What Is The Role of a President of a Corporation?
There are three tiers of power in a corporation:
- the shareholders are the owners of the company;
- the directors run the company and are responsible for the its overall management;
- and the officers handle the day-to-day matters of the company as well as carry out the directors’ decisions and policies.
The appointing of officers is done by the Board of Directors of the company. The most notable officer titles are President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. However, if required, the board can appoint other officers, such as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO), managers or any other title the board wishes to create.
But, what does the president of a company do? Let’s first discuss some of the requirements to take on this role. The person who is President of a company is in the highest position within an organization and, in some cases, takes on the title of Chief Executive Officer as well. The President/CEO is often (but not always) the founder and owner of the business.
Here are some of the key roles and responsibilities of a Company President:
- creates, communicates and implements the organization’s vision, mission and overall direction.
- hires, fires and manages all employees of the company.
- leads, guides, directs and evaluates all other officers, managers and employees, and ensures they are carrying out the daily operations of the company.
- meets regularly with other officers or managers of the company to make sure that the decisions the organization needs to make are prescient and strategic.
- confirms that all officers and managers are conveying the company’s philosophies and guidelines to their own teams so that all employees understand the expectations of the company.
- oversees all the financials aspects of the company and maintains awareness of both external and internal opportunities for expansion, customers, markets, new industry developments and standards.
Keep in mind that the role of president in a company is not standardized. While these are general terms of a corporate President’s duties, they may differ in individual organizations. If you're planning to form a corporation of your own, you can get started on our website. Our team will be happy to answer any questions that you have along the way.
Next: Officers of a Corporation
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There are 11 comments left for What Is The Role of a President of a Corporation?
Raj Bhatia said: Thursday, January 14, 2021The President does day-to-day EXECUTION of the strategy while a CEO the boss sets the vision and the strategy. The highest job is that of a CEO.
Kathleen Sixto said: Thursday, July 2, 2020Can a president may removed fromm his position? If yes,what may be the reasons.?
HBS Staff replied: Monday, July 6, 2020Yes, it is possible to remove a President or any officer in a corporation. Here's a blog post that discusses the process: https://www.delawareinc.com/blog/remove-replace-officer-delaware-corporation.
Secret said: Monday, May 11, 2020What is the work of the President/CEO of a group of companies do? What are the things they need to do if there are a President who take care to that company who is under to him/her, does he/she have work to do or nothing at all?
HBS Staff replied: Monday, May 11, 2020The President of a company typically has the responsibilities noted in the article above. Even if the company is the parent of other companies, President is still an important role.
tasheena said: Monday, October 28, 2019does the president interview the employees often or not at all?
HBS Staff replied: Monday, October 28, 2019This will vary form company to company. In a new company, the President may be the founder and only employee, so he or she would likely interview any new candidates. In a larger company, the President may not be involved with interviews very much at all.
PY said: Wednesday, April 25, 2018Can there be 2 co-corporate secretaries? with similar powers? or a secretary and an under-secretary acting only when the secretary is absent for example?
HBS Staff replied: Wednesday, April 25, 2018Typically, the roles and titles are specified internally in thecompany's bylaws, so it is more or less up to the company.