Global Impact of Toyota Motors

Task 1Review and critique the effectiveness of operations management principles.

P1- Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within an organisational context.

Introduction

For the purpose of the present discussion, Toyota Motor Corporation has been chosen. It is a Japanese automobile manufacturer. Toyota is one of the leading automobile manufacturers across the world. The company operates its business in different parts of the globe. The company has employed a total workforce of 325,905 individuals. Toyota was considered as the third-largest car manufacturer from the perspective of production volume in 2011. From the point of revenue, Toyota is among the top eleven automobile manufacturers across the world. Toyota also operates in UK, the company announced to develop its manufacturing operations in UK in the year 1989 and the organisation initiated its operations as, Toyota Motor Manufacturing (UK) Ltd in the same year. Toyota operates two different manufacturing plants in UK, one is located at Burnaston in Derbyshire, which is involved in manufacturing of vehicles and the other is located at Deeside in North Wales, this plant is involved in manufacturing of engines. Toyota has employed around 3000 individuals in UK (Toyotauk, 2018).

Operations versus Operations Management

Operation, as a concept implies jobs as well as tasks, which include one or more elements or subtasks, which are performed in a single location. The concept of operation implies such activities which can transform of resources or data, used as inputs into outcomes, goods or services, which results in value creation of the customers. Operation as a function implies the process of accumulation of raw materials in the production process for the purpose of forming products, which can satisfy the needs of the customers. Operations function in service sector focuses upon the functional responsibilities of producing services in the service sector and directly providing the same to customers. Operations function in service sector directly deals with the process of forming decisions required to be taken by operations manager for conducting the process of production and consumption of intangible products on a simultaneous basis. The decisions taken are associated with people, process, information as well as the system used for the purpose of producing and delivering services (Heizer, Render & Munson, 2016). Operations function in manufacturing organizations are similar, they entirely focus upon the process of transformation of resources into finished goods. The goal is to produce the finished product. Apart from the main goal there are sub objectives, which can be considered as, improving the operational efficiency, reducing direct costs and reduction of wastages. The operations function in manufacturing organizations can be divided into three different categories, namely, production planning, production control and quality control (Heizer, Render & Munson, 2016). Production planning is the initial process, where management ascertains the ways to produce the goods, the place of the production and the ways of laying out the production facilities. The next function is production control; this approach implies that; the production process is required to be controlled by the production manager by closely monitoring and scheduling the functions that pertain to the process of production. The final process is quality control, in this process, the operations manager checks whether the good produced are aligned with the quality specifications. The main functions that are present in majority of the organisations are operations, marketing and finance. It is considered that operations functions are related to other major functions of an organisation. Considering the marketing functions of an organisation, there is a strong relationship between operation functions and marketing functions in an organisation. The marketing functions of an organisation will not be able to fully meet the requirements of the customers, if the personnel in marketing department are unaware about the things or products, operations function can produce. Secondly, the finance department will not be able to track the requirement of capital if the personnel in finance department are unaware about the operations of the organisation and the capital requirements of such operations.Similarly, the human resource department will require information regarding skills requirement. Accounting functions will also require information regarding management of inventory and standards of labour (Heizer, Render & Munson, 2016).

Design management is considered as an integral part of operations management. Selecting and defining the product design is regarded as an important function. It is an important objective of the operation manager to oversee the design in order to ensure that the production is being carried on as per the standards fixed by the organisation. It is one of the prime requirements that suggest the proper implementation of the operation’s function relating to a concern as well as to ensure that the functions are effective to meet the requirements of the organisation. The effectiveness of the operation’s function is necessary to ensure that the organisational processes are working in a proper manner and as per the requirements of the organisation. On the other hand, there is a close relationship between the implementation and effectiveness of operation’s functions. The operations’ functions are formulated, and appropriate steps are taken to implement those functions, if they are implemented properly, the effectiveness of the operation’s function will be adequate (Kumar & Suresh, 2009).

Principles of Operations Management

There are mainly ten different principles of operations management. Toyota has been developed an appropriate system of managing operations and developed the Toyota Production System, also known as the Toyota way to improve quality, reduce cost and manage operations in the most efficient way. The ten principles of operations management and their implementation in Toyota have been discussed below:

Principle of Reality:

The principle of reality states that, there is no universal solution to all the issues faced by an organisation. There are various methods such as, Theory of Constraints, Total Quality Management and many more to solve various issues and challenges faced by an organisation, however, none of these techniques can resolve all the issues faced by an organisation. This principle of operations management calls for getting a clear understanding of the issues faced by an organisation rather than simply focusing upon the tools that are used to resolve such issues. Toyota has great concerns upon this fact and as a result of that Toyota has followed the principle of reality to a greater extent. Toyota has been able to develop the Toyota Production System, which has received special attention as an efficient model of production. However, the main strength of Toyota can be considered as the investment made by the company towards its people. It has been found that TPS not only focuses upon the technical aspects of production such as, Just in Time and Jidoka but also upon the social aspects, such as respecting its people and focusing upon utilization of the full capacity of the workforce. It is the people who can create issue hence, greater focus is made upon them (Kumar & Suresh, 2009).

Principle of Organisation:

The principle of organisation states that all the aspects that are required to be integrated in a unified whole. This principle believes the fact that if an organisation wants its profits to be predictable, then such concern must also ensure the fact that, the activities that help in generating profit must also be predictable and they must be interlinked with each other. The systems that form part of the manufacturing process are required to be inter-connected with each other. Toyota strictly follows the principle of organisation. Toyota has been able to integrate each aspects of production with each other. Toyota follows the lean approach of production and as a result of that it has developed the famous just-in time process, that allows the organisation to acquire inventory, only when it is required, this helps in reducing cost of purchasing additional inventory and improves quality and profitability. The various aspects of production are interrelated, and this helps the JIT system to perform well. The managerial structure and practices of Toyota can be divided into six different parts. Among those three parts, three are considered as social process, which can be considered as mutual adjustment, close supervision and integrative leadership extended by the heads of production departments. The other three parts are related to standardization, which can be considered as, skill standards, standard work processes as well as standards relating to designs. All these aspects are integrated in a unified whole, that helped Toyota in developing a strong integrated product-development system (Heizer & Render, 2011).

Principle of Fundamentals:

The principle of fundamentals states the fact that it is important for an organisation to adhere to the fundamentals, in this way, such organisation will be able to enhance the effectiveness of the production system. For this purpose, it will be essential for the organisation to maintain appropriate records of inventory as well as bills of material. It is believed by this principle that strict adherence to the fundamentals will provide 80% support to the organisation to succeed and the various techniques such as, TQM, TOC etc, will provide the remaining 20% support. Considering the case of Toyota, it can be said that Toyota agrees to this principle of operations management. Toyota has been able to maintain strict adherence to fundamentals such as record of inventory, BOMs and other matters. Toyota has developed the Just-in-Time system, which puts greater focus upon maintaining inventory records and manage them in a proper way, so that inventory is acquired only when it is needed. This approach helps Toyota in reducing flow times realting to production system and at the same time, reducing response time from suppliers. However, JIT can create an issue, in case there is delay in supply and non-availability fo materials when needed (Heizer & Render, 2011).

Principle of Accountability:

The principle of accountability believes the fact that accountability is important for ensuring the success of an organisation. It is believed that, there will be less effort exerted by employees in such work, where there is no rule of accountability and no one is going to hold them accountable for their activities. Hence, it will be essential for an organisation to make sure that the managers set the rules, standards as well as metrics and at the same time they are required to communicate the responsibilities to the employees in a proper manner. And the employees will be held responsible for their activities and the management will check the working of the employees on a regular basis. This can be considered as the most effective way which can lead the employees to provide greater efforts. Considering the case of Toyota, it can be said that, the management at Toyota has set highly formalized rules and standards for the employees to follow and they act like benchmarks to assess the achievement of the goals. The managers believe in closely communicating the objectives and sharing of idea among the employees through meetings about their responsibilities. Toyota has followed the principle of accountability by delegating authority upon the members of the working team and which in turn has made those employees accountable. The company has focused upon team working. Therefore, if the company experience any issue, the team members are provided with the responsibility to track the solution and each of them will be accountable. However, there has been issues relating to quality control department, where the accountability was low that resulted in the recall crisis faced by Toyota in recent times.

Principle of Causality:

This principle of operations management states that the problems that are experienced by organizations are just symptoms. The management will keep on struggling in resolving those symptoms on a continuous way. For the purpose of get rid of these symptoms, it will be necessary for the managers to find out the root cause of the symptoms and resolve them properly. The main principle of operations management that has been developed by Toyota also considers solving the root cause of the issues. These principles are considered as the Toyota Way. Among the various principles that constitute the Toyota Way, there is a principle that focuses upon solving root causes of problems on a continuous basis that can influence the process of organizational learning. Toyota has focused upon becoming a learning concern for this purpose; Toyota has developed the principle to finding out root problem and resolving the same, where the organisation encourages its employees to check the situation independently, to form decisions gradually and with consensus by consideringeach and every option, to become a learning concern through reflection. Considering the Toyota recall crisis, it can be said that the organisation has failed to apply the principle of causality in this case. Due to the problem concerning gas pedal in case of one of the top models of the company Prius, Toyota lost a number of customers. Toyota state that it is the problem concerning the gas pedals, however, the company failed to point out the root cause of the problem the company was so overconfident with its suppliers that the suppliers changed the design of the gas pedal without the permission of the company and the new design was not assessed properly. This was the reason behind this problem (Heizer & Render, 2011).

Principle of managed passion:

Employees are considered as the driving force of organizational development. Employees who are passionate about their jobs can lead the organisation towards success. The principle of managed passion states that the passion present among the employees towards working can be the major factor that can drive the growth of the organisation. If the passion among the employees is not present naturally, then the managers will have to take the necessary steps to instil such passion among employees. Considering the case of Toyota, the management has implemented the principle of managed passion carefully into the principles of the company. The company has developed the principle for respect for people. The management has encouraged the employees to show respect for each other, to understand each other and to put appropriate effort to develop mutual trust among the employees. The management focuses towards encouraging personal and professional development among the employees. The management has also put efforts to develop team spirit among the employees and improve team working abilities. Toyota takes itself as a learning organisation. The management provides employees challenges at every moment and encourages them to find out the solution. The employees keep on struggling all the time to resolve severe problems and resolve them, thereby creating new ideas which enhance their passion towards work.

Principle of variance:

Variance is an integral part of every process. As per lean literature, it is stated that variance is bad. The value of variance is based upon the goal of the organisation. When an organisation aims towards reducing the overall cost and enhancing the predictability of the system, in such moment, it will be necessary to gauge the variance, monitoring the variance and reducing the same. However, if it is found that the company aims towards enhancing the level of variety, at that point variance must be encouraged within the organisation. Toyota has developed the 3M model, which consist of Mura, Muri and Muda. Muda implies waste, Muri implies excessive workload and Mura implies unevenness. Toyota intends to reduce these three factors. Among them, Mura implies unevenness, which is considered as the variations in customer demands, process times per product or variation of cycle times for different operators. The importance of flexibility is felt more, in case of production environments that focuses upon low volume and higher product variation, that environments that focuses upon high volume and low product variation. Therefore, failure to reduce Mura will give rise to Muri and eventually Muda will be created. The process of reduction of Mura helps in making new changes and improves creativity, openness in the supply chain is required to reduce Mura and at the same time product design is required to be altered and work standards is also required to be changed, which paves way towards creativity (Heizer & Render, 2011).

Principle of humility:

The principle believes that, for an operations manager, it is not possible to know everything. Therefore, managers must not avoid admitting ignorance, when it isappropriate or they can acquire help from every possible source. Therefore, it will be better not to apply costly trial and error process and accept the limitations present in the manager and acquire help whenever, required. Considering the case of Toyota, it is found that the company has developed its principles by focusing upon extending respect for the people associated with the organization, sharing idea and knowledge among employees. Considering this view of the organization, it can be stated that Toyota encourages learning and intends to create a learning environment.

Principle of success:

This principle of operations management states that the meaning and nature of success will alter over time. However, it will be the primary objective of organizations to consider the requirements and interest of customers. Hence, the interest of the customers is required to be served and for that purpose, the organisation will revise the principles if required. Toyota has developed its principles known as Toyota way to enhance quality, reduce cost and improve productivity. The principles developed by Toyota focuses upon continuous improvements of its products and the company has developed a learning environment where changes in the tastes and preferences of the customers are considered and the development of the products are made in such a way to meet the interest of the customers. Considering the case of the Toyta Recall crisis, it can be said that the company failed to meet of the customers and as a result of that the issues relating to gas pedals and air bags arise and the company lost a considerable amount of its customers.

Principle of change:

Toyota sees itself as a learning organsiation. The management provide challenges to its employees at every point of time to create an environment of tension, that forces the employees to find out appropriate solutions of those problems, this in turn helps in encouraging creativity and developing new thoughts. Toyota always attempts to learn new things and to improve productivity processes. In this way, the company adapts to new changes. The process of decision making in Toyota is different. The company forms decisions with consensus and in a gentle way. The company considers every situation and forms decisions to implement new changes (Heizer & Render, 2011).

M1Review and critique the implementation of operationsmanagementin relation to Six Sigma methodology and Leanprinciples.

Six Sigma Methodology:

Six Sigma is considered as a quality control tool, which is customer driven. The association of Six Sigma can be found in the case of General Electric. The application Six Sigma and achievements made by GE has influenced many organisations to use this methodology. Six Sigma is generally used by organisations involved in the process of manufacturing for the purpose of ensuring the quality of their products (Desai, 2010). Six Sigma is a customer driven tool of quality management. Six sigmacan successfully reduce the volume of wastage to a considerable limit and thereby maintaining quality and reducing cost of manufacturing. Six Sigma considersthe entire approach of producing a product or service rather than concentrating upon the outcome. It is a proactive method by nature, the Six Sigma tool focuses upon determining the ways to improve the product prior to the detection of any defect in such product (Desai, 2010). However, Six Sigma can create rigidity in the in the production process, as the same is applied throughout the process of production and planning. Hence, it can cause delay in production. Six Sigma entirely focuses upon the desires and requirements of the customers, as a result of that it often declines to accept the internal quality control measures, which can be favourable for the organization (Desai, 2010).

Lean principles:

Lean principles mainly focus upon elimination of all types of wastes in the workplace. Lean principles call for elimination of waste, which may be material defects or work ergonomics. Implementation of lean principles encourages the full participation of employees in the production department, as they are the persons who are aware about the area where waste is created. The increased levels of employee involvement in the process generally motivate the employees to a greater extent. The JIT model can be used for the purpose of inventory management. JIT helps in managing inventory in the most feasible way. Large volume of inventory can block considerable amount of funds belonging to the organisation and the warehousing expenses also gets enhanced. JIT focuses upon maintaining such level of inventory, which will be needed by the organisation. Lean principles not only help in reducing cost and improving quality, but also helps in enhancing the competitive strength of the organisation by developing employee skills and helping the organisation to adapt to new changes with efficiency (Oosterwal, 2010). However, lean principles can be overused. Lean principle focuses upon tracking the productivity and waste and the same create delays in the production process. On the other hand, JIT is considered as favourable for stable systems. If there is an urgency of inventories, JIT will not be considered as a good idea, it can be applied in situations, when the delivery time for raw material as well as finished good sis known. Moreover, delays made by the supplier in delivery of raw material can cause issues in the production process due to lack of raw materials. Over use of lean principles can result in employee de-motivation (Oosterwal, 2010).

Task 2Apply the concept of continuous improvement in an operationalcontext.

P2- Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on thereview and critique of operations management principleswithin an organisational context.

Continuous improvement:

Continuous improvement is also considered as ‘Kaizen’. The concept of continuous improvement calls for the detection of opportunities that will help in streamlining work and cutting down the level of wastages. The practice of continuous improvement gained its importance with the increase in popularity of lean/kaizen in the process of manufacturing and the concept of continuous improvement has become popular among different organizations forming part of a wide range of industries across the world, who seek opportunities to save. Continuous development can be regarded as formal process or a guideline which is informal in nature. The continuous improvement process can also be regarded as a continuous effort made to ensure the improvement of products, services as well as processes. The efforts made can either bring incremental improvement in a gradual way over time, or they can also cause breakthrough improvements made instantly. As per this process, the processes of delivery are assessed on a continuous basis and improvements are made in them from the perspective of efficiency, effectiveness as well as flexibility (Honey, 1997). The continuous improvement process can be considered as a process that can provide several benefits to a concern. Continuous improvement helps in streamlining workflow. It is believed that putting efforts to improve work on a continuous basis is considered as an idea that numerous organizations have adopted to steadily bring down their individual operating cost. Continuous improvement calls for lean way of working, which helps in promoting efficient workflows and this in turn helps in saving considerable time as well as money, as this technique can potentially help in reducing wastages and time. It is essential for a project manager to have a clear idea regarding the cost that will be incurred for completing a project. The concept of continuous improvement can be applied by project manager to potentially bring down the cost of the project and at the same time, overages can also be avoided (Honey, 1997).

Application of Lean Principles

The application of lean principles can be made within cycle of continuous improvement to strengthen the process. Lean can be regarded as a business methodology; the idea of lean was derived from the process of manufacturing. Lean focuses upon a change, which is evolutionary in nature, which is also considered as continuous improvement. Lean can be considered as a philosophy and not as a hard and fast rule that can be applied to a business. The concept of lean is based upon seven different principles that can strengthen the process of continuous improvement, if applied in a proper way. The application of the seven principles of lean can be done in case of any industry or an organisation. The application and practice of lean principles can be made in an effective way by gathering the required knowledge regarding the seven principles of lean and the way, the same can be applied in a business environment. The seven principles of lean and their application have been stated in the following section.

Optimising the whole:

There is a value stream present in every business, which depicts the sequence of the various functions that are needed for the purpose of designing, producing and delivering a product or service to customers. If a business intends to provide maximum value to its customers and in a short time, then the same is required to optimize the value stream to do the same. For the purpose of optimizing the value streams, the business is required to identify the value streams.

Elimination of wastage:

Lean techniques focus upon elimination of wastage. The concept of waste can take varied form, from context switching to maximization of wastage in the process of working to loss of time due to completing a work manually, which could have been done in an automated way. Application of lean principles will help a business in cutting out processes, functions or practices that fail to generate value for the customers (Honey, 1997).

Developing quality:

Developing quality is the main point of concern for business growth in the present business environment. The organisations following lean principles generally focuses upon sustainable growth through following the lean principles relating to quality development. This approach can be adopted in a simple way, either by automating and standardizing the processes which are repeatable in nature or automating those processes, where there is a higher chance of human errors. The application of this approach leads organisation to safeguard their value streams from errors.

Fast delivery:

This principle of lean approach focuses upon faster delivery of value to customers. The application of this principle leads to concentrate upon the flow of work and managing the same to ensure that the delivery of products or services to the customers is made in a faster way. It is believed that the faster, the value is delivered to the customers, the faster the feedbacks can be acquired. Collection of information in the form of feedbacks will help the organisation in making further improvements in their products and services (Ross, 2003).

Knowledge creation:

This principle has close connection with the principle of optimizing a whole. An organisation following lean principles is considered as an organisation focusing upon the continuous learning process. The learning process is continued through the process of small as well as incremental experiments. For the purpose of generating and retaining required information, it will be essential to share the process of learning. The organisations adopting this lean principle are required to develop such infrastructure that can support documentation and learning.

Defer commitment:

The idea of lean thinking has been generated from the concept of just in time technique of stock management, which is considered by the philosophy developed by Toyota. This lean principle calls for organizations to act like just-in-time systems, which implies that the organizations are required to wait for a considerable time till the last moment arrives to form a decision. This lean principle focuses upon the fact that, the organisation is supported with up-to-date information and it must get the opportunity to form informed decisions (Ross, 2003).

Respecting people:

Respecting people is considered as one of the major lean initiatives that lean organisations are required to follow. An organisation can only deliver adequate value to its customers with minimum level of wastage, if the same has a required level of respect for the customers. An organisation will be able to create a favourable working environment for its employees, where employees will be loyal to the organisation and focus upon fulfilling organizational objectives, if the organisation has respect for its employees. Information sharing, and strong collaborations can be formed among the employees if they have adequate respect for each other (Ross, 2003). For the purpose forming the continuous development plan for Toyota, the PDCA cycle will be followed. The Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is also considered as Deming’s Cycle. This approach has four different stages, namely, plan, do, check and act. Through these four steps, the Deming cycle helps in resolving issues. This approach helps in identifying various solutions and it also helps in choosing the most appropriate solution. The present issue that has been highlighted, while conducting the analysis of the implementation of principles of operations management at Toyota, is the issue concerning recall of cars due to defective gas pedal and air bag. The application of PDCA cycle will be used for the purpose of developing the continuous development plan (Cruz-Smith, 2012).

Application of the PDCA cycle:

Issue:

Toyota faced the issue concerning recall.

This was created due to ineffective gas pedals.

The suppliers applied cost cutting methods by changing the design of the gas pedal

Toyota was over confident regarding the suppliers and due to that the suppliers changed the design without taking permission from Toyota.

The quality control process of Toyota was ineffective.

Counter measure:

Toyota is required to contact with new suppliers.

Toyota is required to develop a stricter quality control process.

Toyota is required to form new contract that will specifically focus upon maintaining quality standards.

This process will be done within six months.

The various options for solution that have been identified for resolving the issue are:

Appointing a global source manager to find the right supplier.

Providing advertisements to find the new supplier.

Contacting with new supplier online.

Considering the above three options the most favourable option would appointing a source manager to find a new supplier, this option will help Toyota in finding a new supplier within six months and check every detail of the new supplier with due care. The criteria for choosing the new supplier would be quality of the materials supplied (gas pedal), ability to meet the quality standard of Toyota and to abstain from taking any steps in the production process or product design without the prior approval of Toyota. The contract for supply of gas pedal will be drawn by Toyota setting the terms as mentioned above (Cruz-Smith, 2012).

Check:

The option that has been selected in the previous phase is concerning the appointment of a global source manager to find the new supplier. The assessment of the option has been projected in the following paragraph.

The global sourcing agent has been able to complete the task assigned to the same in an effective way.

The process has been completed within six months and within the budget.

It became difficult for the sourcing agent to identify the right supplier, which can comply with the specifications of Toyota. To overcome this difficulty, the sourcing agent conducted thorough market study.

Act:

Considering the above analysis, it can be said that for finding a new supplier within six months, which can comply with the quality standards of Toyota and to assess the ability of the new supplier to do so, a global sourcing manager can be appointed to perform the task. If there is a need for appointing a new supplier in future, the same approach will be applied (Cruz-Smith, 2012).

Recommendations:

Considering the key principles of continuous improvement as stated above, two justified recommendations for Toyota has been provided below:

Operations as cross functional activity:

Toyota is required to put more focus upon cross functional activity to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations functions. Cross functional activity or actions can be considered as action taken by employees from different departments to resolve a common issue. The operations function of an organisation can be influenced in a positive way through the process of encouraging cross functional activity. This approach will help in information sharing and knowledge building. For instance, the information shared by individuals working in different projects will help in solving problems relating to various projects and this will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations function (Schonberger &Knod, 1994).

Improving operational functions with technology:

There is a direct impact of technology on operational functions. Technology has been used in a wide range of operations conducted by an organisation, from development of products to designing of product, management and control of operating systems. Toyota must focus upon digitization of the organisation and improving the technologies used by the same to a further level. This approach will help in reducing cost, strengthening quality, improving delivery process and concentrate upon customization, thereby extending value to the customers. The use of technology in the production system will provide considerable support to increase productivity and tracking issues relating to products, such as the issue relating to the ineffectiveness of gas pedal, in case of Toyota. Similarly, the organisation can also apply more advanced technologies that relates to manufacturing and designing, such as CAD, CAM. Technologies can also be used for the purpose of automation of manufacturing process. This will help the company in reducing product errors (Schonberger &Knod, 1994).

M2 - Analyse the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan using appropriate theories, concepts and/or models.

It is essential to measure the effectiveness of continuous improvement plan formulated by an organisation. It is important to gauge the success of a continuous improvement plan, if it is found that the continuous improvement plan formulated by the organisation is not effective enough, the same will affect the operations of the company to a greater extent. There are various ways through which the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan can be analysed. The analysis of the effectiveness of a continuous improvement plan has been provided below:

Financial results:

The effectiveness of continuous improvement plan can be gauged with the help of the financial returns that it has generated. The financial results may take the form of increase in profits or an enhancement in the level of cash flows. For the purpose of measuring the financial results, a systematic approach can be developed and the same can be done through the formation of a baseline, which will help in measuring improvements. This process of developing the baseline for measuring improvements is inclusive of the process of standardization and establishment of the data requirements and approaches of calculation to conduct the process of gauging performance. If it is found that the implementation of the continuous improvement plan has resulted in favourable financial results, then the same can be considered as effective (Bakerjian, 1993).

Assessment tools:

The effectiveness of continuous improvement process can be evaluated through the application of appropriate assessment tools. The assessment conducted through the usage of assessment tools can be presented with the help of a radar chart or other ways. In majority cases, it has been found that an organisation has experienced improvements in business processes and practices, when it has implemented the process of continuous improvement based on the result of assessment. In this way, the assessment outcomes conducted subsequently will also project higher scores, thereby fetching a measure of success, while the organisation continues to follow the route of continuous improvement. Some of the popular assessment tools include the lean assessment method formed based on Toyota Production System. Reliability Excellence can also be used as an assessment tool that concentrates upon maintaining best practice.

Stakeholders’ perspectives:

There are various types of stakeholders that surround an organisation. The views of the stakeholders can influence the success of an organisation. The stakeholders include shareholders, employees, partners, suppliers and the community at large. The stakeholders are interested in the success as well as the financial performance of an organisation. Therefore, it will be necessary for an organisation to develop such strategy that is aligned with the objectives and needs of the stakeholders. A continuous improvement plan can be considered as effective if the plan is consistent with the objectives of the strategies of organisation that meet the needs of the organisation (Bakerjian, 1993).

Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle:

The plan-do-check-act is effective for the leaders and managers of the business to make improvement for the implemented planning and strategies in the organisation through which the leaders can develop more innovative strategic planning for doing the organisational operations efficiently. In the ‘planning’ phase, the organisations try to identify the problems in the workplace through observing the workplace and monitoring the employee’s behaviour, attitude and their performance. Through successful observation, it is possible for the managers to identify the existing issues at the workplace and analyse the problems so that it is posisbel to identify the real cause of such problems at the workplace of the organisations. defining the issues and planning of the corrective actions are helpful for the leaders to mitigate the existing problems and helps the leaders to achieve the organisational gaols and objectives strategically. Establishing the base line and set the priorities at the workplace for successful improvements is also effective where the conglomerates can maintain their standard at the industry and meet their pre-specified goals and objectives strategically. Hereby, planning includes proper identification of the existing issues as well as acknowledging the root cause of such problems at the workplace for which the leaders and managers face the difficulties in enhancing organisational performance as a whole. After planning phase, there comes ‘Do’ under which the leaders and the managers try to implement the actions and execute the planning for successful achievements of the plans. In doing the planning process, the leaders and the managers prepare, apply and verify the application in the organisation through which the companies can execute the strategic planning successfully in the workplace for enhancing the performance of the company and fulfilling the strategic goal of the organisation (Díaz Garrido, Martín-Peña, & Sánchez-López, 2017). After successful planning and doing, ‘checking and controlling’ the planning process is effective in the company where the leaders and the managers try to verify the results of the actions taken at the workplace for mitigating the identified issues at the workplace. Compare the objectives of the organisation and check the benefits of implemented planning so that the leaders and managers can fulfil the organisational objective successfully and control the operational activities of the firm. Monitoring and measuring the performance of the employees, fixing the results and documenting it are also necessary for controlling the planning process and enhancing the organisational performance successfully in near future. After checking and controlling the planning process, it is necessary to ‘Act’ through which it is easy to evaluate the plan, modify the necessary requirements and improve the results of the implemented planning strategically. Standardisation and consolidation are also possible through the act stage where the planning process and the implemented strategies are evaluated and analysed so that required modifications can be made successfully. This plan-do-check-act stage are therefore beneficial for the policy makers and the plan developers as well as the leaders and the managers of the conglomerates to develop suitable planning and imporve the implemented planning through successful monitoring, modifications and evaluation where the changes can be implemented further in the planning process for enhancing the organisational performance by ensuring creativity and innovation so that it is easy to achieve the pre-specified gaols of the companies successfully.

Seven principles of lean:

Seven principles of lean are another effective way to manage the organisational planning procedure through which it is possible to develop an effective planning and execute the planning in the organisations for successful operation management where it is possible to run the operational activities strategically. Lean is a manufacturing and production that considers the expenditure and resource allocation or creating values for the end customers as well as meeting the organisational goals through operational management. Lean manufacturing process enhances the organisational flow, increasing efficiency, decreasing waste and using innovative methods for running the operational activities of the firm strategically. there are seven principles of lean management which are eliminating waste, amplifying learning, deciding as late as possible, delivering as fast as possible, empower the team, building integrity and seeing the whole process at the workplace so that it is easy to mete the strategic goals and objectives of the companies successfully. Eliminating waste is necessary for lean management technique so that the organisation can develop their environmental footprint and secure future sustainable development in the market. In this context, eliminating the waste through resource utilisation, using renewable resources and mitigating the negative environmental impacts of manufacturing, production and transportation are helpful to create values for the social communities as a whole an imporve the organisational planning successfully. The second principle is creating knowledge thro9ugh which the leaders and mangers can arrange induction process and effective training and development program which provides a scope to the employees to gather knowledge and improve their technical skill and experience for performing proficiently. the third principle is deciding as late as possible through which the leaders and the managers can develop effective planning and make proper decision through problem solving and decision making skill which in turn helps the organisation to develop a cost effective manner to serve he customers in a better way (Dierynck, & Labro, 2018). The fourth component is delivering as fast as posisbel which helps the leaders and managers to deliver quality products safely o the right customers at right time which improves customer’s expectations and the brand can build strong brand reputation and engagement with the customers (Gale et al., 2017). This is effective for improving planning process through transportation and lean management, maintaining warehouse and inventory control which are efficient to improve the operational management of the firms. Empowering the team members in the fifth component which is necessary at the workplace to maintain transparency and accountability through empowering all the staff members in the decision making behaviour of the firms. It further enhances internal communication and improves cooperation where all the employees can provide their feedback and share their decision with the leaders and managers through which the best solution and planning can be implemented which will provide a scope to the organisation to imporve the planning process. The other two steps are building integrity and see the whole process which are effective for maintaining collaboration and developing integrated workforce where the members can evaluate the whole process and develop more effective planning for successful improvement of the operational activities of the companies (Gunasekaran, Subramanian, & Papadopoulos, 2017).

Six Sigma process:

Six sigma improvement strategy is the process for improving the organisational performance as a whole where the employees, managers and the leaders are concerned about managing the operational activities, allocating organisational resources and developing effective planning for more innovation and creativity. Hereby, the six sigma of lean management process is effective for enhancing the performance of the employees as well as it influences the managers and the staff members to analyse the planning and develop more effective strategy for meeting the organisational goals and objectives strategically. Six sigma improvement model includes the steps like define, measure, analyse, improve and control through which the planning process can be evaluated properly, and the managers can develop suitable tactics to create values for all the employees and other stakeholders successfully (Heizer & Render, 2011). Defining the planning process at the organisation as well as current process of customer satisfaction is necessary where thorough defining the planning, it is easy to identify the internal gaps in the strategic system of the companies. Measuring the gap and process that affects the gap are also necessary through successful observation and monitoring of the performance of the employees. It helps to acknowledge the internal gap to maximise values for the stakeholders (Heizer, Render, & Munson, 2016). Analysing the collected information about the planning process is also necessary for evaluating the planning process so that the company can develop more effective strategy for meeting the organisational goals and objectives successfully. Improving the planning through modifications and changes are also effective for meeting the performance goal which in turn helps the companies to meet the performance objective through which the companies can create values for the end customers. Moreover, controlling the plan and monitor it properly for high performance are also helpful where the staff members can improve their participation and contribution to achieve the organisational gaols in long run. Hereby, six sigma strategy is effective for meeting the strategic goal of the companies through developing effective planning process at the workplace pf the companies. Through six sigma strategy, it is posisbel for the organisations to create values for the customers as well as for the business also where they can get the opportunity to improve brand loyalty and execute effective planning in the company for meeting their goals and objectives strategically (Schonberger & Knod, 1994). It is also beneficial for delivering efficient service through implementation of effective planning where the companies can improve their operational activities by managing warehouse, maintain lean and inventory control, improving transportation that provides scope to deliver quality products to the right customers at effective time. Performance enhancement and process reliability can be the other advantages of implementing six sigma practice at the business where the managers and leaders aim at developing effective strategic planning after analysing the business opportunities and reallocating the organisational resources and capabilities (Papke-Shields, & Boyer-Wrigh, 2017).

D1 - Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to justify strategies of a continuous improvement plan for achieving improved efficiency.

Cross-functional collaboration or activity

A cross-sectional process of business refers to the system where different sectors of an organization work collaboratively for achieving the ultimate business goal (Gutierrez-Gutierrez, Barrales-Molina & Kaynak, 2018). However, Nan & Tanriverdi (2017) said that cross-functional tasks employ a specific group of workers with several functional expertise working collaboratively towards common business goal. In the context of Toyota, the sales sector of this company can work with the department of shopping in this company. In addition to it, the marketing sector of Toyota can work collaboratively with sales sector to finish the goal more efficiently and faster than before.

Improvement of operational functions with basis of technology

A business can be highly impacted through a changing technological environment (Papke-Shields & Boyer-Wright, 2017). However, as suggested by Regnier & MacKenzie (2018), changing technology can offer opportunities, risks as well as threats towards the business culture. In order to avoid this, an organization must upgrade their technological equipment inclusion desktop, hardware, software, projectors, printers for ensuring a modern and secure workplace environment. The operational functions refer to the process of manufacturing as well as the production process of a company. In the context of Toyota, the technological up gradation may improve the communication skill of the employees as well as increase the interaction of ideas and knowledge among employees. The staffs of Toyota can use 3DS Max, Catia, rhino, Blender and Solid Works which are the popular car designing software. In addition to it, the management of Toyota can introduce an upgraded conference room with a huge LED screen, wireless transmission networks like Apple TV or Google chrome cast. Moreover, the IT engineers must use cyber security software like Cato networks, I Prism, and Cisco Umbrellas to keep secure their company information from any hacker. In addition to it, the management of Toyota must introduce new technologies named IOT, RFID, and cloud which can change the efficiency of the manufacturing process of Toyota. This technology can also improve the inventory control as well as operation agility of Toyota. The operational expenses can be reduced by operational efficiency. The information systems of the real process need to keep updated for enhancing operational efficiency.

Operations as cross functional activity:

Toyota is required to put more focus upon cross functional activity to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations functions. Cross functional activity or actions can be considered as action taken by employees from different departments to resolve a common issue. The operations function of an organisation can be influenced in a positive way through the process of encouraging cross functional activity. This approach will help in information sharing and knowledge building. For instance, the information shared by individuals working in different projects will help in solving problems relating to various projects and this will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of operations function (Kaufman & Zahn, 1993).

Improving operational functions with technology:

There is a direct impact of technology on operational functions. Technology has been used in a wide range of operations conducted by an organisation, from development of products to designing of product, management and control of operating systems. Toyota must focus upon digitization of the organisation and improving the technologies used by the same to a further level. This approach will help in reducing cost, strengthening quality, improving delivery process and concentrate upon customization, thereby extending value to the customers. The use of technology in the production system will provide considerable support to increase productivity and tracking issues relating to products, such as the issue relating to the ineffectiveness of gas pedal, in case of Toyota. Similarly, the organisation can also apply more advanced technologies that relates to manufacturing and designing, such as CAD, CAM. Technologies can also be used for the purpose of automation of manufacturing process. This will help the company in reducing product errors (Kaufman & Zahn, 1993).

Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle:

Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is also effective for the company Toyota through which the leaders and managers of the organisation can evaluate the planning process through analysing the collected information and monitoring the workplace so that it is posisbel to develop more efficient planning to meet the strategic objective of the company. The planning of the company Toyota includes delivering quality products to the customers, improving efficiency to serve the customers, creating values for all the stakeholders and improving environmental footprint of the company through waste management. These planning are implemented in the company for maximising brand reputation and enhancing the performance of the company in the market. checking the whole planning through monitoring and controlling is also effective to manage the performance of the employees and develop staring management to improve the organisational products and services through efficient production, reducing cost, improving resource utilisation and waste management. Hereby, the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle is effective for the organisation to enhance the performance of the brand and improve efficiency so that the managers and the leaders can meet the goal of the company in long run.

Seven principles of lean:

As per the seven principles, it helps to improve the planning process of he company like Toyota where the organisation can evaluate the planning process and develop the best possible strategic planning through innovation and creativity. Toyota try to eliminate wastes such as overproduction, transportation, motion, waiting, processing, inventory and defects through waste management, operational control and inventory management process for managing the quality of the company. The company try to utilise battery cars for transporting their raw materials and make the products which is demanded by the customers, reducing the manufacturing cost, developing flexible system and building strong relationship with the stakeholders are useful to make optimised outcome of the company. The company provides effective training and development program to the employees and other staff members for improving their technical skill and knowledge and it is also playing a crucial role as successful human resource management where the employees are getting motivated and sharing their views with each other that further helps to imporve cooperation and communication. The company also focuses on empowering the team members for improving their planning process where tall the employees are empowered in the decision making practice of the company by ensuring transparency and accountability. Apart from that, as per the seven principles of lean management, the company tries to develop integrated working practice at the workplace which helps the company to develop suitable working atmosphere where all the staff members can work together for meeting the common strategic goal of serving the customers in a better and innovative way. In this context, monitoring and evaluating the planning process as well as analysing the plana and developing more creative strategy for doing the organisational responsibilities are helpful for the company Toyota to meet the strategic objective of creating positive environmental footprint and delivering quality products and efficient services to the customers for improving the customer’s values. Hereby, seven principles of lean management are effective for Toyota to improve tehri efficiency and perform better in the market to create values for all the stakeholders and securing future sustainable development through successful lean and operation management.

Six Sigma:

The method of Six Sigma employs a proven as well as a powerful method to improve effectiveness and efficiency regarding a business. As suggested by Gunasekaran, Subramanian & Papadopoulos (2017), the six principles are:

Keep a focus on consumers

The process of the work needs to be identified as well as understood (Gutierrez-Gutierrez, Barrales-Molina & Kaynak, 2018)

Process flow must be smooth, improved and managed

Waste needs to be reduced

Defects have to be stopped through a removal of variation

Equip as well as involve people within a process (Tayur, 2017)

Improvement activity must be undertaken within a specific systematic way

In the context of Toyota, this sigma plan must be implemented for improving the systematic process around objectives or goal of this company. In addition to it, six sigma methods can very helpful to achieve operational function within the manufacturing sector of Toyota. First, the process of operation must be conveyed to the staffs in order to achieve a smooth working process. Secondly, the defects in the operational function must be removed to gain a defect-free process.

Task 3 - Apply the project life cycle (PLC) to a given context.

P3 - Apply each stage of the PLC to a given project, producing necessary supporting documentation for completing the project

The business case that has been chosen is the setting up of a new branch of a restaurant in London, to improve profitability and market share. The project deliverables would be the setting of the new branch and making its fully operative. The term project life cycle implies a step by step guide that will help in completing a project in a successful way. A project life cycle can be considered as several phases attached in an even sequence and the project goes through such phases from the point of its beginning till it ends. The phases as well as the sequence of the project life cycle are ascertained by management and other elements, which can be considered as the requirements of the organisation conducting the project, the project’s nature and the areas of application relating to the project. All the phases concerning a project have their individual initiation, control and completion points and those phases have their time limits. There can be alterations done in the project life cycle and the same can also be defined based on the requirements of the organization and the various aspects associated with the organisation. Although it is certain that a project has a certain starting as well as ending point, however, the objectives relating to the project, the project deliverables as well as activities conducted in the project can change substantially. The project life cycle extends the foundation of the actions that are required to be taken in regard to a particular project, without considering the actual work, involved in the project (Deeprose, 2002). The project life cycle is an essential factor, which is considered by almost every project manager. It involves four different phases that are associated with a project. These stages are considered by the project managers while running the project, till its completion. The standard project life cycle helps in projecting a basic structure that is followed for the purpose of managing the activities relating to a project and the same is applicable for every type of project. The leaders associated in the field of project management has taken the required initiatives to conduct a thorough study to determine the most appropriate practice that can be followed to run a project successfully. Considering the study conducted, it has been surfaced that, for organizations providing services, following a project life cycle is considered as inevitable to ensure that the project has been completed successfully (Deeprose, 2002). To ensure that the teams involved in a project can achieve the objectives of a project, the standard process, which is required to be followed, is the project life cycle. A project life cycle can include predictive or plan driven approaches or adaptive or change driven approaches. In case of a predictive life cycle, the various aspects of the project are defined at the initiation of the project and the variations that can be made to the scope of the project are dealt with due care. On the other hand, in case of adaptive life cycle, the development of the product is made based on multiple iterations; the definition of the scope of the project will be made in detailed way for iterations only, on the initiation of the iteration. A common objective is shared between the project manager and the team involved in the project. The objective is to conduct the various activities involved in project to successfully meet the objectives of the project. There are mainly three different phases pertaining to a project, which can be considered as the initiation, it is the beginning of the project, the middle part, in this part the major actions concerning the project are conducted to complete the project and the end part, where it is ascertained, whether the project is successful or unsuccessful. In case of a standard project life cycle, there are mainly four different phases, namely, initiation phase, planning phase, execution phase and closure of the project. These are the main phases that help in creating a path for the project. The four different phases of project life cycle are discussed below:

Initiation phase:

As the name suggests, the initiation phase is the beginning phase of a project. In this phase, the requirements or the objectives of the project are detected and defined, the same can be considered as a business opportunity. In the initiation phase, an appropriate response, concerning the requirements of the project is documented regarding a business case and at the same time appropriate solution options are recommended. In this case, a feasibility study is carried out for the purpose o ascertaining the fact that whether each option can address the objectives of the project and a final solution is recommended. The various issues concerning feasibility, such as to ascertain whether it is possible to conduct the project and justification of issue, that is should the project be conducted, are dealt with (Deeprose, 2002). On the approval of the recommended solution, the initiation of the project is done for the purpose of provision of the solution, which is approved and at the same time, the appointment of the project manager is done. The identification of the major deliverables and the project team will be done in this phase. After the completion of the above-mentioned activities, the project manager will seek for the approval to enter the planning phase or the next phase of the project.

Planning phase:

The planning phase is the second phase in the project life cycle. In this phase the solution of the project is again developed to further levels in details and the various steps formulated for project that will help in meeting the objectives of the project. It is an important phase, where the project team takes the required initiatives to detect the various activities that are required to be conducted, concerning the project. The project manager also takes the required steps to ascertain the tasks that will be conducted in the project and the resources that will be required for the project; the project manager also identifies the strategy that will be applied to complete the tasks relating to the project. This approach is considered as scope management. In this phase, the formulation of a project plan will be done; this will help in providing a clear picture regarding the activities, to be conducted in a project, the tasks relating to the project, the dependencies as well as the time limits for each activity. In this planning phase, the project manager also takes the required steps to develop the budget for the project and the estimates relating to the costs to be incurred for conducting the project for acquiring the various resources such as, team members, equipment, materials etc. the budget prepared by the project manager will be used in future, during the execution phase of the project, as the same will act as a tool for monitoring and controlling the expenditures incurred for conducting the activities of the project (Heerkens, 2015). After identification of the tasks relating to the project, formation of the project schedule and preparation of the budget for the project, it can be said that the function concerning project planning is completed, as these three are the building blocks of the planning phase. After preparation of the project plan, it will be the responsibility of the responsibility of the project manager to concentrate upon the carrying out the risk management process, where the project manager will identify the risk factors that may hinder the successful completion of the project and effective solutions will be formed to mitigate such risks. The risk management process will clearly set out the mitigation strategy to reduce the effect of the risks that may occur in the project. After the completion of the risk management process, an appropriate communication plan for the project will be developed, where the important stakeholders, relating to the project will be identified and the ascertainment of the information needs of such stakeholders and the way of providing information to those stakeholders will be sorted out. After this phase, the project manager will form a quality plan for the project. After completion of all the above-mentioned activities, the project will be ready to be executed (Heerkens, 2015).

Execution phase:

In the third phase of the project life cycle comes the execution phase. In this phase the project manager executes the project plan that has been prepared in the previous phase. The tasks that have been planned for the project are conducted in this phase. It will be necessary for the project manager to exercise appropriate control and communicate the objectives to the team members in this phase. The project manager will also be required to keep a close watch upon the activities conducted by the project team members in this phase. The manager is also required to implement the changes that will be required to ensure the effective completion of the project and the manager will also be required to maintain records of such changes that are made to the project plan. The project manager is required to put greater care in this phase of the project and he is required to spend a significant amount of time to carry out this phase. In the execution phase, the members of the project team will be conducting their individual tasks and they must also report to the project manager at regular intervals regarding the progress of the project through meetings. The reporting made by the members regarding the progress of the project to the project manager will also help in exercising appropriate control upon the direction provided by him to project team, this can be done through conducting a comparative study between the planned levels of achievements and the actual achievements made. It will be the primary duty of the project manager to ensure that the activities of the project are being carried out in the way that has been planned, if it is found that there have been variances between the activities actually carried out by the team and the planned activities and it is not possible to bridge the gap, such changes must be recorded in a proper way and the changes is required to be published by the project manager as modifications made to the project plan. The manager is required to provide information to the sponsors of the project and the main stakeholders on a continuous basis regarding the status of the project. Moreover, the changes made to the project plan must be considered as the plan will be upgraded at regular intervals (Heerkens, 2015).

Closure:

This is the final part of PLC and refers to the time of closure of the project (Tayur, 2017). However, Tang (2017) argued that this part is the most important phase of the project cycle which can include handing over project deliverables towards the consumers. In this part, the finished final project must be delivered to the consumer after proper communication with the stakeholders regarding this project. In addition to it, the resources must be released to another project in the organization. In the context of Toyota, this strep allows team members to properly evaluate the whole project and proceedings to next project with correction of mistakes of the previous project. In this step, the tools which are used in the project usually reassigned for a new duty. Besides that, the resources must be released back towards the parental company. In the context of Toyota, the project manager may find sometimes complex by the team members of this company. In order to avoid this, the project manager must designate tasks to individual team members by informing the goal of the project. The team members must break down the complex project into the above distinct cycles to solve the project more effectively and prominently.

Application of PLC in the present project:

Initiation Phase:

It is the first stage of the project management process where the various essential aspects of the project have been detailed. The initiation document for the present project has been provided below:

Project Goals:

The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a new branch of the restaurant in London to enhance the revenue and profitability of the restaurant.

To increase the profitability of the restaurant with the help of opening the new branch.

To enhance the market share of the restaurant.

Project size:

The durability of the project will be eight months and thre will be 25 individuals involved in the project.

Project organisation:

The various individuals, who will be involved in the project are the top managerial personnel of the organisation, the project manager and the project team members (Heerkens, 2015). The top managerial personal of the restaurant will be responsible for forming the decisions, the project manager will be responsible for forming the project plan and implementing the project plan, the team members will be responsible for conducting the various tasks as directed by the project managers.

Limits and risks:

The risks that are involved in the project can be:

Failure to complete the project within the due time.

Failure to complete the project within the budget set for the same.

Physical risks such as injury and accidents can occur to the team members.

Non-availability of resources.

Stakeholders:

The stakeholders relating to the present project are:

Investors.

Management

Deliverables:

The deliverables concerning the present project can be considered as the report of feasibility analysis of the location, feasibility report of the project and establishment of the new branch (Heerkens, 2015).

Planning phase:

In this phase, the project manager will frame the project plan by including the activities, timelines for the activities, budget for the project, communication plan and many more. The project plan has been provided below:

Project plan:

Time scale:

Budget:

The following costs are required to be incurred for the purpose of completing the present project:

The budgeted cost of the project would be £ 191,000.

Quality:

The quality aspects of the project are as follows:

The project manager must have the required experience of minimum 5 years.

The team members must have adequate, team working, time management skills and efficiency to complete the tasks.

Scope:

The present project will focus upon taking the required steps to establish a new branch of the restaurant in London, conduct market research and setting up the business unit to enhance, revenue and profitability.

Resources required:

Risks:

Failure to complete the project within the due time.

Failure to complete the project within the budget set for the same.

Physical risks such as injury and accidents can occur to the team members.

Non availability of resources.

Communication plan:

The cost benefit analysis of the project is required to be conducted in the initiation phase to understand the feasibility of the project. The cost benefit analysis of the present project is projected below:

The costs:

The benefits:

Benefit to cost ratio = 430,000/191,000 = 2.25

This can be considered as an impressive figure and hence, the project will be approved as the benefits are considerably higher than the costs.

Execution phase:

It is a crucial phase, where the project plan will be executed by the project manager. The various task and the milestones set for the project along with their timelines are provided below:

The project manager, in this phase will conduct the activities of the project, as mentioned above and it will be the primary duty of the project manager to ensure that the activities of the project are being carried out in the way that has been planned, if it is found that there have been variances between the activities actually carried out by the team and the planned activities and it is not possible to bridge the gap, such changes must be recorded in a proper way and the changes is required to be published by the project manager as modifications made to the project plan. The manager is required to provide information to the sponsors of the project and the main stakeholders on a continuous basis regarding the status of the project (Heerkens, 2015).

Closure Phase:

This phase of the PC will also be applicable to the present project. It is the final phase of the project when the project will be closed by the project manager and the project manager will provide the final project closure to the top management and the related important stakeholders of the project. The project manager will also conduct the evaluation of the good and bad points of the project and maintain a record of the areas of improvement, which will be applied in future (Tinnirello, 2000).

Analyse the rationale for the project methodologies, tools and leadership within the PLC for the given project.

In regards, to the present project Agile methodology has been used. It is considered as more contemporary project methodology, it is considered as team-based approach towards development. The agile methodology concentrates upon rapid extension of an application of an application in complete functional components. The rationale behind application of the agile methodology in this project can be considered as, agile method helps in providing the opportunity to make changes throughout the process of development of the project. Agile methodology can potentially improve and enhance the level for control in the project, through sprint meetings and transparency. Agile methodology can potentially reduce the risk of project failure. Agile methodology provides easy way to implement new changes within the project and the change is implemented at a lower cost. Agile methodology has the capability to provide first mover advantage (Tinnirello, 2000). There are a number of different types of tools that has been used in this project. For the present project, the Gantt chart as well as Work Breakdown Structure have been used as the two different project management tools. The Gantt chart is a project management tool, used in the form of a bar chart, this chart helps in tracking tasks across time. Gantt charts are considered as essential project management tool as they help in projecting the tasks, the phases as well as the milestones in a clear and understandable way. Apart from the Gantt chart, WBS has also been used in the present project. It is considered as a hierarchical decomposition of deliverable relating to the project for ensuring the completion of the project. The deliverables are broken down into manageable work packages and those can be further scheduled, costs can be set for them and people can also be assigned for those work packages. Leadership in project management plays an important role and the application of leadership various as per the nature of the project and the life cycle stage of the project. A smart and more effective leadership will be required for large projects, which are complex in nature and involve a considerable number of people. The leadership style, which should be applied to such projects will be flexible in nature. The leadership style must encourage sharing of information and authority and at the same time, it should support innovation. The success of the project is ensured by the application of appropriate leadership that focuses upon team building. The leader should provide the require support to the project team and stakeholder to understand the requirements of the project at the planning phase. Moreover, an efficient project leadership will also focus upon detecting changes and implementing them successfully to ensure the success of the project (Tinnirello, 2000).

Task 4 - Review and critique the application of the PLC used in a givenproject.

P4 - Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in application to the chosen project using appropriate theories, concepts and models.

The project has been conducted in a proper and planned manner to set up a new branch of a restaurant in London. The purpose of the project will be to complete the process of setting up the new branch in order to increase the profitability, revenue generation and market share of the restaurant business. Setting a new branch in London is not an easy task; there are several activities that are involved making the process very complicated. The present project will help in conducting the process in a step by step way to meet the objective. The project will help in selecting the location to open the new branch through carrying out a market research. The project life cycle will be applied to the project and the same will help the project manager a step by step guidance to conduct the entire process. This project will help in accumulating all the aspects of the process the project will also conduct the cost benefit analysis to understand the feasibility of the project. This will help the management to understand, whether this project will be profitable to the company or not. The application of PLC will also help the project manager to properly describe each and every aspects of the project to the top management at the very beginning of the project. This will also include the analysis of the cost and benefits derived from the project. The initiation document submitted tot eh top management of the restaurant, will help them in understanding the size of the project, the clear objectives of the project, the risks and the limitations involved in the project and the deliverables that will be handed over to the top management. This will help the top management in making the decision whether to continue with the project or not. The top management will be provided with a clear idea relating to the important aspects of the project, which will help in continuing the next phases of the project life cycle (Baguley, 2008). The next phase of the project life cycle has a larger impact upon the project and its completion and fulfilment of the objectives set by the project. The application of PLC is considered as an inevitable process to ensure the success of a project. The four different steps of the PLC will help the project manager to complete the present in the most efficient and accurate way. The next phase of the PLC is concerned with the formation of the project plan. This phase will impact the overall success or failure of the project. The planning phase will be highly crucial for the project manager as the same will help him in framing the detailed plan for the project. The present project is very complex in nature, as several different aspects and tasks are involved in this project. The planning phase will help the manager in forming the main tasks relating to the project including the milestones of the project that will guide the project manager to cover the various tasks relating to the project. The project plan will also help the project manager in setting time frames for each task to complete the project with the due time set for the project. The project plan is an essential document; the same will also help the project manager in setting the quality requirements of the resources relating to the project. The project plan will help in projecting the actual costs that will be incurred for the completion of the project and carrying out the various activities of the project. The project plan will also contain the budgeted cost of the project, which will also act a control mechanism for the project, as the same will help in projecting the differences between the budgeted cost and the cost actually incurred by the project. The project plan will also lead the project manager to understand the resource to be needed for the project (Baguley, 2008). Moreover, the project plan will also lead the project manager to apply various project management tools like Gantt chart, work breakdown structure and other tools relating to project management, these tools have will also act a control mechanism that will help the project manager in understanding and evaluating the progress of the project. The work breakdown structure will provide the timelines for completing the milestones this will help in projecting the fact that whether the management has been able to complete the milestones in due time. The project planning phase will also lead the project manager to assess the risks relating to the project and to understand the ways to mitigate the risks. The project plan will also provide the required support to the project manager to understand the communication process, which will be followed to exchange information, the project manager will conduct the process of forming the communication plan for the project, which will help in communicating essential information among the team members, project manager as well as the stakeholders of the project (HEALEY, 2017). The execution phase relating to project life cycle will also have greater impacts upon the performance of the project. The execution phase is the ultimate phase which will provide the required guidance to the project manager to monitor the working of the team members and to ensure that the project is being carried on as work break down structure and the cost incurred for the project is within the budgeted cost for the project. The project will be completed in this phase and the expected deliverables will be handed over to the project stakeholders. The final phase of the PLC is the project closure phase, where the project manager will formally close the project after it is completed. There are other activities, which are required to be conducted by the project manager in this phase. The project manager will evaluate the tasks of the project and find out the areas of improvement. The project manager will identify what went wrong for the project and document the same for future use (HEALEY, 2017).

Evaluation of the effectiveness of the project through program theory and logic models:

Program theory:

Logic model:

M4 – Critically analyse how the use of appropriate theories,concepts and models in the PLC will differentiate between largeand small-scale projects.

Project management is considered as essential while managing projects in almost every industry. However, while planning a project, it is essential to consider the size of the project. There are certain differences that relates to the planning and management of smaller sized projects and large sized projects. Small projects have the tendency to be part of a single functional group and it can be said that the small projects can be easily planned, managed and controlled, as compared to larger projects, which are more complex in shape. However, it can be said that there are small projects, which are complex in nature. There are small projects, which are substantially complex, and the project team generally focuses upon overcoming the technological issues rather than concentrating upon the value of the business in terms of money. Small projects are generally limited within the boundaries of functional discipline and hence, it can be said that project authority cannot be considered as a problem. In case of small projects, it can be found that the sponsor of the project manager is usually the manager or the executive concerning the department, this will imply that that all the resources relating to the project will report up through a single channel. This helps in resolving resource conflicts with efficiency and in a timely manner (HEALEY, 2017). The cause of failure in a project is considered as an important factor of concern. It is found that, in case of failure caused to small projects, the main cause remains lack of required project management skills. This issue can only be resolved through the provision of targeted training relating to specific rules, such as, sponsors, teams, support staff etc. this approach is quite capable in enhancing knowledge and skills relating to project management. In case of large projects, the major cause of project failure can be considered as, lack of project management infrastructure that provides the required support to project managers, develops gates as well as controls and helps in extending the required level of authority to the project manager to manage those resources that do not report to the manager, directly. Infrastructure constraints cannot be resolved through training only (HEALEY, 2017). The basic difference between a small project and large project that a small project can be completed by a small team whereas a big project can be completed by large working teams (Gale et al. 2017). The conventional time which is needed to close a small project is several hours to several weeks. However, as argued by Regnier & MacKenzie (2018), it takes several months to few years for the completion of a large project. In context of Toyota, at the stage of projectivization, the project manager of both the small and large project must inform the cost as well as a decline of the project. In case of small project deadline and cost is less than a large project. At the next stage, in the project planning, a clear and solid plan must be identified regarding the project by project manager. In case of big scale project, planning should be specific, prominent and budget should be high than a small project. It is must to inform the risk analysis and profit benefits of the project to the stakeholders. In the execution stage of project, for large projects, a project manager must ensure that deliverables of a project must satisfy the consumers. In case of a small project, the resources need to be allocated to project manager to close the project within a deadline. In the stage of project closure, the mistakes regarding a big project must be resolved properly as it is a high-profile project. In context of a small-scale project, team members have to learn the correct solution of mistakes and apply it for next small project. It would surely help all the members of team for building a stronger as well as successful project team. The expectation of customers as well as stakeholders is huge regarding a large project. In order to meet the satisfaction level of the customer's, the deadline should not be missed, and the project deliverables must be good. However, as influenced by Tayur (2017), in the case of a small project the expectation of customers are not as high as big projects. So, the project execution phase of PLC is more important for a large project.

D2 - Critically evaluate the PLC through a practical and theoretical exploration of its effectiveness

The project life cycle will be applied to the project and the same will help the project manager a step by step guidance to conduct the entire process. This project will help in accumulating all the aspects of the process the project will also conduct the cost benefit analysis to understand the feasibility of the project. This will help the management to understand, whether this project will be profitable to the company or not. The application of PLC will also help the project manager to properly describe each aspects of the project to the top management at the very beginning of the project. This will also include the analysis of the cost and benefits derived from the project. The initiation document submitted tot eh top management of the restaurant, will help them in understanding the size of the project, the clear objectives of the project, the risks and the limitations involved in the project and the deliverables that will be handed over to the top management. This will help the top management in making the decision whether to continue with the project or not. The top management will be provided with a clear idea relating to the important aspects of the project, which will help in continuing the next phases of the project life cycle. The next phase of the project life cycle has a larger impact upon the project and its completion and fulfilment of the objectives set by the project. The application of PLC is considered as an inevitable process to ensure the success of a project. The four different steps of the PLC will help the project manager to complete the present in the most efficient and accurate way. The next phase of the PLC is concerned with the formation of the project plan. This phase will impact the overall success or failure of the project. The planning phase will be highly crucial for the project manager as the same will help him in framing the detailed plan for the project. The present project is very complex in nature, as a number of different aspects and tasks are involved in this project. The planning phase will help the manager in forming the main tasks relating to the project including the milestones of the project that will guide the project manager to cover the various tasks relating to the project. The project plan will also help the project manager in setting time frames for each task to complete the project with the due time set for the project. The project plan is an essential document; the same will also help the project manager in setting the quality requirements of the resources relating to the project. The project plan will help in projecting the actual costs that will be incurred for the completion of the project and carrying out the various activities of the project. The project plan will also contain the budgeted cost of the project, which will also act a control mechanism for the project, as the same will help in projecting the differences between the budgeted cost and the cost actually incurred by the project. The project plan will also lead the project manager to understand the resource to be needed for the project (HEALEY, 2017). Moreover, the project plan will also lead the project manager to apply various project management tools like Gantt chart, work breakdown structure and other tools relating to project management, these tools have will also act a control mechanism that will help the project manager in understanding and evaluating the progress of the project. The work breakdown structure will provide the timelines for completing the milestones this will help in projecting the fact that whether the management has been able to complete the milestones in due time. The project planning phase will also lead the project manager to assess the risks relating to the project and to understand the ways to mitigate the risks. The project plan will also provide the required support to the project manager to understand the communication process, which will be followed to exchange information, the project manager will conduct the process of forming the communication plan for the project, which will help in communicating essential information among the team members, project manager as well as the stakeholders of the project (HEALEY, 2017). The execution phase relating to project life cycle will also have greater impacts upon the performance of the project. The execution phase is the ultimate phase which will provide the required guidance to the project manager to monitor the working of the team members and to ensure that the project is being carried on as work break down structure and the cost incurred for the project is within the budgeted cost for the project. The project will be completed in this phase and the expected deliverables will be handed over to the project stakeholders. The final phase of the PLC is the project closure phase, where the project manager will formally close the project after it is completed. There are other activities, which are required to be conducted by the project manager in this phase. The project manager will evaluate the tasks of the project and find out the areas of improvement. The project manager will identify what went wrong for the project and document the same for future use.

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