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????公司治理研究公司GMI宣傳總監(jiān)與助理研究員保羅?霍奇森稱(chēng)，在公司調(diào)查報(bào)告中，倒閉公司的董事被打上了“危險(xiǎn)人物”的標(biāo)簽。但他表示，CEO卻依然將這些人列入公司董事會(huì)成員的候選名單。

????他說(shuō)：“CEO人才庫(kù)小之又小。甚至形成了一個(gè)不正常的小圈子?！盙MI正在開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)，用于幫助公司客戶(hù)擴(kuò)大遴選董事的范圍。這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù)將在下周公布，屆時(shí)，“將在這個(gè)小圈子上打開(kāi)一個(gè)缺口?！?/p>

????但霍奇森稱(chēng)：“現(xiàn)在，董事的任務(wù)更加艱巨，所需要的技能也更加專(zhuān)業(yè)化。不可能隨便拉一個(gè)毫無(wú)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的人擔(dān)任董事?！?/p>

‘我也可能有這一天’

????芬克斯坦表示，移情因素也能夠解釋?zhuān)瑸楹蔚归]公司的董事會(huì)成員通常能夠重新獲得類(lèi)似的職位?！岸聲?huì)成員通常會(huì)換位思考……想象同樣的事情也會(huì)發(fā)生在自己身上。”

????拉克爾認(rèn)為，通過(guò)審查公司在美國(guó)證券交易委員會(huì)（SEC）的備案文件發(fā)現(xiàn)，安然（Enron）以及其他一些已倒閉公司的董事，不僅保住了自己在上市公司的董事會(huì)席位，而且還成為新董事會(huì)的成員。斯坦福大學(xué)的研究顯示，美國(guó)投資銀行貝爾斯登倒閉時(shí)在公司任職的12位董事中，有5位目前成為其他上市公司的董事。其中包括弗雷德里克?薩萊諾，他目前在5家公司董事會(huì)任職，其中包括哥倫比亞廣播公司（CBS）與維亞康姆公司（Viacom）。

????雷曼兄弟公司的兩位董事目前也在多家著名公司的董事會(huì)中任職，包括美高梅集團(tuán)（MGM Resorts International）、索尼（Sony）與西班牙語(yǔ)電視臺(tái) Telemundo。為避免倒閉，政府出面迫使美聯(lián)銀行出售，但公司的10位董事卻依然在多家大型公司董事會(huì)任職，包括富國(guó)銀行（Wells Fargo）、奧馳亞公司（Altria）、勞氏公司（Lowe's）、卡夫公司（Kraft）和陶氏化學(xué)公司等。

????斯坦福大學(xué)研究項(xiàng)目負(fù)責(zé)人拉克爾稱(chēng)：“這個(gè)圈子里存在一個(gè)微妙的精英群體。一旦出現(xiàn)問(wèn)題，這個(gè)圈子還能容得下他們嗎？問(wèn)這個(gè)問(wèn)題就好比問(wèn)江山易改，本性能能不能移?！?/p>

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/喬樹(shù)靜

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????Directors from failed companies are red-flagged in company research reports, says Paul Hodgson, communications director and research associate at corporate governance research firm GMI. But CEOs still pass along these names as potential directors on their company boards, he says.

????"It's a very small pool. It has to be kind of an incestuous feeling," he notes. GMI is developing a database to help company clients expand the kinds of directors they recruit to their boards. The database, which will be unveiled in upcoming weeks, "will crack that circle a little wider," he says.

????However, Hodgson notes, "the job of being a director is more onerous now, and the skills needed are much more exclusive. It's unlikely you would add anyone to the list who does not already have experience."

The 'it could be me' dilemma

????The empathy factor, says Finkelstein, also explains why board members of collapsed companies often sail into similar professional posts. "Board members typically put themselves in the shoes of the other person…. And they could see something like that happening to themselves."

????The result, according to Larcker, is that directors of Enron and other extinct corporations not only remain on the boards of public companies but also have joined new boards, according to its examination of company filings with the SEC. The Stanford study shows that five of the 12 Bear Stearns directors serving when the investment bank imploded are directors of public companies today. That includes Frederic Salerno, who serves on five boards, including CBS (CBS) and Viacom (VIA).

????Two directors of Lehman Brothers now hold board seats at prominent companies like MGM Resorts International (MGM), Sony (SNE) and Telemundo. Ten directors of Wachovia, which was forced to sell itself by the government to avoid failure, went on to serve on the boards of major corporations like Wells Fargo (WFC), Altria (MO), Lowe's (LOW), Kraft (KFT) and Dow Chemical.

????"There's an amorphous, elite group that's in the pool," says Larcker, who directed the Stanford study. "When something goes bad, are those people still acceptable? Do leopards change their spots?"