You have recently joined a UK-based manufacturing organisation of your choice as a Graduate Operations Manager. The organisation has experienced increasing competitive pressures, changing customer expectations

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08 Oct 2026 • 5 min read

Critically analyse the best practice techniques used in your selected organisation’s business operations.

BA6NB01O BUSINESS OPERATIONS

Level 6

Individual Report

Summative Assessment 2

Assessment title	Individual Report
Submission date and time
Word Count (or equivalent)	2,500 words (+/- 10%)
Where to submit	Turnitin
Feedback date	15 working days after the deadline
Assessment Weighting
AI usage Guideline	AMBER: AI can be used in the assessment for brainstorming, creating structures, and generating ideas for improving work. No AI Content is allowed in the Final submission.

Submitting, feedback & grades online using VLE

Students should provide a completed assessment cover sheet with all essential details. This assessment should be submitted in electronic format via college systems on the VLE on or before the submission deadline. All late submissions will be capped to `PASS`. Students can view their feedback and grades by using the same submission link in the VLE.

Assessment Aim:

This assessment will cover Learning Outcomes 4 and 5. This assessment aims to test your knowledge of the application and justification for the best approached techniques in enhancing the effectiveness of business operations. It also aims to identify the standard of your academic writing skills based on your critical analysis and evaluation of relevant aspects. The learning outcome 4 is to evaluate various best practice techniques and analytical frameworks commonly used by managers to help them enhance the effectiveness of business operations.

Assessment Descriptions:

This assessment is for a formal report with a maximum word limit of 2,500 words (plus or minus 10%). Words in tables, diagrams and appendices, including reference lists, will not be counted. Students should note that there may be penalties for assessment work which is over or under permitted the word count.

Note: Do not use the same organisation used in Assessment 1

Assessment Scenario:

You have recently joined a UK-based manufacturing organisation of your choice as a Graduate Operations Manager. The organisation has experienced increasing competitive pressures, changing customer expectations, and operational challenges related to efficiency, product quality, and business sustainability. Senior management has asked you to conduct an operational review to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the organisation remains competitive in both physical and online markets.

As part of your role, you are required to evaluate the organisation’s current business operations and determine whether its operational practices align with industry best practices. You must also apply appropriate analytical frameworks commonly used by manufacturing managers to identify opportunities for improving efficiency and supporting managerial decision-making. Furthermore, management has requested an evaluation of quality management techniques and recommendations on the most suitable approach to enhance operational effectiveness and support long-term business sustainability.

Your report should provide evidence-based recommendations to support continuous improvement and future operational success.

Assessment Questions:

You must answer all the following questions:

Critically analyse the best practice techniques used in your selected organisation’s business operations.
Identify and evaluate two analytical frameworks commonly used by managers in any manufacturing organisation. Apply and justify how those analytical frameworks could help enhance your selected organisation’s business efficiency.
Critically evaluate two quality management techniques that could improve the effectiveness of the operation in a manufacturing organisation. Recommend any one of the techniques in your selected organisation context and your rationale for its use.
Critically evaluate how Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) compliance and quality management techniques work together to enhance operational effectiveness in a manufacturing organisation.

Note:

Marks will be allocated for the quality of the material produced. That includes format styles, writing style, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The work needs to be well cited and evidenced to justify and exhibit the sources of information. Marks will be adjusted accordingly.

No.

Learning Outcomes

Marking Criteria

Evaluate various best practice techniques and analytical frameworks commonly used by managers to help them enhance the effectiveness of business operations.

Justify how quality management approaches and techniques are applied to improve operations in a given organisation.

Introduction - 5%

Knowledge, understanding and critical analysis of all three questions – 20 x4 = 80%

Conclusion - 10%

Structure & Harvard References - 5%

Section	100–80% (Excellent – Level 6)	79–70% (Very Good)	69–60% (Good)	59–50% (Satisfactory)	49–40% (Marginal)	39–30% (Poor)	29–0% (Fail)
Introduction (5%)	Highly focused and conceptually strong introduction. Purpose, scope, and structure are critically framed and clearly contextualised within the subject area.	Clear and well-focused introduction with good contextualisation.	Appropriate introduction with clear purpose and structure.	Basic introduction with limited context or focus.	Weak introduction with vague purpose.	Poorly written or unclear introduction.	Missing or irrelevant introduction.
Knowledge, Understanding & Critical Analysis of Questions (80%)	Outstanding Level 6 performance demonstrating advanced knowledge, critical evaluation, synthesis of theory and evidence, and independent judgement across all questions. Arguments are coherent, original, and supported by high-quality academic sources.	Very strong critical analysis with clear evaluation and good synthesis of literature.	Sound knowledge and understanding with some critical analysis and evaluation.	Mostly descriptive with limited critical depth and evaluation.	Basic understanding with minimal analysis and weak academic support.	Poor understanding with little or no critical engagement.	Insufficient, inaccurate, or missing responses.
Conclusion (10%)	Insightful and analytical conclusion synthesising key arguments and demonstrating higher-level reflection.	Clear conclusion summarising key arguments effectively.	Appropriate conclusion addressing main issues.	Basic summary with limited synthesis.	Weak or repetitive conclusion.	Poor or unclear conclusion.	Missing or irrelevant conclusion.
Structure & Harvard References (5%)	Excellent academic structure and presentation. Flawless Harvard referencing with extensive use of high-quality, contemporary academic sources.	Very good structure with minor referencing errors.	Good structure with some referencing inconsistencies.	Adequate structure with noticeable referencing issues.	Weak structure and frequent Harvard errors.	Poor structure and incorrect referencing.	No clear structure and/or missing references.

Assessment Format Guidance:

Title page - The details of the Module, Student Name and ID number.

Contents page - Should be provided with page numbers.

Executive Summary: It contains a short statement that addresses the problem details in the attached documents and features background information and a concise analysis.

Introduction - The background, the context and the aim of the report.

Key Sections - As many as necessary in line with the assessment questions.

Summary and Conclusion - Overall findings of the investigation: the overall picture that has emerged and the implications.

References - Identification of literature and other sources used and referred to in the text. Ensure that all references are quoted at the end of any quotations, definitions and web-sourced materials. Submission of a report without references will not be allowed.

*Do not provide appendices unless asked by the lecturer/research supervisor.

Employability Skills

This assessment 2 covers the following employability skills, which you could demonstrate on your CV and at job interviews if you successfully pass the assessment:

Written communication
Academic writing
Critical thinking
Problem solving
Decision making
Planning and organisation skills
Industry / commercial awareness
Global / cultural awareness (manufacturing standards and compliance context)
Reflective lifelong learning
Ability to learn and adapt
Intellectual curiosity
Initiative and self-motivation
Time management
Working under pressure and to deadlines
Integrity and accountability
Confidence (evidenced through justified professional judgement)
Perseverance / resilience

Learning Materials

Textbooks

Core Texts

Brown, S., Bessant, J. and Lamming, R. (2023) Strategic Operations Management. 5th edn. Abingdon: Routledge.
Habimana, V. (2018) Business Operations: Global Integration for Firms. Lulu.com.
Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Burgess, N. (2022) Operations Management. 10th edn. Harlow: Pearson.

Other Texts

Johnsen, T.E., Miemczyk, J., Marques, L. and Howard, M. (2025) Procurement and Supply Chain Management: A Sustainability Perspective. 3rd edn. Abingdon: Routledge.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A. (2022) Operations and Process Management: Principles and Practice for Strategic Impact. 6th edn. Harlow: Pearson.
Petropoulos, F. et al. (2025) Operations and Supply Chain Management: Principles and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Journals

Journal of Operations Management (JOM)
Operations Research
Production and Operations Management (POM)
European Journal of Operational Research (EJOR)
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (MSOM)
Journal of Supply Chain Management

Websites

https://www.nclvle.co.uk Nelson College London Virtual Learning Environment
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFmfjRmrKA4pWOLLpAtaXMQ NCL YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/HarvardBusiness Harvard Business YouTube channel
http://www.forbes.com/business/Forbes business pages