New management order: CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, CXO to CIO

The service sector provides for a very large chunk of employment in India and most MBA students working in corporations aspire to the dream chair at the top of the ladder, which is unmistakably that of the chief executive officer (CEO).

In recent times, however, this single point at the pinnacle of the organisation has laterally expanded, creating room for a core group of specialised individuals jointly responsible for the strategic growth of any company.

Although the position of the CEO has a certain awe attached to it, it comes with tremendous responsibilities. In a sense, the CEO is responsible for the success or failure of the company. 

All functions of operations, marketing, strategy, financing, creation of company culture, human resources, hiring, firing, compliance with safety regulations, sales, media relations,  business development and more, all are part of the CEO's responsibility.

Since almost every area of functioning is highly specialised, the position of the chief operations officer (COO) and many other specialised functional positions have spun off from the CEO's role over the past decade.

The COO is among the senior management personnel who looks after the day-to-day operations management of any organisation. S/he is responsible for the development, design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm's products/services.

Though large-scale operations need a COO, the trend is that companies with a manufacturing base are the ones that end up hiring a COO.

The chief finance officer (CFO) is the authority that steers and directs the company's financial planning. With her rests the risk and investment management of the organisation.

Some service companies even have a specialised position of a chief marketing officer (CMO), who looks after the sales and marketing targets and customer relationships.

While these four positions are fairly rampant in India, the position of the CXO and CIO are making an entry into our organisational structures now. The chief information officer (CIO) is the new whiz kid on the block. Coming from the geek world, these professionals are gearing up to understand the non-IT sectors such as HR issues.

The CIO is a very important position as the window of new business opportunities opens through IT innovations. Here is the person responsible for new business growth, the person who transfers the IT knowledge for commercial profit-making.

The chief experience officer (CXO) is another of the top C-level managers responsible for all user experiences of the organisation, be it marketing, communications, community relations, internal relations, HR relations, or investor relations. This is the single-point interface for all audiences.

Yet another term, chief strategy officer (CSO), is also emerging.

Many positions now converge at the top to create a new management cadre that is bringing in much specialisation. This core group is able to take a detailed, balanced view of all the aspects of the business.

While the room at the top has definitely expanded, the CEO remains the most multi-talented, multi-skilled person of them all. It is, after all, the CEO who is the one to appoint the entire management cadre — be it the CFO or the CIO.