Completely confused by corporate titles

Question

Hi,I'm supposed to introduce to my colleagues in China some of the corporate titles but I'm not that sure what the difference between them is... For instance,1) General Manager vs Director of International Business Department2) Deputy (or Vice) Chairman of the Board, President, Deputy Secretary of the Party CommitteeCan a chairman be a president at the same time? They've told me that the top dog in the company is the Chairman of the Board and the President... but I'm not sure if that's OK.All help would be appreciated. Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Can a chairman be a president at the same time? Yes. The President (or CEO) has executive powers in the day-to-day operations of the company. In the "American model", the President can also be the Chairman of the Board. This is from Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_executive_officer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_directors

Among public corporations, there are generally two types of chairmen, executive and non-executive. The executive chairman also serves as an executive of the company, usually the chief executive officer (CEO), although it can exist as a separate position. The non-executive chairman holds no executive position with the company, and is usually an outsider with no other current or previous ties to it. The non-executive Chairman's duties are typically limited to matters directly related to the board, such as:
Chairing the meetings of the board.
Organizing and coordinating the board's activities, such as by setting its annual agenda.
Reviewing and evaluating the performance of the CEO and the other board members.

Many U.S. companies have an executive chairman, and this method of organization is sometimes called the American model. Having a non-executive chair is common in the United Kingdom and Canada, and is sometimes called the British model.

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Thanks.

Then what is the difference between a director, a general manager and a chairman?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

These terms are not precisely defined.

A general manager usually heads a major division of a corporation. It is an executive position.

A director can be a member of the board of the directors. It is not an executive position. In a not-for-profit organization, the director may be the highest executive position.

The chairman is the head of the board of directors. See the links in the last post.

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Thank you.

I need some help to clarify two other matters.

1) Well, in the company I'm temporarly working for there's a lot of confusion over some titles... For instance, I'm in the International Affairs Department, and the man who's in charge used to have a label on his door that said "Minister" (I'm in China right now) Some businessmen were impressed by that and wanted to take pictures with him... Still, everybody refers to him as director which in my humble opinion might be wrong since he's got some executive power and heads the whole department...

2) Now, what would we call a man who holds a similar position but in a subsidiary company or a branch and therefore holds a less important position on the corporate ladder? I'll try to make a scheme:

Parent Company --> International Business Dept. --> its director
Subsidiary companies --> also have their own International Business Dept. --> ? what would we call people who are in charge of them?

Thank you

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Hmm... perhaps I he could be called

a) Director of the International Affairs Department
or
b) Executive Director

?

Perfect Stranger · Answer

Any ideas Dear Fellow Users?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

There are no set titles globally. Titles used in China can be different from those used in other countries. The company can use whatever titles they think are appropriate, and relative title names within the same organization.

President, Chairman, and Director are usually the highest-ranking officers.
Vice-president, Vice-chairman are second-ranking.
Sometimes Secretary is used for a high ranking position (eg Secretary of Defense, Secretary General) and sometimes a low ranking position.

There is no rule about this, only convention.

Completely confused by corporate titles

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