The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports on a controversy surrounding University of Minnesota Medical School Dean Dr. Deborah Powell joining the board of PepsiAmericas, one of the world's largest sellers of Pepsi and Mountain Dew.
The paper reports:
“A recently completed internal review, standard for any U employee involved in outside work, found no conflict of interest in her service to PepsiAmericas, a publicly traded company that is the world's second-largest bottler of PepsiCo. brands.
That may not put the matter to rest. The appointment has wound itself into the national debate over how food and soft-drink makers do business. The basic questions: Can a doctor take money from a corporation but stay independent? Is joining a corporate board equal to endorsing its products?
‘If I didn't think I could make a difference on this board, I wouldn't stay on it, and I wouldn't go on it in the first place,’ Powell said Friday. ‘I'm trying the best I can to do something that I think will be valuable for the school and valuable for this company.
‘If it turns out it doesn't create value, then I won't stay on this board,’ she said.
Inside the U's health programs and departments, divisions remain over Powell's decision. Some have expressed hope that she can be a voice for children's health.
But Robert Jeffery, a nationally known researcher and a director of the Obesity Prevention Center in the U's school of public health, worries Powell's PepsiAmericas duty ultimately may hurt the university.
‘There is a level of 'ick' among quite a few faculty and students here,’ Jeffery said. ‘There definitely are some sour feelings. When you're talking about some of the most powerful people in the university backing it, it makes it distasteful.’
The U, he said, needs to have a ‘more serious conversation about where the ethical lines lie in corporate consulting. Whenever you get into a paid relationship with a commercial enterprise, there is an implied or maybe even explicit agreement that you're doing things for their benefit. I certainly would not have agreed to this.’ “
I have commented several times on this matter
on my blog. One label is "Aurum de stercore"
(Gold from dung).
http://www.ptable.blogspot.com/
Mr. Bonzo
Posted by: Bill Gleason at March 8, 2007 09:53 AMDirectors have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders of the company, right?
Doesn't that mean that the Dean is legally bound to take actions that increase the value of company stock, regardless of their impact on the university or the community at large? And if she does something that serves the larger interest, but harms shareholders, wouldn't she put herself at risk for a shareholder lawsuit?
Posted by: Andrew Holtz at March 9, 2007 03:29 PM