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What does a business executive do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted expert
Dr. Vandana Rao Ph.D.

The duties of a business executive depend upon their position and industry of employment. In general, they are in charge of spearheading and overseeing business operations to ensure that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically have the power to make corporate decisions, set goals and budgets, establish guidelines and timelines, negotiate with potential business partners, and develop business strategies to optimize overall operations. Moreover, a business executive implements and promotes company policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.

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Business executive responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real business executive resumes:

  • Manage origination initiatives associate with business accounts, treasury products, and loans while adhering to bank compliance procedures.
  • Consult with businesses to supply accurate product and service information in healthcare territory.
  • Utilize visualization techniques, forecasting, modeling, statistical analysis, and predictive analytics to design and maintain internal business solutions.
  • Require extensive knowledge of trusts, annuities, mutual funds, stocks, capital markets and mortgages.

Business executive skills and personality traits

We calculated that 22% of Business Executives are proficient in Customer Service, Customer Satisfaction, and Revenue Growth. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Management skills, and Problem-solving skills.

We break down the percentage of Business Executives that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 22%

    Integrated team activities by regularly monitoring customer service activities and communicating the account strategies with the Nabisco Sales Force.

  • Customer Satisfaction, 12%

    Collaborated in strategic planning meetings with other department leaders that ensured corporate initiatives resulted in high levels of customer satisfaction.

  • Revenue Growth, 10%

    Engaged to analyze business operations, recommend process changes, resulted in revenue growth of 20% over 2 years.

  • Emerging Technologies, 8%

    Consult marketing departments with emerging technologies and assist with their KPI goals and metrics.

  • Healthcare, 5%

    Consulted with businesses to supply accurate product and service information in healthcare territory.

  • Business Development, 5%

    Used talent and OD consulting experiences and expertise to design customized curriculum and programs for leadership and business development.

"customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "revenue growth" are among the most common skills that business executives use at work. You can find even more business executive responsibilities below, including:

Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for a business executive to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what business executives do because "top executives must be able to shape and direct an organization by coordinating policies, people, and resources." Additionally, a business executive resume shows how business executives use leadership skills: "provided market feedback to company leadership regarding competitive offerings, prospect needs and generate product development ideas. "

Problem-solving skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of business executives is problem-solving skills. This skill is critical to many everyday business executive duties, as "top executives need to identify and resolve issues within an organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "identify and qualify business development opportunities by supporting clients' needs for emerging technology solutions to enable network transformation. "

Time-management skills. For certain business executive responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "time-management skills." The day-to-day duties of a business executive rely on this skill, as "top executives do many tasks concurrently to ensure that their work gets done and that the organization meets its goals." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what business executives do: "managed a portfolio of 20m and ensured annual reviews and restructure reports were completed when necessary and within deadlines. "

Communication skills. Another crucial skill for a business executive to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what business executives relies on this skill, since "top executives must be able to convey information clearly and persuasively." How this skill relates to business executive duties can be seen in an example from a business executive resume snippet: "general office administration* resolve customer complaints and preparing weekly reports* manage company's internal communication activities. "

Most common business executive skills

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Compare different business executives

Business executive vs. Specialist-small business

A small business specialist develops new business programs to meet changing customer demands. They are responsible for ensuring integrity and consistency in the domain of business. They analyze causes of a business issue, obtain business data, and make enquiries. They are responsible for making purchase agreements, confidentiality arrangements, and joint venture arrangement.

We looked at the average business executive salary and compared it with the wages of a specialist-small business. Generally speaking, specialist-small businesses are paid $9,217 higher than business executives per year.Even though business executives and specialist-small businesses are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, business development, and business relationships in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

While similarities exist, there are also some differences between business executives and specialist-small business. For instance, business executive responsibilities require skills such as "customer satisfaction," "revenue growth," "territory development," and "emerging technologies." Whereas a specialist-small business is skilled in "customer relationships," "business portfolio," "business administration," and "business accounts." This is part of what separates the two careers.

On average, specialist-small businesses reach lower levels of education than business executives. Specialist-small businesses are 9.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Business executive vs. Vice president, business development

A vice president of business development is an individual who leads in the execution of business plans and provides new business strategies for an organization. Vice presidents of business development closely work with a team of salespeople, management, and lower-level employees to secure contracts with new customers and manage ongoing agreements. They often travel to participate in business conferences and meetings with vendors and suppliers. Vice presidents of business development must also possess a bachelor's degree in business administration or marketing.

A career as a vice president, business development brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a business executive. In fact, vice presidents, business development salary is $102,058 higher than the salary of business executives per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both business executives and vice presidents, business development have skills such as "revenue growth," "healthcare," and "business development. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that business executive responsibilities requires skills like "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "territory development," and "emerging technologies." But a vice president, business development might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "business strategy," "financial services," "account management," and "sales process."

In general, vice presidents, business development achieve similar levels of education than business executives. They're 1.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for business executives in the next 3-5 years?

Dr. Vandana Rao Ph.D.Dr. Vandana Rao Ph.D. LinkedIn profile

Professor of Business Management, Chair, Marymount Manhattan College

Software related to operations management, big data analysis for planning and forecasting, software for virtual collaboration -- all of these will be in high demand. There will be rapid development of more sophisticated tools - and all professionals will need to keep pace with the latest in tech.

Business executive vs. Senior business manager

A senior business manager oversees the daily operations in a company, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around directing and assessing workforce performance, setting company objectives and goals, and coordinating with different departments to be aware of any issues or concerns. It is also essential to devise strategies to find new sales opportunities, perform research and analysis to identify client needs, and promptly resolve any problems that may arise. Furthermore, as a senior business manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

An average senior business manager eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of business executives. The difference in salaries amounts to senior business managers earning a $71,636 higher average salary than business executives.business executives and senior business managers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "revenue growth," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from business executive resumes include skills like "territory development," "healthcare," "strong customer service," and "home health," whereas a senior business manager is more likely to list skills in "analytics," "sr," "risk management," and "digital transformation. "

When it comes to education, senior business managers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to business executives. In fact, they're 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Business executive vs. Business development consultant

The role of business consultants is to provide an analysis of a company on its business practices and make recommendations for long-term goals. This role is also connected with various duties and responsibilities, including reviewing the company's financial statements, engaging in research on how to improve the company's offers, and developing new business models. Also, business consultants are responsible for negotiating contracts as needed, initiating plans and strategies to minimize company losses and drive profits. They may also function as the company's representative in promotional events and trade associations.

Business development consultants average a higher salary than the annual salary of business executives. The difference is about $22,052 per year.According to resumes from business executives and business development consultants, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "customer service," "customer satisfaction," and "revenue growth. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "territory development," "emerging technologies," "strong customer service," and "home health" are skills that commonly show up on business executive resumes. On the other hand, business development consultants use skills like sales training, sales pipeline, data warehousing, and strong analytical on their resumes.business development consultants reach similar levels of education compared to business executives, in general. The difference is that they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of business executive

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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