Chief operating officer

A chief operating officer or chief operations officer (COO) is an executive who manages the personnel, resources, logistics, and daily operations of an organization. COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the CEO, and reports directly to them and acts on their behalf in their absence. A COO is usually voted in by shareholders or appointed by the board of directors. Unlike other C-suite positions, which tend to be defined according to commonly designated responsibilities across most companies, a COO's job tends to be defined in relation to the specific CEO with whom they work, given the close working relationship of these two individuals. The selection of a COO is similar in many ways to the selection of a vice president or chief of staff of the United States: power and responsibility structures vary in government and private regimes depending on the style and needs of the president or CEO. Thus, the COO role meets individual expectations and changes as leadership teams adjust. The COO position is common in firms that are operationally intensive, such as airline and automotive industries. 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. 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. Richard D.