COMPANY DIRECTORS.: The Shift Is from Inside to Outside

OF ALL management groups, none has a greater responsibility than the company board of directors, which watches over the investments of millions of U.S. stockholders in publicly owned corporations. One of the hottest running debates in U.S. industry today is whether stockholders are better served by boards composed mainly of "inside" directors who are also officers of the corporation, or by "outside" boards consisting principally of men from other companies. Last week the argument was bubbling at a fast boil. In a lengthy study, the American Institute of Management took aim at the board of Bethlehem Steel Corp., all...