公司目的變革對董事會多元化的影響趨勢—以美國為中心

公司目的的論辯源遠流長，眾所周知者為1930年代兩位學者間的筆戰，時至今日，企業究竟應為何人經營一題仍莫衷一是，學者嘗試提出不同理論，有論者提出「股東利益優先」，有論者認為應行「企業社會責任」，更有論者提倡「利害關係人主義」。商業界態度似乎較為一致，縱商業活動多樣，其間差異性與對企業宗旨之訴求不同，然觀察具代表性之美國商業圓桌會議在1997年之聲明，似可認大多數公司將優先維護股東利益，然2019年中，美國商業圓桌會議再次發表聲明，顯示「為所有利害關係人謀利」的觀點，此舉引起學界及商業界的關注，是否意味著傾向「股東利益優先」的公司目的天平，將往另一側傾斜？是否意味著「利害關係人主義」將重返焦點，作為與「企業社會責任」、「股東利益優先」互相拉扯的第三股力量？「股東利益優先」、「企業社會責任」與「利害關係人主義」均屬抽象概念，本文將針對三種不同企業宗旨進行深入分析，後研究美國企業在聲明發表後的實質作為，從不同觀點切入進行分析，闡述當前美國公司對於公司目的立場採擇的主流意見。公司目的與董事會多元化的要求緊密連結，而利害關係人主義尤甚，其與董事會多元化之間聯繫的關鍵概念為「平等」。本文將自法律面與市場面切入，說明美國董事會多元化近年來的相關改革行動。我國當以美國推動董事會多元化的歷程為借鑑，發展本土化策略，本文將觀察我國推動董事會多元化措施，以及企業實踐情形，並思考美國經驗可資學習之處。

關鍵字

公司目的；股東利益優先；企業社會責任；利害關係人主義；董事會多元化

並列摘要

The debate on corporate purpose has a long history, and is well known from the 1930's when two scholars fought over the issue. To date, the question of who should the company work for remain no conclusion. Scholars attempted to introduce new theories, including shareholder primacy, corporate social responsibility and stakeholderism to name a few. The business community seems to be more consistent in the issue. Although differences do exist among all kinds of business activities, the representative statement of the U.S. Business Roundtable in 1997 seems to be recognized that most companies will give priority to protecting the interests of shareholders. However, the U.S. Business Roundtable released a new statement in mid-2019, indicating a “to benefit all stakeholders” perspective. The move raised concerns in the academic and business communities. Does the viewpoint of “benefit all stakeholders” mean that the balance of corporate purpose, which favors “Shareholder Primacy ”, will be tilted to the other side? Does it mean that “Stakeholderism” will return to the spotlight as the third force pulling against “Corporate Social Responsibility” and “shareholders Primacy” ? This essay will analyze the three different corporate purposes in depth, then study the actual actions of U.S. companies after the announcement of the statement, and analyze them from different perspectives. Trying to figure out the mainstream idea of corporate purpose American company stand for. Corporate purpose and the advocate of board diversity has deep connection, especially Stakeholderism. The crucial connection between them is the concept of “equality”. This paper will illustrate the reform initiatives related to board diversity in the U.S. in recent years from the legal aspect and market aspect. Taiwan should bare American experience in mind and come up with our own strategy to promote board diversity. This essay will demonstrate the measures to promote board diversity in Taiwan, the practice of Taiwanese company, and thinking about what we can learn from American experience.