Chief Executive Officer - International Use

International Use

In some European Union countries, there are two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes (selected by the shareholders). In these countries, the CEO presides over the executive board and the chairman presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people. This ensures a distinction between management by the executive board and governance by the supervisory board. This allows for clear lines of authority. The aim is to prevent a conflict of interest and too much power being concentrated in the hands of one person.

In the United States, the board of directors (elected by the shareholders) is often equivalent to the supervisory board, while the executive board may often be known as the executive committee (the division/subsidiary heads and C-level officers that report directly to the CEO).

In other parts of the world, such as Asia, it is possible to have two or three CEOs in charge of one corporation. In the UK, many charities and government agencies are headed by a chief executive who answers to a board of trustees or board of directors. In the UK, similar to a sizable percentage of public companies in the US, the chairman of the board in public companies is more senior than the chief executive (who is usually known as the managing director).

The following presents an alphabetical list of some international common terms for the CEO position:

• Albanian: Administrator i Përgjithshëm
• Arabic: الرئيس التنفيذي‎ ar-Ra’īs at-Tanfīdhī (Chief Executive)
• Armenian: Գլխավոր տնօրեն glkhavor tnoren
• Australia: general manager (GM) (or also managing director (MD), but only when the executive officeholder is also a member of the board of directors)
• Belarusian: Генеральны дырэктар
• Bengali: মহাপরিচালক/ব্যবস্থাপনা পরিচালক/প্রধান নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা (Director General/GM/MD/CEO)
• Bosnian: Generalni direktor / Izvršni direktor
• Bulgarian: Генерален директор / Изпълнителен директор Generalen direktor/Izpalnitelen direktor
• Catalan: Executiu en cap (Chief Executive)
• Chinese: 首席执行官 / 行政總裁 Shǒuxí zhíxíng guān / xíngzhèng zǒngcái (Chief Executive Officer)
• Croatian: Izvršni direktor
• Czech: Generální ředitel/Výkonný ředitel
• Danish: Administrerende direktør (administrating director) (adm.dir.)
• Dutch: Algemeen Directeur (general manager)
• Estonian: Tegevdirektor (executive director)
• Finnish: Toimitusjohtaja (executive director) (TJ)
• French: Président-directeur général (chairman & chief executive) (PDG)
• Galician: Director Executivo / Director xeral
• German: Geschäftsführer (GmbH) or German: Vorstand (AG, Germany; member of the management board) or German: Vorstandsvorsitzender, German: Vorstandssprecher (AG, Germany; chairman, speaker of the management board)
• Georgian: გენერალური დირექტორი (General director)
• Greek: Διευθύνων Σύμβουλος Diefthinon Symvoulos (Managing Director)
• Hebrew: מנכ"ל/מנהל כללי‎ Mankal/Menahel Klali (DG/Director General)
• Hungarian: ügyvezető igazgató
• Icelandic: Forstjóri / Framkvæmdastjóri
• Hindi: मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी
• India: CEO or managing director (MD)
• Indonesian: Presiden Direktur (Presdir) or, increasingly less common, Direktur Utama (Dirut) Direktur-Direksi (term based on Law nr. 40 / 2007)
• Irish: Príomhoifigeach Feidhmiúcháin (POF)
• Italian: Amministratore Delegato (delegated administrator) (AD)
• Japanese: 最高経営責任者 Saikō-keiei-sekinin-sha (Chief Executive Officer)
• Kannada: ಮುಖ್ಯಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಾಹಣಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು
• Kazakh: атқарушы директор atkarushy director (Chief Executive Officer)
• Korean: 최고경영책임자 choe-go-gyeong-young-chek-ime-ja (Chief Executive Officer) or often 최고경영인 /chwae-go+gyoung-young+in/ meaning: chwae-go(Chief) gyoung-young(Managing) in(Person)
• Kurdish: Serokê/a Pêkanîna Civatê
• Latvian: Valdes priekšsēdētājs (chairman of the board)
• Lithuanian: Generalinis direktorius (general director)
• Macedonian: Извршен директор (izvrshen direktor - executive director) or also Macedonian: Генерален директор (generalen direktor - general director)
• Malay: Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Pengarah Urusan, Pengarah Eksekutif
• Maltese: Kap eżekuttiv (Chief Executive)
• Marathi: मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी
• Mongolian: Ерөнхий захирал, Ерөнхийлөгч, Гүйцэтгэх захирал
• Nepali: प्रमुख कार्यकारी अधिकृत
• Norwegian: Administrerende Direktør (administrating director) (adm. dir.)
• Persian: مدیر عامل‎ Modir Aamel (Chief Executive)
• Pakistan|چیف ایگزیکٹو آفیسر}} Chif Igzikutu Afisr (Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director)
• Polish: Dyrektor Generalny (general director)
• Portuguese: Diretor executivo / Diretor-geral / Presidente / Administrador-delegado
• Romanian: Director General
• Russian: Генеральный директор, Главный исполнительный директор (generalnyi direktor – general director)
• Serbian: Генерални директор / Извршни директор (управник)
• Sinhala: ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී / කළමනාකාර අධ්‍යක්ෂක (CEO / MD)
• Slovak: Generálny riaditeľ
• Slovene: Generalni direktor / Izvršni direktor
• Spanish: director ejecutivo, director general, gerente general o consejero delegado (executive director)
• Somali: Maamule Guud / Agaasime (CEO / MG)
• Swahili: Meneja Mkuu
• Swedish: verkställande direktör (VD)
• Tamil: தலைமை நிறைவேற்று அலுவலர் / முகாமைத்துவ இயக்குநர் (CEO / MD)
• Telugu: ముఖ్య కార్యనిర్వాహక అధికారి / నిర్వాహకుడు (CEO / MD)
• Thai: ประธานบริหาร / กรรมการผู้จัดการ (CEO / MD)
• Tagalog: Punong Tagapagpaganap (CEO / PT)
• Turkish: Genel Müdür, Genel Yönetmen, Yönetim Kurulu Başkanı
• Ukrainian: Головний виконавчий директор (Holovnyi vykonavchyi dyrektor - Head executive director), also Генеральний директор (Heneral'nyi dyrektor – General director)
• Urdu: چیف ایگزیکٹو آفیسر‎ Chif Igzikutu Afisr (Chief Executive Officer)
• Vietnamese: Giám đốc điều hành

In the United States, and in business, the executive officers are usually the top officers of a corporation, the chief executive officer (CEO) being the best-known type. The definition varies; for instance, the California Corporate Disclosure Act defines "Executive Officers" as the five most highly compensated officers not also sitting on the board of directors. In the case of a sole proprietorship, an executive officer is the sole proprietor. In the case of a partnership, an executive officer is a managing partner, senior partner, or administrative partner. In the case of a limited liability company, an executive officer is any member, manager or officer.