Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection

Reflective Essay on Leadership | Critical reflection This report will discuss the importance of leadership in an organization. To achieve an objective, an organization will rely on individuals it employed. These individuals will then have to collaborate with each other in order to perform a task. However, there is a need for those involved to be directed and motivated to perform this task. The directing and motivating of the personnel is being done by an individual or a leader. The leader is important as they will ensure that the objective or goals of the organization can be achieved within the scope and time limit. The leader must be able to influence and motivate the people around him. This report will briefly explain some model or theories that leader can use to achieve the task. The first section of this report will discuss on the literature review about the leadership and team work. I will discuss various research articles in relation to leadership, management strategies and team work theory. Although there are numerous organizational behaviour based articles available, my literature review will focus on the following five areas which are Lewins Leadership Styles, Blanchards Situational Leadership Model, Transformational Leadership, Thamhains Nine Ways to Influence on Projects and Tuckmans Model to Team Development. I will also include some additional related published materials which will help me to fully understand the whole concept of leadership and team work strategies. Based upon the theories implied within the literature review, I will discuss the type of leadership my peer possesses. In this section I will discuss the leadership and management style that my peer used in order for us to complete the task. The discussion will also take into consideration on how my peer influences, and the method used to motivates the other team member. I will also discuss the positive and negative side of his leadership style and some recommendation based upon the leadership theories presented in the literature review. In the next section, I will reflect upon my whole team performance based upon the literature review. The process will take into consideration on how the Tuckmans Group Development Model is used to explain the development of my work group. I will also discuss the importance of having an effective team and how our project team can be identified as an effective team. In the last section, I will conclude my report based on my personal observation and findings on the whole leadership and team work process. The opportunity to work together as a team for 12 weeks has also broadened my perspective on leadership and on the importance of having an effective team. Literature Review Good leadership is essential for businesses, groups and organizations to succeed in achieving their goals. Nelson and Quick (2006) defines leadership as the process of guiding and directing the behaviour of people in the work environment. Leaders can influence others through their ability to motivate, inform, inspire and communicate effectively. There are a number of different leadership styles and strategies that can be used to accomplish their organizations goals and objectives. Each style or strategy of leadership can be used depending on the situation or organization. This section will discuss on literature review based upon Leadership Theories. The literature review is based upon the articles provided by the unit instructor, printed materials, electronic databases and search engines such as Google Scholar. Leadership Styles Theory The earliest researches on leadership style were conducted by Kurt Lewin who identified three basic styles of leaders that are autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire (Nelson Quick, 2006). These three basic styles of leadership can be use on a team and it may be changed accordingly based upon the situation. The autocratic leader usually rules based upon strong discipline and controlling in nature. This type of leader will usually dominate the group and is suitable if the group is newly formed and still lack of direction. The democratic leader on the other hand is more responsive, and takes into consideration the ideas from their subordinate. A democratic leader will encourage members within the group to actively participate in giving out ideas and helps in setting the direction of the group. This type of leadership is helpful in creating strong relationship between all members. The laissez-faire style leader usually did not implement authority and responsibility and let the subordi nate do all the things. This type of leadership is useful especially when all the team members are highly skilled and fully understands their objective. Leadership Strategies Theory Leadership Strategies is about how the leader can influence the performance of the group. One of the approaches suggested in this unit is to use the Situational Leadership Model developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. This model can be adjusted or changed as the project progress. This model is done by matching the leadership style to match the readiness of the group members based upon two characteristic of the leader, which are task behaviour and relationship behaviour (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). In the task behaviour, the leader will spell out the duties of each individual or group. However, in the relationship behaviour the leader will engage in personal communication which includes listening, encouraging and coaching. This results in four styles which are identified as Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating. A leader should use the telling style where the follower is unable and not willing to do the task. This includes providing direct instruction while closely monitoring the individual or group. When a follower is unable but willing to do a task, the leader can use the selling style where he/she will explain decisions and provides opportunity for the follower to seek clarification. In the participating leadership style, the leader involves the group in the decision making process. The delegating style is where the leader delegates responsibility to the group and is informed of the progress. However, based upon numerous researches done on Situational Leadership Model, it does not really work in reality (Graeff, 1997;Thompson Vecchio, 2009). The model which was first introduced in 1969 underwent a few changes in order to adapt to its critics. However, as Graeff (1997) discovered in his research, there are a few inconsistencies between the two version of the Situational Leadership Model which creates more confusion. Another group of researcher, Thompson and Vecchio (2009) conducted research by comparing the versions of Situational Leadership Theory plus an additional version. It was found that based upon the feedback, this model is applicable only to certain type of employees. In comparing the multiple version of the model, they also discovered that the revised version was a poorer predictor of subordinate performance and attitude than the original version. In summary, they recommend that Situational Leadership Model be taught as a starting point in discussing the interac tion between the leader and the follower. Liz Lee-Kelley (2002) discuss in her published article about the situational approach which is not in direct relation to the Situational Leadership Model. In the article she discusses about the possibility for a leader to change style to manage based upon the situation. Lee-Kelly suggested that from the evidence, there is no single style that is right for every manager under all circumstances. The study also confirms that a managers ability to control and influence the team or situation have impacts on his management style. Research in leadership field is ongoing as it is an important aspect of the organizational behaviour. Two types of leadership style which was recently introduced are the transactional and transformational leadership style. Transactional leadership is characterized by leaders and followers being in exchange relationship (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). This type of leadership relies on rewards and punishment to deal with followers. Meanwhile, the transformational leaders rely more on their personal attributes to inspire and excite followers to high level of performance (Nelson Quick, 2006). Bass (2010) encouraged organizations to train their leaders to be a transformational leader as it will greatly impact the motivation and work ethic of the employees around them. By having the transformational leaders within their organization, it will boost up their corporate image not only internally but publicly as well. This leader will attract more intelligent prospects to join the organization which in turns increase the value of the organization. Management Strategies Theory Employees have choice in their work life, if they dont like the job, they can leave or switch department. In order to be successful, organization must be able to retain the people to do the job, as training new people will consume more time and other related resources. As pointed by Schwalbe (2007), H.J. Thamhain and D.L. Wilemon conducted a research on the approaches a Project Manager use to deal with workers and identified nine influence bases available for them: Authority the legitimate hierarchical right to issue order Assignment the project managers perceived ability to influence a workers later work assignments Budget the project managers perceived ability to authorise others use of discretionary funds Promotion the ability to improve workers position Money the ability to increase a workers pay and benefits Penalty the project managers perceived ability to dispense or cause punishment Work challenge the ability to assign work that capitalizes on a workers enjoyment of doing particular task, which taps an intrinsic motivational factor Expertise the project managers perceived special knowledge that others deem important Friendship the ability to establish friendly personal relationship between the project manager and others. It is also found out that project are likely to fail if the project managers relied too heavily on using authority, money or penalty to influence people (Schwalbe, 2007). However, if the managers use work challenge and their expertise to influence the people, the project were more likely to succeed. Art Pretty (2009) in his e-book writes about why a Project Manager needs to develop their leadership skills in order to succeed. Leadership according to him is learned through practise and a leader must not be afraid to try it in their work environment. Pretty also touches on the term of culture sensing where the project manager must be able to quickly understand the how things happen or work within an organization. His e-book also highlights the importance of communicating effectively up and down the organizational ladder. This will help a Project Manager to successfully and effectively manage the whole project. A project manager whom possesses leadership qualities will drive the project towards success is also emphasized in the article written by Ruffin Veal III (2004). Veal addresses four project management processes that can be used to promote success. The processes are creating an agenda, developing a team, execution of the agenda and evaluation of the outcome. He also clearly outlined the differences in terms of responsibility, function and activity between the management and leadership for each processes. This guidelines will definitely helps an individual appointed as the project manager to evaluate his/her own capability. Team Work Theory To achieve success within an organization, each individual must work as a team. By establishing an effective team, work can be done faster and with higher quality. A work team is identified by Hayward (1998) as a group of people who have responsibility for completing a task or project, or reaching a particular goal. Bruce Tuckman in 1965 introduced a four stage model of team development which is forming, storming, norming, and performing. In the forming stage, members get to know each other and start to learn to work together. In the storming stage, there will be differences and conflicts reappear. The team will focus on managing the conflict in the norming period. The group will work together to accomplish the goals during the performing stage (DuBrin, Dalglish, Miller, 2006). Based upon this four-stage model, various researches were undertaken and most of it confirms the model. Later, in 1977, the model was modified to include an additional stage which is called adjourning (Tuckman Jensen, 1977). In this adjourning stage, the group which was created through the initial four stage model is dissolved. Tudor Rickards and Susan Moger (2000) suggest that in terms of creating an innovative product or solution, the Tuckman model had no way of explaining what is regarded as outstanding creative performance. What is lack is the Creative Leadership which will enhance the team capabilities. Parker (2008) suggests that there are four team player styles that are critical to the success of any team which are the contributors, collaborators, communicators and challengers. He also described in detail the 12 characteristics of an effective team and how each characteristic has been impacted by the changing team landscape. Characteristics of an Effective Team as described by Parker are: 1. Clear Purpose The vision, mission, goal or task of the team has been defined and is now accepted by everyone. There is an action plan. 2. Informality The climate tends to be informal, comfortable, and relaxed. There are no obvious tensions or signs of boredom. 3. Participation There is much discussion and everyone is encouraged to participate. 4. Listening The members use effective listening techniques such as questioning, paraphrasing, and summarizing to get out ideas. 5. Civilized Disagreement There is disagreement, but the team is comfortable with this and shows no signs of avoiding, smoothing over, or suppressing conflict. 6. Consensus Decisions For important decisions, the goal is substantial but not necessarily unanimous agreement through open discussion of everyones ideas, avoidance of formal voting, or easy compromises. 7. Open Communication Team members feel free to express their feelings on the tasks as well as on the groups operation. There are few hidden agendas. Communication takes place outside of meetings. 8. Clear Roles and Work Assignments There are clear expectations about the roles played by each team member. When action is taken, clear assignments are made, accepted, and carried out. Work is fairly distributed among team members. 9. Shared Leadership While the team has a formal leader, leadership functions shift from time to time depending upon the circumstances, the needs of the group, and the skills of the members. The formal leader models the appropriate behaviour and helps establish positive norms. 10. External Relations The team spends time developing key outside relationships, mobilizing resources, and building credibility with important players in other parts of the organization. 11. Style Diversity The team has a broad spectrum of team-player types including members who emphasize attention to task, goal setting, focus on process, and questions about how the team is functioning. 12. Self-Assessment Periodically, the team stops to examine how well it is functioning and what may be interfering with its effectiveness. Reflection on my peers Leadership First of all it is hard to choose who in our group should be elected as the project manager. It is hard to make the appointment as all of us did not know each other well. However, in order to complete our task, we have to work as a team and therefore we must have someone to lead us. From my view point, a leader should be the one who must have trust and respect from the other group members. Based upon the Belbins Personality assessment conducted within the tutorial, we have agreed to elect the person who is categorized as a Coordinator to be the leader. We strongly believe that the leader should be a well organized person and is trustful. As per described in by Belbins personality test, our group leader performs well in managing all the group activities and keeping track of all our documentation. He introduces www.zoho.com which is a website where we were able to collaborate and upload all our resources. He organizes the folder so that all the related materials are kept organized. All the documents edited or modified have to be versioned correctly so as to ensure that no one reads or retrieved the out dated ones. He encourages us to have our discussion via a web forum and thus reducing the need to make a phone call to each team members. This is being done to ensure that we are able to trace back whatever points that have been discussed prior to submitting the final product. From my view, he is also very much influential in terms of motivating us to furnish the best ideas. We are able to come out with good ideas and suggestions with his direction. As our project manager has experience in broadcasting, he is able to share his knowledge on how things are done. His ability to communicate effectively in terms of the overall project requirement makes each and every team member understands what is expected out of them. From my observation, our Project Manager employed a democratic leadership style where hes the one who set the overall direction of our team. He also encourages us to participate actively in all the decision where we all have to vote for the best available option. Although the decision is group-based, he still has the full authority to have the final say. I really think this is good in our team as we are all able to raise our ideas and concerns. However, as everyone tend to speak out their ideas, not all ideas are work related and thus we waste much of our time arguing irrelevant ideas. This is I think the areas he lacks, controlling the individuals within the group. I would say that he sometimes have to assert his authority especially when things are out of control. In terms of the completing the task, the project manager have outlined or broken up the tasks into several sections. This is done prior to the team meetings. Initially, he would ask each individual to which task they are comfortable to work with. This is to ensure that each team members knows their responsibility and thus can concentrate to the task at hand. Apart from dividing the task, each individual member is also assigned additional task which to check on another team members outcome. The evaluation or corrective task was delegated based upon the ability of the individual to read and write well in English. The project manager will then be the last person who will consolidate and check the overall output. Each task was also provided with separate timelines. The project manager put a very high priority on meeting the deadline set. If an individual is unable to meet the deadline, he will personally look into the individuals assigned task and provides some solution on how to tackle the issue. This would in turn makes the individual somewhat felt embarrassed of his inability to meet the deadline and thus ensure that he/she wont be making the same mistake again. During our group meeting, I also noticed that our Project Managers leadership style or strategy changed from time to time. In the first few weeks, our Project Manager adopts a style where he is the one who have total control of all documentation, set the direction of the team and closely monitors our progress. This is somewhat in relation to the telling style as mentioned in the Situational Leadership Model by Hersy and Blanchard. At a later stage, the team leader use the selling style when each of us is individually assigned a task with the knowledge that we can have him clarified on how to do the task. At one stage, the project manager acts as the facilitator when every team members presented their ideas which are similar to the participating style suggested by the model. During the last stage, as each team members already knows what they are supposed to do, our Project Managers leadership style changes to the delegating style. By employing this style, each team member is able to p ropose their own ideas and at the end all present it to the team. By doing this, each member feels that they are fully responsible of their own work and in turn makes them feel important to the team. Reflection on my Project Teams Performance In this section, I will discuss on the reflection of the teams performance. In our initial meeting, we simply try to get to know each other and try to bond. Based upon the Tuckmans Group Development Model, this phase is called forming. During this stage, everybody seems to carefully choose their words and try not to offend each other. Questions are asked based upon individuals experience especially in relation to their studies. There are also questions based upon the requirement of the project and what each members can contribute. Once we got to know each other, we progress to the second phase in what is called the storming. Based upon the Tuckmans model, this stage is when conflict emerges especially in the issue of who is to become the leader or project manager. However, as we are all able to think collectively and openly plus with the help from the tutor, we were able to stick as a team. During this stage, we are still unable to agree upon the meeting schedule as every team member is busy at work during the day. As the day progress, we arrived to the next stage which is the norming stage where we were able to set the direction of the project team. We were able to understand each individual strength and weakness and try to work around it in order to achieve our goal. During this stage, we are more open to each other and argument is made for the sake of the project. Once the overall team structure was set and agreed upon, we are able to think collectively and the group is ready and motivated to works towards the objective. This stage is described by Tuckman as the performing stage. Based upon our initial group meeting, we have agreed that we will spend most of our time discussing issues on the forum, email or website. The meeting which was set up to be about two hours every Monday and the agenda will focus more on issues that cannot be resolved online. After about 12 weeks working with the team, I can conclude that my team is an effective team based upon the 12 characteristic of an effective team specified by Parker (2008). We all have the clear purpose of the vision, goals and each individual understands and was able to finish their assigned task. Our meeting are conducted in an informal way where the environment is comfortable and relaxing. We were all able to listen, understand and argue each others ideas and if there was disagreement, we try to resolve it by compromising. Most importantly, every decision made was by a consensus decision. The way our group work was that each individual was assigned a task and required to upload the write up on the collaborative website. Once it is uploaded, each team member is required to check the other team members submission and write a comment on the forum. By providing the feedback online, it will help the team member to reply to the feedback at any time convenient for him/her. Another major advantage on posting the feedback on the forum was that each individual will have the time to really read and understand the posting. This will also help in gathering everyone opinion towards one particular issue where everyone had the opportunity to post a reply. By providing positive feedback toward each others work, it will reduce the conflict and create a more openness for the group. In our group, we also have a diverse team player type which helps in getting the work done in time and of high quality. The diversity is required as it will produce a check and balance to each and every task performed by members. Questions will be asked if the submission is unclear or does not relate to the main task. The fact that each individual team members work really hard to finish their task on time made the management of this group fairly easy. Each individual are prepared to help each other in trying to finish the project early before time. Some team members were also helpful in finding out resources although it was not within his/her job scope. Based upon the action described above, we were able to finish the project on time. Although the draft version of the whole document was prepared a few weeks earlier, we were still not able to finalize it a few days before date of submission. This was due to the fact that we have to ensure that each individual write up is free from spelling and grammatical error. The reason was that our entire team member comes from Asian countries where English is our second language. We also have problem where the team member could not communicate well in English and it takes us a while to understand what they are trying to say. However, this does not hamper them from providing the best solution and with the other members help, they were able to communicate is clearly. Another negative side of this team work is that we had to wait for reply as most of team member were busy with work during the day. It also frustrates the individual who posted his/her work earlier and have to wait for feedback. However, as the time progress, some team members especially the project manager was able to influence the whole team member to finish the job within the time frame with his excellent work ethic. Conclusion Today, in most organizations, team are set up to work together to identify and discuss solution to completing a task or project. Everyone in the team need support and direction from time to time. It is up to the project manager to lead the team. Ones leadership style and personality will affect the outcome of the team. Leadership style can be changed according to the status or situation of the team. In the beginning, the leader has to be somewhat autocratic as he has to set the teams direction and ensure that each individual within the team knows the objective. Once the team have bond together, the leader should be more diplomatic and let all team members participate in the decision making. This is to ensure that each team member contributes and feel that they are a valuable asset to the team. The leader must be able to influence and encourage the team member to think out of the box. The leader in our group applied some of the leadership style based upon the style mentioned in the literature review section. There are changes in his leadership style based upon the situation. At times he uses the autocratic style especially when the group is somewhat disorganized in the beginning. Later, when all team member starts to build trust with each other, he adopted the democratic style where all of us get to discuss on how to complete our task. It is also important to note that personality of the leader also plays an important factor to the success of the team. Our leaders ability to organize the work really helps in supporting the team. His work ethic encourages each member to emulate this and in turn promotes them to work effectively. The leader also encourages us to make full use of the technology available on the Internet. He introduces us to the collaborative website where each member is able find and share resources easily. For an effective team, every team member must have clear direction about the objective of the team. The teams structure and communication setup will effect on the way members interact with each other. The most important aspect in having the team to work together is open communication and trust. Each team members must be able to participate freely in the decision making process. Although individually, each member has their own set of strength and weakness, the team must be able to use that to their advantage. In working together, each individual member should have the chance to choose which task suits them as this will contribute to the projects success. Although there are conflicts during the decision making process, it can easily overcome as the team member discuss it openly. The leader also has the role in resolving this conflict by taking authority over the issue. In our working team, I found that we are able to work as a team as there is trust and open communication between the five of us. We are able to discuss openly and informally on any issues in relating to the task. Each individual is assigned an appropriate work load and managed to deliver their task on time. Initially the task is not at the highest quality with lots of spelling and grammatical error, however the team work together to solve it. By using Skype, the team was able to communicate even late at night to get the work done. It is great to see that each individual was willing to work together via the Internet. As a conclusion, leader plays an important factor that can influence and motivate a group in achieving its goals. A great leader should be able to change his leadership style based upon the situation or organization. However, having a good leader does not necessarily translate to an effective team. For a team to be able to work effectively, it must have a clear vision of its goals or objectives. Team members must be able to communicate effectively and openly with each other. Based upon my 12 week experience working together as a team, I can say that I have good leader within my team. With this team, we are able to effectively achieve our task. Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Barclays Bank: PEST, SWOT and Five Forces Analysis Jump to: Barclays Bank PEST Analysis | Barclays Bank SWOT Analysis | Barclays Bank Porters Five Forces Barclays bank is providing its services in India in some their selected business divisions. Barclays bank now wants to expand its services in India with other corporate units. This report is a helping tool for their expansion as it provides basic information needed for this expansion. External Environment Analysis by the help of PEST, SWOT and Porters five forces provides essential information for the management of Barclays bank while making and implementing business strategies with more knowledge, authority and control. Task 1: Business Structure of Barclays Bank: Barclays is one of the leading British based multinational banks having branches in 5 different continents across the world. Barclays bank has strong position due to its asset estimation of more than 2.3 US dollars. Banking structure of Barclays is divided into Personal and corporate banking, Investment banking, Investment management and the unit of credit cards. The main headquarter of Barclays is located at London and the customers base of Barclays bank is more than 48 million in different continents including Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. The basic structure of Barclays is divided into two clusters: 1. Corporate and investment banking plus Wealth and investment management. 2. Retail and Business Banking The further business units division is already explained. Barclays bank also plays part in providing consultancy services for people in operating their small scale business. The unit of personal banking provides its services to manage the investment of small scale businesses. The security and easy access ability level for borrowing purposes makes Barclays one of the standard financial service sectors. The business unit provides consultancy for personal banking borrowing. They provide innovation to start different small level businesses and provide attractive financial services and opportunities for personal loans. Corporate banking is one of the profitable units of business unit of Barclays as it has more than 50,000 customers in five different continents. Risk management unit is also important to provide advisory for businesses which have potential to invest and get profit and also provide opportunities for investment. Wealth and Investment management unit works in more than 20 countries to provide its services. The basic functions of this unit are international and private banking services, investment management services, fiduciary services and brokerage services. Business structure of Barclays bank allows world class banking solutions for corporate customers as well as personal banking clients. Using up to date technology in term of online banking solutions and mobility services provide an edge on competitors due to the latest procedures used in these services. Barclays rely on its global relationship approach. Different relationships teams work across the world to add value to the business of corporate and personal clients. Impact of Market Structure The basic purpose of Barclays is to increase its business in term of customers and profit, looking for potential customers all around the world, looking for growing economies and to expand in such economies to fulfill its vision of growth. Barclays bank is working in India for more than three decades. Investment banking division was the initial business of Barclays banking in India. Now Barclays bank is providing its corporate and personal banking services in India. This technique of using selected divisions is because of the market structure of India which is different as compared to Europe, Africa or America. People hesitate to deposit in banks and also there was less focus on borrowing from banks. The trend is changing due to awareness and availability of latest technology. The businesses of selected divisions in India shows that market structure have impacts while working in international economy. Changes in business structure while working internationally are basic requirements due to different values, structures and perceptions of the customers living in international market. Task 2: Causes of Globalization The change in the trends of international economy damaged the working of different organizations. The negative trend of economy of different European and American business environment allows organizations to look for new markets, customers and better economic regions. This is one of the biggest causes of globalization. The other cause is the advancement in technology and the availability of easy ways of doing business. People came to know about latest processes, new innovations in products and services, the differences in the quality of products and services and new ways of communicating. These cause international companies to expand their business across the borders to target the needs and wants of such customers. The concept of international free trade also caused globalization to take place due to the incentives associated with free trade. Availability of better suppliers in the international market causes organizations not to rely on domestic suppliers. Availability on quality su ppliers on competitive basis is a reason of globalization. Lower wages rates in other regions as compared to domestic labors in Europe and America encouraged organizations to expand their business in Asian countries which are less costly for infrastructure and low rate employees. All of the above mentioned reasons are primary causes for globalization. Advancement in technology, use of internet, emails, mobiles, and better traveling provided the basis for globalization to take place. The advancement in online technology provides basis for improved Management Information System to collect and analyze data all around the world to make investment decisions. Implications of Globalization Better business control through internet, mobiles and MIS provides comfort for organizations to handle business from anywhere in the world. This has made strategic decision making easy and fast as response from customers and management is speedy as compared to previous systems. The improvement in the living style and standard are implications of the availability of international standard products and services in those regions. People came to know about the variety and quality of products due to increased and reliable products and services as a result of international expansions. One can now see and buy products through online websites, emails and mobiles phones as these are easy and less costly way of communication now days. Now people have more choices in term of products, services and prices. One can compare product quality and prices by the help of internet and websites to buy more reliable products according to their budget. The other implications of globalizations are E-Commerce , better procedures, improved manufacturing techniques, computer simulations and low cost products and services due to availability of reliable suppliers and processes in region. World Trade Organization There are different causes and implications of globalizations but still there was a need of laws and procedures for globalization and international business. WTO is an international organization to provide standard rules and regulations for global businesses. Providing guidelines for business expansions in other countries by taking inputs from host and guest countries. Providing a list of social, legal and moral responsibilities to both parties for better business is one of the tasks of World Trade Organization. Different members across the world have provided their inputs and suggestions to generate standard laws for global businesses. Every organization and country has to wok according to these laws. Providing soft barriers for investment organizations and implementing the concept of free trade for global business are the major tasks of World Trade Organization. (THE ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVES, 2011) Task 3: PEST Analysis of Barclays External Environment Analysis of Barclays Bank Analysis of business environment through PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, Force Field Analysis and Porters Five Forces provides authentic and important information to decision making unit before formulating or implementation of business strategies. The macro and micro forces can impact the strategies of management due to their dynamic nature. External environment analysis is not a onetime process; it is a continuous process to make changes in strategies according to external environment. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) PEST Analysis Analysis of Political, Economic, Social and Technological elements which can affect the strategies and decision made by management is done under PEST analysis. (P)olitical Analysis India is a country where people choose their members of parliament through elections in a fix time period. The member of parliament makes policies for foreign investors and multinational companies. There is no clue of intervention of any third power in the political system. Opposition provides suggestions for policies. So, there are fewer chances of changes in the policies for foreign investors which are a good thing for Barclays bank. (E)conomic Analysis One of the growing economies of the world with have emphasis on research is an attractive place for foreign investors to invest. The continuous growth in the GDP for the last 10 years provides opportunities for Barclays and other foreign companies to expand in India. (S)ocial Analysis One of the countries having high population and high growth rate of population in future provides opportunities for Barclays bank to have more targeted customers. Increase in literacy rate and awareness about latest and up to date services in region provides opportunities for Barclays bank to invest in India. (T)echnological Analysis Use of internet banking, mobile banking, ATM, credit cards, e-commerce and social media provides a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank to introduce their up to date and latest services in growing economy of India. Barclays can provide their services to improve banking operations in India which is the reason why India allowed Barclays operations three decades back. SWOT Analysis of Barclays Bank (BARCLAYS BANK PLC.)Using strengths of Barclays bank in term of latest technology and operations to get benefits of opportunities available in India in term of large term of customers and markets can be possible by having knowledge about these internal resources and external business environment. SWOT analysis provides this information. (S)trengths Global Leader in providing financial and investment services in five major continents. Strong brand name in corporate banking system having more than 50,000 corporate clients all over the world. High credibility in the growing market of Pakistan which is also based in Asia. Personal banking with no limit on minimum deposit provides an edge on majority of competitors. Focus on risk management. (W)eaknesses Need of bailout in UK due to economy crises in recent past. Bad impact on image due to government funding issue in Zimbabwe. Less innovation in marketing campaigns related to Indian culture. Barclays is working in India for a long time but they fail to adopt market orientation related to Indian culture (O)pportunities Past business experience of India provides an extra advantage to make an expansion decision. Growing banking sector of India, focus on corporate banking and increased personal funding due to reliability and credibility of Barclays bank. Investment opportunities in IPL and other Indian leagues due to corporate image of these leagues can provide global promotional opportunities for Barclays bank. India is a country with wide geographical area and second highest population. India can provide a lot of potential corporate and personal customers by making an expansion decision in other parts of India. (T)hreats Increase in interest rates has decreased the funding from personal banking sector. Government banks and investment policies provides more attraction for personal investors due to bigger output of these services. Domestic banks with cultural related strategies is a threat for Barclays More international banks are moving towards Indian market due to the availability of business and customers. It can increase the scale of competition in India. Porters Five Forces Entry Barriers The entrance of new multinational banks like HSBC and other are expanding their businesses in India due to soft barriers of entering and availability of customers. This situation can increase the competition scale and number of saturated markets in India. Rivalry with Industry Services provided by different local and international banks are of the same type. So, it is important to change interest rates and services charges to attract more customers as compared to other banks. The switching of financial services for customers to other banks is easy and not much costly so banks need to develop latest and up to date processes to facilitate customers. Threat of Substitutes Innovations in the products and services provided by banks, including car financing, house financing and education financing provides opportunities for bank to focus not only on traditional banking system. The local financing institutes with less interest rate for personal borrowing are also a threat for banks in India. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Reserve bank of India takes actions regarding monetary suppliers which impact the supply of money in the economy. Customers provide supplies in deposits for personal banking and majority of banks are offering same interest rates. So, there is a need of innovation in services to attract financial suppliers. Bargaining Power of Buyers Providing alternative services in term of finance for car, houses, education, businesses and consultancy can bring the bargaining power of customer low as all the banks are providing same type of services with same interest rates. (Barclays, 2008) Task 4: Business Objectives of Expansion Capturing the potential customers in other attractive regions in other cities Boosting the current market orientation of Barclays bank in India Increasing the number of divisions working in India to capture more opportunities Investment in Global promotional opportunities in tem of Indian Premium League and other Leagues which have global impacts Focusing on international revenue to carryout domestic and international operations. India can provide opportunities for larger scale of revenue due to its population and geographical area as compared to domestic branches in UK Providing E-Commerce services in India due to increased level of interest showed by Indian customers for online operations Capturing corporate customers of India as Barclays bank has strong base and experience of dealing with corporate customers. These customers can provide vast opportunities for revenue as compared to personal or investment banking. Having more than 50,000 corporate customers is good enough experience for Barclays to target corporate banking in India India is growing economy as compared to major European countries so it can provide more opportunities for business in India. There are number of corporate sectors in India and number of Billionaires businessmen who can provide a lot of opportunities for Barclays bank through their operations Resistance from Employees Making any change in the business structure or operations can help to bring employees out of the comfort zone. This is the reason why some of employees resist against any type of change in structure of operations. Making an expansion decision in Indian market means there will be a lot of changes to be made to formulate and implement strategies for new geographical areas and segments. Altering the operations of employees to take their assistance in expanding operations can bring resistance from employees. Providing them incentives associated with successful expansion of Barclays bank can help to bring down any resistance from employees. Expansion can bring a lot of opportunities for managerial positions in new branches. Good human resource management can communicate these opportunities with existing employees by giving them attractive growth and career paths for potential employees to bring down the level of resistance from employees. (T R JAIN, MUKESH TREHAN, RANJU TREHAN, 2009) Recommendations Focusing on promotional activities associated with global marketing can help Barclays in Indian and international market. Recent Olympics, Indian Premier League, Formula race and other global events in India can provide a lot of help for Barclays in their promotional activities if they use these events for marketing purposes. Proving online services in domestic languages can provide a differentiation edge and USP for Barclays to target more customers. Barclays should invest in social activities of education and green environment to build a better corporate social image in India Focusing on innovation in term of substitute products can help to bring more revenue and customers to Barclays bank.