A corner office is an
office
An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...
that is located in the corner of a building. Corner offices are considered desirable because they have windows on two exterior walls, as opposed to a typical office with only one window or none at all (windowless offices occupying a corner of a building are therefore not typically considered "corner offices").
As corner offices are often given to the most senior executives, the term primarily refers to
top management positions or the "C-Suite", such as the
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(CEO),
chief operating officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
(COO), or
chief financial officer
The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...
(CFO). In organizations which do not use this corporate hierarchy, such as law firms and political parties, the corner office generally refers to the most senior partners or officials who are involved with
corporate governance
Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions th ...
.
Uses
* ''Corner Office'', in
, is a term used in the press as a
metonym
Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept.
Etymology
The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...
for the state's
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, based on the location of the governor's official office on the third floor of the
state house; it corresponds to the usage of "governor's mansion" in other states or "the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
" for the federal executive branch, but Massachusetts does not provide its governor with an official residence.
*
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
's show
Kudlow & Company
''The Kudlow Report'' was a news television program about business and politics hosted by Larry Kudlow, that aired on the CNBC television channel at 7pm ET until March 28, 2014. The show began airing on January 26, 2009. It was a successor to '' ...
has a recurring segment entitled "The Corner Office," in which various corporate executives are profiled.
* ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
s Law Blog runs a series titled "Associate Advice from the Corner Office" where top executives in legal firms give tips to recent graduates.
*
American Public Media
American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and oper ...
's
Marketplace
A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...
radio program has a recurring segment, ''Conversations from the Corner Office'', which interviews CEOs from companies in various sectors.
*
Richard Conniff
Richard Conniff (born March 2, 1951) is an American non-fiction writer, specializing in human and animal behavior.
Career
Conniff also writes about wildlife, human cultures and other topics for ''Time'', '' Smithsonian'', '' Atlantic Monthly'', ' ...
has written a book titled ''Ape in the Corner Office'' in which he applies theories from
evolutionary biology
Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes (natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life fo ...
and
sociobiology
Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to examine and explain social behavior in terms of evolution. It draws from disciplines including psychology, ethology, anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, and population genetics. Within t ...
to concepts of management in workplaces.
* ''Corner Office Bedroom'' is a song by
PlayRadioPlay!.
* The law-drama ''
Suits'' makes numerous references to the corner office, highlighting the prestige having one conveys.
[E.g. s08e13.]
Notes
References
* Frankel, Dr Lois P. Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers. Business Plus, 2004.
* Conniff, Richard. The Ape in the Corner Office: Understanding the Workplace Beast in All of Us. Crown Business, 2005.
* Slater, Dan. "Associate Advice from the Corner Office." The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, 28 Apr 2008.
* Leonhardt, David. "Who's in the Corner Office?" The New York Times, 27 Nov 2005. .
Space Design & Layout
* Young, Valerie. The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women pg. 141. Crown Business, 2011.
Corporate governance
Management occupations
Rooms
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