STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYSIS

Prof. Albina Balon

Genevieve Vargas BSA21A1
Midterm (The Chief Executive Officer)

STRATEGIC QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1. Discuss the differences between the roles of top (CEO) management and
middle management.

The difference between the CEO management and middle management is the CEO has to
look at the entire organization and determine the best course of action for the business. Once
those decisions are made, middle managers are responsible for implementing the plans the
CEO created.

2. Explain why a CEO should be "shielded from daily operations" and be

given time to think.

The CEO should be shielded from daily operations because the CEO have the primary duty
to think. The CEO needs to be shielded from having to worry about day-to-day operations. The
CEO is at his best when he is given room and space, and time to think-possibly isolated in his
office or perhaps shooting ideas with trusted partners while playing golf. While this may strike
an outsider as anything but working, effective CEOs take advantage of such opportunities to
network, gather information, and synthesize ideas according to Lafley. Because many CEOs also
wake up early, such as at four in the morning, in order to have time to think about the business
in peace and quiet. Bill Gates, once the most powerful CEO in the world as the head of
Microsoft Corp., was known to take week-long retreats in an isolated cabin in the woods, so
that he can think about the future of technology without being disturbed by the other duties of
a CEO. Therefore, CEO should be shielded from daily operations because of such behaviors of a
CEO, ideally, is for the CEOs to have very clear ideas about what the best direction would be for
the firm in the long term. The CEO always think about what the business should be like five in
ten years.
 3. What does it mean for a CEO to be a figurehead? Give examples.

According to Mintzberg interpersonal roles, figurehead means that the CEO serves as the
symbolic personification of the company. If the CEO projects an attitude of confidence, the
organization may feel confident about the organization as well. But being a figurehead also
involves having ceremonial duties; if an employee is having a child baptized, for instance, then
it is not unusual for the CEO to be asked to become a godparent. As a matter of form, it may
not be good for the CEO to decline such a request.
For example, are when a figurehead is someone who appears to be in charge, but who really
holds very little influence. If a retiring businesswoman promotes her son to be the new CEO of
her company, while putting a different person in charge of running the business, the son is just
a figurehead. It only means that the person used as a cover for some questionable activity. In
conclusion a person who allows his name to be used to give standing to enterprises in which he
has no responsible interest or duties or a nominal, but not real, head or chief.

4. Explain the difference between a President and a CEO, if any.

The chief executive officer or the CEO is the highest-ranking executive at any given
company, and their main responsibilities include managing the operations and resources of a
company, making major corporate decisions, being the main liaison between the board of
directors and corporate operations, and being the public face of the company. While the
President in some corporations and organizations, the president is the leader of the company's
executive group. In the corporate world, however, the president often refers to someone who
is the leader of a segment or critical part of the overall company, rather than the leader of the
overall company. For instances, the president is also the CEO. In small businesses, the president
might also be the owner of the company. In an organization or company where a CEO is already
in charge, the president is the second in command.
In conclusion, in many companies the CEO is the leader, and the president is the second in
command. But often the CEO and president carry out different duties, and the roles are
performed by two people. And at smaller companies or those without subsidiaries, the CEO and
president roles are often carried out by the same person.