Since the start of the era of scientific management, three typical levels of the managers, top level, middle level or the entry level managers, are universally accepted and recognized. The whole the traditional spherical wheel of the management levels revolves around the concept of the three level of managers.
Whenever a young energetic and ambitious entrant joins the job market, she / he starts day dreaming about the top most job of President, CEO, managing director or such other levels. Previously, the term top level was popular in the corporate circles as these managers were assumed to hold the powers of:
- Strategic decision making
- Control of the strategic units of the corporations and organizations
- Final authority on the buy / sell decision of the strategic units of other organizations
- Top level decision makers in the organization but directly under the broad policy line of board of directors.
But, now the term, C-level manager, is emerging and replacing the term, top level manager, the older classical term. As all the top managers have the final authority to operate as the chief of the unit or organizational part, the new terminology is replacing the older term, top level. These C-level managers are empowered by the board of directors to make major and lasting decision for the present or future of organization.
As many C-level managers are members of the CENTRAL and CORE management level of the organization, holding designations which start with word, Chief, the C-Level is becoming increasingly popular. Some of such designations, starting with the word, Chief, are:
- Chief operating officer
- Chief comptroller
- Chief financial official
- Chief trainer
- Chief Engineer
- Chief commercial officer
- Chief privacy officer
- And so on.
One more reason of the popularity of the term, C-level, is the controlling authority of such officers which may be:
- To purchase another company or part of the company.
- To shut down any unit, service or production line of the specific part of the company.
- To start a new product or service line
- To make new hire / fire policy
- To hire new lot of professionals for the company
- Any major line of decision which may affect whole the organization
The C-level managers are the spearhead of the organizations while the future of the organizations, largely, depends upon the future-oriented strategic decisions of these C – level managers. This is the reason that the term C – Level managers is significantly replacing the term, top level manager.