A non-executive director or outside director is a
member of the board of directors of a company who does not form part of
the executive management team. He or she is not an employee of the company or
affiliated with it in any other way. They are differentiated from inside directors, who are members of
the board also serving as executive managers of the company (most often as
corporate officers).
Non-executive directors have responsibilities in the following areas,
according to a 2003 report for the British Government:[1]
- Strategy: Non-executive directors should constructively
challenge and contribute to the development of strategy.
- Performance: Non-executive directors should scrutinise the
performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and
monitoring, and where necessary removing, senior management and in succession
planning.
NED's should also provide independent views on:
- Resources:
- Appointments:
- Standards of conduct:
On the whole, non-executive directors are the custodians of the governance process. They are not
involved in the day-to-day running of business but monitor the executive
activity and contribute to the development of strategy.
Notes and references
- ^ Higgs, Derek. Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive
directors. 20 January 2003. URL retrieved 15 November 2006. Also see
summary page DTI - The Higgs Review, URL retrieved
15 November 2006
Further reading
- Merson, Rupert (2003).
Non-Executive Directors. Profile Books
Ltd. ISBN 1-86197-499-X.
External links
***
班氏家族一位發言人稱﹐雙方進行了建設性的會談﹐並討論了我們的立場。
與班氏家族關係密切的一位知情人士稱﹐雙方就保持新聞獨立公正性的公司架構交換了意見﹐但沒有討論收購價問題。另外一位知情人士稱﹐雙方沒有設定下次會談的時間。
在最初回絕了默多克每股60美元（總計50億美元）的出價後﹐班氏家族上週四表示﹐將與新聞集團舉行會談﹐同時也會考慮其他競購者。
據知情人士稱﹐外界曾預計班氏家族會向默多克闡明他們在道瓊斯和《華爾街日報》的新聞報導上所持有的獨立公正的原則。儘管雙方真正討論了哪些問題尚不得而知﹐但據另一位知情人士稱﹐新聞集團陣營此前預計﹐班氏家族會搬出《泰晤士報》(The
Times of London)和《星期日泰晤士報》(Sunday
Times)的收購案例。在1981年默多克收購上述兩家報紙時﹐曾同意通過建立一個獨立的董事會﹐讓報紙獲得新聞獨立性。不過﹐批評人士一直在指責稱﹐這樣的措施也未能阻止住默多克對報紙指手畫腳、甚至解僱他不喜歡的編輯。
這位知情人士稱﹐默多克也愈來愈多地意識到﹐與收購《泰晤士報》相比﹐收購道瓊斯需要做出更多努力才能確保成功。新聞集團願意嘗試的努力之一就是路透集團(Reuters
Group PLC)曾使用過的一個策略﹕在任何收購交易上都給予路透受託人以否決權。
當路透集團1984年在倫敦證券交易所(London Stock
Exchange)和那斯達克市場上市時﹐默多克曾擔任其董事。也就在那個時候﹐路透通過建立Reuters Founders Share
Co.並制定其運營原則﹐加強了Reuters Trust的力量。這些原則規定﹐不允許任何一家實體持有該公司超過15%的股票。
擔任道瓊斯公司董事的三位班氏家族成員﹕克里斯多夫•班克羅夫特(Christopher Bancroft)、萊斯利•希爾(Leslie
Hill)和伊麗莎白•斯蒂爾(Elizabeth Steele)﹐以及班氏家族主要受託人邁克爾•埃萊凡特(Michael
Elefante)、道瓊斯非執行董事長彼得•麥克費爾森(M. Peter
McPherson)、班氏家族法律顧問馬丁•利普頓(Martin Lipton)均參加了與默多克的會談。會議在利普頓所在公司Wachtell, Lipton,
Rosen & Katz的辦公室內舉行。利普頓主持了會議。而陪同默多克與會的是他的次子、新聞集團子公司英國天空廣播公司(British Sky
Broadcasting)首席執行長詹姆斯•默多克(James Murdoch)﹐另外還有公司首席財務長大衛•德沃(David
DeVoe)和首席法律顧問勞倫斯•雅各布(Lawrence Jacobs)。
另外﹐代表道瓊斯2,000多名員工的獨立出版商僱員工會(Independent Association of Publishers' Employees,
簡稱IAPE)在一份聲明中稱﹐工會正在與Ownership Associates一起研究除新聞集團收購提議之外的其他選擇方案。Ownership
Associates是一家專門研究雇員持股結構的公司﹐它曾與報紙工會代表一同研究收購Knight Ridder
Inc.的方案﹐該公司後來被賣給了McClatchy Co.。
Ownership Associates總裁克里斯托弗•麥金(Christopher
Mackin)表示﹐我正在就參與此項交易與一些投資集團進行接觸。週三將會有相關消息公佈。IAPE目前正在與道瓊斯公司談判新的勞工合同。