Operations and Project Management Report - Jaguar and Portakabin

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management principles, utilizing case studies of Jaguar and Portakabin. The first part examines Jaguar's operations, critiquing the execution of operations management principles, including reality, humility, and organization, and evaluating how well these principles meet the company's requirements. It also explores continuous improvement and lean principles, proposing a continuous improvement plan and recommendations to enhance operations. The second part focuses on Portakabin, detailing the project life cycle (PLC) for its Yorkon Building System (YBS), including Gantt charts, work breakdown structures, and a critical analysis of the application of various theories and models in both large and small-scale projects. The report further evaluates techniques used to ensure quality, scope, and tenure in project implementation and critically assesses the PLC itself, concluding with a synthesis of findings and recommendations. This detailed report is a valuable resource for students studying operations and project management, offering real-world examples and practical insights.

Operations & Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
1. Introduction of the organisation.........................................................................................3
2. Explanation of Operations vs Operations Management.....................................................3
3. Review and Critique execution of Operations Management Principles.............................4
4. Examine the extent to which Operations Management Principles meets the Requirements. 5
5. Explain continuous improvement as well as lean principles..............................................6
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan............................................................................6
7. Provide some recommendations which could enhance the operations function................7
PART 2............................................................................................................................................8
1. Overview............................................................................................................................8
2. Project Life Cycle...............................................................................................................8
3. Gantt Chart:......................................................................................................................10
4. Work Breakdown Structure:.............................................................................................12
5. Critical analysis of usage of different theories, concepts and models between large and
small-scale projects..............................................................................................................12
6. Different techniques used to ensure quality, scope and tenure in the project implementation
..............................................................................................................................................13
7. Critically analyse how various theories, concepts & models used between large & small-
scale projects. ......................................................................................................................14
8. Critically evaluate the PLC..............................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCE.................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Project Management refers to the process which includes various elements such as
initiating, planning, executing, controlling and monitoring a specific project effectively. It has
been analysed that each and every business organisation required to have project management
department in their organisation so that they can attain all the requirements of the company
within stipulated time frame (Heizer, Render and Munson, 2017). The present report is divided
into two main sections, where in the first section Jaguar has been chosen in order to critique and
review various operation management principles. In addition to this, second section is based on
the case study of Portakabin. In this part, implementation of Project Life Cycle is done along
with its critique.
PART 1
1. Introduction of the organisation.
Jaguar is one of the biggest leading British multinational car manufacturer company. Its
headquarter is located in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is the company who mainly manufacture
Jaguar cars until its operations were merged with Land Rover to create Jaguar Land Rover. It has
been identified that the company is an engineering gem and perform there task in an effective
manner with the help of latest technologies and advancement. It has been analysed that company
is facing various issues, which directly or indirectly plays very essential role in order to enhance
and maintain the quality and sustainability of the products within the competitive marketplace.
2. Explanation of Operations vs Operations Management
It has been said that operations define as the activities, functions and procedures of an
organisation which has to be done in an effective manner in order to attain organisational
objectives and goals (Reid and Sanders, 2015). On the other hand, operations management refers
to an area which is mainly concerned with planning, designing, implementing, controlling and
monitoring the process of production as well as redesigning different operations in order to
manufacture goods and services.

3. Review and Critique execution of Operations Management Principles.
Operations Management refers to an essential aspect for every organisation as it assist in
performing work in an effective manner and accomplish pre defined task. It has been identified
that there are various operation management principles which is necessary for every organisation
to follow them effectively. Some of these principles are as follows which includes its review as
well as critique: Principle of Reality: It is the principle of operation management which mainly focuses
on the problems and issues rather than tolls and techniques used by the organisation. It
has been analysed that according to the principle of reality, not a single technique provide
solution to different problems. In the present context of Jaguar, it has been said that
management team of the company face various issues which is related to design of cars.
Some of the cars are not designed according to the requirement which affects there
overall image at the marketplace (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). Therefore, it is the
principle which is not positively used within the organisation as they do not fix there
departments and focuses on introducing new methods in order to fix there trouble, issues
and problems. Principle of Humility: It is another important principle of operation management which
proves the trail and error method of manufacturing in an effective manner. According to
this principle, managers as well as leaders of the organisation must have enough
knowledge about the limitations of there work. Apart from this, they must acknowledge
and approach for internal as well as external help. In references of Jaguar, it is the
principle which is positively adopted by them. Managers of the company identify there
fault in manufacturing and designing of products and have separate R&D department
within their organisation. With the help of this, company can examine current market
trends and requirements of customers and then manufacture goods accordingly.
 Principle of Organisation: It is the another principle of operation management, where
each and every process of manufacturing products are connected with each other, which
as a result enhance its consistency and produce positive outcome within stipulated time
frame (Wiig, 2012). In the present context of Jaguar, management team of the company
fail to implement this principle effectively within the organisation, main reason behind
this is that primary aspect of manufacturing process is to examine and inspect safety

standards and quality within the products of Jaguar. This aspect is not performed by the
managers effectively which results in failure of its elements.
4. Examine the extent to which Operations Management Principles meets the Requirements.
There are some requirements in companies which can be addressed by operations management.
It is important for firms to analyse various aspects in which companies excel with areas of
improvement.
Jaguar also has some requirements which are discussed below:
 First requirement of this company is to earn more profits then their cost. Their
main agenda is to get economies of scale when they will be doing production at
effective rates. Principle of variance is used by Jaguar and they apply it on
diversity instead of cutting of costs.
 Another requirement of Jaguar is maintenance of Quality. Company's reputation
requires firms to essentially and effectively work on their quality in offerings and
overall process (Singh and Singh, 2015). Implementation of all principles in
Jaguar has been not that effective, which lead to no inspection and analysing of
issues related to quality in their engines and this resulted into quality degradation
of their products.
 Safety is one of very important requirements of a company. This is one of major
and very important requirements of a company ensuring that there are proper
supplies of products. In case of Jaguar, company was not able to adopt this
principle of reality and this also lead to ineffectiveness in manufacturing process,
this has hampered overall safety as their focus has shifted on new methods and
innovative creations.
 At last, there must also be timely and effective delivery of products to their users.
Firm uses them effectively and this ensures compliance of principle of humility,
where firm has been able to successfully improvise their delivery systems as they
have adopted Just in time techniques in their company (Stark, 2015).
Thus, after analysis of various requirements of operations management of Jaguar has pointed out
that there is only one factor which is delivery which is fulfilled by principles being adopted by
company. There is a necessary requirement for Jaguar in relation with quality, safety and cost of
their engines.

5. Explain continuous improvement as well as lean principles.
Continuous improvement basically regarded as a process which has been adopted by
company so that there is consistency in making their performance better and enhancement of
overall quality in process and company's products. It will also be helpful for Jaguar, that there is
effectiveness in design, durability and performance.
Another important element related to production which is crucial for companies to
understand what concept of Lean principles denotes. It is a process in which modification of
manufacturing procedures which minimizes overall waste (Garetti, Rosa and Terzi, 2012). This
concept has five essential principles which are mentioned below: Value identification is first principle in which there is analysis of various elements which
are valuable to customers. Value stream Mapping is another procedure which is used to ensure dispersal of
organisations value. Flow creation is also a Lean principle. In this efficiency is ensured in organisation with
minimization of waste at all different stages. Pull establishment is also one of principle which is required by Jaguar to analyse
requirements and demands of their customers and then modification of their operations.
 Perfection seeking is also a principle in which waste has to be minimised and then firms
have to be provided with maximum utilities (Deviand Reddy, 2012).
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan.
Implementation of management principles in Jaguar is being assessed and in that there
are some areas which require continuous improvement to enhance performance of company and
their process. Below mentioned is a improvement plan in relation with this company.
BASIS CURRENT
METHODOLOGIES
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGIES
COST Principle of variance must be
used by firm presently which
has lead to reduction in cost.
Firm is involved in
implementation to expand their
Variance must be applied and
implemented in processes of
manufacturing where firm can
get engaged in adoption of
some innovative equipments

product's portfolio. which helps in reduction of
costs.
SAFETY Company has not adopted
principle of reality in an
effective manner this has been
a root cause of all problems is
in their engines are being
ignored. New techniques &
equipment processes must be
focused to increase safety
(Joslin and Müller, 2016).
This principle should be
adopted with principle of
organisation which will help
company in testing their
products & process on safety
grounds.
QUALITY Firm has failed to adopt
principles in organisation.
Because of lack testing of
product which has lead to
decrease in quality.
Jaguar should adopt
management of quality as an
effective technique to ensure
that all aspects related to
quality are being addressed
properly
7. Provide some recommendations which could enhance the operations function.
From above analysis of implementation operations management there are two
recommendations for Jaguar in ensuring effectiveness in manufacturing and production
department.
 Firm must work to ensure connectivity in their process of manufacturing, this includes
testing of product and analysing durability on some extreme condition (Leach, 2014).
 Jaguar should ensure innovation in their manufacturing process and then apply those
techniques in lean manufacturing and TQM to ensure overall effectiveness in process of
manufacturing.

PART 2
1. Overview
As per the given case study, it has been identified that Portakabin is a B2B organisation,
which mainly deals in delivering modular building for its customers. Apart from this, it is the
company which is performing its business function from more than 50 years and bring
continuous innovation by examine the trends and demand of customers. Furthermore, they are
working in order to modify structure of modular constructions. Recently, company is launching
its new product which is named as Yorkon Building System (YBS), it is an innovative product
which is mainly built by using latest technology (Reid and Sanders, 2015).
2. Project Life Cycle
Project Life Cycle refers to an effective process which needs to be implemented within
the company in order to take initiation, plan and execute the project in an effective manner and
within give time frame. In the present context of Portakabin Case Study, it has been analysed that
designing and implementing plays very essential as well as crucial role. For this, OLC for YBS
are going to be discussed as follows:
 Project Initiation:
First stage of project life cycle includes initiation stage. According to the name of this
stage, objective of the project and need is identified which can be both problem or opportunities.
During this step of PLC, it is required to figure out objective and need for the project and
identify whether this project is feasible or not. Furthermore, teams are developed by the
management team of company along with the allotment of tasks (Singh and Singh, 2015). In this
stage, a business case need is developed which are going to be discussed as follows:
BASIS DESCRIPTION
Overview
Portakabin is one of the biggest and fastest leading organisation
which mainly manufacture modular buildings. Furthermore, new
product which is launched by the company is named as Yorkon
Building System (YBS).
Vision and Mission Vision statement of this company is to become one of the superior
organisation in Modular Construction Technology. On the other
hand, mission statement is to create new and innovate products by

using effective marketing and R&D.
Objectives
Main objective of this company is to enhance its current market
share along with its profitability at the competitive marketplace by
producing innovative goods and services.
Strategies
In the present context of Portakabin, it has been analysed that
innovation is an essential strategy which is implemented by the
organisation while manufacturing products. Apart from this,
effective strategies includes R&D as well as market analysis.
Target Market
It has been analysed that target market for Portakabin is
manufacturing organisation within both secondary and tertiary
sector.
In the context of methodologies, it has been defined that company should use Six Sigma
in the stage of initiating which includes different elements such as define, develop, measure,
validate and analyse. In addition to this, leadership style which is chosen by the leaders of
organisation is Autocratic Leadership style (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). With the help of this
style, leaders assign task in an effective manner and determine the strategies in order to attain
organisational goals and objectives. Apart from this, in reference with tools, it has been said that
management team use Microsoft Project 2019, at the initiating stage of PLC.
 Project Planning:
after the approval of first stage which is based on business case, planning phase is started.
In the second stage of Project life cycle, project planning is included where planning of every
phase in mentioned. During this phase, it has been analysed that large project are divided into
smaller one by using work break down structure. It includes establishment of project needs and
requirements apart from this setting of cost and timeline is required. In the present context of
Portakabin, organisation is going to develop a project plan for there new product which is
Yorkon Building system (Joslin and Müller, 2016). Below mention is the project plan for the
company are as follows:
BASIS DESCRIPTION

Cost
YBS is a product which is at the cutting border or edge of modular
building technology. Apart from available at the competitive rate,
it is the project which costs quite higher than its previous products.
Scope
It has been identified that scope of this project is quite high as
company is presently providing services and customised buildings
to B2B customers. Apart from this, in order to deliver such
products effectively, new technologies is used by company and
conduct market research effectively.
Communication
In this part, it has been analysed that company is using all kind of
communication method in order to transfer information in both
internal as well as external area (Devi and Reddy, 2012). For
example, managers of the Portakabin uses internal, horizontal and
vertical communication and using both verbal, oral and non verbal
communication.
Quality
In order to ensure quality of products and services offered by
company, it is required to implement techniques such as TQM.
This as a result, ensure effectiveness of the products at the
marketplace.
Total Quality Management is the methodology which is used by the managers in this
stage. It is an effective and appropriate framework which is used by organisation in order to
enhance overall quality of project. In case of leadership style, leaders use democratic style of
leadership in order to increase the scope of planning in the whole project. In addition to this,
there are various tools which is used by management team of organisation in order to
manufacture new and innovative products at the competitive marketplace.
3. Gantt Chart:
This is type of bar chart which denotes schedule of a project. Various task to be done are
represented on vertical axis and time horizon is on horizontal axis. Width of bars actually denote
time duration of each activity.

4. Work Breakdown Structure:
Work breakdown structure is a project that helps in organizing a project into some
manageable sections. Work is broken down into sub sections which are smaller and after that
those are managed this increases effectiveness.
5. Critical analysis of usage of different theories, concepts and models between large and small-
scale projects
 Requirements: Jaguar has implemented six sigma model, with autocratic style of
leadership to assign various tasks according to requirements. There is disadvantage with
this model that it is very rigid this leads to ineffectiveness because of low flexibility.
 Design: Jaguar must emphasize on having a design which is attractive and at same time
which offers comfort to people. Designing of products is very important for company as
this deals with overall physical appearance of product (Garetti, Rosa and Terzi, 2012).
 Implementation: Lean manufacturing must be used at implementation stage, as this is a
technique which is used to maximize productivity and also it helps in minimization of
waste. This system also ensures Kaizen and ensures continuous improvement in overall
process. There are benefits of this system such as reduced cost of operating, improvement
in overall quality and many other.
 Verification and maintenance: Planning and implementation of strategies is not enough
but it must also be ensured that there is proper verification and maintenance of
approaches used earlier this will help company in discovering of any loopholes if
occurred. other approaches such as providing customers better after sale service should
be also be used so that they are able to take feedback from their customers. This will lead
to building of brand image for their customers.

6. Different techniques used to ensure quality, scope and tenure in the project implementation
F.W. Taylor's Scientific Management Theory: Logical administration includes the use
of a logical way to deal with administrative decision making (comprising of-gathering of
information, an examination of information and putting together choices with respect to the
result of such investigations); and disposing of simultaneously, all informal methodologies, as –
principle of the thumb, a hit or miss approach and an experimentation approach.
Lean Production: Lean generation is a way to deal with the board that spotlights on
removing waste, while guaranteeing quality. This methodology can be applied to all parts of a
business – from plan, through creation to conveyance. Lean creation plans to cut expenses by
making the business progressively productive and receptive to market needs. This methodology
embarks to remove or limit exercises that don't increase the value of the creation procedure, for
example, holding of stock, fixing defective item and pointless development of individuals and
item around the business.
The use of different approaches could be done in order to make proper implementation
quality such as TQM Approach and Lean Production and many more for the betterment and
growth of an organisation.
7. Critically analyse how various theories, concepts & models used between large & small-scale
projects.
There is a lot of different in between the use of model for small scale projects as well
large scale projects. For example, the use of TQM Approach is done for long term projects as
such this approach is used for continuous improvement.
8. Critically evaluate the PLC.
The project life cycle is beneficial for the company to prepare as it provides the company
with the knowledge about the completion of different tasks of the project on which an
organisation is working upon. on the other hand, it is disadvantageous because there may be
some issues in organisation related to cooperation and coordination.

CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that project management
department plays very essential role within the organization in order to manage there operation in
an effective manner. Apart from this, it has also been analysed that managers need to adopt
various principles so that they can manage there productivity as well as profitability of the
company. In addition to this, it has also been analysed that continuous improvement plan assist
in performing various activities effectively and reducing all the scrap. At last, different stages of
PLC helps in enhancing the performance and profitability of the company at the competitive
marketplace.

REFERENCE
Books and Journals
Devi, T.R. and Reddy, V.S., 2012. Work breakdown structure of the project. Int J Eng Res Appl.
2(2). pp.683-686.
Garetti, M., Rosa, P. and Terzi, S., 2012. Life cycle simulation for the design of product–service
systems. Computers in Industry. 63(4). pp.361-369.
Heizer, J., Render, B. and Munson, C., 2017. Operations management. Pearson Education
Limited.
Joslin, R. and Müller, R., 2016. The impact of project methodologies on project success in
different project environments. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
9(2). pp.364-388.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2017. Project management metrics, KPIs, and dashboards: a guide to measuring
and monitoring project performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Kundu and et. al., 2015. A journey from normative to behavioral operations in supply chain
management: A review using Latent Semantic Analysis. Expert Systems with
Applications.42(2). pp.796-809.
Leach, L.P., 2014. Critical chain project management. Artech House.
Reid, R.D. and Sanders, N.R., 2015. Operations Management, Binder Ready Version: An
Integrated Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Singh, J. and Singh, H., 2015. Continuous improvement philosophy–literature review and
directions. Benchmarking: An International Journal. 22(1). pp.75-119.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Stark, J., 2015. Product lifecycle management. In Product lifecycle management (Volume 1) (pp.
1-29). Springer, Cham.
Wiig, K., 2012. People-focused knowledge management. Routledge.

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