Project Management Skill and Job Description for an Operation Manager's Position. (Coursework Sample)

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH WALES
Business School
MBA
Module Title: Strategic Operations Management and Operational Research
Module Code: PS4S26-V1
Module Tutor: Dr. Chrystalla Markou
Assessment 1 of 1
Student No: R1604D1464657
PART A - Reflective Analysis
Title: Project Management Skill: The Skill I Aim to Develop and Improve
Word Count: 3121
Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u HYPERLINK \l "_Toc12197145" List of Figures and Tables PAGEREF _Toc12197145 \h vList of Acronyms PAGEREF _Toc12197146 \h viAcknowledgements PAGEREF _Toc12197147 \h vii1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc12197148 \h 12.0 Developing and Improving Project Management Skill PAGEREF _Toc12197149 \h 12.1 What I Did to Improve the Skill: Methods/Models Used PAGEREF _Toc12197150 \h 12.1.1 Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle/Model PAGEREF _Toc12197151 \h 12.1.2 Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model PAGEREF _Toc12197152 \h 32.1.3 Application of Gibbs’ Reflective Model and Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model to Development and Improvement of Project Management Skill PAGEREF _Toc12197153 \h 42.2 How Effective My Efforts Have Been PAGEREF _Toc12197154 \h 53.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc12197155 \h 11References PAGEREF _Toc12197156 \h 121.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc12197157 \h 152.0 The Job Description for an Operation Manager's Position PAGEREF _Toc12197158 \h 152.1 Likely Operational Challenges the Successful Candidate Would Face PAGEREF _Toc12197159 \h 15Global Competition PAGEREF _Toc12197160 \h 15Advanced technology and Rapid Changes PAGEREF _Toc12197161 \h 16Managing Data, Information and Knowledge PAGEREF _Toc12197162 \h 16Quality Planning and Control System PAGEREF _Toc12197163 \h 16Operations Process Improvement PAGEREF _Toc12197164 \h 17Managing People PAGEREF _Toc12197165 \h 172.2 Recommended Ways: How I Would Address the Main Issues PAGEREF _Toc12197166 \h 172.2.1 Operations Process Improvement PAGEREF _Toc12197167 \h 172.2.2 Quality Management: Quality Planning and Control PAGEREF _Toc12197168 \h 233.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc12197169 \h 26References PAGEREF _Toc12197170 \h 27Appendices PAGEREF _Toc12197171 \h 30Appendix I: The Job Advert for Operations Manager’s Position PAGEREF _Toc12197172 \h 30
List of Figures and Tables
Fig.1. Steps in Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle……………………………………………………2
Fig.2. Project Triangle………………………………………………………………………6
Table 1. Characteristics of Each Stage in the Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model…….…4
Table 2. SMART Objectives ……………………………………………………………….9
Table 3. Benefits and Risks of a Lean System ………………………………….…….20
Table 4. Comparing the TQM Culture and That in a Traditional Firm ……………….25
List of Acronyms
APM Association of Project Managers
CSF Critical Success Factors
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility
JIT Just-In-Time
KM Knowledge Management
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
PERT Program Evaluation and Review Technique
PMI Project Management Institute
SOM Strategic Operations Management
WBS Work Breakdown Structure
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the module tutor for the services.
My wife, Annet Fokushaba, and children: Blessed Maria Atukwasize and Hill Dunstan Atukwasibwe are thanked for their prayers.
My Lord Jesus Christ is thanked for His provisions and protection.
1.0 Introduction
Project management involves: scope, time, cost, quality, human resource, communications, risk, and procurement management (Richman, 2012). Since it involves management of such diverse elements, it is a key skill that needs to be developed and improved by every manager.
Project Management can be described as the utilisation of organisation’s resources using knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to achieve clearly defined objectives (Richman, 2012; Darnall and Preston, 2012; Haughey, 2014).
I am currently director of Atucle Education Network Ltd which is my family-owned profit-making education and consulting company (https://www.atucle.co), and director and promoter of Hisrays which is an indigenous non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Kyenjojo District, Uganda/East Africa (https://hisrays.org). I am responsible for directing and managing consulting assignments and education projects in Atucle, and several projects in Hisrays. Therefore, I greatly needed to develop and improve project management skill.
In this Part A, the paper seeks to fully describe the project management skill; provide justification for the need for its improvement; discuss the methods used to improve the skill following Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model; and how effective my efforts have been. The reflective analysis is guided by Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (Manchester Metropolitan University, n.d.; University of Cumbria, 2016; Manchester Metropolitan University, 2018).
Section 2.0 gives a reflective analysis of development and improvement of project management skill while section 3.0 gives conclusion from the analysis. Thereafter, references are given.
2.0 Developing and Improving Project Management Skill
2.1 What I Did to Improve the Skill: Methods/Models Used
2.1.1 Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle/Model
To develop and improve my project management skill, I researched on reflection models and chose Gibbs’ Reflective Model as my guide throughout the eight-week learning session. The model contains six stages/steps: description; feelings; evaluation; analysis; conclusion; and action plan (Manchester Metropolitan University, n.d.; University of Cumbria, 2016; Manchester Metropolitan University, 2018). The model is shown in figure 1 below.
Fig.1. Steps in Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. Adopted from: University of Cumbria (2016, p.1).
In the model, steps 1 - 3 are concerned with what happened during the experience while steps 4 - 6 focus on how I could improve on the learning experience in future (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2018).
The model will be applied to the learning experience (developing and improving project management skill) after describing Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model in the next section.
2.1.2 Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model
According to the model, skill can be acquired through instruction and experience (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004; Shinkle, 2009) and this acquisition goes through five stages in skills acquisition: novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient, and expert (Hall-Ellis and Grealy, 2013; Ogbuanyaa and Chukwuedo. 2017).
1. Novice stage. In this stage, objective facts and features relevant to the skill are learned, and rules for determining actions based on these facts acquired without considering contextual issues (Dreyfus, 2004; Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004; Hall-Ellis and Grealy, 2013). The novice does tasks mechanically and his/her work needs to be supervised (Stan Lester Developments, 2005).
2. Advanced Beginner stage. The learner begins to perceive similarities with prior situations and events (contextual issues) from experience and recognise meaningful features and elements which should be considered along with context-free facts and rules (Dreyfus, 2004; Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004; Hall-Ellis and Grealy, 2013). An advanced beginner sees actions as stepwise and can do some simple tasks without being supervised (Stan Lester Developments, 2005).
3. Competent stage. The learner will have developed competence when he/she begins to use both situational/experiential and context-free features to solve problems, organise and develop plans to achieve goals efficiently and effectively thus simplifying and improving performance (Dreyfus, 2004; Benner, 2004; Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004; Shinkle, 2009; Hall-Ellis and Grealy, 2013). A competent person can perform work independently and considers context though the work may need further refinement (Stan Lester Developments, 2005).
4. Proficient stage. A proficient performer will begin to seek understanding of the big picture/having a strategic view of events/features as a system (Shinkle, 2009). This implies that the person possesses “a deep understanding, sees actions holistically, can achieve a high standard routinely.” (Stan Lester Developments, 2005, p.2). Through reflection and utilising feedback, the learner can revise his/her approach, decides how to do certain things without conscious effort or first standing back, and focuses on self-improvement (Dreyfus, 2004; Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004; Shinkle, 2009).
5. Expert stage. The expert is able to understand what needs to be done and sees how to do it without relying on rules, procedures, and guidelines but his/her intuition (Shinkle, 2009; Hall-Ellis and Grealy, 2013). Through using intuition, actions are done without first comparing alternatives: actions are done without clear awareness and conscious effort but instinctively (Dreyfus and Dreyfus, 2004). It can be noted that: The exp...