Final Word from Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Every scandal in the West brings further reluctance by people in business to put their necks on the line by joining company boards. Not in the CR, where collecting board seats is like big-game hunting - once you bag the creature, you can mount it on the wall and start planning the next conquest. Vratislav Kulhánek, who's leaving Škoda Auto to join AAA Auto, told Euro that his six or so board seats don't take much time. He can work a regular job and even keep a consulting firm on the side. Tomorrow, corporate governance in the CR will undergo one of its most public tests, and in an unexpected place. Warring factions at the British Chamber of Commerce will clash at a special general meeting. Allegations of conflicts of interest, self-trading, libel and dereliction of duty are flying. It will be nasty, but if the result is a better understanding of what a board's responsibilities are, it could be quite useful.[Czech Republic BCC supervisory board]