Updated November 27, 2023
Difference Between CEO vs President
To run a successful organization, one needs great leaders who can lead by example. The management is the one who does that, and among them, the top employees of an organization are the CEO and the President. CEO is considered to have the topmost or, say, the highest ranking in the company. On the other hand, the president can be considered second in charge and directly reporting to the CEO. The company’s CEO (i.e. Chief Executive Officer) ranks the topmost executive in an organization. Their primary and key responsibilities will be making major company-level or corporate decisions and looking after an organization’s overall functions, operations, and resources.
The CEO will always act as the key point of communication between the corporate operations and the board of directors. The President, on the other hand, is mainly considered as the company’s leader. However, the relationship between the CEO and the President will vary depending on the company’s structure. The President’s role is loosely defined, and the President’s powers and authority will vary widely in various companies. Moreover, these authorities and powers can come into practice only by statute or the law.
Head To Head Comparison Between CEO vs President Value (Infographics)
Below is the top 6 difference between CEO vs President
Key Differences Between CEO vs President
let us discuss some of the major differences between the CEO vs President
- CEO or the Chief Executive Officer of the company is the topmost or the first person in the firm hierarchy responsible for the company’s mission, strategy vision, and financial soundness. On the contrary, the President is the top-level or the second officer of the company responsible for managing the company’s daily activities, the operations and implementation of the same, and the strategies successfully.
- The CEO of the firm is the senior officer of the organization. On the other hand, the company’s President is subordinate to the CEO or the Chief Executive Officer.
- The company’s CEO is accountable to the BOD (i.e., Board of Directors), whereas the firm’s CEO is the immediate manager or, say, the boss of the President.
- The company’s president will have a short-term perspective because he is responsible for regular business activities, operations, and logistics. As opposed to that, the company’s CEO has a very long-term perspective because the company’s CEO is responsible for formulating the organization’s vision, mission, strategies, and goals and forecasting the firm’s future in the upcoming years.
- The company’s president will concentrate on maximizing the firm’s profit. At the same time, on the other hand, a CEO will focus on wealth maximization that will add value to the firm.
- The company’s CEO will look after the planning department and its function; the President must ensure the systematic implementation and execution of those visions, plans, and policies.
- The company’s president will attempt to increase efficiency by doing things correctly. Conversely, the CEO or the Chief Executive Officer will strive to gain effectiveness by getting things done correctly.
- The company’s president will define success as the firm’s growth, but on the other hand, for the company’s CEO, success will imply sustainability.
- Legacy achieved by the organization is the way to measure the chief executive officer or the CEO’s work and efforts. However, On the other hand, the firm’s performance will be the outcome of the President’s work and also the efforts that he has put into it.
CEO vs President Comparison Table
Below is the 6 topmost comparison between CEO vs President
| Basis of Comparison |
CEO |
President |
| Basic Definition | The CEO is the topmost employee in the firm’s hierarchy and is responsible for the company’s overall vision, mission, strategy, and financial soundness. | The president is also an employee who is also the firm’s top-level officer responsible for the day-to-day operational activities or the decisions and the successful implementation of those strategies. |
| Position in the firm | The CEO is the topmost-ranked employee in an organization. | The President is the second-highest and will be reporting to the CEO. |
| Perspective in the firm | CEO looks for a long-term perspective. | The President is majorly concerned with a short-term perspective. |
| Emphasis on | The CEO’s goal will be wealth maximization for its shareholders. | The President looks after profit maximization. |
| Major Role | It can be said that the company’s CEO will make a promise to the organization and set the company’s long-term vision. | On the other hand, the President of the company will be in charge of converting those visions set by the CEO of the company into reality by effective execution of the same and keeping the promise. |
| Other responsibilities | CEO may also function as the Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors and President. | The president may be the company’s COO (Chief Operating Officer). |
Conclusion
However, After looking at all the above-stated points, the key variances between the roles and responsibilities of the Chief Operating Officer or the CEO of the company and the President may be quite clear; these differences will specifically apply to large firms. In smaller firms that lack human resources and finances, the same person may perform the President and the CEO roles. However, These roles could differ in expertise, focus, knowledge, vision, skill set, view, etc. Still, the ultimate purpose of President vs CEO roles is the organization’s success and growth.
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