Professional Investigation

By
Andrea Sayavedra
A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is referred to as the head of an organization that presides over or
is in charge of an organization. It is the highest-ranking ranking executive manager in a corporation or
organization and is therefore a very difficult position to obtain. The responsibilities vary depending on the
company in which one works for, nevertheless the CEO has to have qualities like: domain expertise,
knowledge of the product that is being managed and sold; leadership and personal power, assertive and
visionary when making decisions; financially experienced, must be aware of the companies finances and
have an extensive understanding of the market and realism, he/she has ambitions of growth and success,
but takes action based on statistics, numbers and reasoning. However, to become a CEO one must gain
enough experience and knowledge of the field to be able to direct a company. In order to obtain such
understanding each individual must work, excel and persevere in their area of practice and prove that they
have the qualities necessary to become the head of a corporation.
A corporation is defined as an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law.
Registered corporations are owned by shareholders whose accountability is limited by their investment,
however, share holders do not typically manage a company; they elect a board of directors to control the
business. That is where job positions like Chief Executive Officer, General Manager, Chief Financial
Officer and Marketing Manager developed. The history of such corporations originated in England,
created under a Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament with the grant of a monopoly over a specified
territory. In the 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted the British East India Company all exclusive rights to
trade with all countries to the east of the Cape of Good Hope. The purpose of these businesses was to
exploit foreign lands and bring the revenue back to their country. Nevertheless, monarchs could not fund
the expeditions of all conquistadors and as a result joint stock companies where created. In a joint- stock
venture, stock was sold to high net-worth investors who provided capital and had limited risk. These
companies had proven profitable in the past with trading ventures. The risk was small, and the returns
were fairly quick. (Joint-Stock Companies, n.d)
A CEO is a crucial asset in a company; after all it is his job to direct the fortunes of a company.
Their salaries are made up of a mixture of salary, bonuses, shares, benefits and perquisites, ideally
configured to take into account government regulations, tax law, the desires of the organization and the
executive, and rewards for performance (Executive Compensation- Boundless Open Textbook, n.d). One
of the main problems and concerns in their position is the growth of compensation in their payment
without taking into account their performance. In the United States, the payment that CEOs receive is
over 400 times the salary of the average U.S worker. Another major problem in the position is the amount
of power given to a single individual. Many of the wealthiest and most valuable Chief Executive Officers
have taken advantage of their power by committing fraud and have thus led businesses into bankruptcy.
For example, the company WorldCom, a U.S telecommunications company, filed for bankruptcy in 2002
after its executives had inflated its assets by $12 billion dollars. The company founder and CEO, Bernard
Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison and CFO Scott Sullivan received a five-year jail sentence. The
corporation also had to pay $750 million to Securities & Exchange Commission to pay investors.
The job of a Chief Executive Officer mainly consists of leading, guiding, directing, and
evaluating the work of other executive leaders including presidents, vice presidents, and directors,
depending on the organizations reporting structure (What Does a Chief Executive Officer Do, n.d).
Their purpose is to create a vision and objective to achieve and enforce an overall strategy for the growth
and prosperity of the organization. He/ She must be aware of the competition and their strategies, be alert
for expansion opportunities, view customers and markets and look for new industry developments. The
reason why I would like to become the leader of a company is because of the results and outcome that
good leadership brings. The opportunity to be able to see the creation and growth of a corporation that has
given jobs for thousands of people across the globe has always been one of my key motivators. In order to
acquire the experience necessary to obtain the position, I would like to work for influential companies

that think creatively and globally like Google, Facebook, Coca-Cola, CNN and Apple. My ultimate goal
is to create an international company that will help solve environmental and poverty problems by selling
eco- friendly products that will generate money to help educate children from all over the world.
Ricardo Sayavedra is currently the Managing Director of Global Closure Systems in Mexico City,
however, to earn such coveted position, he had to work with dedication and perseverance for decades. His
career in the corporate industry began when he was still a college student at the Pan-American University
of Guadalajara. At the age of 22, Kelloggs Company hired him as a Sales Representative, in which he
worked as for 18 months. For the next twenty years of is life he worked his way up the company
performing as: Chief of Sales Administrative, Trade Marketing Chief, Key Account Manager, Sales
Divisional Manager, Logistics Manager and Logistics Director. In 2005 he was promoted as Managing
Director for the Caribbean Region and moved to Puerto Rico, where he lived in for three years. His
responsibilities increased in 2008, when he was named Managing Director of Central America. After four
years and six months, he was again promoted to be Managing Director of the Andean region where he
worked in for eight months.
Sayavedra believes that understanding your team is one of the key factors in becoming a
prosperous Managing Director. It is up to him discern what will persuade the workers to put their
complete effort and drive into their financial aim. One of the biggest challenges that he has faced during
his career is the responsibility of keeping every sector of the business unified. He has to show the team in
Manufacturing, Logistics, Sales, Human Resources and Finance that everything they do benefits everyone
in the company, so therefore they should all give their best to each task assigned. It is his job to motivate
them to achieve the enterprises goals and objectives by showing them the rewards that success will bring
for them and their families. What he most enjoys about his job is the ability to take the business to a
different level and challenge the impossible and make it possible. He advises aspirers to surround
themselves of hard-working, intelligent and committed people, to work hard, have vision, yearn for
greatness and finally, envision where you are and where you want to be and make strategies in order to
make it happen. Do everything with passion, if you dont feel passion for what you do, look for
something else- Ricardo Sayavedra.
In conclusion a Chief Executive Officer is an ambitious and coveted position that requires decades
of experience and hard work. Those who desire to become the head of a corporation must be competent,
confident, visionary, patient, realist, perseverant and outstanding leaders, among various other qualities.
CEO are highly respected and valued because of their many years of knowledge and understanding of the
commercial business. Unless one is the founder of the company, one cannot simply become the chief
within a company. A successful businessman must have at least a bachelors or a masters degree to be
able to qualify for a position. In spite of the many years of preparation and involvement that an individual
devotes to their job, the opportunity to become a CEO is only offered to a few and even then
accomplishment, growth and profit is not guaranteed.

Bibliography
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A.Sayavedra, Managing Director, 20 November 2014