Operations Management Report: Analyzing Woolworths' Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the operations management strategies employed by Woolworths Group Limited, a major Australian retail company. It delves into various aspects of the company's operations, including its operational strategy in a global context, emphasizing its focus on providing quality products and services. The report examines project management in implementing new operations, cost control measures, and the importance of forecasting demand and resources. It explores Woolworths' location strategy, highlighting the significance of selecting optimal locations for new stores. Furthermore, the report details the company's quality management and process design, including the Woolworths Quality Assurance Standard (WQA) and its application to service providers. It also covers inventory management practices and job design within the organization. Overall, the report offers valuable insights into how Woolworths manages its operations to achieve success in the competitive retail market.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Operational Strategy in Global Context..........................................................................................3
Project Managing implementation of a new operation....................................................................4
Forecasting of demand and resources..............................................................................................5
Location strategy.............................................................................................................................5
Quality Management and Process Design.......................................................................................6
Figure No 1: WQA Standard Pathway (Including GAP Audit)..................................................7
Figure No 2: WQA Standard Pathway (Excluding GAP Audit).................................................8
Inventory Management....................................................................................................................9
Job Design.......................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Woolworths Group Limited is one of the major Australian Company that has a number of
retail stores across Australia and New Zealand. The company which is headquartered in New
South Wales in Australia has annual revenue of more than A$ 55 billion
(woolworthsgroup.com.au 2018). The following report has highlighted the process by which the
management of the company undertakes the operations of the business and has also provided
different elements that makes up the operations of the business. The purpose of the following
report is to determine the different kinds of factors that determine the quality of the service
provided by the company. The operational strategies will thus cover the important aspects or
elements that are undertaken by the management of the organizations to attain success in the
market.
Operational Strategy in Global Context
Operational strategy is one of the many functions of a business organization and is
directly linked to the supervision and the redesigning of the business operation for the production
of different kinds of goods and services. The business organizations can design an effective and
efficient system for using the resources and the different kind of work process by the
procurement of the technologically advanced machineries and the hiring of the competent staff in
the organization. According to, Parkinson (2018) the operational strategy of Woolworth has a
number of different aims. However, the main aim of the organization is to provide the best
products and the best possible services to the customers of the organization. The management of
the company has divided the areas by means of the looks of the supply and manages the
distribution centers and the supply chain. Apart from this it also divides investment in a

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continuous improvement in the implementation of different kind of information technologies as
well as strategies to reduce the shrinkage. The main focus of the operational strategy is to sub
contract with the different types of suppliers to avoid the creation of any kind of manufacturing
factories. The management of the company provides special attention to the identification and
the selection of the suppliers of the organization. The company gives special care to the selection
to ensure the best quality of the products which are supplied by them and sold to the customers.
The following process helps to increase the reputation of the company and also reduce waste
easily.
Project Managing implementation of a new operation
As said by, Rosemann and vom Brocke (2015) the management of Woolworths has
decided to implement a systematic and well planned strategy to ensure cost reduction and quality
of product. The organization has decided to implement a cost reduction as well as increase the
quality of the product that is sold in the stores of the company. Cost Control is one of the main
operational objectives of the organization. The main business purpose of the company is to
provide customers with quality products at a much affordable price. The following can only be
done by means of mitigation of wastes and ensure a regular checking of the goods by the quality
control department. Apart from this the management also aims to collect regular feedbacks of the
customers to get the perfect idea regarding the needs and the demands of the products that are
supplied to them (Smith Maull and CL Ng 2014). The cost is most necessary to be controlled
since it is believed to be the ultimate success to the organization. The focus on the product
quality will lead to the growth of the revenue and the increase in the share of the profit. The
customers prefer the purchase of the product with high quality and a competitive price structure.

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The better will be the quality of the product; the easier will it be for the management of the
company to manage the operations of the business smoothly and efficiently.
Forecasting of demand and resources
Forecasting is one of the most important functions in the retail sector and it is similar in
Woolworths. The following function helps the managers of the organization to predict the future
demands of the customers and perform the related functions in an effective and planned way.
The quality of the goods sold by the management of Woolworths in the retail stores of the
organization is maintained according to the basis of the forecast (Smith Maull and CL Ng 2014).
As mentioned earlier the organization have to select and establish the stores of the business in
such a way that it helps the organization to gain the best resources needed for the improvement
of the company and also helps tin its growth. The main resources that will be needed for the
organization to fulfill the strategy of ensuring quality goods for the customers and also maintain
a low cost for the goods is all possible by means of a proper forecast.
Location strategy
Selection of the right location is the key to the success of the organization. If a company
selects the wrong location it may not have the customers, workers, proper transportation and the
required materials to ensure its success. Therefore it can be said that location often plays a key
role in the success of the organization (Parkinson 2018). The locational strategy of Woolworths
helps to identify the optimal position for the setting up of new shops by analyzing different other
factors like the presence of the customers, presence of other infrastructure and most importantly
the quantitative study on the revenue of the following organization. The contemporary location
strategy is planned in accordance with that of the operational strategy of the business where the

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company has plans to open the new store close to the warehouse of the suppliers to ensure the
best quality of the products. The presence of the stores close to the warehouse also ensures a
significant reduction in the price of the products. This is because much less or negligible
transportation cost has to be spent by the organization to shift the products of the organization
from the warehouse from that of the stores. The maintenance of quality will thus be much easier
for the organization.
Quality Management and Process Design
The nominated service providers of the company include transport, warehouse and
distribution suppliers. These service providers are required to gain certification to the private
quality assurance model of Woolworths. the quality assurance model of Woolworths is referred
to as Woolworths Quality Assurance Standard (Kasemsap 2017). Apart from this the companies
have to also gain other kind of different existing regulatory or governmental quality assurance
certificates. The vendors, suppliers and other kind of companies who provide resources, goods
and services to Woolworths will be audited and synchronized in accordance to the current
standards of WQA Audit requirements with the current WQA standard appendix. The new
vendors who may show interest to supply products in new stores of Woolworths have to undergo
a GAP check to ensure whether the current set of the quality standards matches with that of the
Woolworth quality standard.

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Figure No 1: WQA Standard Pathway (Including GAP Audit)
Source: (Jie and Gengatharen 2018)

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Figure No 2: WQA Standard Pathway (Excluding GAP Audit)
Source: (Hitt Xu and Carnes 2016)
The process design of the company will be based on the combination of the product and
the designation of a low cost for the organization. The company retails the product combination
of the goods and the services. the service is specially for the customers of the organization. The
quality of the services provided by the management of Woolworths include the likes of inventory
handling, displaying the goods, helping out the customers, billing the products and many more as
such.

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Inventory Management
According to, Hitt Xu and Carnes (2016) being an element of supply chain management,
inventory management includes the aspects of controlling and overseeing the ordering inventory,
storage of inventory and the regulation of the products that are sold by the company. The
inventory management of the company in the case will involve the creation of an effective
inventory plan where the goods will be listed according to their types, date of dispatch, date of
supply, quality and other important variables. The inventory management will thus provide a
proper organizational support to the contemporary operations of the business.
Job Design
The job design of the company will include the advertisement of the vacant position of
the operations department in a number of media articles including print media, television media
and online media (Yun et al. 2018). The interested applicants will undergo an interview and skill
test to get selected in the process. The selected employees will then be provided a special
training to handle the inventory and the operation management of the business.
Conclusion
The following report has provided a proper analysis on the operations management of
Woolworths. The inclusion of the operational strategy, forecasting demands and contemporary
strategies along with the highlight of the locational strategy has provided the perfect example
regarding the topic of the report. A thorough analysis of the report will help the readers to gain a
knowledge regarding operations management. The report thus provides a huge scope to any kind
of future resources that aims to study on the following topic on Woolworths Company.

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References
Hitt, M.A., Xu, K. and Carnes, C.M., 2016. Resource based theory in operations management
research. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.77-94.
Jie, F. and Gengatharen, D., 2018. Australian food retail supply chain analysis. Business Process
Management Journal.
Kasemsap, K., 2017. Advocating sustainable supply chain management and sustainability in
global supply chain. In Green Supply Chain Management for Sustainable Business Practice (pp.
234-271). IGI Global.
Parkinson, M.M., 2018. Case Study 4: Woolworths Group plc. In Corporate Governance in
Transition (pp. 203-221). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Rosemann, M. and vom Brocke, J., 2015. The six core elements of business process
management. In Handbook on business process management 1 (pp. 105-122). Springer, Berlin,
Heidelberg.
Smith, L., Maull, R. and CL Ng, I., 2014. Servitization and operations management: a service
dominant-logic approach. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management, 34(2), pp.242-269.
Woolworthsgroup.com.au. (2018). Woolworths Group: Quality Brands and Trusted Retailing.
[online] Available at: https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/ [Accessed 26 Oct. 2018].
Yun, G., Yalcin, M.G., Hales, D.N. and Kwon, H.Y., 2018. Interactions in sustainable supply
chain management: a framework review. The International Journal of Logistics Management.