Operations and Project Management Report: LNER Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management principles, focusing on the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a case study. It begins with an introduction to operations management, emphasizing its role in designing, controlling, and coordinating manufacturing activities. The report then critiques the implementation of operations management principles at LNER, exploring concepts such as competition analysis, organizational structure, the importance of humility, adaptability to change, customer satisfaction, quality, accountability, and understanding market realities. Furthermore, the report delves into lean production and Six Sigma methodologies, highlighting their application in improving efficiency and reducing waste. A continuous improvement plan is presented, outlining strategies for enhancing service delivery, cost reduction, and quality maintenance. Finally, the report examines the project life cycle within the context of LNER's cross-rail projects, detailing the initial phase, planning, execution, and closure, along with supporting documentation and relevant theories, concepts, and models.

Operations and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
.....................................................................................................................................................3
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles................................................................................................................6
P3 Project life cycle of cross-rail company with necessary supporting documents for
completion of project..................................................................................................................8
P4 Project life cycle in application to the cross- rail railway project using appropriate
theories, concepts and models...................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
The concept of operation management is referred as area of management that design and
control whole manufacturing activities in the organisation. The main objective of operation
management is upon the plan all activities, coordinate them and examine whole process of
production as well as service department of organisation. This activity is basically related to the
conversation of raw materials into the final goods with the help of humane resources. Managers
of respective organisation manage whole process to get result in the effective way. Supply chain
management is able to provide all material on time, so whole process is revolve without any
problem. Project management establishes relationship between the cost and revenue related to
the particular project. In this report the chosen organisation is London North Eastern railway,
that manages railway projects in the United Kingdom that is founded in the year of 1923. The
organisation operates 12 railway stations in the London. There are various principles of operation
management that helps the respective company to conduct their activities in defined manner. Six
sigma, work breakdown structure and all stages of project life cycle is covered in the report.
Various theories and concepts of PLC that affect the organisation are being discussed in the
project report.
TASK
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
The concept of operation management plays important role to manage whole
organisational operations in effective way. Operation management is helpful for every
organization to plan whole activities, organise human as well as financial resources and control
all planed activities to that whole activities are done in the same manner that is planned by
management. The whole process enhance the efficiency and productivity of the respective
organisation(Aguado, Racero, and de la Torre, 2016). Various principles of operation
management are used by the management to develop strategies to attain defined goals and
objectives. It helps to provide quality goods and services to their current and potential customers.
In the respect the cross rail, the organisation choose various principles of operation
management to achieve their task in effective manner. These principles are properly analysed
and evaluated by the respective organisation to attain objectives. Some principles are discussed
below:

Principle of understanding the competition- To revolve the business smoothly, it is
very important for the organisation to examine current competition in the market and strategy of
competitor's(Bonard, Richards, and Mudiganti, 2020). Cross rail has various competitors, so it
becomes important to for the organisation to have deep understanding of their competitors and
their respective strategies to survive in the market.
Principle of organisation- As goals are decided for whole organisation is common, all
act ivies that are perform by different department is connected to each other, this will facilitate
every department to know that what is going on in the business. It is very important for the cross
rail to ensure that there must be the connectivity with all departments, so all these help the
o0rgnisation to manage all operational activities in effective way and acquire desired goal.
Principle of humility- If in the cross rail trail and error method is adopted to operate
activities, it involves too much cost that affect the profitability of the organisation. Instead of
using the respective method to control operations, management should train their employees to
manage things manually. The organisation should try to save time as well money, so these
resources can be used in other activities to ensure long tern success.
Principle of change- Every organisation should update its strategies and working style
according the current market trend, so it can survive in changing competitive environment. Cross
rail should change its operational strategies and try to implement all policies in the planning
process to ensure stability and to competitive position in the market then their competitors.
Principle of success- An organisation can be on the path of success, if the customers that
are engaged with the organisation are satisfied(Fomenko, 2020). Cross rail should provide better
product and services to their customer that satisfy their needs ans wants, this leads the
organisation towards the success.
Principle of quality of customer- For the growth of organisation, it is necessary to
provide better quality product and services to customers. This will make them happy and help to
retain with the respective organisation. Cross rail also conduct the market survey and provide
premium quality product and services to their customer. This will ensure the success of
organisation.
Principle of accountability- Every organisation should maintain proper rules and
regulation for every level, these regulations must be followed by the employees. They are
responsible and answerable for their actions. In the context to Cross rail, should develop their

strategies and regulations and these must be cleared at all hierarchical level. Because of this
employees complete their assigned responsibilities in effective way within time.
Principle of reality- This principle is consist that the authority of organisation should
evaluate all problems that affect the business in direct as well as in indirect way. Cross rail
should conduct the proper analysation of respective market, analyse the customers need and
demands then launch new product that is similar to what costumes demanded (Gordon, 2016). In
the process of launching the new product various issues are raised, the organisation should
resolve them by adopting appropriate strategy.
LEAN PRODUCTION
lean production is a organized approach that is facilitate the respective in the alteration
of waste product. This is helpful to enhance the the production capacity of organisation without
compromising with quality of product. The management can take advantage of lean production
because by adopting it, profit will increased and the cost involve in the unproductive activities
can be removed. Some characteristic of lean production are discussed below:
Value- The value of organisation is increased when it is able to provide better quality and
desired services to customers on time at suitable cost.
Flaws- Cross rail organisation conduct search program to examine the wastage in the
production process. Evaluate that there are some uncertainties are exist in the production.
Value stream- This is the stage that is conduct by the Cross rail to examine the customer
satisfaction level with the product that the organisation is serving to them.
SIX SIGMA
The concept of SIX SIGMA is founded in the year of 1980 by Bill Smith. This is used by
organisation to decrease the waste production in order to enhance productivity(Gordon, 2016)
(Hubbard, and Hubbard, 2019).. It consist two tools to perform activities are:
DMAIC- In this tool of six sigma the respective organisation enhance the quality of their
products to satisfy customers and fulfil their needs and demands.
DMADV- In this tool the company produce new products according the requirement of
the prospect and current customer. This will enhance the market share of Cross rail and build the
brand image in the mind of customers.
Cross rail adopt DMAIC tool of six sigma to increase the quality of product and services. The
organisation involves four major part that are discussed below:

Define- The Cross rail analyse and define the needs and demands of potential customers
then implement any improvement in the product according the customer.
Analyse- Cross rail evaluate and deep examine problems to solve them to I effective
manner in the process of launching new product in the market.
Improvement- In this step all requires improvements are dome by the Cross rail to
provide better services to their customers such as comfortable seats(Liu,. and Li, 2017).
Verification- In this step all the services are verified by the organisation to measure
customer satisfaction.
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the review and critique of operations
management principles
Continuous improvement plan
This plan is helpful for the organization to prepare planning for production and distributing the
product and services to customer in effective manner and upgrade them on the regular bases to
enhance the quality. Cross-rail organisation provides better services to their customers to satisfy
them.
Basis Principles Result
Concept of security and
safety
Rules, regulations and
policies of business
It is very important for business to have
records of all activities, it ensures the
data availability on time and save data
from any outside effects. Cross-rail's
managers ensure safety and security
for their employees in the
manufacturing department to save then
from any hazardous situation. All
financial resources are also maintained
in appropriate manner by the
organisation.
Delivery Guidance management Products and services are delivered to
customers without any wastage. Cross

rails management department develop
some regulation to deliver product to
customers at defined time period. This
will reduce the wastage of resources at
every level of production and increase
the profitability.
Cost Reduction Process Lean production In this stage Cross rails use six sigma
technique to deduct the cost of
production by eliminating all wastage
from process. The respective
organisation adopt DMAIC to enhance
the efficiency. This will facilitate
managers to spend less resources in the
operating activities(Okuno, and
Kawashima,2016), so these resources
can be used in other activities to
generate profit. Various innovations are
created in the products to achieve
desired goals.
Maintaining Quality Lean manufacturing Cross-rail's department of operation
management create more innovations in
their services and change the product
according to requirement of customers .
This will help the organisation to
survive in the competition. In the
process of innovation in current product
and services the management should
ensure that there must be less wastage
of resources.

Each and every industry which is involved in the manufacturing products make suers that their
operational activities are done in effective way, this helps to organisation to expand their
business, ensure the success of organisation and accomplish all goals and objectives of respective
organisation. Cross-rail organisation analyse all necessary factor that affect its activities in
various ways such as find out problems and mistakes that are occurring in the process, managers
prepare appropriate methods and ways to get rid from these problems and issues.
The concept of continuous improvement plan is important for the company as well as for
the customer to enhance the quality of service. Some techniques are available for the
management team to reduce the waste production and the cost that involve in the process are six
sigma and lean production. This are helpful to increase the productivity and profitability of the
organisation(Olofsdotter, and Randevåg, 2016). These factors are focus to identify the needs and
demand of perspective customers and provide them quality services accordingly. Unnecessary
production that enhance the cost is reduced and various innovations are added in the product to
maintain their position in the competitive environment of market. These are helpful to satisfy
customers demands and ensure the growth of organisation.
P3 Project life cycle of cross-rail company with necessary supporting documents for completion
of project
Project life cycle is a continuous process that start from the initial introduction of project
to the last stage that is closure of project. The process consist sequential way to perform all
activities of respective project. In the project of Cross-rail, the project life cycle help to figure out
the time period to compete project, cost of particular project. Cross-rail involves in the making of
railway lines project in the Europe that includes 1500 man and woman. There are various stages
are project life cycle that helps organisation to manage all functions of project effectively. These
stages are discussed below:
Initial phase- This is important stage of any project of organization. In this phase all
customers needs and demands are analysed by the organization to develop the product that
matches the demand of them. Cross-rail revolving the project of making tunnels to facilitate the
people of London to avoid traffic on streets. This project saves the time of people to reach one
place to another and enhance the life style of them.
Planning phase- When introduction and all related information regarding the project is
conveyed at all level of organisation, then it is important for the organization to plan the

sequence of all activities and develop some effective strategies to to complete defined task on
time with efficiency. Cross-rail evaluated all market factors, trends and their competitor to
prepare effective planning for accomplish project(Park, and Son, 2020). Employees and labours
are important factor of organisation that help to revolve project in that manner what is planned
by management.
Execution phase- In this phase planning that is prepared for some specific project is
implemented in defined manner to achieve the goals and objectives of that project. 10 months
time period is taken by the cross-rail to complete the project of railway. The respected
organization make sure that all plans are executed in the best manner in which way the
management decide to accomplish them.
Closure phase- Closure stage is the last and important stage of the project life cycle. All
required documents and legal formalities are managed in this stage because it is the stage of
winding up the whole process. In this phase of project life cycle cross-rail test and evaluate
whole railway project to ensure that now this is ready to open for use.
GANTT CHART
It is the represented in the horizontal form that consist information regarding the project and
whole schedule in which the project is to be done. Gantt chart is introduced by the Henry
Gantt in the year of 1915. It states the relation between the project activities and time taken

to complete the project in effective way(Pu, and Zhang, 2020). Cross-rail prepare Gantt
chart to show their performance that are accomplish within defined time period. Following
Gantt chart states all information about the starting and end date of the respective project of
cross-rail:

Project Portfolio-
A legal document that contains all data and information about a particular project is
called project portfolio of an organisation. It differs from one company to another, it is
important for company to manage whole project in effective way(Shou, and et. al.,2020). It
includes whole necessary information about a particular project that are executive
summary,benefits, cost and objectives to revolve that project in effective manner.
Executive summary- The Cross-rail organisation conduct the railway project in London.
The respective organisation creates various innovation in their construction activities. Executive
summary is generally short section of documents of organisation that describes whole project in
effective manner to all members that are involve that.
Executive time- This is the estimated or real time that is taken to complete a project. As
the cross-rail takes 10 months time period to complete their project.
Cost- It is essential factor to accomplish project goals without facing any kind of
obstruction. There are various cost are include in the project such as installation cost and daily
operating expenses.
Project plan- cross-rail prepare effective plan to complete their project objectives in
efficient manner. These plans should be convey at all level of organization to avoid any
misunderstanding between employees and organisation.
WORK BREAK DOWN STRUCTURE-
The concept of work break down structure is referred as a process to divide whole
complicated task into the smaller one that are easily achievable by the organisation in effective
way. These small task are helpful to accomplish ultimately big goals.

P4 Project life cycle in application to the cross- rail railway project using appropriate theories,
concepts and models
All theories, concepts and models of project life cycle plays important role in the in the
accomplishment of all project objective and determined goals in effective way within time.
These theories are extremely helpful to the executives to define all activities at all hierarchical
level to create better understanding regarding the project to fulfil them from available resources.
Some stages of project life cycle regarding the cross-rail are discussed below:
Initialisation stage- Initialisation is the first stage of railway project to describe whole
information to all members who are involve in that project. Cross-rail is the large scale
organisation that adopt the autocratic leadership style to lead their project member to complete
the project on time with efficiency(Yin, and et. al.,2017). All relative decisions are taken by the
leaders and executives of the organisation, there is no involvement of workers and other

members in the decision making. This i9s quite appropriate for the organisation, that conduct
their activities at large level. Decisions could be taken on time in critical situations.
Planning stage- To plan whole project activities is important task for the organisation,
effective planning ensure the success of business. Cross-rail chose situational leadership way to
plan their project action. All decisions are depend upon the situations that are raised during the
planning. This is help the small as well as large scale organization to plan effectively. The
respective company use work breakdown method to attain goals. Plans should be enough flexible
to modify in difficult situations.
Executive stage- Properly execution of a project is very important for the success of
cross-rail. The organization use servant leadership style to execute their project. In this phase the
organisation allow workers to take part in decision making process because they have deep
knowledge of work. It also develop the team sprite among the organisation(Yuan, Gong, and
Peng,2017). Cross-rail needs appropriate human as well as financial resources and effective
strategies to implement project in effective. In this execution phase plans are turned in the
actions.
Closure phase- Closure phase is the wind up stage of ant project. To wind up project,
cross-rail adopts team leadership to enhance morale of all team member to achieve defined goals.
Railway project is conducted on large, so it requires various human and financial resources. It is
important for the management to maintain all these resources in effective way to complete
project. Team leaders ensures that resources are available to employees at time to perform
activities.
CONCLUSION
As per the report, it can be concluded that operation and project management is very
important for every organisation to complete their projects and operational activities in
systematic and defined manner. These concepts are helpful to manage all resources in effective
way and supervise these resources. To complete project on time in defined time period, the
organisation should adopt these methods in its activities. Six sigma and the method of lean
production facilitate the management to reduce the cost of production by eliminating waste from
the production. The organisation can not be success because of effective planning, proper
implementation is equal important. There are several leadership approaches are available that
help leaders to achieve desired goals on time.

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