1. Introduction to Business English

2.  A worker contacted his manager and told him
he had just received a nice gift of expensive
silverware from one of their suppliers he work
with and that was bidding to get a contract to
supply more parts to company. Since this
employee was also on the team that made the
selection of who will get the contract to supply
parts, this employee felt that he should not
accept this gift, but wanted to know what his
manager would say.

3. PEOPLE IN A COMPANY
 Every company has hierarchy.
 The titles of each person symbolizes a role that
they must take to make the company work
 Some people may have more than one title
 We will look at one company to view their
hierarchy and show you a few more. 

5. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
 Board of Directors are men and women who are
elected by shareholders to do three things:
 Appoint and evaluate a CEO (including salary
payment)
 Protect the shareholders assets (keep the money
safe)
 Ensure results in the company (the company makes
money)
 They do this by working with financial
statements within the company.
 The number of members can be any number.
(Activision Blizzard has 11)

6. “CHAIRMAN” OF THE BOARD
 The chairman is the head of the
board of directors.
 His/her roles are:
 Conduct the meetings with the board
 To prepare the agenda for the meetings with the
board
 Being the spokesman for the company
 The chairman is voted upon by the members
of the board.
Jean-Bernard Levy

7. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER/MANAGING DIRECTOR
 Highest ranking executive in a
company
 His responsibilities are:
 Develop high level strategies
 Make major corporate decisions
 Manage overall operations and resources
 Communicate actions within the company to the
board and other officers
Robert A. Kotick

8. CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (COO)
 Responsible for the daily operations of
the company
 Many responsibilities for the COO are
dependent on what the CEO wants
 The main responsibility for all COO’s are:
 Report to CEO about day to day operations
 Create more productive ways for the company to make
money
 Develop strategies and rewards for employees
 Develop requirements for each employee position
 Maintain and monitor staff expectations
 Review performance of company
Thomas Tippl

9. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) / FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
 Responsible for the financial risks
involved within the company.
 They have three major responsibilities:
 Prepare and present accurate records
for shareholders, creditors, and analysts
in a timely manner.
 Decides how the company will invest their money.
 Must identify and report what areas of a company
are most efficient and how the company can
capitalize on this information.
 A CFO + COO = CFOO (Chief Financial
Operations Officer)
Thomas Tippl

10. CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER
 Responsible for Customer Satisfaction.
 They are in charge of:
 Call centers
 Making decisions in:
 Sales
 Marketing
 after-sales
 billing
 Report to CEO about issues within customer
support.
Brian Hodous

11. CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER
 A certified lawyer in charge of
legal issues for the company.
 The main roles are:
 Make sure future work isn’t unlawful
 Make sure present work doesn’t become unlawful
 Create contracts
 Protect company from lawsuits and apply lawsuits
to companies and people.
Chris B. Walther

12. CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER
 Oversees HR and relations with
other companies
 Their main responsibilities are:
 Finding great talent for the company
 Strategies to help the work environment
 Produce rules for performance
 Produce benefits for employees (salary, medical, etc.)
 Compliance to laws with the country / provinces / city/
etc.
 Report to the CEO
Ann E. Weiser

13. OTHER OFFICERS
 Chief Content Officer
 Chief Accounting Officer
 Chief Engeneering
Officer
 Chief Information Officer
 Chief Learning Officer
 Chief Medical Officer
 Chief Privacy Officer
 Chief Technical Officer
 Chief Academic Officer
 Chief Analytics Officer
 Chief Brand Officer
 Chief Communications
Officer
 Chief International
Officer
 Chief Product Officer
 Chief Tax Officer

14. PRESIDENT OF COMPANY
 President of a company is like a COO
 Usually given to smaller companies within a
parent company or a company that doesn’t
need many officers
 They are usually the chairman of the board in a
company as well in the US
 Still reports to the CEO

15.  Second in command over the CEO or President.
 Some companies may have multiple vice-presidents
depending on the size of the company
 They are to follow what the CEO/President wants
them to do and report back on the work.
 The hierarchy of Vice-Presidents are:
1. Executive Vice President (EVP)
2. Group Vice President (GVP)
3. Senior Vice President (SVP)
4. Corporate Vice President (CVP)
5. First Vice President (FVP)
6. Vice President (VP)
7. Assistant Vice President or Associate Vice President (AVP)

16. GENERAL MANAGER
 In charge of all areas of one section. For
example, in charge of business in China.
 They will look at the big picture instead of the
day to day tasks that lower managers do.
 They will have managers under them to help
him complete tasks
 Will report to Vice-presidents or the CEO

17. TREASURER
 In charge of risk management for the company.
 These risks could include
 Liquidity
 Credit
 Currency
 Commodities
 Operations
 If the risk is too high for any, it is their job to tell
the CEO and other officers about the risks.

18.  http://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar11