Although there are occasional instances in which the chairman of the board of directors actually exercises the operating control of the company, this function is most often in the hands of the president. The president has general administrative supervision over all departments. In small companies, he may even be in active control of one or more departments.

As a general rule, the president is subordinate to the board of directors; but it is not particularly uncommon for the directors actually to be under the control of the president. Companies are often organized and built mainly through the impetus of one or two people who naturally assume control. If one of these individuals prefers to be president, he will exercise control of term life insurance rates, even though he is technically subordinate to the board of directors.
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