Managing Activities to Achieve Results - Essay Example

?Managing Activities to Achieve Results Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Company Overview 4 Organisational Structure- 4 Culture- 5 Mission, Aims& Objectives 5 Example of functional or departmental objective 7 Technique to align the business processes with the organisational objectives 7 Just-in-time (JIT) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) 7 Comparison of ‘quality culture’ of Tesco Plc and Wal-Mart 8 Health & Safety risk assessment 10 Operational problem / issue and remedial measure 11 Operational Change and Objectives 12 SMART Framework 13 Specific 13 Measurable 13 Achievable 14 Realistic 14 Time Bound 14 Plan of Activities 15 Managing Activities 17 Quality Improvements 21 Health & safety standards for the project 22 Reference 23 Bibliography 27 Company Overview Tesco Plc is the third largest supermarket chain with international operations. The primary activity of the company comprises retailing, retailing financial services and services. The retailing services include online shopping channels, Tesco Direct, tesco.com and Telecoms; Tesco Personal Finance (TPF) (Reuters, 2011). Organisational Structure- Terry Leahy is the CEO of this supermarket chain. David Reid presides as the Chairman of the Board. The business heads in Asia and other global regions report directly to the CEO. Tesco has a multi-divisional organisational structure commonly referred as ‘M-form’. This form suits large firms. Here the firm is divided into a number of divisions with each division in charge of a specific product or a market (Pearson, n.d.). Source: (Pearson, n.d.). Culture- Tesco Plc operates with the primary purpose of value creation for the customers with the aim of earning their lifetime loyalty. The employees of the company work towards creating customer satisfaction by meeting their needs. All the employees work as a single unit i.e. team work forms as essential part of the functioning. There is a sense of respect and trust amongst them. The management takes the extra initiative to make it a better work place. The respective managers act as a guide to the workers and render all possible help in making the company a better place to work (Tesco Plc-a, 2011). Mission, Aims & Objectives As already said the aim of the company is “to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty”. Tesco follows a consistent and well-established strategy of growth that has enabled it to strengthen itself in its core businesses and expand its businesses in the new markets. The diversification strategy of the company was formulated in the year 1997 and it has served as the basis of its success. They key objectives guiding the strategy of the company are- Establish itself as a successful retailer in the international market. To grow its core businesses in UK. To strengthen itself in the non-food segment. To strengthen its retailing services like Tesco Personal Finance, Tesco.com and Telecoms. To keep community at the centre of all its activities (Tesco Plc-b, 2011). The strategy of the company encompasses six key elements- Be Flexible- The operations of the company are adjusted to suit the unique requirement of the varying regions. Act Local- The operations of the company are tailored by a local staff to conform to the local cultures and local regulations. Focused approach- The company recognises the fact that establishing itself in the local markets is a long term proposition. Use of multi-formats- Tesco’s experience of running a “mix of stores” can facilitate its entry into multi-formats. The company recognises the fact that it cannot reach the whole market by way of a single format. A complete spectrum ranging from convenience stores to hypermarkets is necessary. Develop capability- Tesco makes sure that it has adequate capabilities in the form of skilled workers and effective & efficient processes and systems. Building brands- The working of the company is guided by the concept of brand building as it feels that brands help in establishing a long lasting relationship with the clients (Tesco Plc-c, 2011). Example of functional or departmental objective The people in Thailand are accustomed to chop at “traditional wet markets”, doing vendor interaction and looking through the produce pile to make a choice. Therefore the stores of the company in the country i.e. its Bangkok’s Rama IV store has been designed to satisfy the expectations of the local customers. This is in line with the objective of the company to stay local in order to establish itself in the international market (Tesco Plc-c, 2011). Technique to align the business processes with the organisational objectives An organisation can implement an IT backed operational process to improve its business functioning. The introduction of ERP will facilitate better management across all its chains resulting in greater customer satisfaction thereby fulfilling its key business objectives. Just-in-time (JIT) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) The Statistical Process Control (SPC) lowers the variance in the process of production. This helps in generating consistent output with lesser and fewer number of defects, minimum rework and scrap. SPC sets the limits after which there is deterioration in the product attributes. After the determination of this limit a proper monitoring of the process helps in keeping the critical parameters within a limit. This process becomes complicated in the case of a number of variables or if the process becomes uncontrollable and its causes cannot be determined. The main idea for JIT production is that the components, materials and subassemblies are delivered to the workstation, assembly line as per requirement. The JIT helps in lowering the W-I-P inventory level. By way of this company is able to save money. Moreover, the lower inventory means reduction of storage space thereby saving the floor area of the factory. Any severe disruption can impact the production process. This can be tackled by the implementation of JIT approach as it stops any form of disruptions. The goal of SPC is to make the working process smooth and within controls. Therefore, the implementation of techniques like JIT and SPC help the companies in exercising the necessary control in the business activity (Estats Units d'America. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment, 1990, p.112). Comparison of ‘quality culture’ of Tesco Plc and Wal-Mart Total Quality Management (TQM) is based on the premise of continuous improvement in the business operations for reducing cost, enhancing quality and meets the customers’ needs at the earliest (Mujtaba & Maxwell, 2007). The TQM initiative in Tesco focuses on two aspects- improvement of process and standardisation and development of management. An example of Tesco’s Management Systems is its QHES Management System. The main advantage of this system is an integration of knowledge about Health, Safety, Security, Environment, Service Quality and Product Quality. Source: (Beyk, 2009). Tesco put into place TQM in the year 2009. It refers to management approach aimed at long term success to achieve customer satisfaction. In Tesco Plc this initiative involves the joint participation of the various members in the organisation for making improvements in the products, processes, services and the work culture (Beyk, 2009). Wal-Mart has implemented TQM in a number of ways as evident from the hospitality employees offers to the customers on their store visits. Besides this the company applies TQM by procuring the best possible goods at the lowest possible price from its national as well as global suppliers. The task-environment at the company consists of forces that originate directly from the customers, distributors, suppliers and competitors. These forces impact the input acquisition and output extraction of the company i.e. they impact the managers on a daily basis thereby influencing the decisions relating to short term. (Mujtaba & Maxwell, 2007). Health & Safety risk assessment The company maintains a resister containing the risks faced by it including their probability and impact and the control procedures to mitigate the risks. The company has taken steps for ensuring the safety of the drivers. In the last couple of years the company’s online grocery service has revamped the safety standards. Besides this Tesco has formed its own group of driver trainers to bring about the necessary improvement. The growing success of its online grocery brought forth the issue relating to road safety. The rise in the number of accident rates called for strict and immediate action. This forced the company to roll out its own driver training program. Currently the company has been able to extend this facility to over 200 sites with nearly 17 in-house instructors. The drivers are imparted the necessary training such as checking of vehicles and ensuring their on-road safety (Bean, 2007). The company is committed to the following- Ensure the safety of its workers, general public and customers. Monitoring and continually improvising the quality of its services and products. Any possible hazards are identified and subsequently analysed to assess their impact on the QHSE performance and implementing risk control procedures. The company complies with all the regulations and legislations of the various locations. (Tesco Corporation, 2011). Operational problem / issue and remedial measure The management team of the company faces operational problems like mispicks, scan guns, picking locations. The mispicks generally occur due to picking error or non-correspondence of the picking location’s merchandise with the data record in the system. Despite the low incidence of the mispicks there can be accumulative effect of mispicking. The scan guns carried by FLT drivers are used for reading the bar codes on the pallet. These bar codes are often very faint leading to problems in their interpretation. The only way then is to read the numbers manually but the drivers resist this on account of increasing time involved and greater chances of errors (Bell & Davison, n.d.). The problem with the scan guns can be handled by the use of devices that are more sophisticated and give an accurate and reliable reading. The mispick can be avoided by conducting a detailed check at the time the goods are received. Task 2- Is this a proposal or is this a system that has already been implemented by TESCO? If this is a proposal (like it says in the question) then give a little brief in the beginning as it is not clear. Operational Change and Objectives In order to attain efficiency in operations it is essential that TESCO operates under a set of objectives which would serve as a guiding template for the organization. In order to maintain optimum inventory levels a proper demand and forecasting method is largely useful. TESCO can implement a CPFR (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment) as a part of operational change in the organization. This technique would help in proper demand forecasting which would reduce the inventory levels as well as ensure that stock outs and overstocking does not takes place. The following are the objectives of TESCO with regards to implementation of CPFR: Ensure minimum wastage by reducing waste levels by 30 percent Reducing time lags in procurement by 30-50 percent in 2 years (what/which lag?) Eliminating processes that consume time and resources Reducing slack time in the procurement process (where? Explain) Ensuring just in time inventory management in 2 years Reducing defects by 20 percent in two years ERP implementation by all the suppliers in their individual business process Implementation of Six Sigma and TQM in 3-5 years SMART Framework SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound. SMART objectives help in ensuring formulation of objectives which can be monitored over a period of time. This is important considering the fact that objectives need to be evaluated so that proper alterations and defects can be minimised (Richman, 2006, p.65). Specific The objectives stated above are highly specific in the sense that they are very clear in their scope and any person associated with the operations department would clearly be able to understand and apply the objectives in their routine activities. Measurable A mere look at the objectives would reveal that the objectives are largely quantifiable as every aspect has a percentage term associated which can be easily be used to analyze whether the current objectives are meeting the desired goals. Focus is also made on work load prioritisation as well as identification of critical activities. Use of a PERT and CPM framework can help identify the key activities or the critical path which can be used to identify activities that are time consuming. Efforts can be made to reduce the time or remove them from the critical path by reengineering the business process. Achievable Add a paragraph explaining the above points- you can rephrase this line and add it in somehow: The competitive advantage of TESCO requires achievement of the objectives stated above. These are challenging as they are time consuming and also offer other operational challenges. Aspects like TQM, Six Sigma and CPFR as well as other quality and efficiency related aspects have been largely popular in the industry and have been replicated by many competitors of TESCO. Considering no dearth of financial resources coupled with a good manpower and visionary management these objectives can be easily achieved by the organization. Realistic The strong fundamentals and a strong balance sheet apart from a large pool of talented resources coupled with the large scale of operations and the brand image of the organization reveals considerable scope for the organization to implement the quality measures stated in the objectives. An illustration to this can be found from the effective implementation of ERP in the business process of the organization. Time Bound The objectives also have a time frame attached to them. This shows that every objective is time lined to ensure better accomplishment of the stated objectives. (Again needs to be linked to the CPFR objectives) the starting is alright but a little needs to be added so that it looks like it is LINKED to the CPFR objectives) Plan of Activities The gantt chart needs to be with this part instead of the other one. I agree that the gantt chart was not clear before but I provided the example of the conference. The conference idea obviously needs to be linked to the ‘operational change’ which in this case is the implementation of CPFR. I can explain it all in points but you will have to devise it again according to the requirements of the question. I believe CPFR is related to operations department (change in the main work if i am wrong) so in this case you could say that the operations manager has given the task of preparing for the workshop explaining to the organisation and its stakeholders about the implementation of CPR and the final ‘kick-off’ conference when CPFR would be introduced and implemented. Two gantt charts will needs to be made. One for the workshop/preparation and one for the MAIN conference. The Main conference gantt chart will have the same people mentioned earlier. The executive, senior executives, CEO and COO, staff etc. The workshop gantt chart could be a one week event which could have: One day for: Finance department (for the costs associated for the implementation as well as finance for the main conference) HR department (in order to decide whether any new recruits are needed once CPFR has been implemented) Last 2 days for Operations manager who would be given the day to day details as to how everything will take place and Operations department who can decide if anything else needs to be done. The main conference will have ‘weeks’ instead of days in which the last part will have the MAIN event. The other could be 1 week for printing, 1 week for sending invitations etc, 3 days for choosing the venue and 2 days for preparation of the main event and 1 day of the MAIN event. If possible: please try your best to identify the CRITICAL path analysis as that would really be perfect. Also the question clearly asks: how to analyse and manage risk which has been ignored so you will have to identify any risks or anything that could possibly go wrong in terms of the above. Also if you go on google images and type gantt chart you’ll know what it needs to look like. Implementation of a CPFR in the operational framework of TESCO would reduce the time frame for the completion of a set of activities. For instance implementation of CPFR would bring the suppliers and the retailer on a common platform and the supplier would have real time data about the sale of goods and could accordingly forecast the demand based on a real time basis. This would reduce certain number of activities which would reduce the total time taken to complete the critical path. This is because activities like initiating the supplier and request for requisition would be eliminated which would further reduce the number of activities on the critical path. The total float for the set of activities at the organization would also be reduced which would make the operations more efficient in the organization. Initial implementation schedule of CPFR would require use of a Gantt chart which would help in prioritising and timing the activities which would be initiated sue to the implementation of CPFR. Implementation of CPFR would certainly bring about a change in the planning and scheduling of tasks for which the Gantt chart can act as a useful tool (Pyzdek, 2004, p.40-42). Implementation of CPFR would not only reduce the slack in the operations but would also lead to operational advantages like reducing inventory holding costs and eliminating losses due to stock outs as the supply of goods would be done on the basis of real time information which would take seasonal and day to day fluctuations in demand for a particular good in the store. Managing Activities Effective management of operations in a retail store like TESCO requires careful planning and scheduling tasks. In case of a large organization like TESCO, a large number of activities are involved starting from warehousing to shipment of goods and finally shelving the goods in the shelves of the store. Effective planning would include the use of a work breakdown structure which is typically defined as “grouping of project elements that organizes and defines the total work scope of the project” (Haugan, 2002, p.3). The project manager at TESCO can first segregate the different tasks and then undertake measures to group similar activities so as to bring about better efficiencies in the project. Work authorization would be the final stage in the process of implementing the change after all the changes that would be in place once CPFR is instituted in the organization. This would involve the final signal so as to start the set of tasks and activities based on the approved plans of operations (Jeffrey, 2009, p.162). Proper utilisation of a work break don structure and finally work authorisation would pave the way for successful implementation of CPFR in the organization. However proper review must be undertakes so that any issues pertaining to operations can be effectively addressed so as to bring about greater efficiency in the entire scale of operations. This would not only save costs but would also provide sustainable competitive advantage to the organization in the long run. Figure 1: Gantt Chart and Project Flow Diagram The Gantt chart shown in the diagram above reprsnts the nature of activities to be undertaken at TESCO for implmenting CPFR in its operational framework. A set of four tasks need to be implmented which are stated below: Task A- Identifying activities which needs to be changed for implmenting CPFR Task B- Cost Benefit Analysis Task C- Convincing stakeholders and suppliers with regards to the cost and benefits of implmenting CPFR Task D- Selccting a vendor for implemntation of CPFR Task E- Business Process Reinginnering The final task of business process reinginnering would take the maxium time as reflected in the Gantt chart. The process would imply making modifications or changes in the existing business process of the organization so as to bring about an effective implmentation of CPFR. This process also involves financing issues as large amount of initial expenditure may be involved. The firm must convince its stakeholders especially the suppliers about the percieved benefits of implementing CPFR as it would help in ensuring greater margins for both the supplier as well as the organization to create greater value proposition in the product and service offering of the organization so as to derive sustainable competitive advanatge. Durations A – 2 days (Preparing the agenda) B – 3 days (Selecting invitees) C – 4 days (Printing out Invitation Cards) D – 4 days (Sending Invitations) E – 6 days (Final arrangements) Responsibilities Task A: CEO and Chief Operating Officer Task B: Manager Task C: Executives Task D: Executives Task E: COO and Manager Purpose of Conference The main purpose of the conference is to analyse the aspect of organizational excellence towards profitability. The main agenda of the conference would be to analyse the means by which organizations can improve their operational efficiencies by including efficiencies and use of technology to being about organizational excellence. The conference would also discuss on how operational efficiency can lead to profitability and sustainable competitive advantage. Quality Improvements Quality parameters are very important for operational efficiency. Organizations are adopting various quality standards to maintain a level of quality in their business processes which would ensure a better value addition and decrease in cost for the organization. These cost benefits can be ultimately be passed on to the customers either in the form of low prices or in the form of value addition in the product line. Total Quality Management is a technique by which an organization makes the best and most effective use of its resources by a process of continuous improvement so as to gain operational efficiency (Hakes, 1991, p.3). Application of CPFR would bring in more benefits if the existing business processes are continuously innovated to induce greater efficiency. This would reduce the time taken to complete a specific task and would also present cost based advantage to the organization. ISO based certifications are also being used by firms to highlight their operational efficiency as a tool for ensuring competitive advantage. An ISO manual contains a document that defines the quality parameters and highlights the operational efficiency of the organization’s business process (Blokdijk, 2008, p.107). TESCO can use this tool to increase the brand image of the firm so as to attain competitive advantage and also to create barriers for new entrants. Finally TESCO can also introduce and implement the Kaizen philosophy. This philosophy states that there should be continuous development and improvement in the business processes so as to attain operational efficiency (Productivity Press. Development Team, 2002, p.2). Application of these quality initiatives along with an implementation of CPFR in the organization’s business process would reveal considerable advantage to the organization in the long run by ensuring cost reduction as well as enhancement of value proposition in the product and service offering. Health & safety standards for the project The CPFR technology aided technique is expected to expedite the operations of the company which is the prime focus of all business decisions. However, any new implementation also brings in risks relating to health or safety. Therefore the overall success of the change is also dependent on how far an organisation is able to mitigate the resulting risks. The recommended operational change does not create any serious health or safety related issue. An organisation just needs to ensure that the health and safety of its workers remains protected under any circumstances. The on-time delivery which is one of the key objectives of the new technique can give rise to the possibility of accidents which is already an important issue faced by the company management. The drivers of the vehicles carrying the goods must learn the skill of ‘defensive driving’. This will enable them to anticipate any potential hazards and take preventive action. All the drivers of the company must be put to a validation test. Already the company has a monitoring board to manage risks. These boards can identify the high-risk drivers and provide them the necessary coaching. The safety of vehicle drivers is a continuous and ongoing process and as such there is no specified time frame for it. Reference Bean, S. 2007. Tesco.com's driver safety initiative. 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