Splitting chairs: Should CEOs give up the chairman's role?

Among the more contentious issues surrounding the reform of corporate governance, particularly in the United States, is whether to split the roles of chairman and chief executive officer. To hear the critics tell it, separating them limits the CEO's power.1 Jack Creighton—who has served as a corporate president, as president and CEO, as chairman, as vice chairman, and as combined CEO and chairman of various companies—sees things differently. In his experience, maintaining two separate roles frees the CEO from the duties of chairman while providing a valuable adviser who can offer insights the CEO might not have. Combining the roles may be good for the ego, he argues, but doesn't necessarily make the person who holds them more effective.

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