Their role requires them to steer the company in a direction that aligns with its long-term goals and vision. Instead of getting involved in the nitty-gritty details of daily operations, they focus on strategic planning and overall growth. It’s their responsibility to communicate the company strategy and ensure that everyone works together to achieve it. President, as the name suggests is the person who presides over an organization. He is the senior-most officer of the organization after CEO, who is the head of the branch or division of the company. He is responsible for looking after the day to day business operations and logistics and proper implementation of the organization’s policies as per the directions of the top-level executives.
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In the corporate world, however, the president often refers to someone who is the leader of a segment or critical part of the overall company, rather than the leader of the overall company. Generally, the board of directors sets the policy, the what is the difference between a ceo and a president president executes the policy and reports back to the board, and then the board reports back to the shareholders—the ultimate owners. In the organizational structure, the chairman is taller than the CEO and the CEO is taller than the president.
Chairman of the company
In small businesses, you may notice that the roles of CEO and President are often combined. The founder or owner of the business generally occupies both positions, playing a dual role in steering the company’s direction and managing its operations. In this setting, the CEO/President wears multiple hats, handling everything from business strategy to daily management tasks, ensuring the company’s growth and success. However, as the business grows and expands, the need for a more formal corporate structure may arise.
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Additionally, the president doesn’t typically work in close liaison with the company’s board of directors. Roles of the president include leading the company’s executive group, establishing and overseeing the company’s budget, and analyzing budgets and financial reports. While there are many different ways a corporate structure is set up, the basic corporation is headed by a board of directors. The CEO is the highest ranking officer with direct responsibility for the management of the company, and answers to a board of directors. Board members are elected by the shareholders, and may be either senior officers in the company or people independent of the company. The board is responsible for establishing corporate management policies and giving input on big-picture decisions.
- In these smaller companies, the owner or founder wears many hats, executing everything from office tasks to overseeing social marketing and messaging campaigns.
- Ultimately, CEOs are more focused on increasing the value of the company for shareholders with a long-term vision rather than meeting short-term goals.
- The CEO is not always the chair of the board, and the president is not always the COO.
- Depending on the company’s size and structure, then a president may oversee a part of the company under the direction of the COO.
- Depending on the size of a company, the highest ranked role may be a president, not a CEO.
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But it is also true that in the case of smaller organizations, the role of CEO and President is performed by a single person. While President focuses on the present, the CEO is concentrated towards the future. In many ways, the CEO is a jack of all trades — making critical business decisions that keep the company moving toward its long-term goals and objectives. When both a CEO and president role exist within a single company, the CEO outranks the president.
Kayes said that having one or more presidents at a company allows responsibilities to be spread out more and can also serve as a retention and attraction tool because of the title’s cachet. Oftentimes, there will be a division between CEO and president at companies in the oil and gas industry or companies that specialize in consumer products. Basically businesses that have “multiple operating divisions or are geographically dispersed,” Kayes said. Jan Koors of Pearl Meyer pointed out that at many companies, the president has become the functional equivalent of the Chief Operating Officer, which is also a job title that also may entail handling day-to-day tasks. Koors said the structure of the company will vary from company to company, and may depend on the number of employees they have to manage and the complexity of the company’s operations. CEOs hold the highest title at the company, responsible for its overall strategy, with the president second in command.
While a CEO is the face of a company and at the top of the hierarchy, a president is needed to oversee daily functions. Entering the business world means getting a sense of understanding corporate structure and hierarchy. While many businesses are shifting the landscape to lessen their focus on hierarchical structure, others hold true to the typical business structure. As such, it’s a good thing to understand the differences between CEO vs. President, especially if you are studying Business Administration.
While a CEO looks after the entire company, a President generally attends to the day-to-day operational minutiae. Presidents, on the other hand, generally act more as top-tier managers with power over personnel, but lack the power to single-handedly alter the course of the company or manage other executive officers. This is, however, a generalization, and power dynamics vary among different corporations. If a board feels that a CEO is not performing at acceptable levels, they can fire the CEO and replace them with a new one. In a company with subsidiaries, it would be unusual to have one person carry out the roles of both CEO and president, although it does happen at times, often with smaller businesses.