Is the maker of Macs in for a board reboot?Mac电脑制造商苹果否不会赞同董事会改组？According to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday, Apple CEO Tim Cook is looking for new board members. If the report is true, Cook’s search is reminiscent of Steve Jobs’ handpicking of an Apple board that would, perhaps in name only, oversee him. But CEO selection of board candidates is a governance no-no because CEOs report to—and are hired and fired by—the board.《华尔街日报》（ Wall Street Journal）上周公开发表的一篇文章称之为，苹果（Apple）首席执行官提姆o库克正在物色新的董事会成员。如果这篇报导是知道， 那么库克的作法乃是在效仿史蒂夫o乔布斯钦点苹果董事会成员的老路子，而由此重新组建的董事会对于库克来说有可能只有名义上的监管权。但是首席执行官自由选择董事会成员候选人是公司管理的大忌，因为首席执行官得向董事会汇报，而且首席执行官的举荐和辞职也是董事会说了算。

To be sure, the Apple AAPL 0.04% board is certainly ripe for an overhaul. Bill Campbell, the chair of Intuit INTU -0.11% , has served on Apple’s board since 1997. Campbell figured prominently in documents filed in the wage fixing case that Apple agreed to settle this year. The testimony related to that case also referred to Apple Chair Art Levinson, who has been an Apple board member since 2000. Amid antitrust concerns, Levinson stepped down from Google’s board in 2009. But in September of last year, he became CEO of Calico, a controversial gig for an Apple director since Calico is funded by Google GOOG 0.87% .的确，苹果董事会也该逆一逆了。Intuit董事长比尔o尼克贝尔自从1997年以来就仍然在兼任苹果的董事。

在今年苹果表示同意妥协的工资补缴案的涉及文件中，坎贝尔沦为了最重要人物。与这起案件涉及的证词还牵涉到苹果董事长亚瑟o莱文森，他于2000年开始就仍然是苹果董事会成员。由于反垄断的原因，莱文森于2009年解散了谷歌（Google）董事会。但去年9月，他沦为了Calico首席执行官。

对于苹果董事来说，Calico是一个极具争议的怪胎，因为它的投资人是谷歌。The two other longest serving Apple directors are Mickey Drexler, CEO of J. Crew, who has been on the board since 1999, and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, a director since 2003. Drexler and Gore are not known as champions of good governance. Drexler survived a controversy in 2010 when he allegedly waited seven weeks to inform the J. Crew board of in-depth discussions he was holding related to the potential sale of the company. Gore led Apple’s internal investigation into stock options backdating allegations, issuing a report that some considered awhitewash.另两位任期最久的苹果董事是：J. Crew首席执行官麦琪o德勒克斯纳，他于1999年重新加入董事会；以及美国前副总统阿尔o戈尔，他重新加入董事会的时间是2003年。德勒克斯纳和戈尔并非以公司管理而闻名。2010年，德勒克斯纳挣脱了一场舆论危机。

据信，导致这个危机的原因在于，他曾就潜在的公司出售事宜与其他方面展开过深入探讨，但他在7周后才将此事告诉J. Crew董事会。戈尔曾领导了苹果股票期权追溯到案件的内部调查，并公布了一篇被一些人指出是用来掩盖真相的调查报告。Many boards find it vital to reconsider the people who sit on their nominating and governance committees in order to facilitate director exits and find the best candidates. When the least governance-minded or longest-serving directors control those committees, boards can run into serious roadblocks. Tech firms have a heightened need to avoid stagnant board membership because fast-moving strategies require fresh thinking.很多董事会指出，新的检视奖提名和管理委员会的委员包含十分最重要，这样不利于董事的卸任并找寻合适的候选人。一旦不擅长于管理的人或长时间位列董事一职的人掌控了这些委员会，董事会可能会陷于重重的困境。

对于技术公司来说，享有一成不变的董事会是个大忌，因为较慢变化的策略必须新的思维作为承托。Apple’s board is not diverse and not reflective of its customer base. The composition seems out of step with the company’s recent new hires, including Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry. The board currently has only one female member—and not a single independent Apple director is under 55. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.苹果的董事会缺少多样性，而且在客户群方面也不具备代表性。这个人组或许跟上最近公司新的聘为高管的步伐，还包括博柏利（Burberry）前任首席执行官安吉娜o阿伦德斯。董事会目前只有一位女性成员，而且苹果所有独立国家董事的年龄都多达了55岁。

苹果未对置评拒绝作出对此。At Apple, Campbell or Levinson, along with Drexler and Gore, have been responsible for board nominations and governance since 2003. (Apple’s 2011 to 2014 proxy filings show the board’s nominating and governance committee has been chaired by Campbell, the board’s longest serving director, with members Drexler and Gore. The 2003 to 2010 filings show the committee composed of Levinson, Drexler, and Gore.)自从2003年以来，苹果公司的董事会奖提名和管理工作仍然是由坎贝尔或莱文森以及德勒克斯纳和戈尔负责管理。（苹果2011到2014年的代理委托书表明，董事会奖提名和管理委员会仍然由坎贝尔这位供职时间最久的董事兼任主席，其他成员还包括德勒克斯纳和戈尔。2003-2010年的代理委托书表明委员会由莱文森、德勒克斯纳和戈尔构成。

）At this year’s annual meeting, Apple stockholders did not approve a proxy access proposal that would have allowed shareholder board nominations to appear on Apple’s ballot. Nevertheless, the nominating committee should be seeking shareholder input.在今年的年度股东大会上，苹果股东驳回了代理参与权议案。依据这份议案，股东董事会奖提名将由苹果股东投票产生。不管怎么样，奖提名委员会应当征询股东的意见。

So, where does this leave Tim Cook? If the Apple CEO wants new board members, he has a couple of options. He can garner board support to get the nominating committee moving—or he can suggest that the board consider reconstituting its committees to shake things up and give newer independent members a bigger role in the nominations process.因此，这对库克来说意味著什么？如果这位苹果首席执行官期望减少新的董事会成员，有两条路可以回头。他可以取得董事会反对，让奖提名委员会开始行动；或者他也可以建议董事会考虑到改组委员会，超越杨家格局，从而让新的离任的独立国家董事在奖提名过程中充分发挥更大的起到。Under no circumstance should Cook, who as CEO reports to the board, be creating the slate. It’s bad governance that could backfire down the road. And it could tarnish Cook with the same brush that painted former HP HPQ 0.45% Chair Ray Lane when he took control of board nominations, contrary to that board’s governance charter.不论在什么情况下，库克作为向董事会汇报的首席执行官，都不应当介入董事会的重新组建工作。

否则就归属于管理疏于，可能会给未来祸根祸患。而且库克有可能因此而被扣上归属于惠普（HP）前任董事长雷o莱恩的帽子。雷曾违背董事会的管理章程，掌控了董事会的奖提名。The era of Jobs is over. For Apple and Cook, that means it’s time for mature corporate governance. Along with it, perhaps the company will gain some fresh ideas as well.乔布斯的时代早已完结。

对于苹果和库克来说，这意味著积极开展完备的公司管理的时机到了。除此之外，说不定公司还不会因此而取得一些新理念。

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