To appreciate why Microsoft Corp. is having trouble choosing a new chief executive, consider these awkward boardroom dynamics: a founder who believes he knows best, a CEO who stepped down under pressure for a faster change in strategy, and, soon, an activist investor pushing for big changes.
要理解为什么微软(Microsoft Co. ,MSFT)在选择新首席执行长时遇到困难，要考虑该公司董事会里面临的尴尬处境：这里有一位认为他最了解微软的创始人、一位迫于追求加快变革策略而卸任的首席执行长，并且很快还会有一位要求大幅变革的维权投资者。
It's been more than four months since Steve Ballmer announced his plans to retire. And while Microsoft has said it will pick a successor by summer 2014, board members had hoped to choose one by November or December, according to people familiar with their thinking.
鲍尔默(Steve Ballmer)宣布辞职计划已经有四个多月时间了。据知情人士称，微软表示到2014年夏天将会选定一位继任者，不过该公司董事会曾希望到去年11月份或12月份选出一位新的首席执行长。
John W. Thompson, the director leading the CEO search, says the board is methodically seeking the right person for a complex role. But corporate directors, management consultants and some executives contacted about the job say the potential for boardroom clashes at Microsoft is a turnoff.
主持新任首席执行长遴选的董事汤普森(John W. Thompson)表示，董事会正在有条不紊地为一个非常复杂的职位寻找合适人选。但该职位遴选所接触的企业董事、管理顾问以及一些高管称，微软董事会的潜在矛盾令人望而却步。
If Chairman Bill Gates and Mr. Ballmer stay on the board, Microsoft would be an outlier. Just eight companies in the S&P 500 index have two of their former CEOs as directors, according to Equilar Inc., which tracks executive compensation.
如果董事长比尔・盖茨(Bill Gates)和鲍尔默均留在董事会，微软将会成为一个异类。据追踪企业高管薪酬的Equilar Inc.称，在标普500指数成分股中，仅有八家公司出现前首席执行长继续担任公司董事的情况。
'No CEO worthy of the title wants his or her predecessors second-guessing everything in the boardroom,' said Jean-Louis Gass谷e, a former Apple Inc. executive who has served on public-company boards.
苹果(Apple Inc.)前高管、在上市公司董事会任职的Jean-Louis Gassee说，一个称职的首席执行长不会希望他或她的前任在董事会会议室里对所有的事情说三道四。
Microsoft hasn't said whether both Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Gates, the company's co-founder and CEO for 19 years, will remain directors. In November, shareholders re-elected each of them for a one-year board term, but they would be able to resign their posts sooner.
微软方面没有表示鲍尔默或者联合创始人、曾任该公司首席执行长19年之久的盖茨是否会留任董事会。去年11月份，股东们投票将两人再次选入董事会，任期一年，但他们可以提前卸任。
At least some external executives who discussed the CEO job with Microsoft directors have expressed concerns about being hamstrung if the two men continue to serve on the board, according to people familiar with their thinking.
据知情人士称，至少有一些与微软董事讨论过首席执行长职位的其他公司高管曾表达过对如果鲍尔默和盖茨继续留在董事会可能会令他们受到束缚的担忧。
Outside CEO candidates 'know that part of what they are negotiating for is the level of engagement' of Mr. Ballmer and Mr. Gates once the new leader takes charge, a person familiar with the matter said.
一位知情人士称，外部首席执行长候选人知道，上任之后鲍尔默和盖茨的参与程度是他们谈判内容的一部分。
Microsoft's experience shows the challenge in crafting a role for a founder or former CEO. Having them around as a sounding board or an elder statesman can be handy--unless the arrangement devolves into squabbling or a boardroom coup.
微软的经历也表明在为创始人或前首席执行长定位方面存在的困难。将他们作为一个前辈留在公司董事会或者当董事会不存在矛盾的时候可能很方便，但如果存在矛盾或者发展成为董事会政变就完全不一样了。
Former Pfizer Inc. CEO Henry 'Hank' McKinnell sat on the board alongside his predecessor for more than five years, until directors orchestrated his retirement in 2006, 18 months ahead of schedule.
辉瑞(Pfizer Inc.)前首席执行长麦金内尔(Henry "Hank" McKinnell)与他的前任共同在该公司董事会供职超过五年，直到2006年他在董事会的压力下提前18个月卸任。
'What's really a bad idea is a former CEO of your company' staying on the board, Mr. McKinnell said in a late-October interview. 'You can't win.'
麦金内尔在去年10月底接受采访时表示，将前任首席执行长留在公司董事会是在不是一个好主意，你赢不了。
Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally, who has been considered for the Microsoft post, has long lived with a similar power-sharing arrangement. Bill Ford Jr. is the auto maker's executive chairman, as well as a former CEO, major stockholder and member of its founding family.
福特汽车(Ford Motor Co.)首席执行长、微软首席执行长的候选人之一穆拉利(Alan Mulally)长期以来一直处于这种类似的权力共享的安排之中。比尔・福特(Bill Ford Jr.)是该公司的执行董事长，曾经担任过首席执行长，也是公司的大股东及创始家族成员。
Some candidates for the top post at Microsoft seem to be particularly uneasy about Mr. Ballmer, according to people familiar with their thinking. He has made several recent decisions that have altered the company's strategy and generated controversy among managers and investors.
据知情人士说，微软的一些首席执行长人选似乎尤其对鲍尔默感到不快。他最近做了数项决策，这些决策改变了微软的战略，在管理人员和投资者中引发了争议。
Ten days after the August announcement of his planned exit, Mr. Ballmer struck a $7.4 billion deal to buy Nokia Corp.'s mobile-phone business, thrusting Microsoft into a new field and adding 32,000 people to its workforce. This summer, Mr. Ballmer also pushed through a sweeping corporate reorganization that garnered mixed reviews inside and outside Microsoft.
去年8月鲍尔默计划卸任的消息宣布之后10天，他与诺基亚公司(Nokia Corp.)达成了一项交易，斥资74亿美元收购后者的手机业务，微软由此被抛入一个新的领域，员工人数将增加3.2万人。去年夏天，鲍尔默还促成了一项全面的公司重组计划，在公司内外引发了褒贬不一的评价。
People who know him question whether Mr. Ballmer could sit by if his successor wanted to break free of his strategy or policies. It isn't clear how Microsoft's board, which backed Mr. Ballmer's moves, would react if the next CEO wanted to reverse some of his decisions.
认识鲍尔默的人质疑，如果他的继任者希望摆脱他的战略或政策，鲍尔默是否能够坐视不管。目前不清楚如果新任首席执行长想撤销鲍尔默的一些决定，那么支持鲍尔默举措的微软董事会将做何反应。
Microsoft directors have sought to delicately manage Mr. Ballmer's role in screening CEO candidates, said the person familiar with the matter. Neither Mr. Ballmer nor Mr. Gates has 'veto power' over the selection of the company's next leader, this person said. Messrs. Ballmer and Gates collectively own 8.3% of Microsoft's stock.
据一位知情人士说，微软的董事们一直争取谨慎地处理鲍尔默在甄选首席执行长人选方面扮演的角色。这位人士说，鲍尔默和盖茨对微软新领导人的选择都没有“否决权”。鲍尔默和盖茨共持有微软8.3%的股份。
Mr. Ballmer himself faced a similar challenge when he took over as CEO from Mr. Gates in 2000. Their power struggles in the early years stalled some company decisions. Microsoft director David Marquardt and others stepped in, seeking to lessen tensions between the two men, who have known each other since they shared a Harvard University dorm in the mid-1970s.
鲍尔默2000年接替盖茨担任首席执行长时，也曾面临类似挑战。早期他们两人之间的权力斗争令公司的部分决策陷入停顿。微软董事马夸特(David Marquardt)等人介入，寻求缓解他们两人之间的紧张关系。上世纪70年代中期，鲍尔默和盖茨曾是哈佛大学(Harvard University)室友，两人由此结识。
Mr. Gates is no wallflower either. People who have worked with him say that as chairman and a revered technologist, he can dominate board discussions.
盖茨也不是局外人。与其共事过的人说，作为董事长和一名备受尊敬的技术专家，他能够主导董事会讨论。
In an interview with the Financial Times published in November, Mr. Gates said he expected to spend considerable time working with the next Microsoft CEO.
在《金融时报》(Financial Times)去年11月刊登的采访中，盖茨称他预计将花费大量的时间与微软新首席执行长共事。
Adding to the cast of boardroom characters is ValueAct Capital Management. The hedge fund bought more than $2 billion in Microsoft stock in 2013, and parlayed shareholder unhappiness into a board seat. ValueAct President G. Mason Morfit, who is likely to join the Microsoft board this year, will be the first director in the company's 38-year history not selected by Microsoft's board.
微软董事会还将包括ValueAct Capital Management。这只对冲基金2013年斥资逾20亿美元买进了微软股票。该基金的总裁墨菲特(Mason Morfit)今年有可能加入微软董事会，他将是微软38年历史中第一位不是由微软董事会选择的董事。
Relations can be rocky when an activist shareholder joins a board he previously criticized. Investor William Ackman quit the J.C. Penney Co. board in August after he clashed with other directors over the retailer's management and strategy. On the flip side, adding an activist shareholder's representatives to the board helped Office Depot Inc. last year to smooth a bumpy merger with OfficeMax Inc.
当一位维权股东加入其之前批评的董事会时，关系可能很难处理。投资者阿克曼(William Ackman)去年8月退出了J.C. Penney Co.的董事会，之前他与其他董事因该零售商的管理和战略发生了冲突。但一个相反的例子是，Office Depot Inc.董事会中加入一位维权股东的代表后，帮助该公司去年顺利完成了与OfficeMax Inc.棘手的合并交易。