????這些就是薪酬方面的情況。然而，業(yè)績(jī)呢？真的有必要進(jìn)行這樣的股票期權(quán)安排來(lái)吸引惠特曼出任首席執(zhí)行官，并激勵(lì)她做好本職工作嗎？除了能激勵(lì)她維持股價(jià)不再下跌，看不出這怎么能激勵(lì)她在本職工作上拿出什么不凡的表現(xiàn)來(lái)。

????時(shí)機(jī)就是一切。蘭恩的運(yùn)氣也不差。蘭恩在惠普董事會(huì)任職（并作為董事長(zhǎng)）、但尚未出任惠普?qǐng)?zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)前，惠普的股價(jià)跌了45%。但是，盡管他在董事會(huì)任職期間惠普業(yè)績(jī)?cè)愀猓m恩成為執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)時(shí)還是獲得了100萬(wàn)股股票期權(quán)，行權(quán)要求與惠特曼類(lèi)似。這意味著什么？他受到的激勵(lì)是惠特曼的一半還多。對(duì)于一個(gè)執(zhí)行董事長(zhǎng)，這樣的薪酬只能用高得離譜來(lái)形容。

????今年將再度對(duì)高管薪酬進(jìn)行投票的一些股東將會(huì)考慮，【蘋(píng)果公司（Apple）2012年股東委托書(shū)上所顯示的】董事“薪酬話語(yǔ)權(quán)”計(jì)劃能否在未來(lái)解決這些弊病。

董事身兼數(shù)職，分身乏術(shù)

????惠普董事會(huì)的人員流動(dòng)率一向很高，今年也不例外。選擇既有時(shí)間、又有能力做好董事會(huì)工作的人，對(duì)于任何一個(gè)董事會(huì)都非常重要。惠普的股東委托書(shū)稱(chēng)：董事“兼任的上市公司董事會(huì)”數(shù)量應(yīng)有限制，以便董事能夠根據(jù)個(gè)人的具體情況、負(fù)責(zé)任地履行所有董事職責(zé)?！?/p>

????好的董事會(huì)應(yīng)遵循怎樣的普遍準(zhǔn)則？現(xiàn)任首席執(zhí)行官最多只能兼任一項(xiàng)外部董事會(huì)職務(wù)，已從全職高管職務(wù)退休的董事會(huì)成員最多也只能兼任4家董事會(huì)的職務(wù)。如果擔(dān)任董事會(huì)主席或首席獨(dú)立董事，或者如果董事經(jīng)營(yíng)的公司或擔(dān)任董事會(huì)職務(wù)的公司需要特別關(guān)注，需要進(jìn)一步減少兼任的董事會(huì)數(shù)量。

????無(wú)論怎么看，惠普也應(yīng)歸為“需要關(guān)注”之類(lèi)。去年，惠普董事會(huì)沒(méi)有交出漂亮的業(yè)績(jī)，需要有經(jīng)董事會(huì)審查和批準(zhǔn)的明確戰(zhàn)略。但考慮到惠普目前的戰(zhàn)略以及惠普需要董事會(huì)投入的關(guān)注，一些候選董事看來(lái)根本不符合要求。

????惠特曼在三家外部董事會(huì)任職，分別是寶潔（P&G）、租車(chē)服務(wù)公司Zipcar和移動(dòng)本地商務(wù)服務(wù)公司Zaarly?；萜盏囊晃话l(fā)言人稱(chēng)，所有這些“都是在她同意擔(dān)任惠普總裁兼首席執(zhí)行官之前……就已經(jīng)承擔(dān)的職務(wù)”。但事實(shí)上，惠特曼出任惠普首席執(zhí)行官一個(gè)月后才加入了Zaarly董事會(huì)。

????惠普發(fā)言人稱(chēng)，惠特曼認(rèn)為，她在外部董事會(huì)的任職是有價(jià)值的，并“計(jì)劃繼續(xù)承擔(dān)所有這些外部董事會(huì)職務(wù)，只要不影響她在惠普的工作”。

????How much is this payday worth? Once the 40% hurdle is cleared, this bonanza will be worth $18 million. If the stock price rises to the average five-year price, it will be worth over $34 million.

????That's pay. But where's the performance? Was this stock option arrangement really necessary to entice Whitman to the CEO spot and motivate her to perform her job? Other than a motivation to not sink the stock again, how does it motivate her to make a real difference over that which she can control?

????Timing is everything -- and Lane has suffered similar good fortune. HP's stock price was down by 45% during Lane's tenure as a board member (and as chair) before he assumed the executive chair position. Yet despite HP's poor performance during his earlier tenure, he was awarded an option to purchase 1 million shares when he became executive chair, with similar vesting requirements as Whitman's. What does this mean? He'll get a haul that is more than half of Whitman's. Such pay can only be described as stratospheric for an executive chair.

????Some shareholders, who are voting again on executive pay this year, will be considering whether a director "say on pay" proposal (as appears on Apple's (AAPL) 2012 proxy) could address these concerns in future years.

A board that's spread too thin

????HP has had significant turnover on its board, and this year is no exception. For any board, selecting the right members with the time and talent to do the job well is critically important. Directors' "service on other boards of public companies should be limited to a number that permits them, given their individual circumstances, to perform responsibly all director duties," the HP proxy says.

????What are the general guidelines good boards follow? At most, sitting CEOs should sit on one outside board and board members who have retired from full time executive duties should sit on a maximum of four boards. If the director is the chair or lead independent director, or if the director runs a company or sits on the board of a company that needs particular attention, they should sit on even fewer boards.

????HP would, by most any measure, fit in the "needs attention" category. HP's board did not turn in a stellar performance last year and the company is in need of a clearly articulated strategy that the board has adequately vetted and approved. But taking into account the stated HP policy and the attention HP needs from its board, some members up for election don't appear to qualify.

????Whitman sits on three outside boards -- P&G (PG), Zipcar (ZIP), and Zaarly -- all of which "she committed to serve on … before she agreed to become HP's president and CEO," according to an HP spokesperson. But Whitman didn't actually join Zaarly's board until over a month after her tenure as CEO had already begun.

????Whitman finds her outside board service to be of value and "plans to honor all of her outside board commitments as long as they do not interfere with her obligations to lead HP," HP's spokesperson says.