20+ Difference between CEO and COO (Explained)

We all know what a top-notch position is of a CEO, and most people must have desired it at some point in their lives.

A large percentage of people happen to have an idea of who a CEO is, but most of them do not know who a COO is. Both positions belong to top-level management, which is similar yet different.

The major difference between a CEO and a COO is that the former has more power and comes at an upper level in an organization’s hierarchy than the latter.

Comparison Between CEO And COO

Parameter	CEO	COO
Initialism/Acronym	It is an abbreviation or initialism for Chief Executive Officer.	It is an abbreviation or initialism for Chief Operating Officer.
Meaning and rank	It refers to a job position or person with the highest-ranking job position in the entire organization. People in this job position come under the category of top-level management.	It refers to a job position or person with the second-highest-ranking job position in the organization. People in this job position also come under the category of top-level management.
Area of work or focus	These people are subjected to work and care for the organization as a whole. However, these people are typically concerned with the external matters or affairs of the organization. For example, the tasks of partnering with other businessmen and organizations and the tasks of expanding the organization are carried out by these people only.	Just like CEOs, these people also happen to work and take care of the entire organization. But these people are generally concerned with the internal affairs of the organization. As implementing the plans and ensuring the organizational goals are met are done by these people only.
Appointing	Every company must have a CEO, no matter what. A company can not go ahead without this person.	Unlike a CEO, every organization doesn’t need to appoint a COO. A company can easily work and go ahead without this person.
Superior-subordinate	These people do not have any superiors as these people work at the highest job position, and everyone else working in the organization is their subordinate.	These people have only superiors, i.e., the CEO, as they work at the second-highest job position, and everyone else working in the organization is their subordinate.
Accountable to	These people are accountable and report to the board of directors because these people work for the organization and are not the company’s owners. Thus, they must report all the relevant information to the board of directors, shareholders or stockholders, etc.	Since these people work in the second-highest job position, they are only accountable to the CEO and must report all the relevant information to him or her.
Power and authority	These people are associated with more power and authority in comparison to the power and authority of COOs, as these people work at the highest job position in the organization.	These people are associated with less power and authority in comparison to the power and authority of CEOs, as these people work at the second-highest job position in the organization.
Responsibilities	The primary responsibility of these people is to define and work for the long-run goals of the organization. However, overall, these people are associated with long-run planning for the betterment of the organization, making vital business decisions for the organization, developing various strategies for the organization, collaborating with other business partners, ensuring that the organization achieves the organization’s goal goals, etc.	The primary responsibility of these people is to take care of the routine operations and administration of the organization. Overall, the responsibilities of these people include delegating responsibilities to subordinates, ensuring proper audit is being carried out in the organization, taking necessary decisions at their level, taking care of the standards, rules, and regulations, and doing relevant business expansion as required, etc.
Leadership style	These people are associated with authentic leadership.	These people are associated with exceptional leadership.
Plans and strategies	These people are subjected to framing the desired plans and strategies of the organization.	These people are subjected to implementing the plans and strategies the CEO sets.
Famous personalities	Sunder Pichai (Google), Andrew Witty (UnitedHealth Group), William C. Young (Plastipak), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), etc.	Anna Corrales (Google), Jane Brown (UnitedHealth Group), Matthew Franz (Plastipak), Sheryl Sandberg (Meta), etc.

Major Difference Between CEO And COO

Who exactly is CEO?

It is an abbreviation for Chief Executive Officer, which refers to a job position or an individual who is the highest executive in terms of ranking in an organization.

These individuals are a part of top-level management and come at number one in the position hierarchy of an organization. These people are responsible for the whole company and are not subordinate to anyone.

They do not have any bosses; in fact, people from the organization have to report to them. However, these people do have to register to the company’s board of directors.

Key Difference: CEO

It is an initialism for a Chief Executive Officer, who can be best described as a person whose organizational position is of the highest category after the board of directors.
These people come under the category of top-level management and come first in the position hierarchy of an organization.

When it comes to power ranking, responsibilities, authority, etc., these individuals have more power, ranking, responsibilities, authority, etc., compared to a Chief Operating Officer (COO).

The primary responsibilities of these individuals are to do the long-run planning for the betterment of the organization, make vital business decisions for the organization, develop various strategies for the organization, collaborate with other business partners, ensuring that the achievement of the organizational goals.

These individuals do not have any Bosses, as people working in these positions are believed to be in the highest places. However, these individuals are accountable to the organization’s board of directors and thus have to report to them only.

The trademark feature of this job position is that every company worldwide typically has a CEO. Organizations must have these individuals working as CEOs.

Who exactly is COO?

It is an abbreviation for Chief Operating Officer, which refers to a job position or a person who is the second highest executive in terms of job position ranking in an organization.

Just like a CEO, this person is also a part of top-level management but comes second in the job position hierarchy, i.e., after the CEO. These people are primarily responsible for routine operations and administration of the company and are only subordinate to a CEO.

Hence, these people are also responsible for reporting everything to the CEO of the concerned organization.

Key Difference: COO

It is an initialism for the Chief Operating Officer, who can be best defined as a person who comes under the category of top-level management whose position comes second to the position of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Thus, they are known as the second highest executives after the company’s board of directors.

Speaking of power, responsibilities, ranking, authority, etc., these individuals are associated with lesser power, responsibilities, ranking, and authority over the company than a CEO.

The main responsibilities of these individuals are to take care of the management and operations of the concerned organization, delegate responsibilities to subordinates, ensure the proper audit is being carried out in the organization, take necessary decisions at their level, take care of the standards, rules, and regulations, and do relevant business expansion as required, etc.

Since these individuals are appointed to the second highest job position in the organization, thus, CEOs are considered as their bosses, and they need to report to them and report all the matters that are of interest to a CEO.

The hallmark feature of this job position is that companies don’t need to have people appointed as COO. In fact, only big companies happen to have COOs.

The contrast between CEO And COO

Initialism

CEO – It is an initialism for a Chief Executive Officer.

COO – It is an initialism for a Chief Operating Officer.

Meaning and rank

CEO – It can be best described as an individual working in a job position that is the highest in any organization.

People working in this job position come under the category of top-level management and are ranked at number one in the job position hierarchy of the organization.

COO – It can be best described as an individual or a job position that is the second-highest in typically all organizations.

Along with a CEO, people working in this position also come under the category of top-level management and are ranked at the organization’s number two (after the CEO) position hierarchy.

Area of work or focus

CEO – These individuals’ work areas are primarily the organization’s external matters or affairs.

It should be remembered that these people look after the organization as a whole. Still, a major part of their responsibilities revolves around the external matters of the organization.

COO – The area of work of these individuals is mainly the external matters of the organization.

Just like a CEO, these people also look after the organization as a whole. Still, a major area of their expertise comes under the organization’s internal matters or affairs.

Appointing

CEO – Appointing this individual is mandatory in every organization, regardless of size and region. No company can go ahead without a CEO.

COO – One of the major features of these people is that companies don’t need to appoint these people or have this job position. Companies can easily go ahead and exist without a COO. However, generally big companies tend to have people working as COOs.

Superior-subordinate

CEO – Since these people happen to work at a job position that is the highest ranked position in an organization, thus there typically is not any superior working over them; instead, they are the ones who are superior to the whole organization, and everyone else is their subordinates.

COO – Since these people work at the second highest ranked job position in an organization, thus, the person working at the first position, i.e., a CEO, is their superior, and everyone else working in the organization happens to be their subordinate.

Accountable to

CEO – Even though these people are superior to everyone working in the organization, it does not mean that they do not have to report to anyone or are accountable to anyone, as these people are not the organization’s owners.

Hence, even these people must report all the relevant information to the organization’s board of directors, shareholders, and stockholders.

COO – These people work in the second-highest job position; they are only accountable to the CEO and must report all the relevant information to him or her.

Power and authority

CEO – When it comes to power and authority, these people are associated with more power and authority over the rest of the organization than a COO’s power and authority levels because these people have the highest command.

COO – These people are concerned with less power and authority over the rest of the organization compared to the power and authority levels of a CEO because these people have the second highest command in the organization.

Responsibilities

CEO – The main responsibilities of these individuals include making vital business decisions for the company, framing long-term plans for the company, collaborating with various other business firms, ensuring the plans are carried out as planned, developing strategies and tactics to ensure there is profit maximization with no wastage of resources, report to a board of directors, etc.

COO – These individuals’ main responsibilities include managing the organization’s routine operations and administration, delegating tasks and responsibilities to the subordinates, framing standards, rules, and regulations, ensuring audits are carried out regularly, etc.

Leadership style

CEO – Authentic leadership is considered the leadership style of these individuals. Individuals who follow this leadership style can be best defined as leaders who are very transparent with everything, stay loyal to their principles, follow ethics and morals, and do not lack self-awareness.

COO – Exceptional leadership is considered the leadership style of these individuals. Individuals who follow this leadership style are known for loving the organization they work for. Their motive is primarily not their self-growth; it, in fact, is the growth of the overall organization.

Plans and strategies

CEO – These people are subjected to framing the relevant plans and strategies for the company’s betterment by thoroughly examining its possible outcome, advantages, and disadvantages.

COO – These people do not have to frame the organization’s plans and strategies. Instead, these people are associated with executing those plans and strategies set out by the CEO of the concerned organization and ensuring the expected results are achieved.

Famous personalities

CEO – Some of the famous personalities known for this job position include Sunder Pichai (Google), Andrew Witty (UnitedHealth Group), William C. Young (Plastipak), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), etc.

COO – Some of the famous personalities known for this job position include Anna Corrales (Google), Jane Brown (UnitedHealth Group), Matthew Franz (Plastipak), Sheryl Sandberg (Meta), etc.

Conclusion

People often get confused when they hear CEO and COO and use the terms interchangeably. Both the job positions and the people working on them form part of the top management level, and their work has many similarities.

However, despite the similarities, both are very different. The major difference between a CEO and a COO is that the former is the highest position while the latter is the second highest position in an organization.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What do the CEO and COO stand for?

The former is an acronym for Chief Executive Officer, whereas the latter is an acronym for Chief Operating Officer.

Q2. Where do CEOs and COOs stand in an organization?

The former has the highest job position in the entire organization and has no superior, and everyone else working in the organization is their subordinate. On the other hand, the latter has the second-highest job position in the entire organization and has only one superior, i.e., the CEO, and everyone else is their subordinate.

Q3. Who makes and implements the plans and strategies: the CEO or COO?

The task of framing the plans and strategies for the overall organization is done by the former, and the task of implementing those set plans and strategies is done by the latter.

Q4. What is the leadership style of CEOs and CCOs?

The former is primarily associated with authentic leadership, while the latter is associated with exceptional leadership. However, it may vary from place to place and person to person.

Q5. What are the major differences between a CEO and a CCO?

The major difference between a CEO and a COO is that the former has the highest job position, deals with external affairs, and has more power and authority. In contrast, the latter has the second highest job position, deals with internal matters, and has less power and authority.

Q6. Who are some of the famous CEOs and COOs?

Mark Zuckerberg, Sunder Pichai, Tim Cook, Andy Jassy, William C. Young, etc., are some famous CEOs personalities. In contrast, Sheryl Sandberg, Anna Corrales, Matthew Franz, Sandeep Kasyap, and Belinda Johnson are some of the famous COOs personalities.