Difference Between a CEO and a President

CEO vs President
Any designation that you were to look at is differentiated by the skill set that it requires to perform that role and the responsibilities that it will bring along with it. Usually, The President is the one who reports to the CEO. The CEO’s task is to create strategies and forecast where the company will be in the coming years and how they will reach that goal post. The CEO is the interface between the board of directors and the managers or the departmental heads in the organization.

The President is the one who looks after the day to day functioning of the organization somewhat like a site head. She/he must keep the ship moving and manage all the managers on a daily basis. The day to day running of the organization is what the President will look after.

The job of the CEO is to ensure that the company is profitable. This will include charting out the road map for it to reach there. The CEO must look at cost-cutting measures and the utilization of resources optimally and in the best possible manner. The CEO is the one who looks after initiatives, innovations, performance and of course the strategy which will help the company to be able to achieve short and long term goals.

On the other hand, the President must ensure that the company work smoothly in its pursuit of achieving the goals that have been communicated to it. The President must ensure that there is a smooth functioning of all the roles such as human resources, infrastructure and equipment to be able to generate the profits expected of them.

If you were to look at it as a hierarchical division than the CEO is right on top of the heap and the next in command is the President. A CEO could also serve as the chairman of a board of directors and in case the company has many conglomerates then s/he could be overseeing many Presidents too. A President of the company could also be known as the COO which is the Chief Operating Officer.

Therefore, the way it works is that the board sets the task along with the CEO and the President and the managers get down making it a reality by the day to day functioning. Both of them work in sync to ensure the company’s profitability.

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