Operations and Quality Management at Unilever: A Detailed Report

This report delves into the operations and quality management strategies employed by Unilever, a leading consumer goods company. It examines the core elements of operations design, including process types, layout, supply networks, location, and capacity, highlighting their impact on efficiency and productivity. The report emphasizes the significance of supply chain management and quality control in meeting consumer needs and achieving a competitive advantage. It analyzes how Unilever integrates various quality management principles, such as consumer focus, leadership, and continual improvement, to ensure consumer satisfaction and achieve its business objectives. The report also assesses the critical role of supply networks and quality management in driving consumer satisfaction and overall organizational performance.

Operations and Quality in
an Organisational Context

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCE...................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Operations are defined as the actions and decisions made by participants and members of
the business that are involved in the process of production, distribution, service, management etc.
Operations are required by each business organisation to perform various activities required the
use of resources and assets. In the process of performing various functions in the organisation it
must be considered that each activity achieve quality. As quality is defined as the process
through which goods and services are developed in such manner that they conforms all the
requirements (Augusto, Lisboa and Yasin, 2014). In this project to understand the concept of
operations and quality Unilever organisation is considered. Unilever was founded in the year
1929 and works in the consumer good industry. Headquarters of the company is situated in
London, UK and business activities are performed at international level. This report will include
operations performed by organisation and process for quality maintained to meet satisfy
consumers.
TASK 1
Unilever is one of the largest organisation serving huge amount of consumer goods and in
this process number of operations are performed by the organisation. All the activities in the
process of accomplishing production process are termed as one operation. The role of operations
management is to transform a companies inputs into the finished goods and services. Inputs such
as raw material, human resource, facilities and processes when used with technology is turned to
form finished goods. Success of an organisation is highly depended on the process that is
followed or used to accomplish each operation in most productive manner. When an operation of
Unilever organisation is designed then in that process all the falls and loop holes must be
considered (Kuei and Lu, 2013). This will help in establishing the most appropriate system in the
organisation for managing all the operations through which productive results can be obtained.
Operations design is the intentional impersonalisation and optimisation of design.
Through this business operations managers of organisations provides their focus on designing the
design practice and building a systematic framework that allows business organisations to
succeed at larger scale. When the operations are designed for Unilever organisation then it
restricts the freedom that is provided to designers to operate in some other manner as per their
own ideas. When two designs are provided in the operations management then generally grater
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operations quality design will be selected. When the operations are designed for Unilever
organisation then certain elements that needs to be considered and some of them are as follows-
Process Type: Unilever's operations management is responsible for keeping high
productivity throughout the global network for providing consumer goods. Operations managers
helps in developing a process that supports organisation to achieve higher performance
(Lagrosen and Lagrosen, 2012). Operational performance of the organisation supports the
financial requirement of business. Process which is selected to accomplish each activity in the
organisation will help in accomplishing the following requirement-
 Quality management is one of the primary concern and managers in the operations area
will adopt each process through which consumers can be provided with goods and
services that leads to satisfy their needs and wants.
 Unilever organisation applies robotics and automation in the most of the production
processes to take control. This approach in the process of operations will maximise the
operational efficiency and productivity.
 In the process of operations management it must be seen that design of goods and
services will be selected by Unilever organisation which enhances consumers
experiences.
Layout: It is a process through which in the operation of various activities are arranged
in the organisation. In the process of laying out operational activities it must be seen that all the
requirements to accomplish a particular activity is fulfilled. One of the most important thing is
arrangement of the finances and before operations design it availability to the required resources
must be accomplished (Malik and Blumenfeld, 2012). Together with this various other resources
required in the process of accomplishing each operation must be checked and a well established
layout plan will be designed. Unilever organisation works on the layout strategy through which
efficient information flow is achieved through computing technologies and networks.
Supply Network: It is a pattern through which the process of transferring goods and
services are accomplished by businesses. Through this element of operations design facilities
that provides modes and over distribution links to add value for consumer will be provided. In
Unilever organisation operations managers must ensures that supply chain supports strategies.
Unilever's consumer goods supply chain is extensively automated. Managers take all the
decisions on the basis of demand and supply.
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Location: Unilever organisation works on the strategy through which efficiency and cost
effectiveness of locations can be introduced in operations. Unilever main focus is to minimise
the cost of production and also transportation cost while reaching to target consumer in the
market. Operations managers maintain facility locations that optimises closeness to labour
markets, suppliers and target consumer group (Malik, Sinha and Blumenfeld, 2012).
Capacity: In the area to design operations process in accurate manner it must be ensured
that strategic decision area will be considered so that capacity of the business can be made to
maximum level. Adaptation of automation in then most production process helps in maximising
the efficiency and productivity of Unilever operations will reach to the highest point.
Consumers requirement leads Unilever to set some objectives that needs to be achieved
in future. Some of these objectives are as follows-
Improve health and Well-being: As in the current market scenario more and more
individuals form the target market group gives preference to shop products that are good for
healthy life. Unilever organisation is focusing on providing more and more goods that are herbal
and with minimum side effect.
Improvement in live-hoods: Goods that are provided by Unilever Plc helps in enhancing
quality of life of each individual.
Initiating services that are environmental friendly: The manufacturing process and
other processes for conducting different activities in the organisation it must be ensured that
environment protection is given preference.
When operations design with elements like process type, layout, supply network, location
and capacity are made in the production process then efficiency is achieved in the operational
process (Matthews and Marzec, 2012). When these elements are used in other operations of the
organisation then they will help in adding value to organisation as a whole. As a process which
provides minimum wastage and maximise use of raw material then in that case it will leads to
minimise the operations cost. Establishing a well analysed and efficient supply network will
enhance marketing of the organisation because goods will be provided on time. More and more
satisfied consumers will be attracted and retained in the organisation when they are provided
with quality products at affordable price.
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TASK 2
Operations design and its elements that are available in Unilever organisation are
elaborated in detailed manner. Form all the elements that are available in Unilever organisation
for its operations management supply network and quality management are considered to be the
most important among all the available elements.
Supply Network: As Unilever organisation is providing various consumer goods and
method which is used for supply these consumer goods plays important role so that each
consumer can be satisfied with supply services (Mosadeghrad, 2014). In the process to get more
and more satisfied consumers it must be ensured that operations manager adopt the supply chain
strategy that meets all the requirements of business strategies. In the world of quick deliveries
consumers are more attracted towards organisations that are providing goods and services in
each corner where consumer is available. Unilever is focusing on this requirement of consumers
and initiating the supply in such manner that availability of goods offered can be made at each
place. To meet this consumer requirement supply process of Unilever is quite automated. In this
process all the supply networks are improved with technology introduction. When ever the
requirement for product and service arises it gets reflected in the system and delivery can be
made in appropriate time provided.
Quality Management: High amount of competition in the market leads that consumers
are preferring goods and services of the producer who is providing quality. In the present market
condition to manage competitive advantage operations manager of Unilever organisation is
focusing on generating goods that are high in quality. As quality goods that possess value for
money will leads to generating more satisfied consumer group. Expectation of consumers will be
mate and this will enhance the consumer market group of the Unilever. To enhance the quality in
goods provided by Unilever organisation their must be some quality standards set in the
operational process and these standards will be met (Okorley and Nkrumah, 2012). Quality is the
key for success in the competitive market and it is important for Unilever organisation so that
maximum consumer satisfaction can be made. When consumers will be satisfied to the fullest
then more and more consumers gets attracted and no old consumer make a shift to other
products. In the process of quality management threshold limits are set to deduct defects in the
production system. Enhancing the quality will help in adopting the best production process and
through this in long run various other objectives will be achieved by Unilever organisation.
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These two elements will help in satisfying consumers in the best manner as quality
products that possess value for money will help in attracting an determining more and more
consumers. Goods that possess good quality leads to generate high amount of consumer
satisfaction. Satisfied consumers will demand more and more of Unilever products and when
supply chain of the organisation is designed in such manner that minimum time is taken to make
delivery. This in long run both these operational design elements will help in meeting exceed
consumers requirements and also performance of organisation will be evaluated on the basis of
target and the current performance (Steel, Dubelaar and Ewing, 2013). To evaluate the supply
network performance minimum time taken to perform delivery will be compared with set
standards. Any variation is identified and after that appropriate strategies will be applied on the
organisation so that set standards can be achieved. Quality performance will be accessed on the
basis of satisfaction level attained by consumers with various goods offered by Unilever
organisation.
TASK 3
In an organisation like Unilever when main focus is provided on quality management
then to achieve this standard principles of quality management and control will be applied and
that are elaborated as follows-
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Consumer Focus: Success of Unilever is highly depended on their consumers and
therefore current and future needs to consumers will be assessed to meet their requirements.
When consumers will be provided with suitable goods and services then in that case it will
enhance their experience. .
Leadership: It will help to establish unity of purpose and direction of the organisation.
They helps in creating and maintain internal business environment which leads to
accomplishment of organisational objectives effectively (Quality Management Principles, 2019).
Involvement of People: Human resources are the essence for success of Unilever
organisation. When employees at each level of management will be involved in the
organisational decision then it will enable their capabilities to be used form organisational
benefits.
Process approach: When each activity in the organisation is performed in the well
defined process that leads generate best root to accomplish each task then in that case
management of resources in organisation will be done effectively.
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Illustration 1: Quality Management Principles, 2019
Source: Quality Management Principles, 2019

System approach to management: Activities that are performed at different operational
level in Unilever organisation then in that case various interrelated processes will be managed
productively. All the operations in the organisation when performed with well established system
then in that case it leads to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in achieving objectives of
Unilever.
Continual Improvement: Operations and the processes that are adopted by Unilever
organisation for performing various activities needs to be improved time to time. When
improvement is introduced in the organisation on continuous basis then it will leads to enhance
overall performance of the organisation.
Factual approach to decision making: When decision that are related to various
business operations in Unilever and specially in quality management then it must be based on the
analysis of data and information that is provided to business organisations (Wickramasinghe and
Wickramasinghe, 2012). Introducing all the decision based on some facts will increase level of
competence in the organisation as all the factors affecting the issue will be considered and a
informed decision will be taken.
Mutually beneficial supplier relationship: A business to become successful needs to
manage good supplier relationship as this will help in Unilever organisation to generate a
mutually beneficial relationship. Value for supplier and the organisation will be created and
flexibility will be introduced so that response to changes in the market can be made in effective
manner.
When all the principals of quality management will be applied in the Unilever
organisation then in that case operations that are required to improve quality of products can be
improved by Unilever organisation in the most affordable manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that operations that are performed at
different level in the organisation plays important role in success of organisation. All the
objectives that are defined to be achieved by company must be allocated to various operations
and this leads to achieve stage of maximum consumer satisfaction. Operations that are used to
satisfy large number of consumer group is required to be implemented on some factual basis.
Business to become successful and to gain competitive advantage needs to make continuous
improvement. Key elements in the success of organisational process will be improved and all the
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organisational activities will be implemented in the successful manner so that results of the
operations can be made as per the set goal and objective.
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REFERENCE
Books and Journals
Augusto, M. G., Lisboa, J. V. and Yasin, M. M., 2014. Organisational performance and
innovation in the context of a total quality management philosophy: An empirical
investigation. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence. 25(9-10). pp.1141-
1155.
Kuei, C. H. and Lu, M. H., 2013. Integrating quality management principles into sustainability
management. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence. 24(1-2). pp.62-78.
Lagrosen, S. and Lagrosen, Y., 2012. Trust and quality management: Perspectives from
marketing and organisational learning. Total Quality Management & Business
Excellence. 23(1). pp.13-26.
Malik, A. and Blumenfeld, S., 2012. Six Sigma, quality management systems and the
development of organisational learning capability: Evidence from four business process
outsourcing organisations in India. International Journal of Quality & Reliability
Management. 29(1). pp.71-91.
Malik, A., Sinha, A. and Blumenfeld, S., 2012. Role of quality management capabilities in
developing market-based organisational learning capabilities: Case study evidence from
four Indian business process outsourcing firms. Industrial Marketing
Management. 41(4). pp.639-648.
Matthews, R. L. and Marzec, P. E., 2012. Social capital, a theory for operations management: a
systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Production Research.
50(24). pp.7081-7099.
Mosadeghrad, A. M., 2014. Essentials of total quality management: a meta-
analysis. International journal of health care quality assurance. 27(6). pp.544-558.
Okorley, E. L. and Nkrumah, E. E., 2012. Organisational factors influencing sustainability of
local non-governmental organisations: Lessons from a Ghanaian context. International
Journal of Social Economics. 39(5). pp.330-341.
Steel, M., Dubelaar, C. and Ewing, M. T., 2013. Developing customised CRM projects: The role
of industry norms, organisational context and customer expectations on CRM
implementation. Industrial Marketing Management. 42(8). pp.1328-1344.
Wickramasinghe, D. and Wickramasinghe, V., 2012. Effects of perceived organisational support
on participation in decision making, affective commitment and job satisfaction in lean
production in Sri Lanka. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. 23(2).
pp.157-177.
Online
Quality Management Principles. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
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