Whilst the roles of the project sponsor and the project leader in one way or another are likely to be intertwined in the execution of a project, there is a distinct difference between them. The project sponsor’s responsibility centers on demystifying the worth, significance, and intended profits of the project and advises project members in the business functionality of the project on all financial terms. On the other hand, the project leader can be described as the general overseer of the project on both internal and external factors that are associated with the project. This paper discusses the difference between the project sponsor and project leader and further gives actions or measures that can be instituted in an organization to mitigate the likelihood of employee implication in a theft of trade secrets.
The main difference thus between the project sponsor and project leader comes in their functionality that is, the project sponsor is the senior officer on all matters to do with finances to be spent on the project, heads review team, and also gives a report on the predicted profits to be accrued from the project. In a nutshell, the project sponsor makes decisions on the scope, schedule, and budget of the project. The project leader is the senior officer in the company accountable for all factors surrounding the project and has the overall oversight in the undertaking to commensuration of the project. The project leader gets to compose the project team membership, develop a project plan with them and make decisions requisite in the execution of the project and presents financial ones to the project sponsor for consideration (Staff, 2016). In essence, it would be right to say the project leader is answerable for every single aspect of the project.