Sunbeam CEO: Limit Inside Directors

Sunbeam Corp. chairman and CEO Al Dunlap's reputation is clear. He's a cost-cutting turnaround artist who slashes jobs and consolidates facilities to improve a corporation's health. But he thinks much of what he does could be avoided if companies had boards of directors with better composition. He advocates only two inside directors--the CEO and the chief financial officer. The outside board members should bring critical skills to the corporation: legal expertise, global experience, knowledge of investment banking and marketing skills. His other advice: only pay directors in stock.