In most households, she is now the stated or implicit Chief Executive Officer, while also serving as Chief Purchasing Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

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McDonald's has already populated Chipotle with a chief financial officer, chief operations officer, a purchasing chief and several regional managers.

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Were they fully merged--they remain distinctly separate despite sharing a chief executive and such tasks as purchasing, tech networks and some car chassis, engines and transmissions--the amalgam would be the fourth-largest carmaker on the planet.

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Thomas Golisano, chief executive of Paychex, is close to purchasing one of them, hockey's Buffalo Sabres.

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Under a cap and trade system, whether the chief financial officer places the right bet on purchasing permits can make or break an energy-intensive company.

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Google Chief Economist Hal Varian has shown that search can act as a proxy for purchasing intent in markets like autos and real estate.

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With mergers and scale come problems such as duplication (two chief executives and treasuries, say), more bureaucratic decision-making and unco-ordinated purchasing (of, for instance, reinsurance) by different parts of the business.

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In April gave up chief executive spot, appointing Fabian Mansson, a 33-year-old amateur rock musician and former purchasing manager.

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