Chief operating officer

In a similar vein to the COO, the title of corporate president as a separate position (as opposed to being combined with a "C-suite" designation, such as "president and CEO" or "president and COO") is also loosely defined. The president is usually the legally recognized highest rank of corporate officer, ranking above the various vice presidents (including senior vice president and executive vice president), but on its own generally considered subordinate, in practice, to the CEO.

Lloyd E. Reuss was president of General Motors from 1990 to 1992, as the right-hand man of chairman and CEO Robert C. Stempel.[3] Stempel insisted on naming Reuss as company president in charge of North American operations, the board reluctantly agreed but showed their displeasure by not giving Reuss the title of COO.[4]

Richard D. Parsons was number two in the company hierarchy during his tenure as president of Time Warner from 1995 to 2001, but he had no authority over the operating divisions, and instead took on assignments at the behest of chairman and CEO Gerald Levin.[5][6][7]

Michael Capellas was appointed president of Hewlett-Packard in order to ease its acquisition and integration of Compaq, where Capellas was previously chairman and CEO. Capellas ended up serving just six months as HP president before departing. His former role of president was not filled as the executives who reported to him then reported directly to the CEO.[8][9]

In 2007, the investment banking firms of Bear Stearns and Morgan Stanley each had two presidents (Warren Spector and Alan Schwartz at Bear, Robert Scully and Zoe Cruz at Morgan) reporting to one CEO (who was also chairman of the board); each president was essentially a co-COO (despite the lack of title) overseeing half of the firm's business divisions. Schwartz became sole president of Bear after Spector was ousted, and several months later assumed the position of CEO as well when James Cayne was forced to resign (Cayne remained chairman).

Tom Anselmi of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment was chief operating officer from 2004 until September 6, 2013. Between the departure of Richard Peddie and the hiring of Tim Leiweke for the posts of president and CEO, Anselmi added the title of president from September 4, 2012, to June 30, 2013, however he remained COO and did not receive the title of CEO.[10]

Richard Fuld, the chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers, had a succession of "number twos" under him, usually titled as president and chief operating officer. Chris Pettit was Fuld's second-in-command for two decades until November 26, 1996, when he resigned as president and board member. Pettit lost a power struggle with his deputies (Steve Lessing, Tom Tucker, and Joseph M. Gregory) on March 15 that year that caused him to relinquish its COO title, likely brought about after the three men found about Pettit's extramarital affairs, which violated Fuld's unwritten rules on marriage and social etiquette. Bradley Jack and Joseph M. Gregory were appointed co-COOs in 2002, but Jack was demoted to the office of the chairman in May 2004 and departed in June 2005 with a severance package of $80 million, making Gregory the sole COO. While Fuld was considered the "face" of Lehman brothers, Gregory was in charge of day-to-day operations and he influenced culture to drive the bottom line.[11] Gregory was demoted on June 12, 2008, and replaced as president and COO by Bart McDade, who had been serving as head of Equities, and McDade would see Lehman through bankruptcy.[12][13]

Thomas W. LaSorda served as president and CEO of Chrysler from January 1, 2006, to August 5, 2007, while Chrysler was owned by Daimler-Benz. When Cerberus Capital bought majority control of Chrysler, Bob Nardelli was appointed chairman and CEO of Chrysler, while LaSorda became vice chairman and president. Despite the appointment of a second vice chairman and president, Jim Press, LaSorda stayed on.[14][15] LaSorda's titles as vice chairman and president officially stated that he was in charge of manufacturing, procurement and supply, employee relations, global business development and alliances. However, LaSorda's actual role was to find a new partner or buyer for Chrysler, leading to speculation that Cerberus Capital was less interested in rebuilding the auto manufacturer than it was to turning profit though a leveraged buyout.[16]

Research in Motion's corporate structure had more than one COO, including Jim Rowan as chief operating officer for global operations, and Thorsten Heins as COO of products and sales.[17][18][19]

The Walt Disney Company has used the president and COO titles in varied ways for their number two executive. Ron W. Miller was president from 1978 to 1984, while serving additionally as CEO for 18 months from 1983 to 1984. Frank Wells was president from 1984 to 1994, where he reported to the board of directors and not chairman and CEO Michael Eisner. When Wells died in a helicopter crash,[20] no replacement president was named as his duties were resumed by Eisner. Michael Ovitz was president from 1995 to 1997, being hired by Eisner and then dismissed not long afterwards. Bob Iger was president and COO from 2000 to 2005, when he succeeded Eisner as CEO. Thomas O. Staggs was COO from 2015 to 2016, during that time the senior executive team had a dual reporting structure to both Staggs and Iger; Staggs resigned after the board did not give him assurances that he would succeed as CEO.

Manulife has used the president and COO titles for separate roles. From June 5 until September 30, 2017, Rocco "Roy" Gori served as president where he oversaw Manulife's global operating businesses, with his subordinates being the general managers of the Canadian, U.S., and Asia Divisions, and the chief investment officer. Gori reported to chief executive officer Donald Guloien before additionally assuming the title of CEO on October 1, 2017, upon Guloien's retirement. Linda Mantia, the chief operating officer, reported to the president on corporate strategy while continuing to report to the CEO on all other matters including corporate development, Analytics, Technology, Marketing, Innovation, human resources, regulatory and public affairs, global resourcing and procurement, and the global program office.[21]

At the World Bank, the president outranks the other executives including the CEO and chief economist.

Most modern companies operate without a COO. For example, in 2007 almost 58% of Fortune 500 companies did not have a COO.[22] In these instances the CEO either takes on more roles and responsibilities, or the roles traditionally assigned to the COO are carried out by sub C-suite executives. Although the number of COOs has been in decline for the past 10 years, there are reasons to anticipate an increased utilization of the position in the future, including:

• Companies are becoming larger and more complex, making it more difficult for one person alone to have total oversight over the whole organization.[1]
• Companies are finding a strong relationship between firm performance and the presence of a COO.[23]
• Companies are becoming more deliberate about CEO succession planning and will use the role to on-board and train successors.[1]
• The increase in talent mobility means that the role will likely be used more often as a retention mechanism for key executives who are at risk of moving to a competitor.[1]

Routinely in large organizations the COO will be the heir apparent to the CEO.[25] Individuals may have worked their way (internally) up the company ladder before being named COO, or may have been recruited from an outside company. Either way, the position is used as a training and testing ground for the next CEO.

A 2003 Crist Associates study revealed that only 17% of companies that promote a COO to a CEO replace the COO within the next year.[26]

An Accenture study found that approximately one in nine COOs moved into the CEO's shoes within a year of their departure and that half of COOs see themselves as the "heir apparent."[27] COOs transitioning into the CEO role often face similar challenges including:

• Not being automatically granted the luxury of a diagnostic period. Given that they know the company, COOs turned CEOs are often expected to hit the ground running when in actuality they too need to enter diagnostic mode to fully understand their new role and to see the company from a new perspective.
• Finding time to manage a new key stakeholder: The board. Many COOs turned CEOs are often surprised how time-intensive managing the board of directors can be and must learn to incorporate this important responsibility into an already packed schedule.
• Being in the spotlight. COOs are used to having the luxury of working "behind the scenes." As CEO, many are surprised to find they have become a "public" figure both inside and outside the organization and must learn how to manage this additional obligation.
• Recalibrating their image. Often COOs struggle not with the strategy portion of the job itself, but overcoming the perception of other stakeholders that they are an "execution" executive versus a "strategy" executive.[27] As a result, nearly 50% of the S&P 500 companies have opted to appoint a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to be a "mini CEO" and as peer to the COO.[28]

According to researchers Miles and Bennett, just knowing these common pitfalls can help a COO "heir" better prepare for the transition, thereby avoiding them in totality or ensuring that at least they do not evolve into full derailers once they are in the CEO seat.[27]