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The (COO) is a corporate officer responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of the corporation and for operations management (OM). The COO is one of the highest ranking members of an organization, monitoring the daily operations of the company and reporting to the board of directors and the top executive officer (usually the CEO). The COO is usually an executive or senior officer.

The chief operating officer is responsible for operations management (OM). The focus of the COO is on strategic, tactical, and short-term OM, which means he or she is responsible for the development, design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm's products/services. Managers need to understand the real work behind the company's core operations, and the buck stops with the COO, whose primary concern is operations improvement. The duties of the COO may reside in certain organizations with a Vice President of Operations. Operations management is an area of business that is concerned with the production of goods and services, and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient and effective. It is also the management of resources, the distribution of goods and services to customers, and the analysis of queue systems.

Operations also refers to the production of goods and services, the set of value-added activities that transform inputs into many outputs.[1] Fundamentally, these value-adding creative activities should be aligned with market opportunity (see Marketing) for optimal enterprise performance.

The COO ideally needs to have domain knowledge of the business as well as understanding of management theories such as TQM, Kaizen, and BPR. Knowledge of standards such as ISO 9001, and Six Sigma is also a must for global organizations.

Functions of a COO:

1. Efficiency by creating and maintaining a positive flow of work by utilizing what resources and facilities are available as set out by the chief executive officer and the board of directors.
2. Lead by developing and cascading the organizations strategy/mission statement to the lower ranking staff
3. Organize resources such as facilities and employees so as to ensure effective production of goods and services
4. Plan by prioritizing customer, employee and organizational requirements
5. Maintaining and monitoring staffing, levels,Knowledge-Skill-Attitude (KSA), expectations and motivation to fulfill organizational requirements
6. Performance Measures for the measurement of performance and consideration of efficiency versus effectiveness.

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