Analysis of Operations and Project Management for Unilever and MFI

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management, using Unilever and the MFI project as case studies. It begins with an introduction to operations management, defining its role and principles, and then focuses on Unilever, a consumer goods company, examining its implementation of operations management principles such as Six Sigma and Lean principles. The report analyzes how effectively Unilever's operations management meets its organizational requirements and proposes a continuous improvement plan based on the PDCA model. The second part of the report provides an overview of the MFI project, including a business case analysis and its lifecycle stage, supported by theoretical and conceptual arguments. The report emphasizes the importance of effective operations and project management in achieving organizational goals, highlighting strategies for enhancing sales, productivity, and market value, and concludes with recommendations for improving operations functions through training, regular analysis, and feedback mechanisms.

Operations & Project
Management
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Contents
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
PART 1.......................................................................................................................................................3
An introduction to organisation...............................................................................................................3
Description of operation Vs operations management..............................................................................3
The implementation of operations management principles within organisation......................................4
Analyze the extent to which the operations management of organisation meets requirements of that
organisation.............................................................................................................................................5
Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on review and critique of operations management
principles within organisation..................................................................................................................6
Continuous improvement principles make recommendations which could improve the operations
function...................................................................................................................................................6
INTRODCUTION.......................................................................................................................................7
PART 2.......................................................................................................................................................7
An overview of the MFI project..............................................................................................................7
A business case........................................................................................................................................7
Stage of life cycle in relation to the MFI project...................................................................................10
Provide and analysis with theoretical and conceptual arguments...........................................................11
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................12
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Operations management is considered as area of the management which is used by a
company in order to conduct planning, designing, controlling and other factor for introducing or
improving products, services and processes (de Vries, 2020). In order to conduct or develop an
effective project a company need to adopt proper operations management practices which help
them in attaining design goal as well as objectives successfully. Organization selected for
respective research is Unilever which is introduced in 1929 and they are operating in the
consumer goods industry. Its head office is located at the London, United Kingdom. Topics
include in this project are related to information about the operations, company, operations
managements and its principles. Moreover, it will also include plan of continuous improvement
and principles that will help a firm in improving their operations functions.
PART 1
An introduction to organisation.
Organization taken in the respective project is Unilever which is a famous British Dutch
Company that’s operates in consumers good industry. It is introduced by Willian Lever, Samuel
Van Den Bergh, James Darcy Lever and Georg Schicht in 1929 as well as its head office is
located at the Unilever House, London, United Kingdom. Business of respective company is
nested all around the world and they offer wide range of products of beauty and personal care,
cleaning products, food and refreshment and many more. They own more than 400 brands which
are available around the world i.e. Lux, Sunsilk, Dove, Lipton and many others.
Description of operation Vs operations management
Operations is determined as a decision or action which are created by members as well as
participants of a company which impact on company’s several functions such as distribution,
production, offering, management, coordination and many more. These all functions are directly
or indirectly related with the assets and other resources that are required for accomplishing a
project properly (Dhamija and Bag, 2020). On the other hand operations management is
determined as area of management that mainly concerned with the controlling and designing of
the procedure which is related to the production as well as redesigning of business operations
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and functions. In respect of Unilever by adopting this they able to manufacture as well as deliver
products and services at worldwide level in effective manner according to the requirement and
expectation of potential customers. Moreover proper conducting of operations and project
management help respective company in attaining their desire goal as well as objectives
successfully.
The implementation of operations management principles within organisation.
Operations management principles is considered as practices or process through which a
company can conduct their operations and management in effective manner. There are several
types of operations management principles which guide management of a firm so that they can
attain their desire goal as well as objectives successfully (Hoefle and et. al., 2020). In respect of
Unilever they also implement different operations management principles which them then in
enhancing their work quality effectively. Below some of the operations management principles
which are adopted by Unilever are mentioned below:-
Six Sigma
 Define – In this stage manager of Unilever determine issues or objective that they are
experiencing while performing their business operations and functions. In addition to this
they also develop strategies and systems through which they resolve or attain their desire
aim successfully.
 Measure – In this stage management of respective company identify the root cause of the
issues which they are facing as well as they also determine importance to resolve that
issues accordingly they will take steps. Moreover, at this stage they also provide training
to employees so that they performed properly and their work not gets impacted.
 Analyze – In respective phase respective company will determine the root cause of the
issues such as employee’s attention and productivity (Jung and et. al., 2020). By knowing
issues they try to find out strategy through root cause can be resolved.
 Improve – At this stage of respective company they will determine strategies, process and
ideas through which they can resolve issues properly for the attainment of desire goal as
well as objectives properly and successfully. In addition to this if they find any error then
management take quick action for resolving it at the initial stage.
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 Control – This is the last stage of the respective operation management principle in which
management of Unilever implements the strategy which they develop for resolving issues
as well as they also train employees accordingly so that they perform their work properly
as well as effectively for the attainment of desire goal.
Lean Principles
 Define value – According to respective stage management of Unilever defined the value
for their products and services which attract customers around the worldwide level.
According to them their value is their products range as well as quality which they offer
to customers.
 Map the value stream – In this stage manager and leader of respective company design
system or framework that aid them in enhancing their staff productivity and increase
sales of their products and service at the potential marketplace.
 Create flow – In respect of this stage management of respective firm determined hurdles
and issues which they generally faced while conducting business operations and
functions of manufacturing and selling goods.
 Establish pull – According to this management of Unilever conducted analysis that they
have sufficient and appropriate resources or not (Karimi and Rahimi, 2020). This means
their show be balance amount not too low and not too high. Through this they able to
ensure that products are made up of proper and fresh materials.
 Pursuer perfection – In respective stage management of respective company determined
that all of their business operations and functions are conducted properly as that will help
them in attaining desire goal as well as objectives successfully. Moreover it will also help
Unilever in offering quality products and services properly at the potential marketplace.
Analyze the extent to which the operations management of organisation meets requirements of
that organisation.
By conducting analysis of above mentioned operations management principles it can be
determined that it help in attaining their desire goal as well as objectives successfully (Kavadias
and Ulrich, 2020). In addition to this, for respective principles management of respective
company many adopt collaboration approach as that will help in developing effective relation as
well as understanding each other perspectives in effective manner. This relationship will be
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developed among the employees, employers, customers, stakeholders, clients and many more. In
addition to this it also help respective company management in conducting their operations
properly so that issues can be resolve properly and there must be attainment of desire goal. This
will also help a company in improving their employee’s performance properly so that there must
be less error or occurrence of issues in the business operations and functions of delivering quality
consumers goods in effective manner.
Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on review and critique of operations management
principles within organisation.
Continuous improvement plan is considered as plan or strategy that is generally adopted
by a firm in order to enhance their functions and operations in regular manner. This is so because
through it they able to ensure that their employee’s skills, abilities and knowledge get enhanced
as well as their performance get increased which help in attaining desire goal as well as objective
in effective manner (Lazea, Steinberg and Stoller, 2020). In respect of Unilever they are
developing continuous improvement plan for improving their performance so that they can attain
their desire goal by enhancing staffs performance. For conducting continuous improvement plan
Unilever adopt PDAC model which is explained below:-
Plan Do Check Act
Do analysis of
market
By implementing this
Unilever Company will
able to analyses need
and want of Vatican
City people in better
manner. In addition to
this, with the assistance
of this they will able to
conduct modification as
well as improvement
within procedure,
services as well as
products.
In this stage, respective
company will able to
develop team with
experienced as well as
professional who do
analysis of respective
country market within
effective manner.
At this stages
administration of
Unilever will
manufacture daily
consumable products
as per the requirement
of Vatican City
population. By this
they will be able to
attract more and more
customers in better
manner.
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Develop
strategies for
after sales
services
As per this stage it is
important for respective
organization to provide
after sales services to
their customers because
it will assist in building
relation with potential
users as well as help in
making them loyal part
for lifetime.
For this management of
Unilever required to
design training as well as
development programs
for employees because it
will provide assistance to
them while interacting
with customers in better
manner. s
With the assistance of
this Unilever will able
to resolve problem of
their existing and
potential customers as
well as staff also
within impress and
effective manner for
gaining better
outcomes.
Continuous improvement principles make recommendations which could improve the operations
function.
By conducting continuous improvement plan through PDCA model there are some
recommendation which Unilever may adopt for improving their performance as well as that will
also help in them in attaining desire goal as well as objective successfully (Nyström, 2020). In
respect of this respective company may conduct training and development activities for
employees because through it they able to enhanced their skills, abilities and knowledge that
leads to attainment of desire goal as well as objectives successfully (Ochara, 2020). In addition
to this, they also need to conduct analysis on regular basis so that they will identify issues as well
as barriers or hurdles at the initial stage which help in conducting operations properly and
attaining desire goal as well as objectives successfully. They also need to take regular feedbacks
as well as suggestions from the customers and stakeholders as that will help in developing
products and services according to the their requirement which leads to enhance in sales.
INTRODCUTION
For every firm it is essential to conduct proper practices related to the operations and
project management because by it they able to conduct their work in effective as well as
appropriate way that help in attaining desire goal (Oraith, 2020). This section of report is based
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on MFI is one of the well known furniture manufacturing and retailing company as well as they
has more than the 250 stores around the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. This firm is
experiencing some issues and for that they develop project plan which include several strategies
or practices such as increase in sales, improve market value and enhance staff productivity.
Respective part of the project will include information based on project life cycle and some other
documents related to it like business case.
PART 2
An overview of the MFI project
The respective part of the report is based on the MFI which is well known furniture
manufacturing and selling company as well as they have approx 250 stores throughout the
United Kingdom and mainland Europe. There are several issues faced by respective company
such as decrease in sales, employee’s productivity and so on. so in order to overcome it their
manager adopt several different strategies as that that help in enhancing sales,
profitability, ,market value and employees performance successfully (Pascual and Smith, 2020).
In respect of this they adopt different models and theories so that company management able to
develop proper strategies as well as plan which help them in attaining desire goal and objectives
successfully.
A business case
A business case gets the thinking for beginning an undertaking or task. It is routinely
presented in an inside and out sorted out formed record, yet may in like manner come as a short
verbal understanding or introduction. In regard of MFI by creating business case they ready to
create powerful arrangement of issue. Business case of particular organization is explained
below:-
Company Overview MFI is furniture maker as well as retailer they are confronting issues
identified with decrease in deals (Sabahi and Parast, 2020). So as to
defeat it they create plan as indicated by which they need to build
their business, performance and market value.
Vision and Mission Vision of organization is to become one the best furniture assembling
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and retailing organization.
Mission of MFI is to enhance its sales, market value as well as
improver staff’s performance.
Objective Objective of firm is to expand sales, enhance employee’s
performance and market value so that their business get grow by 30
percent in upcoming year.
Strategy Manager as well as leader of this organization needs to improve
execution of workers with the goal that their deals and market esteem
get expanded (Sanz and et. al., 2020). For this they can receive
distinctive procedure as that will help in leading work in viable way,
for example, preparing and improvement, inspiration plan, etc.
Budget For accomplishing particular target MFI need to direct preparing and
advancement programs just as they likewise need to inspire
representatives for whom they required approx 1279 pound.
Plan So as to improve the adequacy of the representatives with the goal
that deals and market esteem get expanded. MFI can embrace various
techniques, for example, they can lead preparing to their
representatives so they act appropriately with clients as that will help
in expanding deals just as holding clients for long time. Besides they
additionally need to rouse representatives with the goal that they
center on increment deals which straightforwardly lead to increment
in showcase esteem.
Follow up In order to direct development or checking individual organization
will contrast past deals and the current deals record.
Project Plan
Cost So as to expand sales and market esteem MFI will create training
strategies and advancement, for which they required approx 1279
pound.
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Communication So as to direct communication about the goal or point this
organization can receive various strategies, for example, they can
lead a typical gathering with the senior position or they can show the
notification on the notification board (Sanz and et. al., 2020). This is
so on the grounds that through it they ready to speak with staffs in
compelling just as proper way.
Quality So as to keep up nature of administration the board must give
preparing to representatives just as they likewise need to assess it on
the particular time span. This will help in expanding deals just as
market esteem
Scope The extent of particular technique is that MFI ready to expand their
sales just as market value. Notwithstanding this it will likewise help
in improving execution of representatives in compelling way.
Work breakdown structure
A work-breakdown structure in project management as well as framework planning is a
deliverable-arranged breakdown of an assignment into smaller parts. A work breakdown
structure is a key endeavor deliverable that forms the participation into reasonable territories
(Sherringham and Unhelkar, 2020). By appropriation or creating systems through work
breakdown structure the executives of MFI ready to lead their work in little area which help in
improving adequacy of the venture in compelling way.
Gantt chart
A Gantt chart is considering as bar graph which a researcher to outline the project plan
for accomplishment of project successfully and effectively. It is developed by Henry Gantt in
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between the year 1910 to 1915 (Wang, Li and Li, 2020). In today’s time gantt chart also help in
predicting time of accomplishing project according to the activities or task of project. In addition
to this, by developing respective chart MFI manager as well as leader able to do proper planning
of the plans as well as strategies according to their predetermined goal as well as objective in
proper given time duration.
By implementing these strategies as well as plan MFI that is operating in furniture
manufacturing as well as retailing industry, they able to enhance performance of their staffs
which directly leads to the enhancement in sales as well as market value at the potential
marketplace. In addition to this, respective company able to make customers loyal as well as they
also able to generate high profit from the potential marketplace.
Stage of life cycle in relation to the MFI project
Project life cycle is determined as the systemic combination of stages which a project
experiences through its introduction to its summary. The project life cycle is characterized and
modify according to the need, requirement as well as operation of a company. In context of MFI,
by implementing project life cycle their management able to attain its desire aim and objective of
enhancing sales, market value along with increasing employees productivity in successfully and
effectively manner (Yeganeh and Zegordi, 2020). Explanation of different stages of life cycle in
respect of respective furniture company is mentioned below:-
 Initiation – It is the first stage of the cycle in which MFI manager need to understand
their desire goal, risk related to its procedure, dead line, effectiveness of conducting and
many more. This is so because accordingly they will develop training and development
program which enhance employee’s productivity by which sales as well as market value
get enhanced.
 Planning – At respective stage management of respective firm will outline the practices
or task which they need to accomplish according to the allotted time schedule. In this
they will develop session of training according to time so that employees perform proper
for the enhancing of sales as well as market value successfully and effectively (Zhao, Cui
and Tian, 2020).
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 Execution – In this phase management of MFI need to implement the plan into action and
after that they will monitor the effectiveness of performance and outcome. For this they
will analyze the sales and footfall at the store which also help in knowing market value.
 Closure – It is the last stage of the cycle in which respective company wills analysis the
outcome of the plan so that they will conduct modification according to the gap.
Provide and analysis with theoretical and conceptual arguments
By implementing project life cycle an organization ready to accomplish task as well as
attain few advantages, for example, give structure to the task conveyance process, improve
correspondence among the colleagues, guarantee progress, lead a compelling assessment of the
venture just as likewise empower structure survey which support governance. In regard of MFI
by implementing the project life cycle they ready to accomplish their target of improving
representatives' performance which straightforwardly prompts improvement in sales just as
market value. It is fundamental for them to improve these angles on the grounds that through it
they can achieve their longing objective just as target in compelling just as fruitful way. What's
more, for the usage of project life cycle in a powerful way organization the executives may
receive various hypotheses, ideas, and models (Zhao, Cui and Tian, 2020). So as to this, the
particular organization chiefs may adopt a autocratic leadership model or style as that will help
them in directing powerful choices in an opportune way. This will likewise help in propelling
workers which prompts improvement in their exhibitions just as it will additionally help in
upgrading deals just as market an incentive at the expected commercial center. Then again, there
is some restriction of this model, for example, it prompts strife among representatives which
straightforwardly sway on their exhibition, deals, and consumer loyalty. Alongside this MFI can
likewise receive an objective setting technique which helps the board in deciding its qualities and
shortcoming as per which they can create systems just as plan for the improvement. There is
additionally some impediment of objective setting model as per it prompts some circumstance
where the executives feels like a disappointment which impacts on their just as workers
inspiration level. So it is fundamental for the particular organization administrator to direct an
examination all things considered, models, and speculations before applying it in their tasks.
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