BTEC Business: Operation and Project Management Analysis of Unilever

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operation and project management principles, focusing on their application within Unilever, a major consumer goods company. The report begins with an introduction to operation and project management, emphasizing their importance in achieving organizational goals. It then delves into Unilever's operational strategies, including the implementation of key management principles such as reality, accountability, and change, along with a critical evaluation of their effectiveness. Furthermore, the report explores the significance of continuous improvement plans and lean principles, outlining five lean principles that can aid Unilever in optimizing its operations. A continuous improvement plan is proposed to enhance Unilever's performance, focusing on areas such as cost reduction, quality improvement, safety, and delivery efficiency. The second part of the report examines the HS2 railway project, highlighting its business case and providing an overview of its project plan, including initiation, planning, and execution phases. The report concludes with recommendations for Unilever, suggesting the adoption of Six Sigma and Total Quality Management techniques to further enhance its processes and services.

Operation and project
management

INTRODUCTION
Operation management deals with the day to day activities of the organisation and issues
related to the strategies of the organisation in a systematic manner. With the help of this it is
ensured that requirements of the customers are met by delivering quality products with minimum
and efficient use of the resources. While project management is related with planning,
organising, managing the resources of the organisation in an effective way so that the specific
goals can be achieved. It focusses upon utilising the skills, tools, knowledge in managing the
activities of the project. For this report, Unilever is chosen which is a consumer goods company.
In this report the importance of operation management principles, continuous improvement plan,
lean principles are taken into consideration. Apart from this the project life cycle is discussed
which includes various methodologies, tools and styles of leadership which is to be implemented
at different stages.
PART 1
1) Introduction of the organisation
Unilever is UK based consumer good company headquartered in London and are
operating in around 190 countries. It offers various products such as food, beverages, personal
care products, cleaning agents etc. Unilever is considered to be one of the oldest company
operating in various countries and it is seventh most valuable organisation of Europe. The
company own more than 400 brands such as Dove, Sunsilk, Knorr, Lux etc.
2) Operation vs Operation Management
Operation are associated with performing any practical task with the application of
various concepts, processes and the principles. While operation management is related with
administering the activities of the organisation related with converting the raw material into
finished goods in such a manner that the profitability of the organisation can be improved
(Shayeghi and Shahryari, 2017).
3) Implementation of principles of operation management
The principles of operation management are the fundamental principles with the help of
which the operations can be improved as they help the managers in planning, designing and
organising various processes. The principles that are adopted by Unilever are:

 Principle of Reality: This principle suggest that the focus must be on the problems
which is being faced by the company rather than on the tools and techniques used by
them. This will facilitate Unilever in developing an understanding of the issues as with
this they can effectively resolve them by adopting appropriate tool as per the requirement
(McMahon, 2016).
 Principles of Accountability: Managers formulate various rules for the employees and
defines their responsibilities as per their role. With this the managers in Unilever can
keep a check upon the performances of the employees. Also this will make the
employees to put efforts for achieving the targets as per the metrics so provided by the
managers.
 Principles of Change: The theories and concepts related to management keeps on
changing due to which the organisations need to consider them as they can have impact
on their operations. The managers at Unilever consider the impact of such change in the
technology, techniques, processes etc. by adopting them so that the stability can be
ensured in long term.
Critical evaluation of the implementation of the principles of operation management
With the implementation of such principles the organisation can ensure the efficiency in
the performance as they can understand the problems related to the businesses, can analyse the
impact of changes that are taking place by establishing various rules and metrics for the
employees. This helps the managers in Unilever in ensuring the quality of the products and the
services. But this increases the cost for the company as it requires consistent monitoring of the
activities.
4) Analysis of the extend to which the operation management meet requirement of the
organisation
The operation management helps the organisation in achieving their objectives by way of
adopting various principles of operation management. Such principles helps the organisation in
ensuring the quality and safety of the products by adopting various techniques. Also with this the
cost of production and time can be managed effectively as it ensures the delivery of the products
on the right time at minimum cost. This ensures that the requirement of the organisation can be
met.

5) Continuous improvement plan and lean principles
CPI is ongoing program which helps organisations in improving their products, services,
processes. This helps in identifying and eliminating the defects in the processes. The Unilever is
offering consumer goods so it is important for them to make improvement as per the changes in
taste and preferences of the consumers. These improvement can be made with the help of various
tools and techniques such as Six sigma, TQM, Lean principles etc.
Lean principles helps the company in making the manufacturing effective as with this the
cost of production can be reduced, quality can be improved etc. Such principles of lean facilitates
the businesses to produce goods which are as per the needs and wants of the customers (Rumane,
2017). The five lean principles that can help the Unilever in achieving their objectives are:
 Identify Value: With the help of this the values are identified that are to be provided to
the customers by way of products and services. This helps Unilever in designing the
product as per the needs and wants of the customers for which they can either add some
features or remove some from products which may not be necessary.
 Map the value stream: In this principle, the value stream is mapped which is associated
with the entire life cycle of the product that includes various steps such as designing of
the product, it's use by the consumers and their disposal. This will facilitate Unilever in
identifying the steps which do not add value to the customers (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017).
 Create Flow: This principle helps in ensuring the flow of the products from production
to the shipping without any interruption. For this the managers in Unilever need to
consider each and every factor which play role in the flow such as the availability of the
material, equipments, labour etc.
 Establish Pull: This principle suggest to consider the pull-based production system
which facilitate the organisation to hold large inventories and work-in-progress. It enable
Unilever to pull order from the customers by the shipping department and then
manufacture the goods as per the demand of the customer (Meredith, Mantel Jr and
Shafer, 2017).
 Seek Perfection: The final lean principles facilitates the organisation in achieving
perfection by continuously improving the processes and the products so offered by the
company. Due to this their is shift in the culture of the workplace as with this the
employees can be motivated to perform effectively.

It will make the Unilever capable of improving their processes as they can adapt new
technology and techniques with which they can eliminate various steps that does not add value to
the customers.
6) Prepare a continuous improvement plan
A continuous improvement plan need to be prepared by the Unilever as it will help them
in improving the overall performance of organisation by enhancing its profitability. The
continuous improvement plan will enable Unilever in improving the quality of the products
which are offered by them. For this they need to execute the plan in every quarter so that they
can determine the requirement of changes in the existing methodologies. With this they can
easily identify the activities that they have to undertake such as increase in number of suppliers
so that the availability of the inventory can be ensured. Following are the ways in which
company can implement continuous improvements in its various aspects:
Basis Existing methodology Proposed methodology
Cost The company currently use principle of
variance so that it can offer a variety of
products to customers but this increases
company costs.
The company must improve its supply
chain management so that company
cost can be reduced.
Quality The company use principle of
accountability so that high quality of
products can be ensured.
The company can use TQM (Total
quality management) so that high
quality can be ensured for customers.
Safety The company uses principle of reality so
that safe and secure products are offered
to its customers.
The company should include six sigma
principles so that waste or unwanted
products can be eliminated and
customers are provided with high
quality goods.
Delivery Company uses principle of success so that
customers can be provided with items on
time and improve their satisfaction.
The company can follow just-in-time
principle so that its delivery efficiency
can be improved.

7) Recommendations to the organisation
On the basis of the above analysis it is analysed that the organisation need to adopt
various methodologies, tools, techniques that can help them to improve their processes, products
and services. The recommendation are:
 the technique of six sigma can be used by the applied by the Unilever so that they can
identify and eliminate the activities which are not crucial,
 further, the techniques of total quality management can be incorporated so that the quality
of the products and services can be improved.
PART 2
1) Overview of the Project
HS2 is a railway project which will become the backbone of the entire transport network
of Britain. This project will make the entire economy balanced by connecting all the major cities
with each other. In addition to this it will provide various job opportunities to the people and ill
make the life of the people easier. The HS2 is the organisation that is held responsible for
undertaking and promoting this project. With this project all the major centres will be connected
so that the mobility can be improved (Martens and Carvalho, 2016).
2) Business case
The HS2 project aims to help the businesses and people to achieve their full potential for
now and in future. The technology which has been used by them are environment friendly which
looks forwards to protect the environment and support communities. HS2 ensures the value for
the money so invested, they collaborate with the employees by ensuring care for them. The
vision of the project is to act as a catalyst that can improve the growth of the entire Britain as it
will increase trade, help in regenerating towns and cities etc. The project targets all the people in
the economy as it will reduce the overcrowding because of strong connectivity. The cost benefit
analysis can be studied from:
Particular Amount
Cost of program 11000
Salaries to staff 7000
Investment in raw material 2000

Extra expenses 2500
Total budget 22500
3) Project Plan
Project planning need to be formulated by the managers of the HS2 as with the help of
this they can identify the activities that they have to undertake (Kikuchi and et al.). The planning
of the project can be done by way of four stages of the project life cycle:
 Project initiation: In this stage the project managers of HS2 will define the objectives of
undertaking the project. A project charter will be prepared by the project managers of
HS2 in which the vision, mission, purpose, measurable objectives, description of the
project, conditions etc. will be included (Jaeger and Adair, 2016). The risk of starting this
project is analysed at this stage, objectives are formulated, stakeholder consent is taken so
that no difficulties are faced while initiating HS2 project which is a large scale project.
 Project planning: In this phase of the project life cycle, planning will be done by the
managers in which they will identify various activities that are to be undertaken with the
help of WBS and Gantt chart. The strategic and implementation planning will be done in
which overall approach to the project and techniques will identified. Also the critical path
will be identified and the project will be divided into small manageable sections. In HS2
project planning is made regarding investment required, work that needs to be delegated
among team members, distribution of tasks on time etc. so that the project can get
completed on time.
 Project execution: In this execution phase of the project, the decisions and activities
which are identified in planning phase will be implemented by the project managers of
HS2. They will monitor the activities and the performances of the team members so that
they can be keep on track and the project can be completed on time (Fleming and
Koppelman, 2016). It is also important that lean principles and six sigma are followed
during the project so that it gets completed on time. Various tools and techniques are
applied by team members so that infrastructure can be built which is string and can help
in achieving its objectives.

 Project closure: The project closure stage includes the delivery of the outcomes to the
clients. The project managers of HS2 will handover all the documents to the government
and the other responsible persons on completion of the project. Also the mistakes done
during the project are analysed so that they are not repeated in future projects. At
completion of project it is analysed if the project is able to achieve its objectives.
4) Work breakdown Structure
5) Gantt Chart

6) Use of methodologies, tools and leadership
For making the project successful the project managers considers various tools,
methodologies and leadership styles. This facilitate them in efficiently completing the project.
The methodologies, tools and styles used by the managers of HS2 are given below:
Basis Methodologies Tools Leadership Styles
Project initiation Project charter will be
prepared in which the
objectives will be
The tool that they will
consider will be
RASCI tools.
Visionary style of
leadership must be
used by them.

defined.
Project planning Project plan will
prepared that includes
various activities.
WBS and Gantt chart
will be used.
Democratic style of
leadership will be
used.
Project execution The project managers
will use Rapid
application
development
methodology will be
used by them .
PERT-CPM tool will
be used (Davies and
Brady, 2016).
Coaching style of
leadership will be used
in this stage.
Review and critique of effectiveness of PLC
a) Effectiveness of PLC using theories, models and concepts
PLC helps in effectively undertaking the project with the help of various theories,
concepts and models such as various management theories. They helps the project managers in
allocating the tasks and the responsibility to the team mates as per their capabilities. Also it helps
in planning various activities of the project (Brewer and Dittman, 2018). Project life cycle
facilitate in undertaking the project effectively as with various techniques, tools the activities
can be undertaken easily. In this project with the help of project charter the objectives, purpose
was identified and on the basis of which various techniques such as WBS, PERT-CPM etc. were
determined that can be used for the executing and monitoring the project tasks. But due to
implementation of various techniques and methodologies the responsibility of the project
managers increases which has impact on the cost and the time in which the project need to be
completed.
b) Analyse use of appropriate theories, concepts and models in the PLC
Projects are undertaken by both the small and large organisation and both of them uses
various methodologies, tools and style but it varies as the scale of their operations are different.
The large scale projects uses tools such as PERT-CPM which helps them to identify the path that
can be used by them to complete the task on time but it increases the cost of the project. While

the small scale project uses techniques such as work breakdown structure which helps them to
divide the entire project into small manageable sections. Such technique are used by the large
scale projects as well (Tennant, 2017). Along with this the leaders in large scale projects adopts
various styles of leadership that can motivate their people and team to perform as per the
guidance provided to them. This make them capable enough of completion of the project on time
and effectively. For small scale projects the project managers uses specific tools and style of
leadership such as democratic style which enables them to take suggestion from their team
members so that they can get over the issues faced by them while undertaking the project.
c) Techniques for ensuring quality, scope, tenure of implementation of project
With the help of various tools such as Gantt charts, WBS etc. the project can be
completed on time as it divides the time among different activities. Also the sequence of the
activities can be determined so that the chances of the redundancy can be reduced. Various
principles of operation management can be used that helps them to apply various techniques such
as six sigma, total quality management etc. This ensures the quality of the deliverables of the
project. Apart from these techniques, the use of rapid application development methodology
enabled the project managers of the HS2 in dealing with the proper execution of the plan and
strategies so formulated by them.
d) Effectiveness of project plan
With the help of project plan a project managers can effectively identify the activities
which they have to undertake and the resources that are required by them. It facilitates the
supervisor to analyse and track the performances and the results so that task can be achieved. For
undertaking this project the project managers of HS2 also planned various activities and
allocated them with various resources and time limit within which they must be completed by the
team. The planning of the project enable them to identify the risk associated with the project and
accordingly they can identify the ways of mitigating such risks.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that the it is important for the managers to
consider the importance of various principles of operation management as they helps them to
ensure the quality of the product and services. They have to adopt various tools and techniques
such as six sigma, lean principles for achieving the objectives related to minimising cost,

improving quality , delivery etc. With the help of project life cycle the projects can efficiently be
managed and undertaken by the project managers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
1