爲何微軟遲遲未選定新任CEO
To appreciate why Microsoft Corp. is having trouble choosing a new chief executive, consider these awkward boardroom dynamics: a founder who believes he knows best, a CEO who stepped down under pressure for a faster change in strategy, and, soon, an activist investor pushing for big changes.
要理解爲什麼微軟(Microsoft Co. ,MSFT)在選擇新首席執行長時遇到困難，要考慮該公司董事會裏面臨的尷尬處境：這裏有一位認爲他最瞭解微軟的創始人、一位迫於追求加快變革策略而卸任的首席執行長，並且很快還會有一位要求大幅變革的維權投資者。It's been more than four months since Steve Ballmer announced his plans to retire. And while Microsoft has said it will pick a successor by summer 2014, board members had hoped to choose one by November or December, according to people familiar with their thinking.
鮑爾默(Steve Ballmer)宣佈辭職計劃已經有四個多月時間了。據知情人士稱，微軟表示到2014年夏天將會選定一位繼任者，不過該公司董事會曾希望到去年11月份或12月份選出一位新的首席執行長。John W. Thompson, the director leading the CEO search, says the board is methodically seeking the right person for a complex role. But corporate directors, management consultants and some executives contacted about the job say the potential for boardroom clashes at Microsoft is a turnoff.
主持新任首席執行長遴選的董事湯普森(John W. Thompson)表示，董事會正在有條不紊地爲一個非常複雜的職位尋找合適人選。但該職位遴選所接觸的企業董事、管理顧問以及一些高管稱，微軟董事會的潛在矛盾令人望而卻步。
If Chairman Bill Gates and Mr. Ballmer stay on the board, Microsoft would be an outlier. Just eight companies in the S&P 500 index have two of their former CEOs as directors, according to Equilar Inc., which tracks executive compensation.
如果董事長比爾・蓋茨(Bill Gates)和鮑爾默均留在董事會，微軟將會成爲一個異類。據追蹤企業高管薪酬的Equilar Inc.稱，在標普500指數成分股中，僅有八家公司出現前首席執行長繼續擔任公司董事的情況。'No CEO worthy of the title wants his or her predecessors second-guessing everything in the boardroom,' said Jean-Louis Gass谷e, a former Apple Inc. executive who has served on public-company boards.
蘋果(Apple Inc.)前高管、在上市公司董事會任職的Jean-Louis Gassee說，一個稱職的首席執行長不會希望他或她的前任在董事會會議室裏對所有的事情說三道四。Microsoft hasn't said whether both Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Gates, the company's co-founder and CEO for 19 years, will remain directors. In November, shareholders re-elected each of them for a one-year board term, but they would be able to resign their posts sooner.
微軟方面沒有表示鮑爾默或者聯合創始人、曾任該公司首席執行長19年之久的蓋茨是否會留任董事會。去年11月份，股東們投票將兩人再次選入董事會，任期一年，但他們可以提前卸任。At least some external executives who discussed the CEO job with Microsoft directors have expressed concerns about being hamstrung if the two men continue to serve on the board, according to people familiar with their thinking.
據知情人士稱，至少有一些與微軟董事討論過首席執行長職位的其他公司高管曾表達過對如果鮑爾默和蓋茨繼續留在董事會可能會令他們受到束縛的擔憂。Outside CEO candidates 'know that part of what they are negotiating for is the level of engagement' of Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Gates once the new leader takes charge, a person familiar with the matter said.
一位知情人士稱，外部首席執行長候選人知道，上任之後鮑爾默和蓋茨的參與程度是他們談判內容的一部分。Microsoft's experience shows the challenge in crafting a role for a founder or former CEO. Having them around as a sounding board or an elder statesman can be handy--unless the arrangement devolves into squabbling or a boardroom coup.
微軟的經歷也表明在爲創始人或前首席執行長定位方面存在的困難。將他們作爲一個前輩留在公司董事會或者當董事會不存在矛盾的時候可能很方便，但如果存在矛盾或者發展成爲董事會政變就完全不一樣了。Former Pfizer Inc. CEO Henry 'Hank' McKinnell sat on the board alongside his predecessor for more than five years, until directors orchestrated his retirement in 2006, 18 months ahead of schedule.
輝瑞(Pfizer Inc.)前首席執行長麥金內爾(Henry "Hank" McKinnell)與他的前任共同在該公司董事會供職超過五年，直到2006年他在董事會的壓力下提前18個月卸任。'What's really a bad idea is a former CEO of your company' staying on the board, Mr. McKinnell said in a late-October interview. 'You can't win.'
麥金內爾在去年10月底接受採訪時表示，將前任首席執行長留在公司董事會是在不是一個好主意，你贏不了。Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, who has been considered for the Microsoft post, has long lived with a similar power-sharing arrangement. Bill Ford Jr. is the auto maker's executive chairman, as well as a former CEO, major stockholder and member of its founding family.
福特汽車(Ford Motor Co.)首席執行長、微軟首席執行長的候選人之一穆拉利(Alan Mulally)長期以來一直處於這種類似的權力共享的安排之中。比爾・福特(Bill Ford Jr.)是該公司的執行董事長，曾經擔任過首席執行長，也是公司的大股東及創始家族成員。Some candidates for the top post at Microsoft seem to be particularly uneasy about Mr. Ballmer, according to people familiar with their thinking. He has made several recent decisions that have altered the company's strategy and generated controversy among managers and investors.
據知情人士說，微軟的一些首席執行長人選似乎尤其對鮑爾默感到不快。他最近做了數項決策，這些決策改變了微軟的戰略，在管理人員和投資者中引發了爭議。Ten days after the August announcement of his planned exit, Mr. Ballmer struck a $7.4 billion deal to buy Nokia Corp.'s mobile-phone business, thrusting Microsoft into a new field and adding 32,000 people to its workforce. This summer, Mr. Ballmer also pushed through a sweeping corporate reorganization that garnered mixed reviews inside and outside Microsoft.
去年8月鮑爾默計劃卸任的消息宣佈之後10天，他與諾基亞公司(Nokia Corp.)達成了一項交易，斥資74億美元收購後者的手機業務，微軟由此被拋入一個新的領域，員工人數將增加3.2萬人。去年夏天，鮑爾默還促成了一項全面的公司重組計劃，在公司內外引發了褒貶不一的評價。People who know him question whether Mr. Ballmer could sit by if his successor wanted to break free of his strategy or policies. It isn't clear how Microsoft's board, which backed Mr. Ballmer's moves, would react if the next CEO wanted to reverse some of his decisions.
認識鮑爾默的人質疑，如果他的繼任者希望擺脫他的戰略或政策，鮑爾默是否能夠坐視不管。目前不清楚如果新任首席執行長想撤銷鮑爾默的一些決定，那麼支持鮑爾默舉措的微軟董事會將做何反應。Microsoft directors have sought to delicately manage Mr. Ballmer's role in screening CEO candidates, said the person familiar with the matter. Neither Mr. Ballmer nor Mr. Gates has 'veto power' over the selection of the company's next leader, this person said. Messrs. Ballmer and Gates collectively own 8.3% of Microsoft's stock.
據一位知情人士說，微軟的董事們一直爭取謹慎地處理鮑爾默在甄選首席執行長人選方面扮演的角色。這位人士說，鮑爾默和蓋茨對微軟新領導人的選擇都沒有“否決權”。鮑爾默和蓋茨共持有微軟8.3%的股份。Mr. Ballmer himself faced a similar challenge when he took over as CEO from Mr. Gates in 2000. Their power struggles in the early years stalled some company decisions. Microsoft director David Marquardt and others stepped in, seeking to lessen tensions between the two men, who have known each other since they shared a Harvard University dorm in the mid-1970s.
鮑爾默2000年接替蓋茨擔任首席執行長時，也曾面臨類似挑戰。早期他們兩人之間的權力鬥爭令公司的部分決策陷入停頓。微軟董事馬夸特(David Marquardt)等人介入，尋求緩解他們兩人之間的緊張關係。上世紀70年代中期，鮑爾默和蓋茨曾是哈佛大學(Harvard University)室友，兩人由此結識。Mr. Gates is no wallflower either. People who have worked with him say that as chairman and a revered technologist, he can dominate board discussions.
蓋茨也不是局外人。與其共事過的人說，作爲董事長和一名備受尊敬的技術專家，他能夠主導董事會討論。In an interview with the Financial Times published in November, Mr. Gates said he expected to spend considerable time working with the next Microsoft CEO.
在《金融時報》(Financial Times)去年11月刊登的採訪中，蓋茨稱他預計將花費大量的時間與微軟新首席執行長共事。Adding to the cast of boardroom characters is ValueAct Capital Management. The hedge fund bought more than $2 billion in Microsoft stock in 2013, and parlayed shareholder unhappiness into a board seat. ValueAct President G. Mason Morfit, who is likely to join the Microsoft board this year, will be the first director in the company's 38-year history not selected by Microsoft's board.
微軟董事會還將包括ValueAct Capital Management。這隻對衝基金2013年斥資逾20億美元買進了微軟股票。該基金的總裁墨菲特(Mason Morfit)今年有可能加入微軟董事會，他將是微軟38年曆史中第一位不是由微軟董事會選擇的董事。Relations can be rocky when an activist shareholder joins a board he previously criticized. Investor William Ackman quit the J.C. Penney Co. board in August after he clashed with other directors over the retailer's management and strategy. On the flip side, adding an activist shareholder's representatives to the board helped Office Depot Inc. last year to smooth a bumpy merger with OfficeMax Inc.
當一位維權股東加入其之前批評的董事會時，關係可能很難處理。投資者阿克曼(William Ackman)去年8月退出了J.C. Penney Co.的董事會，之前他與其他董事因該零售商的管理和戰略發生了衝突。但一個相反的例子是，Office Depot Inc.董事會中加入一位維權股東的代表後，幫助該公司去年順利完成了與OfficeMax Inc.棘手的合併交易。
