Analysis of Operations and Project Management at River Island

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management principles within River Island, a UK-based fashion retailer. Part 1, the Business Report, introduces the company, reviews the implementation of operations management principles such as lean production, agile manufacturing, and accountability, and critiques their application using Six Sigma methodology and Lean principles. It also discusses a continuous improvement plan, emphasizing Lean principles and their characteristics. Part 2, the Project Portfolio, focuses on the application of each stage of the project life cycle, including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closure, supported by necessary documentation. The report analyzes the rationale for project methodologies, tools, and leadership within the project life cycle and critically evaluates the effectiveness of the project life cycle, drawing conclusions and recommendations for improvement. The analysis considers both large and small-scale projects, providing a thorough exploration of project management practices at River Island.

unit 16 Operations and
Project Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1: BUSINESS REPORT ......................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Conducting review as well as critique to implement management principles in context to a
venture..........................................................................................................................................1
M2: A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within
the chosen organization................................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2. Preparing continuous improvement plan on the basis of review and critique of operations
management principle .................................................................................................................5
M2: Analysing effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories,
concepts and/or models................................................................................................................7
D1: Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to justify strategies of a continuous
improvement plan for achieving improved efficiency.................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
PART 2..........................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P3: Application of each stage of project life cycle producing necessary supported
documentation for completion of project...................................................................................10
M3: Analysis of rationale for project methodologies, tools and leaderships within project life
cycle of specified project ..........................................................................................................17
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................18
P4: Review and critically evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC in application to your project
using the appropriate theories models and concepts..................................................................18
M4: Critical analysis of how to use appropriate theories, models and concepts in project life
cycle will differentiate between large and small-scale projects.................................................18
D2: Critical evaluation of project life cycle through exploration of its effectiveness for
drawing conclusions and recommendations for improvement..................................................19
REFRENCES .........................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Managing operations in a company entails systematic direction as well as control of
processes which transform inputs into outputs as finished commodities for clients and customers
(Ahsan and Pedersen, 2018). In a company, operations management assist in managing,
controlling together with supervising personnel and offerings. Likewise, managing project
requires application of skills, experiences and processes for attaining project objectives based on
acceptance criteria in determined parameters. Project management permits the team for
emphasising on activities which matters most, free from distractions that can arise by tasks going
off track and budgets exceeding determined values. For the report, considered company is River
Island which is high street brand of clothing, retail, fashion and textile in London, UK.
The project is prepared in two parts, in which Part 1 is Business Report highlighting
introduction of company, implementing operations management principles and continuous
improvement plan. In contrary, Part 2 is Project Portfolio which covers project title, application
of project life cycle and critique of execution of project life cycle in a project.
PART 1: BUSINESS REPORT
TASK 1
P1. Conducting review as well as critique to implement management principles in context to a
venture
An introduction to chosen organization
River Island is UK based organisation specialised in providing stylish along with
affordable fashion from going out looks to occasion wears. It works with mission to provide
hottest new looks for men along with women on a conscious budget (River Island, 2022).
Customers of the company always rely on the establishment for picking up everything which
they require from occasion wear to fabulous bags, amazing denims and shoes. The venture has
around 300 stores across UK and other nations with six dedicated online sites to help customers
to shop.
An explanation of operation vs operations management
The term operations refer to carry out tasks to manage inner working of company for
efficient and smooth running (Albert, Balve and Spang, 2017). Business operations are activities
in which cooperate engage on day to day basis for the purpose of enhancing values and earning
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profit. In association to River Island, operations are designing goods and services, supply chain
management, location strategy, layout design, quality management, financing and customer
relationship management.
Operations function is concerned with bringing together materials with production
practices for manufacturing commodities which are demanded by customers (Burtonshaw-Gunn,
2017). For example, operations function in River Island assist in managing, controlling addition
to supervising offerings and human capital. It is responsible to produce products together with
delivering services to end consumers.
Management as strategic oversight ensures that operational practices should be clearly
communicate to employees in order to fulfill their duties in an effective manner. In relevance
with River Island, for making management practices efficient, it is imperative to clearly
communicate objectives to them.
Operations management can be described to administrating practices of enterprise for
devising highest possible level of efficiency at workplace (Carvalho and Rabechini Jr, 2017). It
converts raw materials and other production factors into commodities or services that maximise
organisational profit. For instance, in relevance to River Island, operations management
emphasis on management of resources effectively for ensuring maximization of potentiality of
resources.
Relationship between operations and other managerial functions
Human resource- Operation function is considered as an integral which is undertaken by human
resource manager in a significant manner in relation to training, learning and development of
personnel.
Marketing and operations are interdependent in nature as they are aligned with data visualization
tools. In relevance with River Island, marketing function can be adopted efficiently if operations
can collect suitable data.
Finance- Operations and finance are closely linked to each other finance department aid
managers of River Island in providing necessary information for continuing the business
operations.
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M2: A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within
the chosen organization
In a company, operations management principle is key to practices that drive forces to
deliver excellence output through devising optimized usage of resources (Engelbrecht and
Abbaspour, 2017). For staying profitable, there are certain operations management principle
which no business concern must violate. Within River Island, operations management principles
are adhered for accomplishing effectiveness and efficiency in practices. In relevance to River
Island, review and critique of executing of certain operations management principles are below:
Lean production: The principle of lean production, when implemented in a venture
emphasises eliminating of waste. In accordance to Fadul (2020), it is reviewed that purpose of
implementation of lean production in the company is to minimize wastage and unnecessary steps
in processes that reduces costs addition to maximise productivity (Fadul, 2020). In aspect to
River Island, lean production introduces systems as well as develop skills of employees which
support changes in business which create new sales. It is critique that lean production constantly
focuses towards improvements and waste elimination that causes stress among personnel
resulting to making workplace more impersonal along with clinical.
Agile Manufacturing: The principle places extremely emphasis towards quick responses
to customers for turning speed together with agility into competitive benefit. As per Gao and Liu
(2019), it has been reviewed that principle of agile manufacturing when implemented in a
business keeps the establishment ahead of rivalry and continue innovation (Gao and Liu, 2019) .
Within River Island, principle of agile manufacturing is implemented for acknowledging realities
of modern marketplace in addition to transforming all for competitive advantage. However,
critique of implementing the principle of agile manufacturing is intensive planning is needed,
high installation costs and expensive maintenance costs.
Accountability: Principle of accountability states responsibility of personnel working at
workplace. In River Island, implementation of principle of accountability represents decisions
making of operations manager on metrics as well as rules for distinct operations together with
assigning certain duties to subordinates. It is reviewed from the statement of Hammodat, Ajjan
and Beheiry (2021) that accountability ensures all human capital are putting their 100% efforts
for attaining goals of company (Hammodat, Ajjan and Beheiry, 2021). It allows people to count
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on each other for meeting deadlines, feeling comfortable to approach others and fulfilling duties.
However, the principle can create team conflict and delays time in completion of working.
An analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organisation in the case
study meets the requirements of the organization
Business managers establishes certain requirements such as safety, quality, cost and
delivery in aspect to offerings (Han, Zhang and Li, 2018). For maintaining effectiveness of
organisational requirements, managing organisational operations is key. In River Island, various
issues are faced for meeting that can be solved with the help of executing principles related to
operations management effectively to accomplish determined objectives. Analysis about
fulfillment or meeting organisational requirements of River Island are underneath:
Cost: Business concerns works for minimising cost involved in producing products or
services for improving profitability (Hinsch, 2020). In River Island, key objective is to reduce
unnecessary costs involved in operations for maximizing margin of profitability while
maintaining corporate social responsibility. At its production units, an issue of reducing
production costs is faced as huge quantity of raw materials and resources are imported from
other countries as well as impacts of Brexit and Covid-19 pandemic on offerings. Herein,
implementation of lean production principle meets requirement of the company through
eliminating unnecessary cost and wastage in producing, selling and distributing clothing or other
products of River Island.
Quality: For an establishment, quality of products benefits in earning loyalty of
customers, establishing brand recognition together with managing costs (Ko and Han, 2017). In
River Island, it is objective of managers to improve quality of offerings and operational
effectiveness by 30%. In this, implementing agile manufacturing principle helps managers to
fulfill requirement for enhancing output of production units, reducing production costs, using
workforce optimally and operational flexibility. For instance, implementing principle of agile
manufacturing in business, such as River Island, can increase level of output in production units
and flexibility in operations by reducing lot sizes addition to better quality of products as per set
standards.
Review and critique the implementation of operations management in relation to Six Sigma
methodology and Lean principles
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Six sigma is considered as methodology that manages quality in processes, products or
services which aids businesses in identifying and eliminating defects from operations (Kupila,
2020). It is majorly used in manufacturing business operations in order to reduce variances or
defects. Managers of River Islands uses this technique in eliminating defects from their processes
in order to boost their profits as well as standardization of activities. Because of using six sigma
process in their operations it leads to static processes and delays. This exercise can hamper
creativity and innovative thinking of employees of River Islands.
In operations management, lean principles are considered as elements that helps in
enlightening business image effectively into marketplace (Louis and Dunston, 2017). These are
value, pull, perfection, value stream and flow. These lean principles can be adopted by managers
of River Islands as this helps in setting clear goals and seek improvements on a constant basis. It
can be disadvantageous for River Islands as it creates extra pressure to meet obligations of
standardization of products. As it leaves very little scope for forecasts or improved modifications
in processes.
Impact of technology on operation function as well as information flows
Use of advanced technology aid businesses in managing their operational functions in reducing
their costs and making standardized and improvised quality of products in order to create added
value to their customers. Managers of River Island has entered into tech advancements through
collaborating with Google which aid them in checking products in their nearby stores. They are
also investing significant amount in artificial intelligence and machine learning which aids them
to gather information of their customers in a rational manner. This practice led them to create
proper marketing strategies for targeting their segmented customers.
TASK 2
P2. Preparing continuous improvement plan on the basis of review and critique of operations
management principle
Discussion of continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles
A continuous improvement plan is a fix set of actions created to bring continuous betterment to
products and services by reviewing and checking measurements on constant basis (Meyer, 2019).
It is a never stopping efforts of businesses to modify offered commodities by enhancing its
quality. In River Island, the aim of continuous improvement is to increase performance and
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profits by optimum utilisation of available resources. Likewise, Lean principles are the methods
adopted by companies to produce better quality products with less resources and minimum
wastage. It is a practise which needs constant experimentation to attain maximum value with no
waste. In River Island, the managers goals is to provide best quality clothing by increasing its
productivity and meeting customer's preferences. The characteristics of Lean principles that
River Island should follow are explained below:
 Kaizen- The best prospect of Lean principle is change for improvement which is called as
Kaizen. It aims at reducing waste, enhancing performance, and attainment of targeted
goals by continuous improvement in organisation operations. River Island managers can
follow the Kaizen principle by being pursuant in bringing innovations in company. It
should also secure its human resources as their efforts will improve the productivity of
organisation. It creates a strategic environment where all employees efforts are directed
towards developing a strong culture of continuous improvement.
 Total Quality Management- This principles states that quality of products should be
maintained and that every employee of company is accountable for quality produced (Pu
and Zhang, 2020). River Island managers can adopt this method by increasing the
engagement of customers in business and by focus on customer preferences as well as
wants. This principles majorly focuses on customer value, employee commitment,
approaches of company and strategic decision-making. The company can also create a
powerful team of management to out laid clear mission of company's goals. It
 Supply Chain Management- This principle of lean consists of various elements such as
customer involvement, constant improvement, quality produced etc. It connects the
actions of all departments within the company and manage internal as well as external
relationships. River Island managers can apply this principle to manufacture best quality
products in the shortest span of time possible. It also allows managers of River Island to
improve quality, eliminate unrequited steps and creates value for customers.
A continuous improvement plan, including your justified recommendations for improvement,
based on your review and critique of operations management principles within your
organization
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Continuous improvement plan is described as a set of practices which is designed to
measure ongoing success and performance of processes, products or services. It is prepared by
streamlining organisational objectives and goals. In relevance to River Islands, continuous
improvement plan aids managers in providing proper training and development sessions in order
to make them ready for coning tough situations. It can also helps in enhancing employees as well
as organisational productivity. Explanation of continuous improvement plan through Kaizen
technique in relevance to River Islands are discussed below:
Plan Do Check Act
Cost Strategists of
organisations are tend
to make decisions that
are profitable for their
processes. In context
to River Islands,
managers took
decision about making
their manufacturing
process effective by
applying lean
principles. This can be
achieved through
reducing wasteful
activities in processes.
In order to make
continuous
improvement plan,
managers of River
Islands have adopted
premium pricing in
order to value to their
branded and exclusive
apparels.
It is the stage of taking
actions as per the
improvement plan
made. Managers of
River Islands, adopt
those practices in their
operations which helps
them to reduce costs
and wasteful activities.
Quality Managers of River
Islands wants to
maintain excellent
quality levels by
application of total
quality management in
their processes. For
During continuous
improvement plan,
managers of River
Islands should check
policy standards in
accordance with pre-
determined plans.
In this action stage,
managers of River
Islands make
comparisons between
actual quality
standards and pre-
determined quality.
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attaining this, they
need to comply with
quality standards
which helps them to
gain more customers.
They tend to evaluate
their designs and
manufacturing process
in order to attain
standard quality.
This is done to identify
any deviation or
variances in process so
that effective steps can
be taken on a timely
basis.
M2: Analysing effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories,
concepts and/or models
It is significant for managers of River Islands to evaluate the continuous improvement
plan in their operations. It is desirable for organisations to prepare continuous development plan
by using appropriate theories, models and concepts. Models which can be used for analysing the
effectiveness of continuous improvement plan are total quality management practices, lean
manufacturing and just-in-time framework. These models helps managers of River Islands in
formulating strategies which can reduce wasteful activities in manufacturing processes. These
approaches is used by organisation in maintaining quality standards which help them in
maintaining their positive image in global marketplace.
D1: Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to justify strategies of a continuous
improvement plan for achieving improved efficiency
It has been evaluated that managers of River Islands have applied strategies like total
quality management and lean principles in preparing continuous improvement plan. As these
help them, to maintain their quality standards which helps them to gain sustainable competitive
advantage in international markets. Setting standards for quality management able organisation
in attaining improved efficiency. This practice helps them to gain goodwill in market. Managers
can chose just-in -time practice which helps them to reducing their cost of warehousing. This
also helps in attaining raw materials as per people's demands. This practice, however, can
increase transportation costs of company.
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CONCLUSION
As per the above project, it is concluded that operation management is essential for all
type of organisations. It is an ongoing action activity which reviews as well as evaluates the
operations of business and provide various ways for improvements. It helps companies to
increase their efficiency and productivity through continuous improvement plan. Further, the
Lean principles of management allows business to continue review its quality and performances.
It allows business to handle issues in right way so it does not affect companies value and
productivity.
RECOMMENDATION
 It has been recommended to managers of River Island to effectively implement total
quality management techniques which aid them to manage their operations in a strategic
manner and also reduces the probability of errors.
 It is also advisable for managers of River Island to adopt the practices regarding lean
production which benefits them in reducing cost in their operational areas as well as
provide efficient value to their customers. This practice will aid an organisation in
enhancing their productivity as well as performance level.
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