DIVERSIFYING THE BOARD 董事会多元化(一)

　　董事会的职责多年来一直在企业议程中。作为股东的代理，董事被期待为组织设计合理的经营和财务战略，同时也监管着公司各项活动的有效性。

　　董事会形式的支柱之一是有一个完善的公司治理框架：

　　This is evidenced by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Principles of Corporate Governance stating that 'the corporate governance framework should ensure the strategic guidance of the company, the effective monitoring of management by the board, and the board’s accountability to the company and the shareholders'.

　　Ⅰ. 董事会多元化的定义- DEFINITION OF BOARD DIVERSITY

　　Over the years, regulators have placed great emphasis on addressing different matters relating to the board of directors. Two prominent examples were:

　　(i) Stressing on the roles of non-executive directors as well as the importance of independence of the board in the Higgs Review in 2003; and

　　(ii) Emphasising the significance of balancing skills and experience of the board members as in the Walker Review in 2010.

　　Until recently, there has been an urge for diversifying the board. Intuitively, diversity means having a range of many people that are different from each other. There is, however, no uniform definition of board diversity. Traditionally speaking, one can consider factors like age, race, gender, educational background and professional qualifications of the directors to make the board less homogenous. Some may interpret board diversity by taking into account such less tangible factors as life experience and personal attitudes.

　　In short, board diversity aims to cultivate a broad spectrum of demographic attributes and characteristics in the boardroom. A simple and common measure to promote heterogeneity in the boardroom – commonly known as gender diversity – is to include female representation on the board.