Tesco's Operations and Project Management: A Comprehensive Review

This report provides an analysis of operations and project management within Tesco, a multinational grocery retailer. It begins by differentiating between operations and operations management, followed by a review and critique of Tesco's implementation of operations management principles. The report assesses the extent to which Tesco's operations management meets organizational requirements and discusses a continuous improvement plan, including the effectiveness of the Six Sigma approach. Furthermore, it examines Tesco's project methodologies and evaluates the effectiveness of the product lifecycle (PLC) in project applications, aiming to enhance efficiency and effectiveness in Tesco's business operations. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study tools and solved assignments for students.

Operations and Project
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
An explanation of operation vs operations management.......................................................1
Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within the
chosen organization................................................................................................................3
Analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization in the case
study meets the requirements of the organization..................................................................5
Discussion of the continuous improvement plan....................................................................6
Formulation of the continuous improvement plan.................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
PART-2..........................................................................................................................................10
TITLE...................................................................................................................................10
Overview of the case-study..................................................................................................10
Explanation of the organisation stage...................................................................................10
Analysis of project methodologies.......................................................................................13
Evaluate evaluate the effectiveness of the PLC in application of decided project..............13
References:.....................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is defined as the management which perform the functions
related to the conversion of raw material into finished goods. In simple words, it can be said that
operations management deals with the continuous strategic issues which arise problems for the
operations of organisation. It is directly related to the increment of productivity and profitability
of organisation. Whereas the project management is the process of using the instruments &
techniques, skills & knowledge for the purpose of presenting something of worth to people.
Operations and project management refers the administrative systems which leads to an
organisation to bring high amount of efficiency in order to generate improved and effective result
by performing business operations. The chosen organisation for this report is Tesco which is a
British multinational groceries retailer having headquarters in Welwyn Garden City,
Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1919 and currently they are working
with more than 7000 stores all over the world. This report highlight the implementation of
operation management principles in the context of Tesco, a constant improvement plan based on
the review and critique of operations management. In addition to this, it also include the concept
of Product life cycle.
MAIN BODY
An explanation of operation vs operations management
The term operations are explained as the management of work in the internal organisation
which plays an important role in performing the business operations in an effective and efficient
manner. Store administration and management, customer services, inventory and stock
management are consider as the operations in the retail industry. In order to perform the
organisational task in an organised manner, the operation management have to work with
multidisciplinary approach (Barnes, D., 2018). Tesco is constantly focusing on improving the
operations so that they can deliver the best products to their customers. Along with this, the
management can reach to the desired position by monitoring and controlling all the operations at
work place. It also leads to the improvement of productivity and profitability of organisation.
Some of operations which are being performed by Tesco are given below:
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 Store Administration and management: For the purpose of managing the stores of Tesco
at international level, their management is following several factors such as planning,
staffing and organising. Inventory and stock management: For the purpose of performing the work in an
organisation as per the decided and well planned manner, it is necessary for firm to
manage all the inventory. Inventory and stock management operation result in the
reduction of wastage along with minimizing the cost of inventory (Hong and Yu, 2021).
Through controlling the cost of business operations, the management of business
organisation enhance profitability.
 Customer services: Operation management perform the function of managing the
operations at work place which also leads to the optimum utilization of available
resources in an appropriate manner. The management of Tesco is using several tools and
techniques such as statistical analysis, linear programming methods to perform the tasks
effectively as it help in providing effective services to their customers.
Operation Function
Several of key functions of operation management of Tesco are given below: Finance: It has a vital role in the respective business because it provide a huge number of
products to its customers. Hence, it has been found as important to maintain a record of
all the prices related to the sale or purchase. Tesco company is dealing with large quantity
of products at their stores and finance function make it easy to prepare appropriate budget
for the organisation.
 Strategy: Strategic management is defined the development of plans, analysing &
monitoring the aspects or factors which are being continuously used by the management
of Tesco while performing several projects. Achievement of organisational goals and
objectives in an appropriate manner by following the strategic decisions is the main
objective of formulation of strategy (Erjavec and Trkman 2020).
Operation Management
Operation management is defined as the administration of activities of business which are
being used in the process of conversion of raw materials or resources to the finished products or
services. Bringing efficiency in the performance of organisation in a systematic manner is the
main objective of operations management. The functions under the operation management have
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been performed by the professional people as it is related to the maximization of profit by
completing all the operations in an effective and efficient manner.
Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within the
chosen organization
In order to perform the business operations in an effective and efficient manner, the
management of Tesco have to focus on all the functions and operations. Improvement in the
overall efficiency of organisation have been gained by the systematic representations. The
process of operation management of Tesco have been discussed below along with the strengths
and limitations of steps: Inbound logistics: The first and most important stage of process of operation
management is inbound logistics as it provide opportunities to the management to create
values in the operational process of Tesco (de Sousa Jabbour and et. al., 2018). Along
with this, the elements of the process of operational management helps in up streaming
the activities such as storage of products, transportation of products on internal basis,
receipt of products from suppliers and many more.
◦ Strengths: Inbound logistic aids the management of Tesco in managing their
superstore as they are provide a huge variety of products to their customers. It helps
the business organisation in presenting the items in a well organised manner.
◦ Limitation: It is necessary to continuously monitor all the functions of organisation
but due to huge size of Tesco, it is found as a complex process to overlook on all
factors. Hence, it can be said that it generate complexity in the process of performing
the business operations in an effective and efficient manner. Operations: Tesco is providing several items of groceries in stores. Hence, it has been
found as important for management in delivering the best services to their customers by
opening the store on time, maintaining stock along with proper management of stock in
shelves and many more. It also help the Tesco in gaining the competitive edge in the
market and make the plans accordingly.
◦ Strength: Tesco is performing business operations through several stores such as
hyper market, super market and many more. They are performing operations in a well
systematic manner which support their way of providing services.
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◦ Limitation: Constant changes in the market condition is found as complex for the
business firm as it may bring difficulty in performing the operations. Hence,
operations are consider as the limitation for managing and completing all tasks. Outbound Logistics: Next level of process of operation management is is organising and
arranging the outbound logistics as it leads to the delivery of products to the customers in
an well organised manner (Heath, R.L., 2018). Tesco is currently working on bringing
improvement in delivering their services by providing parking facility, trolley collectors
and many more. These services also help the management of Tesco in gaining the
competitive edge in market.
◦ Strength: Due to high competition in market, it is necessary for business
organisation to work as per the requirement of market. The outbound logistics help
the management of Tesco in performing all the business operations to fulfil all the
market requirement.
◦ Limitation: Most of the outbound logistic action take place on the far side of
organisation operations premises so the threat and misbehave from staff are the major
problems which generate problems for organisation.
FLEXIBLE SPECIALISATION.
The adoption of flexible specialisation leads to the introduction of efficiency and
effectiveness in the operations and functions of business organisation. The management of Tesco
is adopting this technique for the purpose of performing the business operations as per the
requirement of business. The top level management of Tesco always focus on the adoption of
quality principle because the management can remove the defects and errors form the functions
of organisation. It is necessary for the business organisation to perform the operations as per the
quick changes (Nawaz and Koç 2018). High amount of complexities have been raised when the
change in environment through globalisation. It creates a lot of problems for the managers of
organisation to perform the tasks in the well organised form because of availability of
competition on national as well as international level. Along with this, the business industry also
get affected by different range of factors which leads to the creation of issues for management in
performing their tasks. It is necessary for the management to deal with the rapid changes in the
business environment. The organisation have to all those factors which influence the
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organisation in creating the flexible structure because it help the management in dealing with the
positive and negative environment.
Analysis of the extent to which the operations management of the organization in the case study
meets the requirements of the organization
Tesco is a multinational retail industry performing their business operations as per the
needs and demands of customers. There are several key objectives of operation management of
organisation which include improving the quality of product, formulation of appropriate strategy
and satisfaction of customers. It has been found that the sales of organisation have been declined
because of availability of high competition in the market. The management of Tesco is facing
several of problems because of COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. It is necessary for the
management to adopt relevant methodologies to sustain in the market. Some of methodologies
are given below: Increase in revenue: The operation and project management of Tesco adopt this method
to identify the methods which result in cost cutting of operations which are being
performed by the business organisation (Stević and et. al., 2020). Tesco is focusing on the
higher creation of revenue by expanding their business in e-commerce sector. In simple
words, it can be defined as the strategies which are developed by the management for
earning higher profit. Production of products and services: Operation management perform a lots of functions
and operations for the purpose of doing production of appropriate products and services.
Operation manager of Tesco is monitoring all plans along with activities and action
which are related to the project. It leads to the engagement of individuals or employees in
their work in a proper manner by applying the current market methodologies. Efficiency
in the production operations improve the productivity along with the sales of products
and services.
 Work Standardisation: In order to achieving the success along with gaining the
sustainability for a long duration of time period, it is necessary for the management of
Tesco to improve the standard of working as it help the organisation in offering the
quality products. It has been analysed that the Tesco is focusing on the development of
effective system as it help the employees in completing all the assigned tasks in a proper
decided manner.
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Discussion of the continuous improvement plan
Effectiveness of Six Sigma approach for Tesco
Six Sigma approach is defined as the set of processes and techniques for the purpose of
raising the procedure at the organisation. This approach is showing an effective result in Tesco
organisation. Several of benefits of Six Sigma approach in the context of Tesco are explained
below: Customer Satisfaction: In order to enhancing the control over the quality of products in
the organisation, six sigma approach is playing an important role. By adopting this
approach, the management of Tesco is improving the operations of providing products
top the customers which leads to gaining the higher customer satisfaction (Alencar de
Paula and et. al., 2021). By constantly maintaining the quality of products, the
organisation can gain loyal customers and higher customer satisfaction. Improved bottom line: Six Sigma approach is helping the Tesco in delivering the higher
quality products which help the management in gaining the customer satisfaction. Loyal
customers convey the satisfaction information to other customers. It also leads to the
generation of higher revenue in the organisation.
 Employee Satisfaction: Effective communication have been also develop in the business
organisation by six sigma approach and it help the employees in working in an effective
manner to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. This approach also leads to the
better result by developing a sense of togetherness among the employees.
Effectiveness of Just in Time approach
It has been found that the Just in time approach include three domains which helps the
business organisation in eliminating the wastage by adopting several of strategies which are
related to the improvement of employees in the business operation. The effectiveness of Just in
Time approach are as follow:
 Planning and control: In order to plan and control the entire activities of organisation,
Just in Time approach is useful as it help the management of business organisation in
analysing the trends in customer demands. It tells the organisation how to improve the
availability of products by reducing the cost of inventory.
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 Inventory System: Tesco is following a system of continuous replenishment which is
helpful for organisation in maintaining the inventory according to the Just in Time
approach. It is also useful in minimizing the cost of holding inventory.
Kaizen approach
The approach of Kaizen permits the business organisation for making the efforts for the
purpose of facilitating the constant improvement in an organisation. Basically, it focus on the
small and agreeable changes which help the organisation in growing. It has been found that
Kaizen approach is being adopted by several industries and professional field.
Kanban Approach
It is defined as the approach which is being used by the organisation for implementing
the DevOps and agile software development. It involve real time communication and proper
transparency. Under the approach, the work items are represented upon a Kanban Board that
allows the team members to monitor each work (Robinson, M., 2019).
Andon Approach
This approach work as a alarm as it send an alert to the operators related to the issues and
problems. The instinct alert help the business organisation in addressing the issues of the
organisation on the spot in order to performing the operations normally.
Tesco is using the approach of Just in Time and Six Sigma approach for bringing
constant improvement in the organisation. These approaches are carried out at the organisation
effectively and efficiently.
Simultaneous engineering
The concepts related to the designing and development of product comes under
simultaneous engineering. The process of product development have been found as simultaneous
rather than the consecutive and diminishes the time of development of product in the
organisation (Carlucci and et. al., 2018).
Stock Control
It is a technique which is used by the business organisation for the purpose of analysing
the amount of stock maintained by the organisation on a particular period of time. It is also
helpful in tracking the needs of organisation. This approach is applicable on both finished
products or raw material.
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Formulation of the continuous improvement plan
Continuous improvement plan is defined as the set of actions which focus on bringing the
improvement in products and services of Tesco. Continuous improvement plan helps the
management in getting reviews, actions and measure the constant effectiveness of organisation.
KAIZEN: It is defined as a Japanese term which means to bring the change in operations
for better and continuous improvement. Tesco is also applying the Kaizen technique as it is a
continuous process of improving operations along with engaging all employees in the business
opeartions.
TQM: Total Quality management is a constant procedure which is being adopted by the
organisation for detecting and reducing the errors from supply chain management and
manufacturing for the purpose of improving the overall experience of customers (Evans, B. and
Mason 2018). Along with this, in the context of Tesco, the TQM also ensure that the work force
is trained and aware regarding their roles.
BENCHMARKING: The main objective of benchmarking is to analyse and measure the
key business metrics along with comparing them with the expectations of company. Tesco is
using benchmarking technique for identifying the areas where the organisation is required to
bring improvement.
SCM: Supply Chain Management is defined as the flow of products and services in an
organisation. SCM is also described as the performing the operations of transformation of raw
material into finished products. The supply chain of Tesco involve all perspectives from
production to development of product.
ERP: In order to managing and performing the routine activities, organisations use
Enterprise resource planning software. It manage several of functions such as risk management,
project management, compliance and many more. It also help the business organisation in taking
the right decision regarding the operation (Sughra, G., 2020).
 Flexible specialization- In order to adopt and positively react to the changes among the
process of production, the flexible specialisation is designed. It state Tesco the ways of
formulating the product in time effective manner. For the purpose of improving flexible
specialisation, Tesco hire the employees who are specialised in multiple sectors.
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◦ Advantage- Flexible system plays an important role in saving the wastage of money
as it reduce the quantity of defective products which helps to save the time, resources
and money.
◦ Disadvantage- Highly skilled employees are hired under flexible specialisation
which implies higher the costing of organisation.
 Six Sigma- This is a methodology which is being implemented by the management for
performing all the tasks in an organised manner as it help the organisation in improving
the quality of products (Bilińska-Reformat and et. al., 2019).
◦ Advantages- Six Sigma add the value in products because it help the management to
complete their operations in an appropriate and successful manner. Six Sigma in
Tesco is working for increase the customer value and customer satisfaction.
◦ Disadvantage- Six Sigma is found as complex as it require the participation of
overall employees who are involved in the operations of company. Tesco is facing
difficulty because of high amount of employees.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above report that the operations and project management
has its own importance as they are responsible for formulating the appropriate strategies at work
place which leads to the achievement of organisational goals and objectives in an effective and
efficient manner. All the steps or processes of performing business operations are being
developed by the operations management which help the organisation in reaching to desired
position.
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