Whether a company is large or small, it could probably be said that, without a strong technology department, things would rapidly fall apart. And the leader of that cause is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Responsible for software, hardware, and online security, as well as research and development in technology companies, this important role usually reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
The CTO has to keep current on all aspects of new software functions and hardware upgrades. This seems to change by the nanosecond. They constantly need to invest in new technology and do everything possible to prevent hacking and the stealing of company secrets.
Larger companies might have a Chief information Officer (CIO), as well as a CTO. A CIO would handle more of the day-to-day operations (it’s always nice when someone answers the phone at the Help Desk), while the CTO does more strategic planning and setting the general direction for both the long-and-short-term. The CTO might develop policies and procedures, come up with plans to improve customer service and increase revenue, and do return on investment analyses.
In a small technology company, the CTO might also be responsible for research and development. In a huge conglomerate such as Google or Facebook, the CTO role would be more strategic, with a focus on big data, analytics, and cloud computing. They also might be part of a team that decides which companies to acquire which would complement current product offerings.
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Finance: How does a board of directors f...27 Views
Finance a la Shmoop! How does a board of directors function?
All right, well structurally, the Board of Directors has really one function, after
it is elected by a vote, of the common shareholders, of the company. The board of
recruits, then hires the CEO and that's not necessarily easy. Because, most
of the good CEOs, you actually want, are already ensconced in high-paying jobs, [man being offered money]
from which they have to be bought away. Picking the right CEO, is the big
roulette wheel bet, the board makes. Is the CEO good, or bad, or ugly and yeah the
CEO can be all three. After being hired the CEO then hires everyone else, more or
less. In a public company, the board divides into committees, to advise and
oversee many of the little processes. There's audit committee people and
nomination and government committee people and Compensation Committee people.
In large companies there are also, often subcommittees, that focus on narrow
things, like technology, or politics and lobbying and, or the environment. You know, if [oil drill with man and duck]
you work for a big polluter. Well another big element of board value-add, revolves
around, strategy. Are we the high cost, high value company, or are we the low cost,
Walmart desk provider? That is, are we Pirates of the Caribbean, or are we La La
Land? What other strategic issues are we fighting? How do we get into China and [world map]
Russia and get out of Somalia? So yeah, that's strategy. How does the
board cover its primary obligations, in providing a fiduciary duty, to the
shareholders, who elected them? Is the board governing fairly and equitably?
Yeah, how do they do that? Well they just basically pay attention, right? Are
company policies racist, or gender biased, or ageist?
Which is illegal everywhere, except Silicon Valley in Hollywood. Are all the [director and actress]
right controls inspected, like audit, hiring, firing, policies and our
companies casual Fridays, have they gotten to just to casual? Is that a board item?
Yah, alright, next meeting. So yeah, that's the gist, hire the CEO, form
committees and of course they're also in charge of bagel Thursdays. [man in panda suit, bagels falling from sky]
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