Unit 16 Operations and Project Management: Unilever's Strategies

This report provides a detailed analysis of Unilever's operations and project management strategies. It begins with an overview of Unilever, followed by a comparison of operations and operations management. The report reviews and critiques the implementation of operations management principles within Unilever, analyzing how well the organization's operations management meets its requirements. It discusses continuous improvement and lean principles, applies Six Sigma, and proposes a continuous improvement plan with justified recommendations. The second part focuses on project management, providing an overview of a case study, analyzing project methodologies and tools used, and reviewing the effectiveness of the project lifecycle. The report concludes with key findings and recommendations for enhancing Unilever's operational and project management practices. Desklib offers a wide range of similar solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

Unit 16 – Operations and
Project Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Company overview.................................................................................................................3
Operations v/s Operations Management................................................................................3
Review and critique implementation of operations management principles..........................5
An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization meets the
requirements of the organization............................................................................................7
Continuous improvement and lean principles........................................................................8
Apply six Sigma and its effectiveness ...................................................................................9
Prepare a Continuous improvement plan ............................................................................10
Analyse the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan.............................................13
A continuous improvement plan, including your justified recommendations for improvement
..............................................................................................................................................13
PART 2.........................................................................................................................................14
An overview of the case study .............................................................................................14
Analysis of the project methodologies and tools used.........................................................20
Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC................................................................21
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................22
REFERNCES:................................................................................................................................23
Books and Journals:..............................................................................................................23

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is a process of managing the operations of an organisation. It is
vital for every organisation to take care about quality of products and service offered by them
(Phogat and Gupta, 2017). In this report Unilever and its operations management is evaluated.
There is discussion related to operation's and its difference with operational management. Also,
there are various theories that help to carry out operations effectively so they are also discussed
in this report. Continuous development is important for an organisation so plan in relation to
same is also part of this report. The next part deals with management of project that also leads to
success of an organisation. All the stages of project life cycle are evaluated in the report.
Effectiveness of PLC and various models and theories that help to complete the project
effectively are part of this report.
MAIN BODY
Part 1
Company overview
Unilever is the multinational company that run their business in many countries. They are
dealing in consumers goods that include varieties of products and services. It is the UK based
organisation that deals in varieties of products which include tea, coffee, air purifiers, personal
care products, etc. Unilever has around 400 brands with a turnover of 51 billion Euros (Lamba
and Singh, 2018). They are always taking care that their operations get managed so that they
cannot face any complex situations.
Operations v/s Operations Management
Operations are defined as the activities that performed in business on a daily basis to earn
profits and increasing the value of enterprise. Operation function is the activity what actually
business does on a daily basis. It is necessary for Unilever that they should understand the
importance of optimization in the regular activities as it will helps in generating sufficient
revenues and achieving the goals and objective (Yoo and Dalton, 2021). For the purpose of
optimization, it is vital for Unilever that they should manage their operations in an effective and

efficient way so that they are able to accomplish their goals. Operation management is the
process in which an organisation is managing all the operations.

Operations Operations Management
 Operations are the daily activities
which is necessary for Unilever to
perform in order to earn profits.
 For example, Unilever sell consumer
goods and services to the customers
(Manatos, Sarrico and Rosa, 2017)(.
 Operation management is the
management process in which Unilever
needs to manage their daily operations
so that they can generate more and
more profits.
 For example, Unilever is manufacturing
consumer goods such as soap so they
need to take a decision which is the part
of operation management decisions.
Review and critique implementation of operations management principles
Unilever is the large organisation so their operation management is responsible for the
high level productivity. They are keeping high quality in all over the world where their
functional areas are present. Operation managers of Unilever are developing procedure and
processing in such a away so that they can support company in order to achieve higher
performances. For that purpose, they always consider 10 most important decisions which assists
them to accomplish their goals and objectives. It is identified that operational performance of
Unilever us directly supporting the financial performance as they generate revenues and
incomes. That's why it is very important for operation management of Unilever that they need to
consider 10 most important strategic decisions. 10 strategic decisions are including designing of
goods and services, process and capacity designing, location strategy, job designing, layout
designing, supply chain management, scheduling, inventory management, maintenance, and
quality management.
Strengths of Unilever's operation management process
 Operation management process is very effective in order to achieve the employees'
productivity as Unilever's operational managers are effective in order to communicate the
purpose and goals of organisation.
Limitations of Unilever's operation management process
 If the company will not take care about the quality of their products and services than
they may face problems related to satisfaction level of employees.

It is also find out that Unilever is using some important approaches and theories in order
to maintain the high productivity.
Taylor’s theory of Scientific Management
Some of the important principles that are given by Taylor that are used in Unilever are as
follows: Science, Not Rule of Thumb: It is believed that the organisation should not stop on a
already existing technique. They must find new ways of doling the work. It helps them to
work easier, quicker and smarter (Sevilla and Ellaga, 2020). This principle helps
Unilever to find innovative ways of working and this help them to achieve success. Harmony, Not Discord: It is important to note that employees need good working
environment where they can work effectively. So, in Unilever tries to maintain harmony
in organisation so that all the employees can wok effectively without any disturbance. Cooperation, Not Individualism: All the employees should follow the principle of
cooperation. The employees work together and understand power of team in Unilever. It
is seen that if employees work alone they are neither able to achieve individual goals nor
organisational goals.
 Development of Each and Every Person: It is important to note that organisation should
work in an effective manner so that there is overall development of employees. In
Unilever the employees are taken at utmost care. Employees are given proper training so
that they are able to achieve goals and objectives.
Lean Production
It is a methodology that focus's on eliminating waste while production. The aim is to
provide maximum satisfaction to customer's. By reducing the wastage in organisation is able to
provide quality products to its customers (Babbar and et.al., 2017). The theory is applicable and
suitable for all type of organisations. In respect to Unilever the organisation uses the principle of
lean management and that helps them to reduce waste and increase the rate of production. It
assists the company in gaining competitive advantage and satisfying the needs and wants of
customers.
Agile manufacturing
It is a process that is being used by an organisation to create a process, tool or training in
such a manner that company respond to changes in market. It is seen that company changes their

process according to needs and wants of customer's. It is seen that in Unilever the changes are
taken in consideration and the quality of goods and services is also kept at utmost care. Agile
manufacturing helps Unilever to bring change while taking care about the quality of products
that are being served to customer's. It helps them to achieve standards of operations and fullfill
the expectations of customers.
An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization meets the
requirements of the organization
A company must use all the principles of operations management as they help them to
achieve goals and objectives effectively. It is seen that Unilever is a manufacturing organization
operating at large scale. So, the company needs to work in an effective manner by taking caring
of all the needs and wants of customers. The following are principles that help Unilever to
achieve its goals:
 It is seen that Unilever focuses on maintain quality of their products. It is vital to note that
a company will be able to serve more customer's if they provide at low cost. Also, the
work in such a manner that they are able to achieve economies of scale and reduce the
cost to serve customers effectively.
 At the same time Unilever focuses of quality of products being delivered by them. For
this matter they take care that the raw material that they purchase follows the quality
standards (Iqbal, 2020). It assists them in achieving the satisfaction level of customer's.
 They work effectively to manage their supply chain. They maintain good and effective
relations with supplies so that they are able to get the products of time and deliver the
same to customers in time.
 As they have huge customers. The company produces goods at large scale. This benefits
their operations and they assure that there is no compromise in quality of products given
to customers. At the same time they take care of all the safety measures so that the
customer's are happy with the Unilever.
Continuous improvement and lean principles
It is an ongoing process that focuses on development of quality of products and service
on regular basis. It help Unilever to enhance the sale of their products by using the principle of
continuous improvement. This enhances the performance of organization. And they are able to
achieve success.

Lean Principles
All the principles are formulated to reduce the wastage and lower down the cost of production in
order to satisfy the needs and wants of customer's. The principles that are followed by Unilever
are discussed below:
Value Defining: Unilever works to provide valuer to customers in return of money they
pay. They study the trends in market and provide the product with high value to customers.
Mapping of Value Stream: This principle is designed to map out the points and factors
that increase the value for customers. In relation to Unilever they eliminate the steps that do not
provide value to customers.
Creating Flow: The resources, material and labor are aligned in such a manner that they
work to achieve the goals and objectives of organization (Dong, Wang and Gong, 2020). The
employees of Unilever are given training regarding the same so that they are able to work
effectively.
Pull Establishment: This principle is based on inventory management. Unilever work in
an effective manner that helps to manage quality of goods produces by them.
Pull Establishment: The company sets some standards and work in such a manner and
then work to achieve the perfect standards. All the employees of Unilever work in such a
manner that helps them to achieve success.
Unilever is able to maintain quality and achieve success by using these principles. The
organization believes creating value is one of the most important principle that helps them. As
well as the principle of pull establishment is also reason satisfying the customers.

Apply six Sigma and its effectiveness
Six sigma is a techniques of operations management that is being used by the
organization. It is seen that six sigma helps to analyze the the changing requirements of
customers and also tries to identify the improvement in quality of product (Torlak, Demir and
Budur, 2019). It is evaluated that Unilever aim to reduce the cost and at the same time reduce
wastage of resources. It is a continuous improvement plan that helps Unilever to gain
competitive advantage. It helps Unilever to enhance its business processes.
 Define: The first and foremost deal is to define the goals clearly.
 Measure: The next principle is based on measuring the quality of product and process.
 Analyze: It is important to analyses the result and know about the defects that iccured in
the process.
 Design: In this point eliminate all the sources that causes defect.
 Verify: It is the last step in which the organization verifies that the is design is suitable or
not.
The principles of six sigma are as follows:
 Customer Focus: It is seen that Unilever focuses on customers and the quality that is
required by them.

 Identify Root Causes: If there is any problem in the organization that it becomes
necessary to know about the route cause of such problem. This principle helps Unilever
to come out of problems that are faced by them.
 It is seen that the organization deal with all the challenges but they do not believe in
variation. The focus is to improvise the process.
 Teamwork: In respect to Unilever they focus in teamwork and believe that all the work
that is being assigned to them could be completed in team.
 Be Flexible and Thorough: All the employees of Unilever believe that by being flexible
they are able to accomplish goals and objectives and that helps them to achieve success.
Prepare a Continuous improvement plan
It is an ongoing process that focuses on continuous improvement of products served by
organization. It is seen that Unilever believes that quality can not be maintained in short span of
time (Tsegas and et.al., 2020). There is need of continuous improvement to achieve the standards
and quality of goods and services served by the company. The steps that are follows by Unilever
in regard to continuous improvement are as follows:
 Plan: It is important to plan on regular basis. It helps Unilever to know about the changes
in market trends and use them to work effectively.
 Do: It is important to note that it is vital to bring change on small scale. So, Unilever
prepares all the employees to adopt change.
 Check: Then the next step of continuous development is related to monitoring the
change. The results must be reviewed on regular basis. It is important to check the
performance on regular basis.
 Act: It is important to act in such a manner that helps to successfully implement change.
The other theories that support operations management are as follows:
Kaizen: It is a technique that is used by Unilever to change for better. It is seen that a company
must work for continuous improvement to achieve goals and objectives. All the employees are
includes in the process.

 Advantage: It strengthens the teamwork and improves leadership style.
 Disadvantage: There is requirement of additional training.
TQM: This principle is followed by Unilever as it helps in total quality management by the
organisation (Svarts, 2020). It helps to minimise wastage of resources and maintain quality that
satisfies the customers.

 Advantage: It assists in manufacturing the products of Unilever at low cost that is
affordable by customers.
 Disadvantage: In case of ineffective leadership the organisation is unable to achieve goals
and objectives.
Quality Circles: It is a group of employees that work together and do same work. All of them
solve each others problem. There are 3 to 12 members in the group. Unilever also follows the
strategies and it helps them to achieve success in group projects.
 Advantage: It improves the decision making and leads to achievement of goals and
objectives.
 Disadvantage: There is lack of management support and that is the reason it takes long
time to complete the work.