BM563 Operations & Service Management: Sainsbury's Operations Analysis

This report assesses Sainsbury's operations management, identifying best practices like promoting health through quality products and worst practices such as resource wastage and sustainability issues. It suggests improvements through recycling programs, energy conservation, and production adjustments. The report also explores technology's role, including self-checkouts, inventory control, and feedback monitors, to enhance efficiency. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of operations with finance and marketing for organizational success, highlighting the finance function's crucial role in investment decisions and financial stability. The analysis aims to provide a comprehensive view of Sainsbury's operations and actionable recommendations for improvement.

Operations and Service
Management

Abstract Summary
In order to carry out this report assessment, Sainsbury’s has been taken into consideration
as chosen business organisation. For instance, it includes role of operations management in
context of respective business organisation as well as best and worst practices of company. In
addition to that, it further included the role of technology in influencing efficiency of workforce
in workplace. Furthermore, it was inclusive of information of business functions linked with
Operations management which further contribute towards organisation success and growth.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Sainsbury's Operations......................................................................................3
Operations Management Techniques to improvise practices of Sainsbury's.........................4
Technology in Operations management.................................................................................6
Different functions linked to Operations Management..........................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The Operations management is referred to process of carrying out management practices
in order to carry out business operations and activities in an effective as well as efficient manner.
For instance, Sainsbury's plc is among leading business organisation engaged in serving
groceries as well as other consumer products in their large number of business units. In addition
to that, respective business organisation operates with second largest chain of supermarkets
within the geographical boundaries of United Kingdom. This report assessment will be
comprised of insightful and essential knowledge of operations management in context of
respective business organisation i.e., Sainsbury's. It will exploring the operations in respective
company in order to recognise best as well as worst practices in carrying out business operations
and activities as well as initiating corrective measures towards worse practices. Furthermore, it
will contribute meaningful knowledge towards readers regarding the mentioned subject matter
(Barnes, 2018).
MAIN BODY
Overview of Sainsbury's Operations
Sainsbury's is among large scale business organisations operating with enormous number
of supermarkets in United Kingdom in order to serve customers with quality grocery and other
consumer products. Though, the company carry out effective business operations and activities
in order to achieve their organisational goals and objectives but still It lacks in maintaining
sustainability in business operations and activities. Being a large scale business organisation,
Sainsbury's operates with large scale operations in order to serve maximum number of customer
base within the geographical boundaries of United Kingdom. In addition to that, the broad
product portfolio as well as the quality served to customers has been considered as the
influencing factor associated with respective business organisation which has been encouraging
buyers’ attention towards them.
The operations carried out in respective business organisation include manufacturing of
groceries as well as organising them in supermarkets in order to be sold to customers in the
consumer market. In order to be precise, core operations of a business organisation impact upon
performance of the company in positive as well as negative manner according to particular
operations carried out by that business entity. Referring to previous statement, quality of

operations has resulted in being a positive factor associated with business performance whereas
inability of respective company in maintaining upright sustainability in carrying out operations
impacting upon the same in a negative manner (Brown, Bessant, and Jia, 2018).
Best Practices of Company
The primary and foremost values of respective business organisation lies in promoting
health of people in society by providing them with high quality products. For instance, this
initiative has been organised in a view of attaining a positive difference to the community with
upright business operations and activities. Sainsbury's is aimed at contributing maximum values
towards society as well as business environment by meeting customer needs and requirements as
well as establishing additional business units in the market. In addition to that, management
representatives engaged in respective business organisation are aimed at initiating efforts
towards attaining competitive advantage over competitive brands in the market. Therefore, all
these factors and aspects further result in being a influencing factor towards increasing sales of
the products offered by Sainsbury's in their supermarkets (Lee, 2018).
Worst Practices of Company
Though, the company is oriented upon strengthened business approach but still it lacks in
some areas which could impact upon business performance in a negative manner. In order to be
precise, it includes wastage of resource in converting input into output which impact which
restricts respective business organisation fulfilling their responsibility towards environment. The
increasing awareness of environment sustainability could lead to reduction in existing customer
base which will further become negative factor associated with sales of products offered by
company. In addition to that, these practices include poor utilisation of resources as well as
wastage of them in carrying out business operations and activities.
Therefore, the determined issues or challenge faced by respective business organisation
has been considered as wastage of resources as well as inability to attain sustainability in
carrying out business operations (Grabner, 2019).
Operations Management Techniques to improvise practices of Sainsbury's
In order to improvise and enhance worst practices of respective business organisation,
there are various different operation management strategies which are as follows:
 Organising a recycling program: This initiative will facilitate in recycling the resources
in order to be used again in carrying out business operations and activities. For instance,

this initiative has been considered as one of the primary and foremost strategy towards
improvisation as well as enhancement of sustainability in workplace with consideration
of minimising wastage of resources. In addition to that, it will facilitate Sainsbury's in
ensuring optimum utilisation of resources used in carrying out business operations and
activities in order to accomplish their goals and objectives. Furthermore, it will further
facilitate in attracting additional customer base towards their products offered to them as
well as retaining existing customer base by promoting their meaningful efforts towards
maintaining sustainability in environment. Moreover, this initiative could also be
organised for packaging materials of company which could be returned by customers and
gain some of the monetary compensation for the same (Choi, Wallace, and Wang, 2018).
 Conserving energy in workplace: In order to fulfil responsibility towards environment
by maintaining upright sustainability, there is a necessity for respective business
organisation to look after implementation of suitable and appropriate sources of energy in
order to conserve energy in workplace as well as ensuring minimum utilisation of the
same. As the company operates with large supermarkets, it consumes large amount of
energy on regular basis which could be exchanged with effective sources of energy in
order to conserve energy in workplace. Furthermore, it will facilitate in minimising
wastage of energy in carrying out business operations and activities in a effective as well
as efficient manner. Therefore, it will contribute additional values towards sustainability
in environment with consideration of effective and efficient strategies towards the same
(Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis, and Schönberger, 2019).
 Considering required amount of production: Another major reason behind
degradation of sustainability in workplace lies in overproduction of products offered to
customers. For instance, respective business organisation has faced various situations of
over-production which has further resulted in wastage of products due to large storage
time in time span of lower demand. In order to prevent the same, management
representatives engaged in Sainsbury's must gather required knowledge in order to
analyse and determine required quantity of products to be served to customers. In
addition to that, it will facilitate in maintaining required amount of inventory of products
as well as minimising wastage of resources in carrying out business operations and

activities. Therefore, it will allow respective business organisation in fulfilling their
responsibility towards environment.
Therefore, all these determined techniques are aimed at improvising sustainability in
workplace with minimising wastage of resources in carrying out operations and activities to
serve customers in the market. Furthermore, it includes minimising wastage, reducing energy
consumption, and required amount of production which will contribute additional values towards
sustainability in environment (de Sousa Jabbour, and et. al., 2019).
Technology in Operations management
Technology plays a crucial role in today's business environment, in almost each and
every operation and activity carried out in workplace. For instance, management representatives
engaged in respective business organisation are aimed at implementing technological elements in
carrying out business operations in a view of improvising efficiency and productivity in
workplace.
 Self-Check-outs: The mentioned respective business organisation must consider the use
of technological elements in carrying out their core operations and activities. For
instance, this innovative technological element is referred to implementation of self-
checkout machines which could be used by customers in purchasing required products
with contactless check-outs. These machines do not involve the role of any employee in
scanning or billing items for customers as it could be directly used by customers. In
addition to that, it will facilitate employees in contributing their meaningful efforts
towards other essential activities and practices which will contribute additional values
towards success and growth of respective business organisation. Furthermore, it will
further result in increasing efficiency and productivity in carrying out operations and
activities in workplace (Lee, and Tang, 2018).
 Inventory control: Another major area of implementation of technological elements is
considered as inventory control which facilitates in monitoring inventory of respective
business organisation. In order to be precise, it will influence the strategy of
consideration of required amount of production by analysing the sales as well as readily
available stock of particular products offered by respective business organisation.
Moreover, it will allow Sainsbury's to minimise wastage of resources as well as
contributing values towards sustainability in environment. In addition to that, it includes

monitoring controls over sales as well as available stock of product which includes per
unit stock of product in order to eliminate situations of shortage and access of inventory.
Therefore, it facilitates in contributing various additional values towards sustainability in
environment with minimising wastage as well as performance of business organisation by
meeting up consumer needs and demands (Agrawal, Atasu, and Van Wassenhove, 2019).
 Monitors to record feedbacks: This has been taken into consideration in order to record
feedback from customers regarding the experience of purchasing products from
Sainsbury’s. For instance, it includes a feedback monitor which presents a screen
displaying different questions to be answered by customers. In addition to that, these
feedbacks are taken into consideration by management representatives which facilitate in
carrying out business operations in an effective manner. It provides knowledge of
experience of customers in purchasing products from supermarkets of respective business
organisation. It also provides information of areas with scope of improvisation which
could be contributed with additional efforts in order to fulfil the gap. Furthermore, it
allows management representatives to acknowledge strengths and weaknesses of business
according to customers which will facilitate in accomplishment of organisational goals
and objectives.
Therefore, technological elements play a crucial role in improvising and enhancement of
efficiency as well as productivity in workplace. For instance, respective business organisation
must consider these technological components in order to contribute additional values towards
completion of business operations and activities in an efficient manner (Torlak, Demir, and
Budur, 2019).
Different functions linked to Operations Management
A business organisation is comprised of different functions that collaboratively contributes
towards achievement of organisational goals. Referring to respective business organisation,
primary and major of these functions include Operations, Finance, Marketing, etc. All these
functions are carried out with coordination and collaboration in order to achieve organisational
goals and objectives. The Operations management in respective business organisation is linked
with various other different functions which are as follows:
 Finance: This function of Sainsbury’s is considered as the backbone of the company as it
includes all the activities and practices related to finances of company. In order to be

precise, it includes raising funds, investment, revenue, losses, etc. which further defines
financial stability of company in performing their business functions. Moreover,
workforce engaged in finance function of respective business organisation coordinate
with operations management representatives in order to carry out business with
collaborative efforts. Finance function of company determines the capacity of investment
as well as efficient allocation of funds in order to earn the most out of their invested
capital. Representatives of finance function develops financial statements which further
facilitate in checking for ability of company in investing requires amount of capital in
order to carry out business operations and activities. Therefore, it plays a crucial role in
fuelling up operations and activities for respective business organisation (Erjavec, and
Trkman, 2020).
 Marketing: This particular business function is organised in order to increase reach of
business to their customers by increasing awareness for the products and services offered
by respective business organisation. For instance, it includes promotional as well as
advertising practices carried out by Sainsbury’s in order to attract customers towards
respective business which further result in increasing sales of products offered by the
same. Another major purpose behind consideration of this meaningful function lies in
acquiring necessary and essential information of market trends as well as consumer
preferences in order to consider the same in development of particular products and
services. Furthermore, it facilitates in increasing overall sales of the products and services
offered by Sainsbury’s in their enormous number of supermarkets established all around
United Kingdom. Therefore, it contributes various additional values success and growth
of respective company with increasing awareness for products and services served to
their customers.
 Human Resource: This essential business function encompasses all the activities and
practices associated with workforce engaged in respective business organisation in order
to carry out business operations and activities. For instance, the primary and major
function of representatives engaged in human resource lies in designing required jobs as
well as recruiting suitable and appropriate candidates for these job roles. In addition to
that, it includes organising training and development programs for employees engaged in
respective business organisation in order to enhance their efficiency and productivity.

The major values contributed through this meaningful business function is increasing
efficiency and productivity in workplace by organising workshops and other training
programs. Another major responsibility of these representatives is to develop positive
working environment for employees to carry out business operations and activities in a
desired manner. Therefore, it influences increasing efficiency in carrying out operations
which further lead to achievement of organisational goals and objectives (Lu, and et. al.,
2018).
Therefore, all these business functions play some or the other role in respective business
organisation which impact upon Operations Management in positive or negative manner. For
instance, these business functions work together with coordination in order to achieved desired
organisational goals and objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above-mentioned report assessment, it has been concluded that respective
business organisation operates upon large scale business operations in order to serve their target
customer base in the market. Quality products and broad product portfolio has been considered
as USP of respective business organisation which facilitates in holding a large market share
among competitors in the market. In addition to that, wastage of resources as well as inability of
company in maintaining sustainability in carrying out business operations has been considered as
are with scope of improvement for Sainsbury’s. In addition to that, organising a recycling
program, Conserving energy in workplace, and considering required amount of production has
been determined as strategies to overcome this area scope of improvement. On the other hand,
Self-Check-outs, Inventory control, and Monitors to record feedbacks are considered as major
areas where technological elements could contribute additional values towards company.
Furthermore, Finance, Marketing, and Human Resource are some of the primary business
functions linked with Operations management which contribute values towards success and
growth of respective business organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barnes, D., 2018. Operations Management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Brown, S., Bessant, J. and Jia, F., 2018. Strategic operations management. Routledge.
Choi, T. M., Wallace, S. W. and Wang, Y., 2018. Big data analytics in operations
management. Production and Operations Management, 27(10), pp.1868-1883.
de Sousa Jabbour, and et. al., 2019. Circular economy business models and operations
management. Journal of cleaner production, 235, pp.1525-1539.
Erjavec, J. and Trkman, P., 2020. Behavioural operations management-identification of its
research program. International Journal of Services and Operations
Management, 36(1), pp.42-71.
Grabner, T., 2019. Operations management. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Ivanov, D., Tsipoulanidis, A. and Schönberger, J., 2019. Global supply chain and operations
management: A decision-oriented introduction to the creation of value (Vol. 2). Cham,
Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Lee, C. K. H., 2018. A review of applications of genetic algorithms in operations
management. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 76, pp.1-12.
Lee, H. L. and Tang, C. S., 2018. Socially and environmentally responsible value chain
innovations: New operations management research opportunities. Management
Science, 64(3), pp.983-996.
Lu, and et. al., 2018. Addressing endogeneity in operations management research: Recent
developments, common problems, and directions for future research. Journal of
Operations Management, 64, pp.53-64.
Torlak, N. G., Demir, A. and Budur, T., 2019. Impact of operations management strategies on
customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions at café-restaurants. International
Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.
Van Wassenhove, L.N., Agrawal, V. V., and Atasu, A., 2019. OM Forum—New opportunities
for operations management research in sustainability. Manufacturing & Service
Operations Management, 21(1), pp.1-12.