Job security wanes in executive suites  主管工作也难保

It’s getting shaky at the top.

上层人物的地位也开始动摇了。

More than 15% of the  world’s 2,500 biggest companies lost their chief executives last year, and only half of the departures were voluntary, according to a study that will be released by the consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton today.

据今天布兹艾伦与哈米尔顿咨询公司将要公布的研究表明，世界上2500家实力最强公司中有超过15%家在去年失去了它们的执行总兼，而只有一半的离职是出于自愿。

The number of chief executives who left----383---was up slightly from last year and the 15.3% turnover rate was the highest reorded in the 10 years Booz Allen has studied the matter. Turnover was highest in Japan, with 19%, and in North America, where the 16.2% turnover rate was the highest since 2000.

离职的主管人数——383人——较去年稍高些，而15.3%的人员调动比例是布兹艾伦进行此项研究十年以来最高的纪录。人员调动比率在日本最多，高达19%，而在北美，该比率达到了自2000年来的最高值16.2%.

“we think this level of turnover is  here to stay,” said Paul Kocourek, a Booz Allen senior vice president and an author of the study. “Boards are much more activist, and they are not going to tolerate poor performance…If your performing at 2.5%below the Standard & poor’s 500 index,  you are at risk.”

布兹艾伦的高级副总裁兼该报告作者保尔·考库莱克说，“我们以为这样的调动比率会就此稳定，而上层董事会却十分活跃，他们不会容忍不侍的业绩表现……要是你的业绩表现低于标准普尔500股票指数2.5%，你就有危险了。”

The statistics from North America tend to bear that out. 35% of chief executives who departed in 2005 were forced out----the most ever recorded in the survey----compared with 44% who left voluntarily and 26% who lost their jobs because of mergers. Among the high-profile departures last year were Harry C. Stonecipher, forced out at Boeing Co. after a scandal; Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Carly Fiorina; Walt Disney Co.’s Michael D. Eisner, and Morgan Stanley’s Philip J. Purcell.

北美的数据可以证实，2005年35%离职的主管是被迫的，与44%的自愿离职人数和26%由于合并而离职的人数相比，是调查纪录人数最多的。去年受到广泛关注的离职者中包括因丑闻事件从波音公司离职的哈里·C·斯通辛弗；惠普公司的卡莉·菲奥里纳；沃尔特·迪斯尼公司的迈克尔·D·艾斯内及摩根士丹利的菲利普·J·普塞尔。

Retirements and other voluntary departures have not changed significantly since 1995, but the number of chief executives forced out for performance-related reasons has more than quadrupled, Kocoured said.

考库莱克说，退休与其他自愿离职的情况自1995年以来变化并不大，但由于表现相关原因而被迫离职的人主管人数增加了四倍。

Much of the change seems to stem from regulatory changes that have emphasized director independence and made them feel more personally responsible for company performance, as well as the growing willingness of large investors to challenge company strategies when share prices are lagging.

大多变化似乎是源于以下常规变动，即强调领导独立，使领导自己应对公司业绩承担更多责任及当股票价格下跌时多数投资者就倾向于质疑公司的策略。

On the other hand, high turnouver could make chief-executive jobs less attractive. “If you ask CEOs to take the risk of having to resign in a fairly public manner… people might be less willing to take the job and want higher compensation, which means you shrink the pool.” Said Constance E.Helfat, a strategy professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business who studies chief-executive turnover.

另一方面，高离职率可能致使执行总管的工作不再抢手。于达特茂斯塔克商学院研究执行主管人事调动战略学的博士康斯坦特·E·海尔法特说，“如果让CEO们必须承担公开辞职的风险……人们可能不太愿意接受这个职务而且会要求更高的薪金，这意味的人才库就缩小了。”