BOSTON (Dow Jones)--Executive pay packages that give stock options to only a few senior executives
send a negative message to the work force and, in the current hot marketplace for experienced
managers, will lead to rapid turnover, said two chief executives on Tuesday.
The CEOs made their comments at the Council of Institutional Investors' annual autumn conference,
where issues concerning responsible corporate governance were discussed.
Peter van Oppen, chief executive of Advanced Digital Information Corp. (ADIC, news, msgs), a
Redmond, Wash., computer services company, said that fast-paced technological companies
shouldn't have a "star system" in pay packages, because it is important to convey a sense of equality.
That sense is conveyed in something as simple as not assigning parking spaces for executives or as
complex as developing a plan for the distribution of stock options to second- and third-tier managers,
said van Oppen, who also serves on the board of two companies in addition to Advanced Digital.
He said that he has seen those approaches used successfully at companies such as Microsoft Corp.
(MSFT, news, msgs), Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL, news, msgs) and Intel Corp. (INTC, news, msgs).
"If you have a culture you can live with and a market opportunity there, that will correlate into a quality
company over time," van Oppen said.
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