wanted: board members with courage
April/May 1988 /
S w i s s B u s i n e s s
When news got around that PR - consultant Tony Glanzmann was
setting up a company to provide board members for other firms he was flooded
with offers from aspiring directors. "Almost every day" he received
one or more enquiries, many of them from businessmen over 50 who feel
their knowledge or specialities could be of use to other companies.
"Arnold, Glanzmann & Schwarzenbach", Company
for Board Consulting, was founded last year as a unique new service to
companies. It features an "Advisory Board" with illustrious
business narnes such as former Federal Councillor Fritz Honegger, Motor
Columbus Board Chairman Michael Kohn, and Charles Veillon Ltd Managing
Director Jean-Claude Veillon. Longterm orientation, Glanzmann's basic
idea, developed while shaving, is that the increasing complexity of modern
business demands board members who are optimally qualified to secure the
longterm survival of a company. Directors with insufficient business experience
can be easily manipulated by management, which is frequently far too short
term orientated, he believes: "Companies need board members with
the courage to swim against the stream."
The new "Board Consulting" will also help foreign
organisations setting up companies in Switzerland. Swiss law lays down
that a majority of board members must be Swiss citizens resident in Switzerland,
a regulation which came into force after the First World War to ensure
that Swiss cornpaines were really controlled by nationals and were recognized
as such by belligerent foreign powers.
Legal requirements
Applications by ten individual companies seeking board members
are now being examined in greater detail. They include two non-Swiss companies,
a German and an American enterprise. The German company is seeking a person
with intimate knowledge of the Swiss business and political scene, while
the American organisation needs Swiss board members to conform with legal
requirements.
In the case of a number of further applications, it had become
evident that the companies needed immediate help of an advisory nature
rather than board members alone, Glanzmann told Swiss Business. Often
Glanzmann or "Board Consulting" directors such as former Migros
C.E.O. Pierre Arnold were able to come to the rescue in these cases.
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