Operations and Project Management: Crossrail Case Study Report

This report examines the operations and project management principles applied by Crossrail, a British railway company. It begins with an introduction to operations management and its importance in organizational contexts, followed by an analysis of Crossrail's implementation of these principles, including organization, humility, change, success, accountability, reality, quality customer, and competition. The report then critiques these principles and proposes a continuous improvement plan based on Lean Production and Six Sigma methodologies. It further details the project life cycle of Crossrail, including the initial planning stages, and the effectiveness of this cycle using relevant theories, concepts, and models. The report emphasizes the importance of these principles for achieving organizational goals, improving efficiency, and providing quality services. The report incorporates relevant theories, concepts, and models to support the analysis and recommendations.

Operation and project
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within an organisational context. ...............................................................................................3
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles within an organisational context...........................................................6
P3 Project life cycle of cross-rail company with necessary supporting documents for
completion of project..................................................................................................................8
P4 Effectiveness of project life cycle in application to the chosen project using appropriate
theories, concepts and models...................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is defined as a area of management that is related to designing
and controlling the production process of an organisation. Primary concern of operation
management is upon the planning, coordinating and examining the whole process of production,
service and manufacturing department. It manages the whole activities of organisation which
involves the conversion of input into output. It effectively use all factors of supply chain
management for organisational improvement. Operation and project management maintain
balance between the revenue and cost to achieve desirable goals. London North Eastern railway,
a British railway company is chosen for this project report that manages the railway in United
Kingdom. The organisation is founded in 1923 and it operates 12 stations in London. In this
report the organisation evaluated the research and development programme of operation and
project management. Various theories, concepts and project life cycle related to respective
organisation is covered in the report. Concept and modals which are used in the small scale
projects is also discussed in the project.
TASK
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within an organisational context.
In an organisation, operation and project management is the basic function which helps in
managing business operations. Operations management help business to do planning,organising ,
controlling the activities of business so as to ensure proper management and increase efficiency
and productivity in the organisation. There are so many principles of operations management
which help organisation to achieve business goals by developing strategies to attain the goals and
provide quality product and services to potential customers(Ahmed,and Jiang, 2018).
In context to cross rail, so as to check whether they have effective management and
efficiency in their working, in every context of the chosen company these principles are analysed
and evaluated to reach towards the result.
Principles are discussed below:
Principle of organisation: . Because of common goals all departments, activities are
linked to each other and it is necessary for them to interact with each other so that they can

familiar with what ever going on in the organisation.. As this helps organisation to reach towards
their profit. It is necessary for Cross-rail too to make sure that all departments must interact with
each other as they all are interconnected so that it can help in managing efficiency in the
organisation to acquire business goals.
Principle of humility: In an organisation, if trial and error method is applied than it
requires huge cost which affect organisation profit, so instead of this employee need to be trained
and they must know their limitations and abide by it. Cross rail need to save their resources
( time and money) so that they can use whenever needed for the long term.
Principle of change:It is necessary for every organisation to change their operating
strategies and policy so as to stay the market for longer time. So, it is necessary for Cross-rail too
to change their operating strategies and implementation policy and adopt the change to maintain
consistency and stability in the market to compete with their competitor in the market and gain
customer attraction towards themselves(Heldman, 2018.).
Principle of success: An organisation's main focus is to satisfy their consumer needs to
earn profit and this is considered as a path towards success. Cross-rail must provide services that
makes customer feel satisfied so that customers found the services of the company reliable and it
can leads to growth and a path for success.
Principle of accountability: Accountable means answerable. It is necessary for
managers to make rule and regulations which could be followed by employees in an
organisation, they should make such rules and regulations which are related to their positions
too. In the case of Cross rails, operating managers need to design rule regulations which can
help them to monitor the activity going on in the organisation so that it can lead to increase the
chance of their profit.
Principles of reality: This principle states that management need to concentrate on all
the problems of organisation also analyse the need of introducing new service. Similarly Cross-
rail need to first study the market, analyse it what is been demanded by customers and then
implement or launch any new product,services or any new policy. So that they can evaluate it
and resolve the issues so that it will considered profitable after implementation.
Principle of quality customer: Customers need quality product and services so that they
may get what they have demanded for. So company need to produce and provide the same which

makes customer happy. Cross rail also provide high quality railway services to their customers
so that customer can avail it and this can help them to grow and get success in future.
Principle of knowing the competition: knowing our competitors and competitor's
strategy to do business is necessary for every business of any industry. Cross rails also has so
many competitors in the industry so the managers of operating management firstly, need to know
their competitors and their strategies appropriately for market survival.
LEAN PRODUCTION
It is a systematic approach , used in organisation to decrease the waste of production systems
which are occurring in their operating activity so as to increase the productivity while ensuring
high or good quality. This can help managers to maximise their profit as it decreases the overall
production cost. Some features are discussed below:
Value: Fulfilling customer demand by providing and delivering them desired services timely at
low cost can create value of organisation.
Flows: Cross-rails Managers put a lot of efforts while examine the level of wastage of
production to check whether there is any uncertainties in production or not(Hokama and et. al.,
2018).
Value Stream: As per this feature, after the launch of any product or services managers of
operational level need to identify the customer satisfaction derived from after availing it. This
same thing is done by Cross-rail' manager they execute their product in the market mainly in
those cities in which they are operating, and then identify that how much a customer is satisfied
from it.
SIX SIGMA
it is a techniques was founded by Bill Smith in the year 1980 which is used by the company to
minimise the waste in production sector so as to enhance the operating process. Six Sigma has 2
tools which are:
a) DMAIC- It is used by company to boost the product quality make them efficient so that it can
fulfil consumer demand.
b) DMADV:It is used by the company, to produce more new products, so that it can found
effective in the market increase the market share, attracts and maintain the image of the
company.
Cross-rail used DMAIC tool to enhance their service quality. It include 5 part they are:

Define: Cross-rail before improving the service quality they first analyse and evaluate the
need of the potential customer.
Analyse: cross rail analyse and solve problems which occur after launching new
services.
Improve: they try to upgrade their service in this step, cross-rail add more benefits like
comfortable sleeping seats and in non Ac too.
Verify: In this they verify all the services they have provided to customer so as to
measure their expected profits from them(Kleinhans, 2017).
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles within an organisational context
Continuous improvement plan
continuous improvement programme help organisation to plan about producing and supplying
products and services of upgraded and efficient quality. Cross-rail managers provide finest
services which is beneficial for customer with efficiency.
Basis Principles Result
Safety and Security Rules and policy of
organisation
It is necessary for every organisation to
have a fundamental record so that they
can maintain the data of safety. Cross-
rail's managers of operating
management ensure proper safety in
their manufacturing unit so that no
hazardous disaster can take place in this
operations level. They also have record
to maintain the reservoir.
Delivery Guidance management So as to ensure proper delivery without
any wastage. Cross rails make some
policies regarding safe and timely
delivery of their services. This
decreases the waste of resources in

production level and lesser the chance
of defects.
Cost Reduction Process Lean manufacturing In this, cross rails executed the Six
Sigma technique .out of this they have
opted for DMAIC approach which
ensure more efficiency with less
wastage in production cost. This makes
managers to spend less in the operating
level so that it can generate profits with
less waste. Also, using six sigma cross
rails has done so any innovations so as
to achieve organisation profit.
Maintaining Quality Lean manufacturing Cross-rail's operating management
continuously innovate something in
their services continuously modify their
quality so that customer can avail them
when ever necessary and also able to
stay in the competition and compete
with their competitors. They innovate
new products and service but they
ensure that there must be less waste in
production, and maximise the
profitability,productivity and efficiency.
Every manufacturing industry focus on making their operational level more effective as it
necessary for therm to direct a way expansion,growth success ad attainment of their organisation
objective. Analysing cross-rail can help to know about thing they are lacking behind, get to
know what mistakes they have made in their operational level and surely the managers find the
appropriate ways to rectify it and solve the mistakes or issues which has arise(Liu, and Li, 2017).
Continuous improvement plan not only benefits the customer but it will be beneficial for
the company too as they are improving their service quality. Using six sigma and lean production

techniques they also deduct the wastage the of production and production systems to reduce the
cost of production and make high profits with less investing in the operating level.
Their basic and must needed focal point is to identify the needs of the customer produce
according to them provide them quality service decrease the wastage of production so as to
maintain efficiency in working of organisation and develop more innovative products and
services than their competitor so that they can survive in competitive market, increase customer
satisfaction fulfilling their demand, generate more revenue and stay in the market for growth and
success(Tadano and Maeno, NEC Corp, 2020).
P3 Project life cycle of cross-rail company with necessary supporting documents for completion
of project
The concept of project life cycle is referred as a process that perform all project in sequential
way from the initiation stage to closure stage of respective project. In cross-rail, the project life
cycle is helpful to estimate the cost and time duration to complete a particular project. Cross-rail
is the railway infrastructure project of Europe that is involve in making railway lines(Ma Liu,
and Meng, 2020) . 1500 men and women are involved in respective project. All stages of project
life cycle is covered by the company to manage all operations to complete project effectively.
Various phrases are followed by cross-rail of protect life cycle:
 Initial stage- In initial stage of project life cycle, consumer needs and their preferences
are examined by the manager of an organization and then relative product is developed.
In the respective project of cross-rail, is making tunnels in London that are helpful for
people to avoid the heavy traffic on the street and it saves their time to reach another
place. Hence, the railway project make batter lifestyle of people of the London.
 Planning stage – When the initial or introduction stage is completed, it is necessary to
plan whole procedure and strategies to accomplish that particular project in effective
manner. Cross-rail examine all market factors to formulate appropriate planning by
analysing various statements and documents. Skilled employees and effective labour are
important to complete define project within time.
 Execution stage – Execution stage is very important for every project life cycle because
planning regarding the specific project is implemented in this stage in its best way to
accomplish goals and objectives. Cross-rail project's management team make sure that
planning must be implemented and executed in the same manner that is decided.

 Closure stage – It is the last stage of project life cycle. Necessary documentation and
other formalities are completed in this phrase. Cross-rail project takes approximately 10
months to complete their railway project. In this stage whole cross-rail project is tested
before open it to use for Elizabeth line.
GANTT CHART
Gantt chart is referred as a horizontal chart that involves insight information and schedule
of a particular project. Henry Gantt introduces this concept in 1915. it is use for the management
of project and provide the relation between activities that are mentioned at left side of the chart
and time on the top. Length of bars describe the position and time of activities. Project
management department prepares the Gantt chart of Cross-rail to display the performance in
defined time period. The following Gantt chart is showing the starting as well as end date of
particular project. Here, all process of cross-rail project and its functions are divided into several
functions are discussed below:
Project Portfolio-
Project portfolio is refereed as a legal document that contains all necessary information
about the project, it is the important stage of management process. Basically the methodology
that is used to manage a particular project is known as project portfolio(Machado,.and et. al.,

2017). It includes various information such as executive summary, objectives, cost and benefits
of a particular projects.
 Executive summary- This report is about the accomplishment of cross-rail railway
project . The respective company is known for the creativity in their construction
functions. Executive summary is basically a short document section of organisation. This
provides deep knowledge about the project that are helpful to manage it effectively.
 Goals – Main goal of cross-rail project is to satisfy customer by providing better services
to them and reduce heavy traffic in London. Necessary information and knowledge is
also provided by company to their customers.
 Cost- Cost is most important factor for completion of project without having any kind of
barrier. Cost of project includes the installation of hardware, software and daily operating
as well non operating expenses.
 Benefits- when new product is launched in respective market, it becomes important to
make value of that product that helps in success of company(Salloum, 2017).
 Execution time- Cross-rail project takes almost 10 months to complete after planning
phrase.
 Project plane- Cross-rail considers several aspects to complete project effectively such
as
Cost: The respective project involves the cost of loudspeaker, raw material and human and other
cost. More revenue and customers are generated by company from railway project. Effective
planning and execution is important to reduce the risk (Nicholas, and Steyn, 2017).
WORK BREAK DOWN STRUCTURE
Work Breakdown Structure use of organisation to divide whole work into small parts, so
the whole work can manage and examined effectively.
P4 Effectiveness of project life cycle in application to the chosen project using appropriate
theories, concepts and models
Theories, concepts and various models are very important to ensure the effectiveness of
project life cycle. These concepts and theories are helpful for the executive managers of projects
to define the goal appropriately and achieve them in effective manner that are discussed below:
 Initialisation phase- This is the first step of project life cycle. In the initial stage of
project autocratic leadership style is used by the cross-rail to conduct their project in

effective way that is usually use in the large-scale companies. In this leadership style
leaders take all decisions regarding the project, there is no involvement of their
subordinates in decision making process (Meng, and et. al., 2020). As the company
providing long lasting products in large scale, so autocratic leadership is quite
appropriate of it to take effective decisions.
 Planning phase - In the planning phase of project life cycle, leaders choose the
situational leadership to achieve their defined objectives. Decisions and performance are
depend upon the situations of that particular time frame, weather it is the small scale
large scale organisation. Plans should be flexible, if there are some changes are happened
in relative procedure or environment in near future they could be implemented in
planning. In this phase whole work is divided into the smaller task that can easily
achieved.
 Execution phase- Every leader, manager adopt the servant leadership in the execution
phrase in project life cycle. In this step it is important to develop strong team sprite
among the organisation in order to complete project on time with employees support.
Cross-rail understands that individual development is important for organisational goals
achievement and development. The respective railway projects require the proper
financial resources to execute plan effectively. Every large-scale project needs effective
strategies that fulfil the requirement of funds and control the cost of project but small-
scale projects do not required that strategies in execution of projects. This phase turns
whole plans of organisation into desired actions with described time limit.
 Closure phase – Once the whole work is completed, the organisation enters in the
closure phase. Team leadership style is adopted by the leaders and mangers of cross-rail
project. As the railway is the large-scale project, so a number of human resources are
required to complete task efficiently. All human resources need proper appreciation to
enhance their morale. All these strategies are helpful for the organisation to ensure the
development to all team members, so they will take active part in projects (Moribe and
Fujioka Denso Corp, 2017).
Benchmarking theory:
Benchmarking theory is defined as the theory that is established for comparing the
performance that is estimated and final result, find the gap as well as identify changes in

management process of respective organisation. in the project od cross-rail, benchmarking
theory is utilised that facilitates the organisation to determine gap in respective generation
and utilise these aspects within management system and in last develop effective method and
close the gap that are found in the initial stage of product development life cycle. The
respective theory help organisation to produce better quality product and services according
to customer needs and demands. The main purpose of implementation of benchmarking
theory is to identify effective methodology elements that contribute to establish acceptable
theoretical framework within organisation. There are five effective elements of
benchmarking theory which is used by the organisation in cross-rail project are discussed
below:
Research implications: The theoretical framework of Benchmarking facilitates the
organisation to improve the overall functions of Cross-rail project.
Practical implication: Practical implication is the effective elements of respective theory
ensures the sustainability of or railway project and reduce the cost through decreasing the
waste process and efforts that are not adding any value in project.
Originality and Value: Benchmarking theory is quite valuable for completing the Cross-
rail project in efficient manner and enhance the quality of railways.
CONCLUSION
From the above report on cross-rail, it can be concluded that the concept operation
management is referred as a process that includes planning to achieve defined goals, organise
resources and supervise efforts of employees in production and manufacturing department. It is
important technique to complete a particular project in defined time period. Lean manufacturing
process and six sigma are some methodologies which are used by the organisation to formulate
their policies and implement them in effective manner. Only planning is not enough for the
success of any project, continuous new and innovative ides and strategies addition make it more
effective. Project life cycle defines all levels of project from starting to completion. Various
leadership approaches help to complete the project in define time. Gantt chart and work
breakdown structure are very helpful to determine all time and activity factor and divide whole
task into smaller one, so they can achieved easily.

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