Operations and Project Management Analysis: Unilever Case Study Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Unilever's operations and project management. It begins with an overview of the company, differentiating between operations and operations management, and then critiques the implementation of operations management principles within Unilever. The report explores the extent to which Unilever's operations management meets its requirements, discusses continuous improvement as a philosophy and describes the lean principles. A continuous improvement plan is presented, along with recommendations for improving operations. Furthermore, the report includes a case study overview, a business case, and a project plan with a work breakdown structure and Gantt chart. Theoretical and conceptual arguments are provided to justify the use of project methodologies, tools, and leadership in the context of Unilever's operations. The assignment concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations.

Operation and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Overview of chosen organization.......................................................................................1
2. Explanation of operation vs operations management.........................................................1
3. Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within the selected entity........................................................................................................2
4. Analyse the extent to which the operations management of the organization meets the
requirements...........................................................................................................................3
5. Discuss continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the lean principles.........4
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan on the outcomes generated through review and
critique of OP principles.........................................................................................................4
7. Using continuous improvement principles, make two recommendations for improving the
operations...............................................................................................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Overview of the case study.....................................................................................................7
Business case..........................................................................................................................7
Project plan.............................................................................................................................7
Work Breakdown Structure....................................................................................................8
Gantt Chart.............................................................................................................................9
Provide theoretical and conceptual arguments to justify the use of project methodologies,
tools, and leadership.............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Operations management refers to administration of resources through the activities of
planning, organising and supervising. The main aim of this is to increase profit and support
operations that are carried on daily basis in order to achieve strategic goals (Heizer, Render and
Munson, 2017). On the contrary, project management is the utilisation of resources in an optimal
manner for completing the project or tasks within the given time-frame. It involves application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques in order to fulfil the requirements. In this report, Unilever
has been selected which is a British-dutch multinational manufacturer of consumer goods. It has
its headquarters in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands. This assignment
covers introduction of chosen organization, difference between operation and operations
management, review of implementation of OP principles, contribution of OP in in meeting goals,
explanation of continuous improvement and its lean principles along with this, a continuous
improvement plan is prepared followed by recommendations. Furthermore, a case study has been
reviewed to explain significance of product, target market and cost benefit. Also, product life
cycle has been added for better understanding.
PART 1
1. Overview of chosen organization
Unilever is an international company engaged in the business of manufacturing of beauty
products. The headquarters is located in London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands.
It is one of the successful company which is recognised in different parts of the world. The
market share is huge by expanding the worldwide. Apart from this, its products are available in
almost 190 countries. It is listed on London Stock Exchange. Since, it is a leading firm which
means it has number of competitors such as Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, Reckitt Benckiser,
Newell Brands and many more.
2. Explanation of operation vs operations management
Operations and operations management are entirely different from each other and the
meaning should be known in order to mas better and improved strategic decisions. Both of these
terms have been elaborated as follows:
Operations- The activities which are involved in transforming raw material into final
product are known as operations. The resources are utilised in a manner by which unprocessed
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input is processed further for manufacturing new goods which can be sold to customers and fulfil
their demands. While designing the products, requirements of buyers are taken into account so
that higher satisfaction can be provided together with making increased profit and sales. Apart
from this, anything can be known as operations which are ancillary to production of goods.
These support the main activities and are significant to the company for achieving the targets.
Operations management- It is concerned with the administration of the resources like
labour, material, technology and information which are necessary for the final results. Its scope
is much wider than operations as its focuses on efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. The
quality of the ultimate product or service depends upon this. Hence, it involves contribution of
all the units by forming co-ordination between each other (Reid and Sanders, 2015).
3. Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
within the selected entity
Operations management has variety of activities which starts from planning and ends
with monitoring so that primary as well as secondary goals can be achieved. Strategic
management is the areas under which its falls and requires to make strategic decisions. Some of
its principles which can be applied within the entity are explained below:
Accountability- According to this principle, employees are allotted tasks, functions and
roles on the basis of their skills and eligibility. The benefit of this is that, each person would
know about the boundaries within which powers or authorities can be exercised. In case an
individual exceed the limits or make mistakes can be held accountable. This helps in reducing
the conflicts between the people working in the organization. Unilever can make its workforce
understand the importance of this principle and motivate them to take accountability of their
work. There may be some employees who may resist to act according to this principle and blame
others or find excuses for their own work (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018).
Organization- It is not only a principle but also an activity which is done on continuous
basis. As per this, there should be nexus among all the individual areas by forming a co-
ordination for assisting the organization to predict contingencies and make decisions
accordingly. Furthermore, it provides a stability in the operations which ultimately leads to better
management. In the context of Unilever, it should evaluate all its past decisions and make
application of resources in an appropriate manner. However, the accurate information may not be
get by the company.
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Reality- This principle states that, every aspect of the entity should be taken into account
while evaluating the performance of the business. The risks that persist in the current scenario
should be assessed to know the possible impact upon the business. Furthermore, other areas
should also be concerned for identifying the positive as well as negative impact. Unilever is a
large company which should apply this principle in which all the issues are identified. But it
need to have proper ways for getting solutions for the problems in order to increase the
efficiency.
4. Analyse the extent to which the operations management of the organization meets the
requirements
Unilever is leading retailer of groceries and other products and services. It is based in
United Kingdom and faces huge competition and other difficulties for achieving the goals of the
company. It is a part of strategic management which is important for fulfilling needs of the
entity. Some of its primary goals have been discussed below:
1. To create value for customers to earn their lifestyle loyalty.
2. To act within communities responsibly
3. To earn profit and increase sales and revenue
Unilever has team who have the required skills and competencies for managing the whole
work in an efficient manner. Strategies are formulated by it in order to implement them in the
business. These are prepared on the basis of objectives for which it has been established in order
to have desired results. Unilever believes that working of each department should be analysed
and their performance should also be evaluated in order to have improvements. Apart from this,
each of the unit is provided directions by following which, the tasks are completed within the
time frame for achieving the common goal. But, there are certain issues which are still
unresolved and need effective solutions for attaining the goals (Joslin and Müller, 2016). These
are connected with increased level of conflicts among the people working in the organization.
This has affected the productivity of the overall entity leading to many other problems. Apart
from this, there are some other issues related to supply chain management in which there is no
co-ordination. This always leads to late delivery of the products in the store. These are major
difficulties which are required to be resolved before it is too late for the company as the outcome
of such problems could lead to huge loss, decline in sales and market share and many other
negative results.
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5. Discuss continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the lean principles
The process of continuous improvement refers to the activity of evaluating existing plans
and strategies in order to make improvements for higher productivity and efficiency. This is a
regular practice which should be undertaken to assess the possible risks and hurdles so as to
solve them. It is vital for an organization like Unilever as the level of complexities is huge which
can be mitigated only with the help of continuous improvement. Furthermore, it can see positive
impact upon the business by which an entity can survive for a long time and achieve its goals.
The lean principles of continuous improvement have been described below which can be adopted
by Unilever in its business. These are mentioned below:
Consider ideas of employees: The employees are the one who are familiar with the
working of the company. They are at better position to provide honest review, ideas and opinions
which can be considered while making decisions. Hence, Unilever should encourage them to
participate in decision making (Wiig, 2012).
Leadership support- Leaders are appointed or sometimes employees are promoted who
can provide guidelines to sub-ordinates for achieving the goals and objectives. Therefore, the
role of leaders should not be underestimated and individuals having leadership quality should be
treated as leaders.
Customer-centric- The success of any business depends upon meeting the requirements
of the customers. Unilever should have a record of their choices, preferences and demands in
order to fulfil them. Furthermore, it should differentiate its customers on different basis.
Incremental change- The modifications done in small sets or quantity for improving the
quality. This helps in making huge changes by making adjustments in costs. The impact can be
seen on the risks.
6. Prepare a continuous improvement plan on the outcomes generated through review and
critique of OP principles
Action step Responsible
person
Deadline Necessary
resources
Potential
challenges
Result
Allotment of
responsibilitie
s and tasks to
HR manager It is expected
to be
completed
The
performance
report of each
The HR
department
may required
It will increase
the efficiency
of every
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employees within 3
weeks
employee for
including their
working
efficiency and
contribution to
the
organization.
to make
modifications
in plans,
policies and
structure
followed
currently
which can be
appreciated by
all the people
working in the
company.
employee
leading to
more growth
and profit.
Assessing the
issues
subsisting in
all the units in
the company
Manager of
each
department
The target to
complete this
task has been
fixed to 2
months.
A term will be
formed for
conducting
research in
order to
identify the
issues exist in
the
organization.
The
information
gathered is to
be used for
getting a
wholesome
picture of the
current
situation. This
will provide
realistic view.
The benefits
are likely to
help the
business to
grow and
sustain in the
fierce
competition.
Also, many
other
advantages can
be gained with
this.
Research to
know the
target as well
as potential
market better
Manager The time limit
for this is
fixed for 4
months as it is
a long
Reports,
financial
statements of
previous
years. Along
It is one of the
best ways to
know the
perceptions of
the customers,
The company
is going to
have effective
control over its
activities and
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procedure. with this,
budget will be
prepared for
conducting the
research.
but the
information
may not be
available
completely.
Also, the
reliability
factor is very
low.
understand the
market better
for expansion
and other
purposes.
7. Using continuous improvement principles, make two recommendations for improving the
operations
Unilever has used the lean principles viz. Accountability, organisation and reality within
the entity so that its goals are achieved within the prescribed time. These are helpful in
overcoming the challenges and lead the business to a better and strong position. It has been
analysed that Unilever has resolved many of its issues but there are some problems which may
lead to huge difficulties. Hence, the recommendations for the same are as follows:
1. It should conduct interview for choosing the candidates who possess skills and
qualifications as per the job positions in the company. Unilever should assess the
analytical skills by which level of complexities can be reduced in the business. Also,
there should be effective leadership to persuade the employees for giving their all efforts
and adapt the changes taking place within the organization.
2. The risks and issues persisting in the company should be identified quickly. It is going to
help improving the condition of the entity. This can be done by eligible individuals who
have good knowledge of the research and can apply techniques and methodologies for
gathering authentic information. With the use of this, strategies can be formulated which
can be applied within the company.
PART 2
Overview of the case study
Portakabin is a leading company in UK market which has business in modular building
innovator which has been constant in this industry for more than 50 years. It is an international
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entity having the business in 6 nations and employing about 1300 employees. Also, it produces
and take modular buildings on hire as well. The main focus of this organization is to introduce
innovation and creativity in the production. Recently, it has introduced a new product which has
been named Yorkon Building System (YBS). It has been embedded with advance technological
features which can fulfil the needs of the customers. This was possible with an extensive
research for obtaining the information to understand the requirements of the buyers.
Business case
The launching of the new product Yorkon Building System is done by considering the
increasing demand of customers to have advance technology embedded product. This was
significant for being competitive and stable in the dynamic business environment. The main
feature of this is that, it is capable of making different permutations without any involvement of
human efforts. Furthermore, it has been designed to provide building which are steel-framed in
order to bring more flexibility leading to fast construction (Singh and Singh, 2015).
In addition to this, target market for the same has been limited to those customers who
are interested in designs that are futuristic and different from the traditional designs.
The cost benefit analysis for the is done on the basis of different rules and regulations
related to environment. It is important to become sustainable and survive for a long term. It is
likely to incur huge costs as advanced technologies have been used. This is going to have effect
on the final price at which the product will be sold to customers.
Project plan
Product life cycle comprises of variety of stages through which a product has to go.
These are initiation, planning, execution and closure. These have been elaborated below:
Product initiation- The life of a product starts from here in which the new product is
introduced in the market. In order to make the buyers aware about the product, advertisement,
product promotion etc. are used. These are performed by marketing department with the help of
distribution channels. There is no consideration of earning profit. With regard to YBS, it has
raised financial capital for using it in promotional activities so that targetted buyers can become
aware about the same. In this case, it has included direct mailing to reach customers.
Product planning- This stage is about making the product marketable to the ultimate
customer. The sales and profit are two of its main motive which at this point for which activities
are conducted (Stark, 2015). Also, collaborations with other organization for capturing other
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market share is a tactic that is used in this. It is for competitive advantage which can help it
sustain in the market.
Project execution- By reaching this stage, it is assumed that the product has gained a
significant recognition among the customers. The objective to reach large number of people is
achieved with this. The goal is to retain the position and market share in the competition. For
this, it can use any of the marketing strategies that are available to it. This is going to help
Portakabin leave a strong impression on the buyers. However, there are fluctuations in the
business cycle which cannot be avoided.
Project closure- When all the stages are achieved successfully, a product tend to lose its
market share due to many reasons such as change in demands of customers, decline in sales,
decline in profit etc. The likely outcome for this is that profit gets reduced which no business
wish for. The product life cycle comes to an end with this. However, a company may bring
innovation and creativity for retaining it in the market for some more years (Garetti, Rosa and
Terzi, 2012).
Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a tool by which complex projects which are large
are broken into small sets. This helps in making the entity have better management so that
project can be completed within the deadline.
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Gantt Chart
It was formulated by Henry L. Gantt in the year 1917 for assigning the functions of a
project against the prescribed time. It provides a visual representation of the information. It is
beneficial in finishing the tasks before the allotted time gets over (Gantt, 2015).
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Provide theoretical and conceptual arguments to justify the use of project methodologies, tools,
and leadership
Project methodologies- There are variety of techniques that can be used in project for
managing the resources in an optimal way. These assist in appropriate application of resources
by which individual tasks can be achieved.
Project tools- Different types of tools are there which can be used in planning to make
plans. These plans are followed in order to wind up the project. The activities such as planning,
documentation etc. are involved.
Project leadership- There are leaders appointed by the manager to assist the sub-
ordinates to follow the guideline and directions for performing their own tasks so as to achieve
the common goal (Devi and Reddy, 2012).
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