Bear Stearns Cos. became the latest high-profile U.S. company to divide its leadership when James Cayne stepped down last week as chief executive but remained board chairman.
This division of labor, long favored by governance advocates, has gained momentum slowly in the U.S., where many CEOs resist sharing power. Around 36% of Standard & Poors-500 companies have separate chairmen and CEOs, up from 22% in 2002, according to the Corporate Library, a research group in Portland, Maine. As at Bear Stearns, splits in the top posts at American businesses are often the result of a leadership transition or financial trouble. In numerous cases, the chairman is a concern's retired CEO.
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Yet the gradual emergence of non-CEO chairmen in the U.S. raises a sticky question: How do you perform a role that rarely existed until recently?
For insight, American executives increasingly look to Britain, where most major public companies have divorced the roles since a 1992 corporate-governance reform effort. The chairman usually comes from outside company ranks.
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