Comparing leadership styles and techniques

Comparing leadership styles and techniques This study will show and conclude whether or not this statement is indeed accurate or just another theoretical belief or ideology amongst between theorist. In this essay we will look at the meaning of both management and leadership, how they differ in concept and in style, and finally conclude whether or not this statement is indeed accurate. What is leadership? Moorhead and Griffin (1998) define leadership as both a process and property. They say, as a process leadership involves the use of non-coercive influence to direct and coordinates the activities of group members to meet a goal, and a property they describe leadership as a set of characteristics attributed to those who those who are perceived to use such influence successfully. According to Moorhead Griffin (1998), Management requires an understanding of human behavior, to help managers better comprehend those at different levels in the organization, those at the same level, those in other organization, and themselves. Management is the planning, organizing, leading and controlling of organizational resources both effectively and efficiently in order to ultimately achieve goals set out by an organization (Moorhead Griffin, 1998; Adair, 2003). Differences between leadership and management: Adair (2003) says, Leadership and management are not the same. In industry and commerce they should go together. In government we often think of political leadership and public service management, but the latter also requires high-quality leadership. Adair (2003) then continues to list the following; Leadership is about giving direction, building teams and inspiring others by example and word. You can be appointed a manager but you are not a leader until your personality and character, your knowledge and your skill in performing the functions of leadership are recognized and accepted by the others involved. This is a very fundamental difference. (Adair, 2003; Moorhead Griffin, 1998) Leadership and change go together. Managing in the form of running an organization is more appropriate where there is not much change going on. When change is endemic, as it often is nowadays, managers must learn how to lead it. Pg 71 Managing entails the proper and efficient use of resources- good administration. Good leaders care about administration, the less good ones dont. Management has the overtone of carrying out objectives laid down by someone else. Moreover, there is nothing in the concept of management which implies inspiration, creating teamwork when it isnt there, or setting an example. When it is the case that inspiration and teamwork exist, you may well have managers who are in effect leaders, especially if they are the source of the inspiration. But it is unfortunately more often the case that management does not ring bells when it comes to people. Other distinctive differences pointed out by (Adair, 2003) include Direction: A leader will find a ways forward. He or she will generate a sense of direction. That may involve identifying new objectives, new products or services and new markets Inspiration: Leadership is linked to inspiration. The words and example of a leader kindle motivation Building teams: A leader tends to think naturally in terms of team. Groups of individuals are transformed into teams. Equally, teams tend to look for leaders rather than bosses. Example: Leadership is example. A leader will have his or her own output or direct contribution to the common task, thereby leading from the front Acceptance: You can be appointed a manager, but you are not really a leader until your appointment is ratified in the hearts and minds of those who work with you. An article by Murray, C. (2010) states and lists the following, the managers job is to plan, organize and coordinate. The leaders job is to inspire and motivate. In his 1989 book On Becoming a Leader, Warren Bennis composed a list of the differences: The manager administers; the leader innovates. The manager is a copy; the leader is an original. The manager maintains; the leader develops. The manager focuses on systems and structure; the leader focuses on people. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why. The manager has his or her eye always on the bottom line; the leaders eye is on the horizon. The manager imitates; the leader originates. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. The manager is the classic good soldier; the leader is his or her own person. The manager does things right; the leader does the right thing. Moorhead Griffin (1998) set out the following table to illustrate the distinction between management and leadership. Activity Management Leadership Creating an agenda Planning and Budgeting. Establishing details steps and timetables for achieving needed results; allocating the resources necessary to make those needed results happen Establishing direction. Developing a vision of the future, often the distant future, and strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision Developing a human network for achieving the agenda Organizing and staffing. Establishing some structure for accomplishing plan requirements, staffing that structure with individuals, delegating responsibility and authority for carrying out the plan, providing policies and procedures to help guide people, and creating methods or systems to monitor implementation Aligning people. Communicating the direction by words and deeds to all those whose cooperation may be needed to influence the creation of teams and coalitions that understand the vision and strategies and accept their validity Executing plans Controlling and problem solving. Monitoring results vs. plan in some detail, identifying deviations, and then planning and organizing to solve these problem Motivating and inspiring. Energizing people to overcome major political, bureaucratic, and resource barriers to change by satisfying very basic, but often unfulfilled, human needs Outcomes Produces a degree of predictability and order and has the potential to consistently produce major results expected by various stakeholders (e.g. .for customers, always being on time; for stockholders, being on budget) Produces change, often to a dramatic degree, and has the potential to produce extremely useful change (e.g. , new products that customers want, new approaches to lobar relations that help make a firm more competitive) Another way of which leadership and management could be distinguished is through different styles, Management has three main categories of styles: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic. Autocratic (or authoritarian) managers like to make all the important decisions and closely supervise and control workers. Managers do not trust workers and simply give orders (one-way communication) that they expect to be obeyed. This approach derives from the views of Taylor as to how to motivate workers and relates to McGregors theory X view of workers. This approach has limitations (as highlighted by other motivational theorists such as Mayo and Herzberg) but it can be effective in certain situations. For example. When quick decisions are needed in a company (e.g. in a time of crises), when controlling large numbers of low skilled workers. Paternalistic managers give more attention to the social needs and views of their workers. Managers are interested in how happy workers feel and in many ways they act as a father figure (pater means father in Latin). They consult employees over issues and listen to their feedback or opinions. The manager will however make the actual decisions (in the best interests of the workers) as they believe the staffs still need direction and in this way it is still somewhat of an autocratic approach. The style is closely linked with Mayos Human Relation view of motivation and also the social needs of Maslow. Democratic style of management will put trust in employees and encourage them to make decisions. They will delegate to them the authority to do this (empowerment) and listen to their advice. This requires good two-way communication and often involves democratic discussion groups, which can offer useful suggestions and ideas. Managers must be willing to encourage leadership skills in subordinates. The ultimate democratic system occurs when decisions are made based on the majority view of all workers. However, this is not feasible for the majority of decisions taken by a business- indeed one of the criticisms of this style is that it can take longer to reach a decision. This style has close links with Herzbergs motivators and Maslows higher order skills and also applies to McGregors theory Y view of workers. Leadership styles include the following Transformational leadership Is the set of abilities that allow the leader to recognize the need for change, to create a vision to guide that change, and to execute that change effectively. (Moorhead Griffin, 1998) Charismatic leadership A charismatic leadership style is a type of influence based on the leaders personal charisma. (Moorhead Griffin, 1998) Conclusion: Despite all these differences one has to take note that in this new economy its nearly impossible to distinguish between the two as they both overlap one another and work hand in hand, in other words they complement each other, as Murray A, (2010) points out that there was a time when the calling of the manager and that of the leader could be separated. A foreman in an industrial-era factory probably didnt have to give much thought to what he was producing or to the people who were producing it. His or her job was to follow orders, organize the work, assign the right people to the necessary tasks, coordinate the results, and ensure the job got done as ordered. The focus was on efficiency. But in the new economy, where value comes increasingly from the knowledge of people, and where workers are no longer undifferentiated cogs in an industrial machine, management and leadership are not easily separated. People look to their managers, not just to assign them a task, but to define for th em a purpose. And managers must organize workers, not just to maximize efficiency, but to nurture skills, develop talent and inspire results. But if pressed for and answer one would have to agree with the statement as we are facing difficult times with the worldwide recession and collapse of economies (i.e. Greece, Iceland), and where there is great uncertainty amongst workers, you will find that people are looking out for leaders to navigate them through these troubled times, so there on would justifiably concur with the rationale. As (Adair, 2003) states, Although a natural leader instinctively tries to change and improve things, his or her efforts will, not bear much fruit unless external and internal change is effecting the organization- technological, social, economic, political and cultural change. Industry and commerce, and for that matter public services too, must now operate in a climate of almost constant change, stronger international competition and higher uncertainty. All that explains why the concept of leadership has once again come to the fore. Leaders like change; its in their chosen element. Managers, by contrast, have traditionally preferred to run organizations as machines. They are happiest in a stead state environment where nothing is rocking the boat.

Decision In Paradise Essay example -- decision paradise Business

Decisions in Paradise As stated in Decisions in Paradise I, Kava has struggled with many obstacles that have prevented this country from becoming a beautiful and a well- known paradise attraction. At this portion of the project, AJA Consulting Firm would like to continue our vision by establishing a greater presence in Kava. Critical thinking is an important part of the decision making process which is essential to ensure decisions are well thought out and possibly prevent individuals from making bad decisions or mistakes that could be costly and in some instances, deadly. No matter what kind of decision an individual makes critical thinking is a very useful tool. Our proposal will display critical thinking skills learned and present a portion of the nine step decision- making techniques to find possible solutions to those problems and how those solutions could affect the island of Kava. At this time, the stakeholders need information to make a sound judgment concerning the project. Several tools are available to gather statistics that will assist stakeholders in determining if the project risks are worth the investment. To start, an individual would need to know who the stakeholders are. A stakeholder may be defined as an individual who perceives themselves as someone having an interest in the actions of the organization such as customers, shareholders, employees, or members of a community. By identifying the stakeholders, the project planners can study the individual or group concerns through a stakeholder analysis. De Kluyver and Pearce state that a stakeholder analysis is "the process of identifying and prioritizing key stakeholders, assessing their needs and concerns, and incorporating their ide... ...king a problem through. The individual will have self gratification knowing that a decision was not made in haste and to know that all angles and possible avenues have been explored from understanding what point he is trying to convey. Learning to think critically can help an individual avoid buying into fallacies and limited thinking. When one applies critical thinking to the decision making process, one is less likely to end up making a poor decision. References De Kluyver, C., Pearce, J. (2006) What is strategy. Strategy: A View from the Top (An Executive Perspective) (pp. 1-14). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2006). Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Enager Industries Ltd Essay

Introduction Enager Industries Ltd (Enager) was a relatively young company whom manufactured and produced products/services within three divisions- Consumer Products, Industrial Products and Professional Services. Consumer Products, the oldest among the three divisions in Enager, designed, manufactured and marketed a line of houseware items. Industrial Products built one -of -a- kind machine tools to customer specifications. Professional Services, the newest among the three, provided several kinds of engineering services and this division had grown rapidly because of its capability to perform â€Å"environmental impact† studies. Each division was treated as an essentially independent company but all new project proposals requiring investment in excess of $1,500,000 had to be reviewed by the Chief Financial Officer, Henry Hubbard. Analysis Carl Randall, Enager’s president, had transformed the three distinctly separate divisions from being treated as profit centers into investment centers in 1992 at the urging of Henry Hubbard. The change enabled the three divisions to use ROA (Return on Assets) as a performance measure of the success of each division. The ROA was defined to be the division’s net income divided by its total assets the division used to generate its profits. The net income for a division was calculated by taking the division’s â€Å"direct income before taxes†, subtracting the division’s share of corporate administrative expenses and its share of income tax expenses. On the other hand, the total assets of a division was calculated by taking the division’s assets, including receivables and the allocated corporate-office assets, including the centrally controlled cash account, based on the basis of divisional revenues. In addition, all fixed assets were recorded at their balance sheet values- original cost less accumulated straight line depreciation. Based on these calculation techniques, the sum of divisional net income and assets were equal to the corporate net income and assets respectively. Hubbard believed that a company like Enager should have a gross return on assets, defined as equal to earnings before interest and taxes divided by assets, of at least 12 percent, given the interest rates the company had had to pay on its debt. He told each division manager that  the division was to try to earn a gross return of 12 percent and new investment proposals would have to show a return of at least 15 percent in order to be approved. The company had managed to increase its ROA from 5.2 percent to 5.7 percent and its gross return from 9.3 percent to 9.5 percent from 1991 to 1992. However, several issues arose with regard to this new method. First, there was a problem occurred between Sarah McNeils, the product development manager of Consumer Products Division, and Hubbard while her new proposal demonstrated a return of thirteen percent (calculated in Exhibit 1) at different point of selling prices and units, however, it was rejected by Hubbard because it did not meet the 15 percent return he had set for all divisions. Another problem that arose within Enager was between the Industrial Products Division, and the president. The problem occurred when the president was unsatisfied with the ROA of Industrial Products Division and tried to put pressure on the general manager of the division. A conflict arose between them when the division manager argued that the division could have achieved a better ROA if they had a lot of old assets as Consumer Products Division did. Furthermore, in 1993, ROA fell from 5.7 percent to 5.4 percent and gross return dropped from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent. However, at the same time, return on sales rose from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent and return on owners’ equity also increased from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent. Comparing the performance based on ROA in this year, Professional Services Division exceeded the 12 percent gross return target; Consumer Products Division’s gross ROA was 10.8 percent; the Industrial Products Division’s gross ROA was only 6.9 percent. The president was disappointed and puzzled about the results of ROA in 1993. I recognize that these problems were mainly resulted from inefficient use of ROA (Return on Assets) as a performance measurement method in Enager. Firstly, the president and the CFO should not set a target gross ROA rate of  15 percent for three different divisions that were obviously operating in different industries–Consumer Products Division produced a line of high volume low cost houseware items; Industrial Products Division was a large â€Å"job shop† who built one-of- kind machine tools to customer specifications, and Professional Services mainly provided engineering services. The three divisions had different amount of assets, nature of business and profitability and it is unreasonable to compare them with a fixed target rate of ROA. Second, the executives were making a mistake by using balance sheet values when calculating the fixed assets of each division. This had disadvantaged the divisions that contained more new assets with lesser depreciation values since ROA would be reduced due to a larger denominator resulted from higher values in assets. The president did not understand the comment from the manager of Industrial Products Division about the older a division’s assets would result in a higher ROA. And it was unfair to measure a division’s success based on the age of a division’s assets, and consequently, this would frustrate the manager in a division with a lot of new assets. Third, it was unreasonable to allocate corporation’s assets and expenses to divisional assets and net income based on revenue generated by the division. For example, if Professional Services Division was earning more than other two divisions, Professional Services’ return would be reduced by this inaccurate allocation method while more allocated corporate expenses would decrease the numerator and more allocated corporate assets would increase the denominator of the ROA calculation, subsequently, the ROA would not fully reflect division’s true performance. Recommendation and ImplementationCurrently, Enager is using ROA as a method of performance evaluation of the three divisions. As previously illustrated, this is an inefficient use of ROA since total divisional assets and net income are influenced by varying components. ROA in its current form does not paint an accurate picture of the overall performance of the company. For example, division contains more assets is obviously disadvantaged since their ROA would be subsided by a larger amount of denominator. In addition,  the company could not yield the highest revenues by setting a benchmark ROA rate in which all divisions are encouraged to attain. For example, McNeils’ proposal was rejected because it did not meet the 15 percent return required by Hubbard. However, McNeil’s proposal demonstrates a return of 13 percent, and favourable residual income at any point under the 13 percent Weighted Average Capital Cost. Enager had missed the opportunity to increase the earnin gs per share of the company due to incorrectly setting a target rate for all three divisions. The company could choose an alternative measure of divisional performance such as Balanced Scorecard. Balanced Scorecard is a performance measurement system which measures a division’s activities in terms of its goals and strategies rather than a ratio like ROA. The management could obtain a broad-based view of the performance of a division from both divisional financial and non financial elements. In establishing the Balanced Scorecard, executives must choose a mix of measurements that accurately reflect the important factors that will determine the success of the divisional strategy; show the relationships among the individual measures in a cause-and-effect manner; and provide a comprehensive view of the current condition of the division. The Balanced Scorecard promotes a balance among different strategic measures in an effort to achieve goal congruence, thus fostering employees to act in the organization’s best interest. If Enager were to use Balanced Scorecard, divisions would be able to have the same profit objectives by focusing on the same goals of the company but not just focusing on a fixed target return rate. For example, by introducing Balanced Scorecard, this would allow McNeils to carry out her proposal that would benefit the company as a whole but may have a lowering impact on her divisional ROA. Another advantage of Balanced Scorecard, unlike ROA, is that the comprehensive value of the division is reflected in this method. This allows executives of Enager to better compare between divisions operated in different industries since the performance measurement system takes different perspectives such as financial, customer, internal business and innovation of the division into account. After analyzing the two alternatives I recommend that Enager implement  Balanced Scorecard method for their division performance measures. I feel that ROA reduces the comparability between divisions, limits expansion for the company and the individual divisions, and consequently it does not provide fair performance measurements for divisions and the company. For example, ROA fell from 5.7 percent to 5.4 percent from 1992 to 1993 but at the same time, return on sales rose from 5.1 percent to 5.5 percent and return on owners’ equity also increased from 9.1 percent to 9.2 percent. This suggests that ROA does not fully depict the true performance of the company. Balanced Scorecard, on the other hand, is a better method for Enager for assessing divisional performance because it effectively depicts performance from financial and non-financial perspectives. This is a better measurement method for Enager especially its divisions were operating in different industries. Furthermore, Balanced Scorecard promotes goal congruence because divisions will not only be working to better themselves, but the decisions that are made will benefit the company as a whole. ConclusionEnager Industries Ltd was a relatively young company whom manufactured and produced products/services within three divisions. The company was using ROA method in assessing divisional performance. There were a few problems and conflicts arose within the company due to inefficient use of ROA. Switching to Balanced Scorecard will help Enager obtain stronger goal congruency while alleviating some inefficiency in performance measure created by ROA. Robert N. (2007). â€Å"Management Control Systems†. McGraw-Hill: New York. American Accounting Association Financial Accounting Standards Committee. (2003, June). Implications of Accounting Research for the FASB’s Initatives on Disclosure of Information about Intangible Assets. Accounting Horizons, 17, 175-185. Retrieved January 19, 2007 from ABI-Inform. http://0-proquest.umi.com.darius.uleth.ca:80/pqdweb?did=356893801&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=12304&RQT=309&VName=PQDUpton, W.S. (2001, April). Business and Financial Reporting: Challenges from the New Economy. FASB Financial Accounting Series Special Report No. 219-A. Retrieved September 6, 2006 from

South Africa Pest Analysis - 1602 Words

SOUTH AFRICA HISTORY In the history of South Africa, the earliest known settlers of the country were the San and Khoekhoe people, collectively known as Khoisan. They were two distinct cultural groups. The first Europeans to arrive in South Africa were the Portuguese Seafarers who initiated the sea route to India in 1488. They were soon followed by other Europeans since the late 16 th century In 1815, the British took permanent control of the Cape colony and brought in more settlers In 1910 South Africa got freedom from the British rule.The Union of South Africa was formed on 31 May 1910. The National Party came into power in 1948 and devised a harsh system of segregation known as apartheid. This system gave rise to Black hostility and†¦show more content†¦South Africa has rich mineral resources. †¢ It is the worlds largest producer and exporter of gold and platinum and also exports a significant amount of coal. †¢ the value added processing of minerals to produce fero alloys,stainless steels is a major industry and an important growth area. area. †¢ The countrys diverse manufacturing industry is a world leader in several specialized sectors, including motor vehicles and parts, railway rolling stock, synthetic fuels, and mining equipment and machinery. †¢ Primary agriculture accounts for about 3% of the gross domestic product. Major crops include citrus and deciduous fruits, corn, wheat, dairy products, sugarcane, tobacco, wine, and wool. South Africa has many developed irrigation schemes and is a net exporter of food. †¢ GDP (2008): $277 billion. 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The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini - 1367 Words

Doppelganger Siblings, although not born within the same minute much like twins typically are, still surface from the same pool of genes. People that emerge from the same set of parents tend to not only have similar features, but also share the same characteristics. Akin to siblings, the best-selling novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini in the early twenty-first century parallels â€Å"Roman Fever†, a short story written by Edith Wharton in 1934. Despite their gap of publication, only a year shy of seventy years, these two novels are more related than one might originally consider. For those who have not had the pleasure of reading The Kite Runner, Hosseini marched to the top of New York Times’ Best-Sellers list for a reason. Composed of more than 72,000 words over a span of 324 pages, this novel can be divided into three parts and hop-scotches the unique tale of a Middle Eastern man named Amir, who is our protagonist. 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The eye-opening Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini tells about the struggles of Afghanistan before and during the Taliban, and one’s struggle for redemption and acceptance. With regards to the opening quote, some see Amir’s actions as selfish. However, others may believe that Amir truly changedRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini1583 Words   |  7 Pagesnovel the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir, the main character, shares his thoughts and actions due to his poor decisions. The problems he encountered were all because of the sin committed in his youth. His sins taunted the beginning of his life and gave him a troublesome memory full of guilt. As the novel continued, Amir attempted to disengage the memory of his sin and forget about it. Amir then faced the long bumpy road to redemption. Khaled Hosseini’s novel the Kite Runner is about sinRead MoreThe Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini871 Words   |  4 Pagesthat person is trying to fix that mistake. This also applies to the novel The Kite Runner. The story revolves around the main character Amir, and his childhood friend, Hassan. After Amir came to America with Baba, his father, he still regrets the things he had done to his childhood friend. He left Hassan getting raped by Assef in a small alley in 1975. Thereafter, Amir always feel regret and seeks for redemption. Hosseini -the author, argues that redemption can be achieved by helping others, teachRead MoreThe Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini3402 Words   |  14 Pagestitle â€Å"The Kite Runner† is symbolic as fighting kites and the kite runnings are impacting moments in the novel. Hassan was the best kite runner in Kabul, if not the whole country, after Amir won the kite fighting the running of that last blue kite triggered the monumental changes for Amir. For the beginning of the story the kite running was associated with Hassan’s rape and Amir’s grief. As kites appear throughout the story, they begin Amir’s story and also end it. Amir flying the kite with Sohrab

Assimilate the New Culture Essay - 546 Words

The Smolinski family in Bread Givers was a typical immigrant family who faced struggles during the assimilation process. By looking at Sara and her father ¡Ã‚ ¯s perspectives that there is a gap of cultural differences and generational differences separated between them, where most immigrants ¡Ã‚ ¯ family faces. As a child of immigrant Sara was bound by her native culture, but she unlike her other sisters took the courage and effort by abandoning her own culture to assimilate the dominant American culture. She also have sacrificed her family separation, her youth and experiencing hardship in order to pursuit her dream. Sara and her father ¡Ã‚ ¯s argument about cultural and generational differences nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;are similarly to most†¦show more content†¦Finally, Sara took the courage and effort by deserting her own culture to assimilate the new culture. Sara knows the only way for her to assimilate the American culture is to leave her cautious father and went to college to become a teacher, which is her dreams. So, At age of seventeen she left her family and rent a basement lived by her self. By escaping her father ¡Ã‚ ¯s shadow she is like a bird free from a cage that she can breath the fresh air of the new world. Eventhough she lived in the little room with dilapidated furniture, but at least she can be herself- to pursuit of self-identity. In order to realize her American dream she experienced hardship, her youthfulness and the pain of her family separation. In order to get her education she had to work during the day and went to the school during night times. She gave up her opportunity to marry Max Goldstein a man wanted her. Also she had focus on her school instead of going back home to see her old, sick mother. As she always said  ¡Ã‚ ° I had made my choice. And now I had to pay the Price. ¡Ã‚ ± By seeing Sara ¡Ã‚ ¯s typical assimilation process she had struggled cultural and generational differences between her and her father. Despite of the oppression her father ¡Ã‚ ¯s old culture and old ideas, but Sara finally broke through the barrier of her own culture to assimilateShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Hester Street By Joan Micklin Silver1655 Words   |  7 Pagesancestors who emigrated from another country and adopted America as their new home. Coming to a new nation brings with it a series of difficulties, one of which is the struggle to find balance between assimilation and the preservation of one’s ethnic identity. Such a struggle is very present in the romantic film Hester Street, directed by Joan Micklin Silver, detailing the lives of Jake and Gitl, two Jewish immigrants living in New York during the early 20th century. 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Research of Outsourcing Business Functions †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Business Functions. Answer: Introduction The research report is based on the topic Advantages and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Business Functions and this section of the report will contain the details of the research data collection and methods undertaken to complete the research. Outsourcing can be understood as the process where the business organisations transfers their business functions to other companies to get them completed by paying a fee or price for it. It means that the business functions can be completed by the outsiders rather than completing them by internal teams. This process is helpful in reducing costs of the business and brings expertise in the business functions (Pratap, 2014). The research will highlight the advantages and disadvantages of such process by collecting reliable data from different sources. This research report will also include the methods adopted for conducting the research. Project Objective The main objective of this research is to identify the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing business functions. This objective will be achieved by going through various research papers, journal articles, books and many other web sources of information. The objective is to determine whether the businesses should outsource their business functions or not. Project Scope The scope of the research is wide as Outsourcing business functions is one of the significant decisions which is taken by the companies. Different reviews and opinions given by various authors will be discussed in order to know whether it is beneficial to outsource business functions or it is harmful for the privacy concerns of the company. Literature Review Outsourcing of business functions is a commonly used method nowadays by the business organisations. It is a significant tool for the companies through which the businesses can get their work done in reduced costs and with better perfection. It helps in deriving the competitive advantage for the businesses. There are several advantages of outsourcing the business functions and also some of the disadvantages. Various authors have different opinion about the same. It has been opined by Krstic and Kahrovic (2015) that Outsourcing of business functions lead to several advantages like building core competency, flexibility, reduction of costs and reduction in the required capital investment. Another opinion was given by Iqbal Dad (2013) who said that the companies handover their functions to other companies to seek perfection and to focus on their core functions. This leads to the global advantages to the companies by letting them compete with the other organisations. The main reasons why businesses decides to outsource their functions includes improvement in the flow of cash, payments, staffing and in the whole business performance. Outsourcing is adopted by the business to get competitive advantage at a global level. Because of the use of technology accessed from different parts of the world, the business is able to provide better services and products to the customers. This also enhances customer satisfaction and also enlarges the scope of the companies and their growth in the industry (Marvin, 2011). In contrast to the above views there are some of the authors which are against outsourcing the business functions. In their view, outsourcing of the business functions can lead to the threat to privacy and confidentially of business functions of the company. It also includes some hidden costs which increases the overall cost of operations of the business. It also creates some of the quality issues with the functions which affect the customer satisfaction. Outsourcing can also lead to the loss of managerial control which creates a threat to the privacy of the organisations. It can create issues between the parties and also the response and communication between the parties can slow down. In the views of Brcar (2011), outsourcing industry will rise in future. Outsourcing of business functions can bring competitiveness in the organisations. There are many examples which prove that outsourcing of the business functions can be advantageous as well as disadvantageous. According to Cowley (2004), the biggest example of failure of outsourcing is the case of cancellation of an outsourcing contract between JP Morgan and IBM where the contract of $5 billion was cancelled by JP Morgan and they started their in-house production facilities which was much more profitable for them. Another example shows the success story of outsourcing the business functions. The example is of PG which outsourced its Research and Development activities which ultimately increased the overall revenue of the company. Also, the statistics shows that outsourcing has become famous in the last two decades and it brought an increase of savings in the savings of the companies from 10 to 15%. The countries nowadays are investing huge amounts on the development of outsourcing functions. United States contributed $172 billion in the industry in 2009. There are around 145 organisations from United Kingdom and United States which was surveyed in which 23% of the organisations experienced benefits of costs. The companies which uses outsourcing services the most are Information technology, web designs, recruitment services and more. The multinational companies are taking it seriously and this has been proved by looking at the statistics. In the views of Sharma Loh (2009), There will be tough competition in the industry and the number of o0utsourcing companies have been doubled between the years 2005- 2008 and 605 out of them are showing their interest in expanding their services. The companies have saved 3.5 times than their actual savings. It is finally advised to the companies that before outsourcing the business activities, the companies should consider the type of services, reviews for the outsourcing partner, costs, etc. there should also be effective communication which boosts up the business and also its performance. Optimum planning should be done before executing them so that results can be effective. Long term relationships are needed to be developed for so that the benefits for both the parties can be maximised (Garland, 2015). The sources used for collecting information in the research are good in quality. It improves the quality of the research and also makes it a valid one. Also, the sources referred are of the year 2004 and later which shows that only the latest information is referred to conduct the research. Most of the research papers are of the year 2012 and above which shows that the data and information are recent. Research Questions These are the following research questions which are needed to be answered through research: What does outsourcing of business functions mean? What are the possible advantages of outsourcing business functions? What are the disadvantages of outsourcing business functions? Research Design and Methodology This section is one of the major sections of the research report because in this section, the details about the methods adopted for conducting research and for data collection will be discussed. Research Methods There are different research methods through which the research can be conducted. One such method is mixed method of research which is followed for this research. In this method, both qualitative and quantitative form of data is collected through many sources of data like primary or secondary sources. Both the forms of data together form mixed method of research which is adopted for this research (Zikmund, et al., 2010). Research approach Both quantitative and qualitative approach has been adopted for completing the research. Qualitative approach have been used for collecting the data in the form of opinions, descriptions and different views while quantitative approach is used for collecting the data in form of numbers. These approaches have contributed in maintaining the quality of the research and in gaining various insights for the topic (Wilson, 2016). Collection of data Data collection is the process in which the information and knowledge is gained from various sources in order to answer the research questions. Data is collected from primary and secondary sources so that proper understanding can be made on the topic of the research. Primary sources of data are those which help in collecting the first hand data whereas secondary sources of data are those which provide the second hand data which is already in use by others. On the topic of the research both the sources of information are used. Primary source of data is survey questionnaire while the secondary source of data is journals, articles, books and other web sources (Mackey and Gass, 2015). Technique of sampling Sampling can be understood as the process of choosing the subset of population from the whole population. In this research, simple random sampling technique is used where every element has same chances of getting selected without any bias. In this survey, different businesses in Australia are surveyed which deals in many business functions. They are asked whether they outsource their business functions or not and what are the possible harms and benefits of the same. The size of the sample is 10. Ten businesses will be selected randomly to answer the survey questions. It will help the researcher to decide whether outsourcing is advantageous or disadvantageous (Flick, 2015). Reliability and Validity The research is reliable as all the sources used for collecting the information are genuine and recent. The content of research report is referenced in order to prove their authenticity. The information is valid as the special permissions are taken from the relevant authorities to conduct the survey and to access the information from library. Strong passwords are used to secure the data collected so that the genuineness of the data can be maintained. Ethical Consideration Ethics are the principles which decide between the right and wrong. Ethics have been followed while taking up the research by maintaining the confidentiality of the survey respondents. The responses given by the respondents are not modified. Even the data collected from secondary sources have not been misinterpreted. Research Limitations The limitations of the research can be understood as the factors which affect the process of research and its results. Time was one of the main limitations because only limited time was available to conduct the research program. The sample of the survey to collect the data is selected randomly which might affect the quality of the data. Also, the sample size is small which might hamper the results of the research. There was also shortage of resources. This shortage might affect the quality of the research. Research Schedule (Research Plan) Research Plan can be understood as the blueprint for conducting the research step by step. It is planning of events to carry out the research in given time successfully. The plan for this research is made and is given below: S. No. Research Plans Beginning date End date Time duration (weeks) Details A Research Planning 1 September 2017 7 September 2017 1 Week This is the beginning of research where the plans are made for the further research project. Here the plans will be made as to how the data should be collected and what all sources are available for the same. B Execution of plans 08 September 2017 14 September 2017 1 week The next step after planning is execution. At this stage, the plans are executed so that the research can be followed as per the plans made. C Collection of data 15 September 2017 28 September 2017 2 weeks Data and information for this research is been collected from various sources which can be primary or secondary. In this research both the sources are used so that complete information can be gained to solve the purpose of the research (Bryman and Bell, 2015). D Analysis of data 29 September 2017 5 October 2017 2 weeks The data collected from various sources will be arranged systematically and then will be analysed so that the results can be derived. E Discussion of findings 6 October 2017 12 October 2017 1 week After collecting and analysing the data, it is now the next step which is discussion of the findings generated from the analysis. These findings are discussed to make the conclusions of the research. F Conclusion 12 October 2017 18 October 2017 1 week After the analysis of the data and discussion of the findings, conclusions are made for the research. Gantt chart Gantt chart can be referred to the graphical representation of the action plan which shows how the research has been carried out step by step. Panneerselvam (2014) Conclusion It can be concluded from the research project that Outsourcing of business functions is now practiced by many organisations. It is because it is the need of the hour. The business organisations nowadays have so many functions to perform in a single go that they are not able to focus on their core functions which reduce their capabilities. For solving this issue, they outsource their functions in order to access expertise and to make themselves able to focus on their core functions. It is clear from the research that before outsourcing the functions, the companies need to ensures the quality of work of the outsourcing partner and should go through its reviews. The terms and conditions should be built on which the whole process can take place. The research clears that it has several advantages and disadvantages but it depends on the companies, outsourcing partner and level of communication between them. The research is been completed by taking primary and secondary sources into conside ration. The real life examples of the corporates also discussed to show how it really affects the companies. It shows that it depends on various factors that the business functions should be outsourced or in house facilities should be developed. References Brcar, F 2011, The Perspective of Business Process Outsourcing in Slovenian Organizations, Organizacija, Volume 44. Bryman, A and Bell, E 2015,Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. Cowley, S 2004, Update: J.P. Morgan cancels $5B IBM outsourcing deal. [Online] Available at: https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/95933/Update_J.P._Morgan_cancels_5B_IBM_outsourcing_dea l. (Accessed 17 August 2017). Flick, U, 2015,Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project, Sage. Garland, A 2015, Five of the biggest outsourcing failures, ITproPortal. Iqbal, Z Dad, A M 2013, Outsourcing: A Review of Trends, Winners Losers and Future Directions, International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 4 No. 8. Krstic, B. and Kahrovic, E., 2015. Business process outsourcing as a tool for improving enterprise efficiency. Ekonomika, 61(3), p.31. Mackey, A and Gass, S M, 2015,Second language research: Methodology and design, Routledge. Marvin, K T 2011, Global Trends in Outsourcing and their Impact (Doctoral dissertation, Worcester Polytechnic Institute). Panneerselvam, R, 2014,Research methodology, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Pratap, S, 2014, Towards a framework for performing outsourcing capability, Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal,7(3), pp.226-252. Sharma, A Loh, P 2009, Emerging Trends in Sourcing of business services. Business Process Management Journal., Vol. 15 No. 2. Wilson, V 2016, Research Methods: Mixed Methods Research, Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 11, 56-59. Zikmund, W G, Babin, B J, Carr, J C Griffin, M 2010,Business research methods,8th edn, South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, Ohio.