評(píng)論
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Business
商業(yè)報(bào)道
Corporate governance in Germany
德國(guó)公司的管理
Diversifying the board
董事會(huì)的多元化
German boards have long been cosy men's clubs. But things are changing
德國(guó)的董事會(huì)曾一度是享樂者的天堂，但是現(xiàn)在不一樣了。
HERMANN JOSEF ABS liked to joke, What's the difference between a doghouse and the supervisory board?
HERMANN JOSEF喜歡開玩笑：狗屋和監(jiān)事會(huì)有什么不同？
The doghouse is for the dog; the supervisory board is for the cat.
狗屋是給狗的，監(jiān)事會(huì)是給貓的，
For those unfamiliar with the nuances of German humour, for the cat is slang for something like trash.
這是德國(guó)式幽默，貓?jiān)谫嫡Z里通常指代廢物。
The late banker would know: while running Deutsche Bank from 1957 to 1967, he also sat on dozens of supervisory boards.
已故的銀行家或許知道，在1957到1967年間主管德意志銀行時(shí)，HERMANN JOSEF ABS還是幾十個(gè)監(jiān)事會(huì)成員里的一個(gè)。
This was the peak of Deutschland AG, a clique of long-serving bosses, autocratic chairmen, do-nothing board members and their financier friends.
過去，監(jiān)事會(huì)是德國(guó)公司的頂層，他們是由一群長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任老板的小團(tuán)體，獨(dú)裁主席，游手好閑的董事會(huì)成員以及他們金融界的朋友們組成。
Big German companies' supervisory boards are supposed to act as a check on their management boards.
大型德國(guó)公司的監(jiān)事會(huì)應(yīng)該管理董事會(huì)，
But in practice their relations were too cosy for this.
但是實(shí)際上他們的關(guān)系過于親密。
This past year the stumbles of two titans seemed to highlight how much corporate power is still concentrated in few hands in the Germanspeaking world.
去年這兩大巨頭的過失似乎在過于強(qiáng)調(diào)企業(yè)大權(quán)仍掌控在少數(shù)德國(guó)人手里。
As 2013 began Gerhard Cromme was chairman of the supervisory boards of both Siemens, an industrial conglomerate, and ThyssenKrupp, a steelmaker.
2013年伊始，Gerhard Cromme成為西門子及鋼鐵制造商蒂森克努伯兩家企業(yè)的監(jiān)事會(huì)主席。
But big losses at foreign mills and heavy fines over a cartel case cost him the chairmanship at ThyssenKrupp.
但是卡特爾事件中國(guó)外鋼廠的巨大損失及高額罰款讓他失去了蒂森克努伯公司監(jiān)事會(huì)主席一職。
Then in July, a boardroom bunfight at Siemens ended with the departure of Peter Lscher, the chief executive.
同年7月，西門子董事會(huì)舞會(huì)事件以其首席主管Peter Lscher的離職而告終。
Mr Cromme belatedly called for his firing—but only after hiring him and protecting him for years.
Cromme請(qǐng)求延遲他的解雇，但也只是在雇傭和保護(hù)了他幾年之后。
Josef Ackermann, a Swiss former boss of Deutsche Bank and a Siemens board member, had defended Mr Lscher.
德意志銀行前瑞士分行行長(zhǎng)兼西門子董事Josef Ackermann力挺Lscher。
When Mr Lscher went, so did he.
當(dāng)Lscher走后他也離職了。
Shortly before this he had quit as chairman of Zurich, a Swiss insurer, whose chief financial officer had committed suicide, leaving a note berating Mr Ackermann.
在這之前不久他還辭去了瑞士保險(xiǎn)公司蘇黎世董事長(zhǎng)一職。該公司的首席財(cái)務(wù)官自殺了，只留下一張便條斥責(zé)Ackermann。
Now he has no big corporate job, there have been reports that Mr Ackermann may have to step down as a trustee of the World Economic Forum after its gabfest in Davos this week.
現(xiàn)在他沒有大公司工作，有報(bào)道稱本周在達(dá)沃斯會(huì)議進(jìn)行冗長(zhǎng)的談話后，Ackermann只能降職為世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇的受托人。
At first glance, corporate power in Germany still looks male, German and concentrated.
乍一看，企業(yè)大權(quán)仍集中在德國(guó)男性手里。
But its boardrooms are slowly getting more diverse.
但是董事會(huì)正慢慢變得多樣化。
In 2003 the average supervisory-board member at a public company sat on 1.9 boards; now the figure is 1.6.
2003年監(jiān)事會(huì)成員中上市公司平均占了1.9席。
A 2001 cut in tax on sales of shares let banks and insurance companies, which played big roles as lenders and part-owners, start disentangling themselves from companies.
然而現(xiàn)在這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)是1.6。2001年銷售股份削減稅被放款及合伙大戶銀行和保險(xiǎn)公司承包，并開始解決糾紛。
Into the gaps, and onto the boards, has come a new generation of more active members.
為了填補(bǔ)空缺，也有很多新一代的有活力的成員加入董事會(huì)。
Boards have little choice but to be sharper, says Christoph Schalast of Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.
法蘭克福金融管理學(xué)院的Christoph Schalast表示董事會(huì)別無選擇，只有變得更加銳利。
Many companies are now paying fines and settlements for their behaviour before the financial crisis.
現(xiàn)在許多公司都在金融危機(jī)到來之前為他們的行為支付罰款和理賠款。
A 2010 change in the law doubled the statute of limitations for such misdeeds to ten years.
2010年修改法律訴訟時(shí)效等罪行翻了一倍，達(dá)10年了。
Progress on making boards more international is slower.
董事會(huì)的國(guó)際化進(jìn)程變緩了。
Eight of the largest 30 public companies have foreign bosses, but the rest of their boards' members are predominantly German, even at the country's most multinational firms.
規(guī)模最大的30家上市公司中有8家老板都是國(guó)外的，但是即使在大多數(shù)跨國(guó)公司，其董事會(huì)其他成員主要還是德國(guó)人。
But Burkhard Schwenker, the boss of Roland Berger, a consulting firm, says that counting passports is simplistic: what matters more is international experience, which German firms increasingly look for when recruiting both management-and supervisory-board members.
咨詢公司Roland Berger的董事長(zhǎng)Burkhard Schwenker卻表示哪個(gè)國(guó)家的其實(shí)不重要，在招募管理及董事成員時(shí)更看重的是德國(guó)公司急需的國(guó)際經(jīng)驗(yàn)。
If boards are becoming more professional and diverse, is accumulation of board seats a bad thing in itself?
如果董事會(huì)變得越來越專業(yè)越來越多樣化，積累董事會(huì)職位本身是壞事嗎？
Jrg Rocholl, the president of the European School for Management and Technology, says that studies disagree on whether busy board members are better or worse for profits.
歐洲管理與技術(shù)學(xué)院的院長(zhǎng)Jrg Rocholl表示繁忙的董事會(huì)對(duì)企業(yè)收益是利是弊仍意見不一。
But he agrees that boards are becoming more capable, and says this has been a factor in Germany's economic revival.
但可以肯定的是董事們正變得越來越能干，這也是德國(guó)公司經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇的原因之一。
Pay for German board members is going up; but these days, members are earning it.
董事成員的工資上漲了，但是這段日子是他們應(yīng)得的。
