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CEOs work on the company's long-term strategies and strategic partnerships, while presidents deal with day-to-day operations and bottom-line performance. As SoftwareCEO.com explains, the CEO handles overall strategy while the president's responsibilities are more managerial. Presidents answer to CEOs. According to Investopedia.com, presidents often hold the title of Chief Operating Officer, or COO. The COO is responsible for executing the policy of the CEO and board of directors. So, in short, it's a "vision thing" versus a "nuts and bolts thing." But how does the chairman of the board fit into the power structure? When Bill Gates handed over
his CEO title to Steve Balmer, he stuck around as Microsoft's chairman. Slate explains that the chairman is in charge of setting the agenda of the board of directors, which can hire and fire CEOs and must approve CEO-sponsored strategies. So, technically the chairman of the board is the big kahuna, but he or she needs the support of the board to really drop the hammer. Then again, it all depends on the company -- we doubt anybody was giving orders to Henry Ford.
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