process in such
a way that that reduces wastage and achieves maximum efficiency in the production and
manufacturing process. It consist of following Five principle such as value, value stream, flow,
pull and perfection which are all associated with minimisation of waste and enhance the
productivity by maximising efficiency in the production process.
 Identify Value- Value of the M&S product should be identified by the managers from the
customers point of view such as the product meets the requirement of the customers as
well as what is the price customer is ready to pay for product. This leads in enhanced
efficiency in business operations.
 Map Value Stream- After identifying the value of their products, manager at M&S
should map and create value for their products by choosing the most efficient production
and supply chain process and to eliminate the extra activities and process. This leads to
reduced wastage and achieves maximum efficiency in business performances.
 Create Flow- After eliminating extra processes and business activities it is necessary for
manager at M&S to create flow in their production process and large task should be
divided into smaller parts so that employees can perform their task effectively and
achieves maximum efficiency in business operations.
 Establish Pull- After maintaining effective flow of production it becomes easy for the
manager at M&S to provide goods as per the customer needs and demands. It also leads
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to overall reduced inventory cost as the product can be made available according to the
requirements of the customer (Kerzner, 2017).
 Perfection- Under this stage manager at M&S reviews and controls the whole process by
adopting certain changes if any deviations are found. This way manager can eliminate the
extra waste and maintains perfection and efficiency in their business activities.
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on your review and critique of operations
management principles
Continuous improvement plan
Basis Current Methodologies Proposed Methodologies
Delivery Accountability principle was
not effectively as to which
employees were not able to
perform job their job
responsibilities in a proper
manner (Webb, 2017).
Accountability principle
should be effectively organised
within the respective
organisation to which
employees are clear about their
roles and responsibilities and
maintains efficient supply
Chain management.
Quality Organisation as a principle is
not implemented within the
company to which it hampers
the effectiveness in the supply
chain and leads to lower profit
margins.
In order to ensure better
quality in products, it is
necessary for M&S make all
the departmental activities
coordinated and use different
inventory management
techniques to maintain the
quality within inventory.
Cost Change as a principle is not
applied effectively within the
organisation as the company
dos not uses effective
principles or methods to
In order to reduce the overall
cost of business operations it is
necessary for the company to
effectively apply change as a
principle and adopts the
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reduce the waste and manage
efficiency in business task
(Kundu and et. al., 2015).
innovative technology and
adopts standardised practices
for in their manufacturing and
supply chain process and
reduced overall cost of the
company.
PDCA CYCLE
It is a four step model used within the business in order to have control and make
continuous improvements-in the business products and practices. These steps are discussed as
follows-
 Plan- Under this manager of the respective organization identifies the plan the needed
change in the organization through the development of strategies and policies. Manager
at Marks and Spencer identifies the change of adopting tools and technology for
managing inventory and distribute its products in the market effectively and gains
competitive advantage.
 Do- In this stage of continuous improvement manager of M&S carries out the change on
small scale to identify the relevance and impact out of it.
 Check- Manager at M&S should identify and review the results out of the change
implemented and analyses the benefits out of it regarding managing inventory and supply
chain by adopting technological advancements.
 Act- This is the stage in which actions are taken by the manager within the respective
organization to take effective and take decisions regarding making improvements in the
business practices.
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7. Using continuous improvement principles, make at least two justified recommendations which
could improve the operations function.
From the above analysis of operation management principles and effective continuous
improvement plan, there are various recommendations that the manager of the Marks and
Spencer could adopt to ensure improvement in business functions. The following
recommendations are stated below-
 Managers at M&S should adopt to recent technology and adopt standardized practices for
maintain effective inventory and supply chain management. It is necessary for the
company to adopt to change principle by adopting innovative methods and techniques
and effectively sustains in the competitive market place (Leach, 2014).
 In order top reduce the overall cost of inventory, it is recommended to the manager at
M&S to adopt just in time inventory technique so as to reduce the overall cost of keeping
inventory and attains maximum efficiency in business operations.
PART 2
(a) Project Life Cycle
In this project, Sunshine Drinks company manufacture and sells fruit based drinks, now
the company has decided to combine its drinks with a new variety of energy drinks. This new
project undertaken undergoes through all the stages of project life cycle and project activities are
completed within an effective time frame. The stages of the project for the new product is
described as follows-
 Business Case
Sunshine Drinks are effectively selling out their fruit based drinks which have decided to
introduce energy based drinks with the use of natural ingredients to target health conscious
customers.
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 Project Initiation- It is the starting phase of the project cycle where a project manager
identifies the need for starting a new project, analysing the business environment and
determine the possible opportunities and threats associated with the project. Moreover
project manager identifies the stakeholders associated with the project so that work can
be carried effectively. Under this project, Sunshine drinks company which is going to
introduce energy drinks should analyse their target market and effectively conducts cost
benefit analysis for the project (Lientz and Rea, 2016).
 Target Market
Target market for their new product includes customers from all age groups and
especially focuses towards health conscious customers. This would enhance the company to
improve their profit margins and high sales for the new product.
 Cost Benefit Analysis
It is an approach used by the project managers to make proper decisions by analyzing the
cost against the benefits received from undertaking the project. Cost for this new project includes
funds for resource, tools and technology and requires qualified human resource for the
development of new product. Benefits received are enhancement of profits and able to capture
larger market share. Therefore this is a benefited project for the company.
 Project Planning- After the initiation of the project by the manager at Sunshine Drink
company, it comes to project planning where project manager plans appropriate strategies
for executing and completing the project activities within a definite time period.
Manager plans for the effective resources and properly acquire them to accomplish their
targets effectively. Moreover budget is properly decided and scope of the new project-
based is communicated to all the employees within the organization so that they can work
appropriately, leading to maximum efficiency in business operation. Under this stage
comp[any can adopt to lean principles so as to minimize and reduce costs leading to
maximum efficiency in developing new product. Moreover Sunshine Drinks company
should adopt autocratic leadership style in which leaders supervises and gives direction to
the employees to work effectively. Along with it also uses various tools such as work
break down structure and Gantt Chart to which ensures project manager regarding the
initiation and competition of project activities within a definite time period (Maylor and
Turner, 2017).
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Gantt Chart
Work Break Down Structure
 Project Execution- It is one of the most crucial stage of the Project life cycle which
leads to effective execution of the project in which employees are made clear about their
roles and responsibilities in a effective manner. All the resources are properly allocated
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and business activities are performed effectively. When the project is executed it
becomes the responsibility of the manager to properly review the progress of the business
activities and takes necessary actions if any deviations are found in the performance. This
helps in executing the project activities in a proper manner. Moreover, manager at
Sunshine Drinks company should adopt democratic leadership style by involving
employees in decision making process, this would enhance the morale of the employees
to work effectively and productively towards the growth and success of the organization
and moreover effective methodology of Total Quality Management should be adopted to
maintain and ensure proper quality and standards of products manufactured and meets the
satisfaction level of customers (McArthur, 2015).
 Project Closure- At this stage Sunshine Drinks company analyses the whole
performance of the project in which the new project is launched by the company and is
delivered to the customers to meet their requirements and satisfaction level. Documents
are made regarding the successful closure of the business and employee and other
stakeholders are effectively communicated regarding the closure of the business. Under
this stage Strategic Leadership should be effectively used by the leaders at Sunshine
Drink company to take effective tactical decisions in case of any deviations found within
the project and modify the project activities.
 These are the effective stages within the project cycle in which different leadership styles
are applied and different methodologies are used to maintain the quality of the new
product as the project activities within the new project can be completed within the
allocated time frame.
(b)Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC
Project Life Cycle consist of the different stages which assist the completion of project
activities within a definite time period. Stages within PLC ensures that project activities are
completed in a way as they are planned. Therefore it is necessary for the company to adopt PLC
and perform its business activities in a proper time frame. Hence the firms adopt Waterfall
model to judge the effectiveness of PLC which is described as follows-
 Requirement- This step is concerned with when the manager determines the requirement
of the resources in a effective manner so that project activities can be completed
successfully. Project Initiation stage helps the manager in meeting down all the
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requirements. Therefore, effective use of six sigma helps the company in meeting down
the requirements (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017).
 Design- This step is more concerned towards the project planning stage in which all the
resources and strategies are framed effectively so that the new product can be effectively
developed. Under this method firms adopt the lean principles so as to minimize wastage
in their production process and achieves maximum efficiency. Apart from this effective
autocratic leadership style adopted by the leaders make the employees clear with their
roles and responsibilities and assist them to work functionally towards eh attainment of
goals and objectives.
 Development- This step is concerned with the overall execution of the project activities
in a proper time frame. During this stage firm uses Total Quality Management as an
effective tool to ensure quality and scope of the project is at a appropriate manner. Apart
from this democratic style has been used which increases the participation of the
employees so that employees work more productively towards the success of the
organization (Shaheen, 2014).
 Testing and Maintenance- This is the last step of the waterfall model which is
concerned with overall maintenance and closure of the project plan. It helps the manager
of the Sunshine Drinks company to find any deviations if they exist and modify the
project plan. Strategic leadership is effectively applied to make the leaders take effective
decision regarding successfully v developing the new product.
This led to the effective use of PLC for the new product of Sunshine Drinks company to
capture the larger market share and improve its profit margins.
In effectiveness of PLC in achieving business objectives
Along with the effectiveness of PLC, there is ineffectiveness of Project Life Cycle as
with the project initiation stage all the resources, time are decided at this stage which makes
difficult for the managers within the respective company to make modifications further,
moreover under the design stage strategies are framed regarding executing the business
activities, but it requires manager to frame time to time strategies regarding effective operation
of the business activities. Apart from this at the project execution stage it is the duty of the
manager of Sunshine Drinks company to implement the strategies and measure the progress of
the business activities. This requires the manager to change their strategies by analyzing the
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performance of the project activities, therefore these modifications cannot be made once the
project activities are executed and creates problem in achieving business objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that project management helps in proper
initiation and execution of the project related activities in a efficient manner. Manager should
also adopt various operation management principles so to manage the project activities and
attains maximum profitability in their business operations. Along with this continuous
management principle brings improvement in the business operations and activities. Different
stages of PLC allows the leader and manager to adopt effective leadership and perform its roles
and responsibilities within a definite time period. At last effectiveness of PLC is judged with the
help of waterfall model.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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