Analysis of Operations and Project Management in Rolls Royce Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management, focusing on two companies: Rolls Royce and SPE Ltd. The report begins with an introduction to operations and project management, followed by a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within Rolls Royce. It explores lean principles, inventory management, and the importance of operations management in achieving organizational goals. The report then delves into the preparation of a continuous improvement plan, including a PDCA cycle, and analyzes its effectiveness. It includes justified recommendations for improvement, such as utilizing lean principles and implementing a PDCA plan for promotional activities. The second part of the report shifts its focus to SPE Ltd, a manufacturing company, providing a description of the Project Life Cycle (PLC) and explaining its stages. The report concludes with a review and criticism of the PLC's effectiveness and analyzes how different theories and models can be applied to large and small-scale projects. The report aims to provide valuable insights into the practical application of operations and project management principles in real-world business scenarios.

Operations and
Project Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Review and critique on implementation of operations management principles.....................1
M1 Review and critique on implementation of operation management......................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2 Preparation of continuous improvement plan based on review and critique of operations
management principles within organisation................................................................................4
M2 Analysis of effectiveness of continuous improvement plan..................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P3 Description of PLC and explanation and application of each stage to the project, including
documentation..............................................................................................................................6
....................................................................................................................................................10
M3 Analysis of rational for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within PLC........10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P4. Review and criticism of the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the project............10
M4 Critical analysis of the way in which appropriate theories, concepts and models in the PLC
will differentiate between large and small-scale projects..........................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Operation and project management can be defined as two different elements that are
required to be focused by a manager in order to formulate strategies for the purpose of analysing,
monitoring, controlling, assessing the projects that are going to be completed in future. With the
help of it different activities that are related success of business could be performed appropriately
(Aboutalebi and Garousi-Nejad, 2015). This report is segregated in two parts in first part an
organisation is taken which is Rolls Royce which is a British Luxury automobile company
mainly established in United Kingdom. This part covers various topics such as review and
critique of the effectiveness of operations management principles and application of the concept
of continuous improvement to the company. Second part is based upon a manufacturing
company based in Midlands which is SPE Ltd (Swiftool Precision Engineering). The company
manufactures critical parts for machines for aerospace, nuclear and oil gas sector. It was founded
by Handley Family in year 1985. This part covers different topics such as overview of case study
and description of PLC with explanation of each stage.
TASK 1
P1 Review and critique on implementation of operations management principles
Introduction to the organisation: Rolls Royce is a automotive sector organisation
which is mainly established in United Kingdom and considered as one of the 10 largest
manufacturing companies of UK (Rolls Royce, 2019). It was founded by a German group BMW
in year 1998 and since then the company is executing its business operations all around the world
successfully. It headquarter is in Goodwood, England, UK. In order to enhance profitability
managers of organisation have planned to launch new models in the market so that large number
of customers could be attracted towards company. For this purpose they require various things
such as monetary resources, employees who can contribute to reach the long term objective of
the enterprise.
Explanation of operations vs. operations management
Operation: In order to run a business different activities are performed all of them are
known as operations. Different operations are performed by Rolls Royce which includes
manufacturing, distributing cars etc. to the clients.
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Operation management: The process which is used to administer all the operational
activities is known as operations management. In order to execute business appropriately
managers in Rolls Royce use it so that different projects could be controlled, analysed and
monitored properly.
Operations Operations Management
Set of different business activities known as
operations.
It can be defined as the process of analysing,
monitoring and controlling business
operations.
Employees of an entity are responsible to
execute operations.
Managers in organisations are responsible to
conduct operations management.
There are various operation management principles that could be implemented by
managers in their organisation. Some of them in context of Rolls Royce are described below:
Principles of operations planning: According to this principle, managers in business
entities are required to understand basic manufacturing planning and techniques in order to
conduct the planning process of operation in appropriate manner. It is implemented within Rolls
Royce by managers as it guides them to execute all the operational activities effectively. If all the
requirements are not fulfilled by the company for this principle then it can result in decreased
efficiency in operations (Principles of operations management, 2017).
Principles of inventory management: It states that employees in all the business entities
have liability to make sure that inventory is managed properly or not. It is implemented in Rolls
Royce by managers in order to allocate roles and responsibilities to staff members regarding
controlling of stock which are used to execute different operations. When they fails to aware
workers regarding their job then it can result in critical situation for business such as
inappropriate management of goods for manufacturing cars.
M1 Review and critique on implementation of operation management
Operation management is a technique which helps to meet the long term objectives by
helping managers to conduct all the business activities in appropriate manner. As Rolls Royce is
planning to enhance its profits in upcoming period by launching new cars in the market so for
managers it is vital to manage the projects appropriately (Fewings and Henjewele, 2019).
Operation management helps to fulfil all the requirements of organisation by guiding managers
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to arrange all the activities appropriately. In order to increase profitability various resources are
required such as material, skilled labour etc. which could be acquired by manages by formulating
appropriate plans for future. If all the operational activities are managed properly by top level
executives then high profits could be generated. In order to perform all the business operations
appropriately it is very important for managers to follow different concepts. All of them are as
follows:
Lean principles: It can be defined as the cycle in which plans for continuous
improvements are made. It is set of five different principles that are required to be followed for
all the business entities that are planning for developing a business (Lean principles, 2019). In
Rolls Royce these are also used by managers. Description of all of them for the organisation is as
follows:
Illustration 1: Lean Principles, 2019
(Source: Lean Principles, 2019)
Identify value: It is first lean principle which is used by managers in Rolls Royce to understand
customer value in order to analyse that what amount they are willing to pay for the products
offered by company.
Mapping value stream: When customer value is identified then managers in Rolls Royce try to
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map them appropriately so that different business activities could be performed according to
their requirements. This principle guides them to analyse such activities that are not able to
meet the value so they stop them or remove such type of waste and try to find new one.
Create flow: When unnecessary activities are removed by them then they create value chain in
order to create flow. This principle helps managers of Rolls Royce to eliminate waste and create
a smooth flow so that clients can get best quality products delivered to them (Gao, Zhang and
Feng, 2014).
Establish pull: According to this principle when flow is created then managers should establish
pull in which new activities are performed if there is a demand of them. In Rolls Royce it is
only possible when team is having capacity to perform additional tasks. Main aim of this
principle is to reduce waste of inventory when flow is created so that possibility of losses in
future could be reduced.
Seek constant improvement: It is the last principle which guides managers of all the business
entities such as Rolls Royce to seek for further improvements in future so that large number of
customers could be attracted toward the business.
When all the above described elements of lean principles are not followed by managers
then it can affect in appropriate execution of business operations. For the purpose of attainment
of long term business goals it is vital for management of business entities to make sure that they
are complying with all the principles to execute business operations.
Six Sigma: It can be defined as a method which provides organisations such tools that
are beneficial to make improvements in capability of business processes. In Rolls Royce
managers are focusing on it as it guides them to make modifications in current strategies for
future developments. If they are not able to focus on it then it can result negatively because due
to this efficiency of operations could be reduced.
TASK 2
P2 Preparation of continuous improvement plan based on review and critique of operations
management principles within organisation
Continuous improvement: It is based upon a Japanese concept which is known as
Kaizen. It is a philosophy which is concerned with finding such ways in which continuous
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improvements could be made (Continuous improvement, 2012). It covers various activities such
as analysing benchmarks and place skilled and experienced employees in organisation so that
they can work hard to meet the benchmark. In Rolls Royce managers are mainly concerned with
continuous improvements so that a good market image could be established in market. It is
mainly used by them to reduce time involved in different processes conducted for attainment of
long term goals.
Continuous improvement plan: While working on a project it is very important for a
business entity to make a continuous improvement plan so that negative aspects of the plan could
be resolved. A plan is also formulated by managers of Rolls Royce which is as follows:
Plan Do Action Check
Quality While launching new
cars in the market
managers of Rolls Royce
will analyse quality of
them so that appropriate
decision for future could
be take.
In order to check quality
of the cars managers in
Rolls Royce can use total
quality management
which can guide them to
make sure that products
are able to meet
expectations of clients or
not (Golini, Kalchschmidt
and Landoni, 2015).
In this step of continuous
development managers of
Rolls Royce will compare
current and standard
quality to analyse that
appropriate changes are
being made in new cars or
not.
Promotion At this stage managers in
Rolls Royce will take
decision regarding
formulation of different
promotional activities in
order to promote new
cars that are going to be
launched in market.
In this stage of
continuous development
plan managers of Rolls
Royce will use different
to promote the new cars.
They can use pamphlets,
news papers, online
advertisement etc.
At this step managers of
Rolls Royce will check
that the promotional
activities that are going to
be conducted in future are
appropriate or not. It
helps to conduct
appropriate activities for
promotions.
Justified recommendations which could improve the operation function
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First recommendation: In order to reach to the objective of increasing profits managers
of Rolls Royce can use lean principles as it can help them to analyse customer value and make
changes according to it so that expectation level of them could be matched.
Second recommendation: While launching new cars in the market a PDCA plan should
be formulated by managers in Rolls Royce as it can help to check quality and efficiency of
promotional programs going to be conducted in future. With this plan different operation
management principles could be used by them which are check and organisation (Ika, 2015).
M2 Analysis of effectiveness of continuous improvement plan
By analysing the continuous improvement plan it has been determined that continuous
improvement plan should be very effective because it helps to make modification in current
processes of organisation. If principle of value stream is not followed appropriately then it can
create problems in quality. If any change is required in the quality to meet customer value then
change principle of operation manage can help for the same. When principle of creating flow
could not be followed appropriately by managers then it can affect whole promotional event
which can encourage clients to buy new cars. In order to organise all the promotional activities
properly organisation principle of operation management could be used which can help to
conduct all the activities appropriately.
TASK 3
P3 Description of PLC and explanation and application of each stage to the project, including
documentation
Overview of case study: A newly employed member of Project and Programme Office
of SPE Ltd (Swiftool Precision Engineering) is asked by the manager to plan and manage a
theoretical in-house project for specific objectives. Organisation is mainly based in Midlands and
having staff members around 1250. The objectives for the plan are as follows:
 To make reduction in the movement of staff members from the office premises during the
lunch break because it is creating congestion issues in the local area.
 To help employees to develop a healthy life style as the company thinks that it is a part of
their CSR and it can also result in decreased absenteeism (Kerzner, 2017).
Project life cycle: While working on a project all the managers are required to follow a
project life cycle in order to accomplish the objectives successfully. As a member in Project and
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Programme Office of SPE limited is asked by manager to prepare a plan for the specific
objective so it is vital to follow the life cycle to achieve the goals (Lientz and Rea, 2016). All the
stages of it are discussed below:
 Initiation: It is the starting stage of project in which different ideas are created by staff
members to start a new program. While finding new ways to conduct a programs the
manager in SPE Ltd. is required to analyse the problem which is resulting in absenteeism
and movement of staff members out of office premises. One more thing which is also
analysed by manager is that they new project will be able to resolve the issue or not.
 Planning: At this stage of project life cycle managers starts to make plan for the purpose
of attainment of objectives such as reduction in movement and absenteeism of
employees. This phase only starts when top level executives approve the project by
assessing its capability to deal with the challenges. After approval strategic plans are
formulated for attainment of predetermined objectives (Mouraviev and Kakabadse,
2014).
 Execution: Right after the development of plans different strategies are imposed for the
purpose of executing them so that the objectives that are formulated previously. Main
responsibility of the manager of SPE Ltd in this phase is to make sure that work is on
track and organised in appropriate manner.
 Closure: It is end stage of project life cycle and its starts with the successful completion
of the project. When the project of reduction in absenteeism and movement of employees
from office premises will be reduced then this phase will take place. At this stage the
handler is required to disband the team, assign new duties to grout members etc.
Different documentation required for the project:
Business case: While planning to work on a new project it is very important for the
project handler to create a business case which covers detailed information regarding the project
which is going to be started in future (Ricci, 2015). For the new project of SPE Ltd a business
case is created. Description it is as follows:
Overview of the company SPE Ltd (Swiftool Precision Engineering) is one of the large
manufacturing companies that are established in Midlands and
have employee strength of around 1250 staff members. Now
the organisation is going to work on a project which is
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concerned with reduction in employee absenteeism and
movement out of office premises.
Vision Vision of SPE Ltd (Swiftool Precision Engineering) is to
enhance employee engagement so that higher profits could be
generated.
Mission Mission of SPE Ltd (Swiftool Precision Engineering) is to
make higher contribution in CSR so that a good market image
could be established in the mind of customers.
Strategic objective Main objective of the company is to reduce absenteeism and
movement of employees out of office premises in order to
enhance profits by 5% in upcoming 2 years.
Strategy The member of Project and Programme team of SPE Ltd
(Swiftool Precision Engineering) is mainly responsible for the
formulation of different strategies so that the project could be
completed on time (Shameem, Kumar and Chandra, 2017).
Budget In order to work on the project it is very important for the
handler of project to the team mates that are involved in the
project. The budget for this particular project is as follows:
Particular Amount
Salaries to staff 12000
Refreshments for the attendants of
program
5000
Cost of program 10000
Extra expenses 3000
Total budget 30000
For the successful completion of project it is very important for
handler of project to arrange funds around 30000.
Follow Up The last stage of business case is follow up in which all the
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steps that are taken by handler are going to be monitored. If
any negative aspects are analysed by them then strict action is
taken for the successful completion of project.
Project plan:
Cost From the business case it has been analysed that the project which is going to
be started by SPE Ltd can cost around 30000 for the company.
Communication In order to communicate information regarding the project the handler will
conduct formal and informal meetings with staff members so that they get
aware of the change program.
Surety of
improvement
In order to make sure that the change program which is going to be
conducted at SPE Ltd will attain success or not the project handler has made
different strategies for successful completion of program. For this purpose,
information is gathered from various sources so that movement and
absenteeism of employees could be reduced.
Scope For the purpose of reaching to the objective of project the handler has
planned to hire some assistants who can help to conduct the change program
appropriately.
Cost benefit analysis: It can be defined as an approach which is used by business entities
for the purpose of analysing decisions that are formulated previously (Smith, 2014). A cost
benefit analysis for the new project of SPE Ltd is as follows:
Particulars Amount
Total cost 30000
Total benefits 35000
Cost benefit 5000
The above table shows that the cost of the project is 30000 and if the program will attain
success then it will result in 35000 so the total benefit from this project to the organisation will
be around 5000.
Work break down structure: It is a tool which is used in project management to
segregate different activities in tasks in order to attain success. A work break down structure for
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the change program in SPE Ltd is formulated which shows that in this program appropriate
training is going to be provided to employee. The WBS is as follows:
M3 Analysis of rational for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within PLC
While working on a project it is very important for the managers of an organisation to use
different and appropriate methodologies, tools and leadership while working on different
projects. With the help of all of them success of the project taken by the company could be
assured. When project life cycle is applied within Rolls Royce then managers of the company
make sure that they provide proper guidance to all the staff members with the help of their
leadership skills as it can help to accomplish it successfully. There are various tools which
should also be focused by the managers which are work break down structure, business case,
cost benefit analysis and project plan. All of them helps managers to conduct all the activities
appropriately so that project can be completed on time.
TASK 4
P4. Review and criticism of the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the project
Theory of measurement of effectiveness: In order to measure success of project life
cycle theory of measurement of effectiveness could be used by project handler of SPE Ltd. With
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