Corporate Title

Corporate Title

Publicly and privately held for-profit corporations confer corporate titles or business titles on company officials as a means of identifying their function in the organization. In addition, many non-profit organizations, educational institutions, partnerships, and sole proprietorships also confer corporate titles.

The highest-level executives are usually called "C-level" or part of the "C-suite," referring to the 3-letter initials starting with "C" and ending with "O" (for "Chief __________ Officer"); the traditional officers are Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Chief administrative officer and Chief risk officer positions are often found in banking, insurance, and other financial services companies. Technology companies (including telecom and semi-conductor) (now IT sector companies also) tend to have a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), while companies with a strong Information Technology (IT) presence have a Chief Information Officer (CIO). In creative/design companies (such as film studios, a comics company or a web design company), there is sometimes a Chief Creative Officer (CCO), responsible for keeping the overall look and feel of different products, otherwise headed by different teams, constant throughout a brand. Additionally, though 60% of the Fortune 500 companies have a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) or Diversity leadership position, this and many other C-level titles are not necessarily universally recognized as Corporate Officers, and tend to be specific to particular organizational cultures or preferences as employees.