How has Enrons collapse focused attention on boardroom ethics?
Enron just brought home the idea to a lot of people that corporate governance matters. On paper, Enron’s board looked good. But the system at Enron wasn’t working. If the board, audit committee, and auditors had been doing their jobs, Enron would still be here as a healthy company, maybe with less air. Enron was the perfect storm in corporate governance. Q: What corporate abuse really makes your blood boil? A: Excessive executive compensation, especially when it’s undeserved. At the level some people are being paid, you wonder “How much is enough?” And people are getting paid more for doing a lousy job. The parade of executives who left Global Crossing [which declared bankruptcy in January] with multimillion-dollar payoffs is just obscene. Q: The New York Stock Exchange is considering changes in its corporate-governance listing standards. What do you think the NYSE needs to do? A: It has been quite alarming to see the number of companies adopting stock-option plans without shareholder
