Nelson College London

ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

Qualification Unit number, Code and Title

Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma Unit 34, R/505/8181, Operations Management in
Business Business

Module Leader: Lecturers:

Alfred Mbeteh Maleeha, Dr Kaviraj

Distribution date Submission deadline

09/01/17 25th March 2017

Assignment title Operations Management in Business

Learner declaration

I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully
acknowledged.

Student signature: Date:

INTRODUCTION

Operations management (OM) is the business function that plans, organises, coordinates, and
controls the resources needed to produce a companys goods and services. Operations management is a
management function. It involves managing people, equipment, technology, information, and many other
resources. Operations management is the central core function of every company. This is true whether
the company is large or small, provides a physical good or a service, and is for-profit or not-for-profit.
Operations management is important.

It is concerned with creating the services and products upon which we all depend. And all organizations
produce some mixture of services and products, whether that organization is large or small,
manufacturing or service, for profit or not for profit, public or private. But more than this, operations
management is everywhere, it is not confined to the operations function.

All managers, whether they are called Operations or Marketing or Human Resources or Finance, or
whatever, manage processes and serve customers (internal or external). This makes, at least part of
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their activities operations.

SCENARIO (PLEASE CAREFULLY AND RELATE IT TO YOUR ANSWERS)

Prt A Manger opened their first shop in the mid-1980s, in London. Now they have over 130 shops in
UK, New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo. They say that their secret is to focus continually on quality not
just of their food, but in every aspect of their operations practice. They go to extraordinary lengths to
avoid the chemicals and preservatives common in most fast food, say the company. Many food
retailers focus on extending the shelf life of their food, but thats of no interest to us.
We maintain our edge by selling food that simply cant be beaten for freshness. At the end of the day,
we give whatever we havent sold to charity to help feed those who would otherwise go hungry. When
we were just starting out, a big supplier tried to sell us coleslaw that lasted sixteen days. Can you
imagine! Salad that lasts sixteen days? There and then we decided Pret would stick to wholesome fresh
food natural stuff. We have not changed that policy.

The first Prt A Manger shop had its own kitchen where fresh ingredients were delivered first thing every
morning, and food was prepared throughout the day.
Every Pret shop since has followed this model. The team members serving on the tills at lunchtime will
have been making sandwiches in the kitchen that morning.

The company rejected the idea of a huge centralized sandwich factory even though it could significantly
reduce costs. Prt also own and manage all their shops directly so that they can ensure consistently
high standards in all their shops. We are determined never to forget that our hard-working people make
all the difference. They are our heart and soul. When they care, our business is sound. If they cease to
care, our business goes down the drain. In a retail sector where high staff turnover is normal, were
pleased to say our people are much more likely to stay around! We work hard at building great teams.
We take our reward schemes and career opportunities very seriously.
We dont work nights (generally), we wear jeans, we party! Customer feedback is regarded as being
particularly important at Pret. Examining customers comments for improvement ideas is a key part of
weekly management meetings, and of the daily team briefs in each shop.

Adapted from: Operations Management 6th ed - N. Slack, et al., (Pearson, 2010) BBS
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Evidence Evidence
Summary of evidence required by student
checklist presented

Task 1 Essay on the nature and importance of operations management

Microsoft Power Point Presentation on the link between operations

Task 2
management and strategic planning

Task 3 Essay on how to organise a typical production process

Personal report on Organisation visit Be able to apply relevant

Task 4 techniques to the production of an operational plan for an
organisation.

Task 1 (L.O. 1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and M1, D2)

Considering yourself as an operations manager at Prt A Manger, or any other organisation of your
choice, write an essay on the following:

1. Explain the importance of operation management to Prt A Mangers business activities or any
other organisation business activities.

2. Analyse the operations functions at Prt A Manager or any other organisation of your choice.

3. Evaluate, by using a process model, the operations management of Prt A Manager or any other
organisation of your choice.

Important Note

To achieve:

M1, you will find appropriate solutions in evaluating the operations management of Prt A
Manager or any other organisation of your choice.

D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced

from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the
tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria.
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Task 2 (LO2: 2.1, 2.2 2.3 and M2, D2)

As the newly appointed operations manager at Prt A Manger, or any other organisation of your choice,
you are expected to produce a Microsoft Power Point Presentation informing your team on the following:

4. Appraise the importance of the Three Es to organisations

5. Assess the impact of the tension between cost minimisation and quality maximisation in
organisations
6. Evaluate the significance of the five performance objectives that underpin operations
management to organisations
Important Note

To achieve:

M2, you will apply appropriate methods/techniques in evaluating the significance of the five
performance objectives of any organisation of your choice in question 6.

D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced

from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the
tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria.

Task 3 (LO3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and D2, D3)

As the operations manager at Prt A Manger or any other organisation of your choice you are expected
to write briefly on the followings in an essay form :
7. Assess how linear programming adds value to a given production process
8. Evaluate critical path analysis and network planning
9. Justify the need for operational planning and control in a selected production process
Important Note

To achieve:

D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced

from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the
tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria.

D3, you will have to creatively justify the need for operational planning and control in a
selected production process in question 9.
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Task 4 (LO4: 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and D2)

You are expected to do a field work at Prt A Manger, or any other organisation of your choice, carefully
observe the organisations business activities and produce a personal report on your findings on the
followings:
10. Produce a set of clearly defined operational outcomes.
11. Produce a network plan and indicate the resultant critical path.
12. Explain how quality could be defined and maintained in the visited organisation
(Please note that the name of the organisation visited must be specified in your report.)

Important Note

To achieve:

M3, your findings and research should be well presented and communicated within the report.
To achieve D1 you will have to use critical reflection to produce a network plan and indicate
the resultant critical path in question 10.

D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to independent research as evidenced

from the citations and reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit the
tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria.
In addition to the above PASS criteria, this assignment gives you the opportunity to submit evidence in order to achieve the following
MERIT and DISTINCTION grades
Grade Descriptor
M1 Identify and apply
strategies to find appropriate
solutions
M2 Select / design and apply
appropriate methods /
techniques
M3 Present and communicate Communication is appropriate for familiar and
appropriate findings unfamiliar audiences and appropriate media
D1 Use critical reflection to
evaluate own work and
justify valid conclusions
D2 Take responsibility for
managing and organising
activities
D3 Demonstrate
convergent /lateral /
creative thinking
Indicative characteristic/s Contextualisation
Effective judgements have been made.
To achieve M1, you find appropriate solutions in explaining the link
An effective approach to study and research
between operations management and strategic planning P3
has been applied.
To achieve M2, you will apply appropriate methods/techniques in
Appropriate learning methods/techniques have
evaluating the significance of the five performance objectives of any
been applied.
organisation of your choice in question 6.
To achieve M3, your findings and research should be well
presented and communicated within the report for question 10-12.
have been used.
Conclusions have been arrived at through
synthesis of ideas and have been justified. To achieve D1 you will have to use critical reflection to produce a
network plan and indicate the resultant critical path in question 10.
Realistic improvements have been proposed
against defined characteristics for success.
Activities have been managed.
To achieve D2 you will have demonstrated an effective approach to
New ideas have been generated
independent research as evidenced from the citations and
Good referencing and arrangement (Harvard
reference list and study and will have met the deadline to submit
style)
the tasks and achieve the unit assessment criteria. (P1-P13)
To achieve D3, you will have to creatively justify the need for
Effective thinking has taken place in
operational planning and control in a selected production process
unfamiliar contexts.
in question 9
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Submission Instructions:

This assignment must be completed by all the candidates undertaking Edexcel

HNC/HND Diploma in Business.
The word limit for this assignment is a maximum of 5000 words, excluding references
(approximately 25 - 30 pages).
Referencing should be provided in Harvard Style Referencing (both in-text and
bibliography).
Header with the students ID number and full name as well as footer with the page
number should be present throughout the assignment.
Comprehensive reading list can be found in the Unit Handbook (UHB).
The assignment should be completed in Font Type: Times New Roman, Size 12 and 1.5
spacing between lines.
The authenticity statement must be signed and dated by all students and presented to
a lecturer or a Student Support Adviser.

Appendix A: Plagiarism and Collusion:

Any act of plagiarism and collusion will be seriously dealt with according to the
regulations. In this context the definition and scope of plagiarism are presented below:

Using the work of others without acknowledging source of information or inspiration,

although you may paraphrase, the result is still plagiarism (Cortell, 2003). Please
ensure you apply in-text referencing within your assignment to support all
information extracted from any published work.

Collusion is when two or more people combine to produce a piece of work for an
assessment that is passed off as the work of one alone. For example, one student has
copied the work of another, or where a joint effort has taken place in producing what
should have been an individual effort.

Appendix B: Harvard Referencing System (HRS):

Any information that is not of your own needs to be referenced, plagiarising from
someone elses work can be unintentional if you are unaware of the rules of
acknowledging and referencing direct quotations.

The Harvard system requires you to acknowledge certain information which are mainly
the surname and the year of publication within the text, for example:

According to Bell (1999) as you write up your assignment you will use a citation to
indicate in your text the source of information provided.

The authors and publication information cited within the main body of your work must
be listed in the reference list (This will be at the end of your assignment) for
example:

Bell, J. (1999) Doing your research project. (3 rd Edition) Buckingham: Open University
Press.

Detailed guidance on the Harvard Referencing System (HRS) will be made

available on Moodle (VLE)

Failure to submit on time will lead to penalisation (Capping of grades). Reasonable

consideration will be given, in the case of failure to submit the assignments by the deadline
period (exemption will be given to those being granted extenuating circumstances
provided they submit the relevant documents to support claim).
9 Assignment brief- Operations Management in Business
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In this assessment you will have the

Learning Learning Assessment Task Evidence
opportunity to present evidence that
Outcome outcome Criteria no. (Page no)
shows you are able to:
Understand the 1
nature Explain why operations management is
1.1
and important for organisations
importance of 1
operations Analyse the operations functions of a
L01 1.2
management selected organisation

Evaluate, by using a process model, the 1

1.3 operations management of a selected
organisation
Understand the
link Appraise the importance of the Three Es
2.1 2
between to organisations
operations Assess the impact of the tension between
LO2 management 2.2 cost minimisation and quality 2
and maximisation in
strategic organisations
Evaluate the significance of the five
planning
2.3 performance objectives that underpin 2
operations management to organisations
Understand
how to Assess how linear programming adds
3.1 3
organise a value to a given production process
typical 3
Evaluate critical path analysis and
production 3.2
LO3 network planning
process
Justify the need for operational planning 3
and control in a selected production
3.3 process

Be able to Produce a set of clearly defined

LO4 apply relevant 4.1 operational outcomes for a selected 4
techniques to organisation
the production 4
of an Produce a network plan indicating the
4.2
operational resultant critical path
plan for an
4
organisation.
Justify how quality management
techniques
4.3
are applied to improve operations in a
selected organisation

10 Assignment brief- Operations Management in Business