Joanne Lublin of the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece examining the growing acceptance of the need for splitting the corprate chairman and CEO positions. Lublin discusses a recent report,
… prepared by the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance at Yale University’s School of Management, the Chairmen’s Forum proposes that companies appoint a separate chairman after an incumbent CEO-chairman leaves — or explain why not to shareholders. The group is considering asking the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq to adopt listing rules that would require separate chairmen.
More U.S. companies are dividing the roles, but the trend is spreading slowly because many CEOs resist sharing power. About 37% of companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index have separate chairmen and CEOs, up from 22% in 2002, according to the Corporate Library, a research firm in Portland, Maine.
I would expect this trend will grow as the economy comes under increasing government regulation. Check out the story.
Recommended Reading – Bank of America Bumps Into Hurdles in CEO Hunt, WSJ
October 27, 2009
Recommended Reading – CEO and CFO Career Consequences to Missing Quarterly Earnings Benchmarks – Academic Paper
September 24, 2008
Recommended Reading – SEC Targets CEO Succession Plans – New Risks for Boards, Says Heidrick & Struggles
October 30, 2009
Recommended Reading – Once an Outsider, Always an Outsider? CEO Origin, Strategic Change and Firm Performance – Rice
January 20, 2010
Recommended Reading – Successful leadership – how would you know? London Business School
February 13, 2009
