Corporate headquarters

Corporate headquarters is an term used to describe the entity at the top of a corporation to take full responsibility for the overall success of the corporation, ensures Corporate Governance. Corporate headquarters are a key element of a corporate structure and cover different corporate functions such as strategic planning, corporate communications, tax, legal, marketing, finance, HR and IT.

The corporate headquarters include: the CEO Chief Executive Officer) as a key person and his support staff such as the CEO office and other CEO related functions; the "Corporate policy making" functions: Include all corporate functions necessary to steer the firm by defining and establishing corporate policie; the Corporate Services: Activities that combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) customers and business partners; the Interface: Reporting line and bi-directional link between corporate headquarters and business units.

The corporate services are often relocated into a separate legal entity called Shared Services Center.

References

• Wanner, Herbert (2006): Global and regional corporate headquarters; in: Kählin, Christian, H. (Editor): Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook; Orell Füssli and Wiley.
• Wanner, Herbert, LeClef Xavier, Shimizu, Hiroshi (2004): Global Headquarters on the Move: From Administrators to Facilitators. Prims Second Semester 2004; Arthur D. Little.
• Wanner, Herbert, Quirina, Mireille J. (2004): DuPont, Philip Morris, Hewlett-Packard & Co – Wohin mit der Konzernzentrale(Whereto with the Corporate Headquarters)?; in: Odenthal, Stefan and Wissel, Gerhard (Hrsg): Strategische Investments in Unternehmen: Wie Sie Werte schöpfen, Kunden binden und Risiken managen; Gabler Verlag ISBN 978-3-409-12313-X