The CEO acronym means the Chief Executive Officer. This role is very important in different types of companies and industries. The official definition of this role means that it is the highest-ranked executive in the business. Of course, this title is not a unique or exclusive one, because a person with the role of a CEO, can be the owner of a company or can also be a member of the board. We need to understand the nature of a corporation to fully understand the role of a Chief Executive Officer.
A corporation – what is it?
A corporation is a legal entity that makes the structure of a company much different compared to a sole proprietorship or partnership firm. People who are the owners or executives who work for a corporation can have many different financial and legal responsibilities compared to partners or sole proprietors. Of course, a corporation has got a board of directors responsible for managing and overseeing all the business activities of a company. The board does not involve in the day-to-day activities of a company. Typically, a CEO is responsible for these activities.
Definition and meaning of a CEO
The CEO is a very wide role with many different responsibilities and job duties. In small organizations, a CEO can be the only one executive officer in a company, so this person will be responsible for overseeing all financial, reporting and sales activities in a firm. A typical workday for CEO can be associated with taking care of production, purchase, finances, human resources or customer service. It means that it is a very important and responsible role in a corporation. Larger organizations can hire people who are responsible for all of these operations and they report to their CEO who does not have any contact with day-to-day operations – everything depends on the type and size of business.
We can see that the CEO is a position located between the board and employees of a company. A CEO has got real control over the whole company.
CEO or Chairman – which position is higher?
It is difficult to say which position is higher because it depends on the particular organizational structure and strategic goals of a company. In most cases, the board of directors hires a CEO, so a Chief Executive Officer can report to a Chairman. Sometimes a chairman can also play the role of a CEO. Individual corporations and companies have got specific reporting structures developed by themselves, so the individual company definitions determine the role of CEO, president, chairman, and other people.
As we can see, a CEO position is associated with a very wide range of duties and jobs. That is why people who work in this position, very often spend a lot of time at work and they also need to perform some tasks during holidays and weekends. That is why this position can lead to becoming a workaholic. In other words, this job position is suitable especially for people who know how to manage their time effectively. They also need to have good leadership skills and should know how to control their workers.
