Naja, da soll sich jeder selbst ein Urteil drüber bilden, vor allem wenn dann General Electric und Walt Disney als Beispiele für Firmen mit hervorragenden Aufsichtsräten genannt werden.
Apple, Gap Among Magazine's Worst Boards Thursday September 26, 9:38 pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. Chief Executive Steven Jobs not only has the dubious distinction of having his company's board named as one of the worst, but he is also a director of Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS - News), another company that made the same list. The two companies are among eight listed in the Oct. 7 issue of BusinessWeek as having the worst boards of directors. The magazine used criteria such as board independence and stock ownership for the listing. BusinessWeek surveyed 51 corporate governance experts and then conducted a proxy analysis that graded companies on governance and performance measures. Gap made the list, BusinessWeek said, for deals that included construction contracts with Chairman Donald Fisher's brother and a consulting deal with his wife. Apple declined to comment on making the list and a representative of Gap could not be reached for comment. The boards of Conseco Inc. , Dillard's Inc. , Kmart Corp. , Qwest Communications International Inc. , Tyson Foods Inc. and Xerox Corp. rounded out the list. The companies made the grade, BusinessWeek said, for reasons like granting hefty compensation packages to flailing CEOs, having too many company insiders as members, and failing to notice or stop abuses that were happening under their noses. A representative of Kmart declined to comment on the BusinessWeek article. Conseco, Dillard's, and Tyson Foods could not be immediately reached. BusinessWeek tapped Xerox for the list, saying that two audit committee members had attendance problems last year, and said director Vernon Jordan's law firm provides legal services for the company. Xerox has paid a record $10 million to U.S. securities regulators to settle charges it manipulated its financial results. Xerox spokeswoman Christa Carone said BusinessWeek "did not base their analysis on the most current information available from the company. "They neglected to mention our audit committee had 13 meetings last year, which is an exceptionally high number of meetings," Carone said. She also said the company did not believe its links with Jordan's firm represent a conflict of interest. Qwest, a local U.S. telephone company facing federal probes of its accounting practices, made the list, BusinessWeek said, in part because of an $88 million pay package awarded to the company's former CEO last year by the board's compensation committee. Last year was also one of the worst years in the company's history, BusinessWeek said.
SOME GOOD NEWS, OR AT LEAST BETTER NEWS
The magazine also listed 10 companies it determined to have the best boards, including General Electric , 3M Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Home Depot Inc. , and said Walt Disney Co. was among the most improved boards. In a statement, Disney -- which just lost the head of its theme parks and resorts division to Gap -- said it has separated auditing and consulting functions, and required directors to hold a minimum of $100,000 in company stock. "In the weeks and months ahead we'll continue to take steps to ensure that Disney remains among the most progressive boards in America," the company said in the statement.
Grüße Max
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