绝对的权力导致绝对的腐败 全能高管逐渐消亡
The observation by 19th century historian Lord Acton that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely seems appropriate when analysing one of the most significant trends in corporate governance — the steady demise of the all-powerful executive.
19世纪的历史学家阿克顿勋爵(Lord Acton)的名言权力导致腐败，绝对的权力导致绝对的腐败，似乎很适合分析公司治理领域最重要的趋势之一——全能高管的逐渐消亡。
Over the past decade, the joint chief executive/chairman has become a dying breed.
过去10年，首席执行官(CEO)兼董事长成为了一个逐渐消亡的群体。
Globally, the number of new appointees holding the chief executive/chairman role has dropped to a record low as corporate governance best practice moves towards the idea that the two most senior roles at a listed company should be split, says Strategy&, a consulting arm of professional services group PwC.
专业服务集团普华永道(PwC)旗下咨询公司Strategy&表示，在全球范围内，新任CEO兼董事长的人数降至创纪录低点，因为公司治理的最佳实践正趋向于将上市公司的这两个最高职位分开。
The UK’s corporate governance code advises against combining the two posts.
英国公司治理准则的忠告是不要将CEO和董事长这两个职位合二为一。
Only one company in the FTSE 100 — Hikma Pharmaceuticals — has one person, Said Darwazah, sharing the chief executive and chairman roles, says research group MSCI.
研究集团MSCI表示，在富时100指数(FTSE 100)成分股公司中，仅有一家公司里有一个人身兼CEO和董事长两职——Hikma Pharmaceuticals的赛义德.达尔瓦扎(Said Darwazah)。
The US is one of the few industrialised countries where a joint chief executive/chairman is still common at the biggest groups, although their numbers generally are falling.
在少数几个工业化国家，身兼CEO和董事长两职现象在最大的公司里还相当常见，美国就是其中之一，不过这一人群的人数总体上也在减少。
Half the companies listed on the S&P 500 have one person holding the combined role.
标准普尔500指数(S&P 500)成分股企业中，有半数企业中有一人身兼两职。
Having a separate chief executive and chairman is becoming a global standard for almost everyone, says Per-Ola Karlsson, a partner at Strategy&.
由不同的人担任CEO和董事长正在全球范围内成为几乎所有人的标准，Strategy&合伙人佩尔-奥拉.卡尔松(Per-Ola Karlsson)说：
Governance codes around the world presume that it is best practice.
全世界的治理准则都把这视为最佳实践。
But in the US, progress has been slow.
但在美国，进展一直很缓慢。
He attributes this to the different mindset of Americans.
他将这种现象归因于美国人的观念不同。
They are more inclined to believe that someone holding both roles can deliver greater efficiency and better performance, while not compromising the principles of good corporate governance, he says.
他说，美国人更倾向于认为身兼两职能够实现更高的效率和更好的业绩，同时不违背良好公司治理的原则。
Jamie Dimon, chief executive, chairman and president of JPMorgan Chase, the US investment bank, is a prime example of a business leader who gives weight to the argument that one person in the joint role can deliver results.
美国投行摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase) CEO兼董事长兼总裁杰米.戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)，就是支持身兼多职能够带来业绩这个论点的商业领袖的典范。
The bank has consistently been one of the top performers among the world’s financial groups since he took on the post of chairman in 2006, adding to his existing role of chief executive.
原本就担任CEO的戴蒙在2006年开始兼任董事长一职，此后摩根大通一直是全球金融机构中业绩最优秀的机构之一。
However, the bank has not avoided scandals.
然而，摩根大通未能避免丑闻。
It suffered large losses after a series of derivatives transactions entered by a trader, nicknamed the London Whale, went wrong.
绰号伦敦鲸的交易员进行的一系列衍生品交易令该行蒙受巨额损失。
This prompted several investigations into the group’s internal controls.
这促使有关机构对该集团的内部控制进行了几次调查。
Similar failures have prompted other companies and business leaders to emphasise the importance of having a separate chief executive and chairman.
类似的事件促使其他企业和商业领袖强调由不同的人分任CEO和董事长很重要。
Tom de Swaan, chairman of Zurich Insurance, argues that big financial groups should separate the roles because of their complexity.
苏黎世保险(Zurich Insurance)董事长汤姆.德斯瓦恩(Tom de Swaan)主张，由于大型金融集团很复杂，因此它们应该分别任命董事长和CEO。
Although Mr de Swaan took up the joint role at Zurich temporarily last year after the departure — and subsequent suicide — of chief executive Martin Senn, he insists that it is healthier to split the positions.
尽管去年苏黎世保险前首席执行官沈文天(Martin Senn)离职（后自杀）以后，德斯瓦恩暂时身兼两职，但他坚称分开这两个职位更健康。
One of the most important roles in being a chairman is to have the right management in place, he adds.
身为董事长，最重要的角色之一是任命合适的管理层，他补充：
The second thing is to make sure the company strategy is being executed effectively.
第二件事是确保企业战略得到有效执行。
It is hard to carry out these roles properly if you are the chief executive as well.
如果你还兼任CEO，你很难恰当地履行这些职责。
Some big investment groups, such as UK asset managers Schroders, Legal & General Investment Management and Aberdeen Asset Management, strongly support separate roles.
英国资产管理公司施罗德(Schroders)、英国法通投资管理公司(Legal & General Investment Management，简称LGIM)、安本资产管理公司(Aberdeen Asset Management)等一些大型投资集团都强烈支持分开这两个职位。
Jessica Ground, global head of stewardship at Schroders, puts it simply: The chief executive is there to run the company, the chairman is there to run the board.
施罗德的全球管理负责人杰茜卡.格朗德(Jessica Ground)简洁总结道：CEO的任务是经营公司，董事长的任务是管理董事会。
These are two different activities.
这是两种不同的活动。
Clare Payn, head of corporate governance in North America at LGIM, adds: Having one person do both suggests the chief executive can mark their own homework.
法通北美的企业治理负责人克莱尔.佩恩(Clare Payn)补充道：由一个人身兼两职意味着CEO能够给自己的作业打分。
The big listed companies are often very complicated institutions.
大型上市公司通常是非常复杂的机构。
The CEO does not have time to act as chairman as well.
CEO没有时间兼任董事长。
Findings are mixed over whether a company performs better with separate or joint roles.
企业业绩在哪种情况下更佳，分而任之还是合二为一，研究结果并不一致。
One factor that complicates this analysis is that companies with poor results often bring in a joint chief executive/chairman to turn round performance.
让这种分析变得更复杂的一个因素是，业绩不佳的企业通常会任命一位CEO兼董事长来扭转业绩。
Between 2011 and 2015, the lowest performing companies globally appointed 50 per cent more joint chief executive/chairmen than the highest performing companies, according to Strategy&.
根据Strategy&的数据，在2011年到2015年间，全球范围内表现最差的企业任命的CEO兼董事长要比业绩最佳的企业多50%。
Other research by MSCI shows that companies where the roles are combined tend to lag behind in the long term.
MSCI的其他研究表明，将这两种职位合二为一的企业从长期来看往往会落后。
Over 10 years, average total shareholder returns were 225.8 per cent at the groups where the roles were combined and 361.9 per cent at the companies where they were separated.
合并这两个职位的公司在这10年的平均总股东回报是225.8%，而将这两个职位分开的公司是361.9%。
These figures were calculated as of December 31 2015.
根据截至2015年12月31日的10年中的数据计算.
The most recent data, published in August by Credit Suisse, also show that separating the roles may benefit performance.
瑞信(Credit Suisse) 8月发布的最新数据也表明，分开这两个职位可能有益于公司业绩。
Of the 400 non-family-owned companies on the S&P 500, those with separate chief executives and chairmen delivered an average of 7.4 per cent annually over the 10 years to January 2016 compared with 5.3 per cent for companies with the same chief executive and chairman.
在截至2016年1月的10年中，标普500指数成分股公司中的400家非家族企业里，分开CEO和董事长职位的公司的股价年均涨幅为7.4%，而由一人身兼两职的公司的股价年均涨幅为5.3%。
However, there are no hard data to indicate which groups fare best when it comes to preventing scandals and improving corporate governance, says Mr Karlsson of Strategy&.
然而，在防止丑闻和改善公司治理方面，还没有可靠的数据表明分而任之和身兼两职哪种安排更好，Strategy&合伙人卡尔松说。
I would say that a separate, independent chairman would give a company a better chance of avoiding a major scandal.
我想说，不兼任CEO的独立的董事长有更大几率让企业避免重大丑闻。
But I have found no strong evidence to quantify this.
但我还没有找到有力的证据来量化这一点。
Until there are firmer data backing the separation of the posts, the joint role is unlikely to become completely extinct.
除非有更可靠的数据支持分开这两个职位的做法，否则CEO兼董事长不太可能完全消失。
Some investors, particularly in the US, will happily back an all-powerful holder of both roles — as long as they are delivering strong results and returns.
只要全能的身兼两职者能够实现强劲的业绩和回报，一些投资者，尤其是美国投资者，乐于支持他们。
