Cisco vs. The Nuns
At a time when corporate governance is in the spotlight, you have to love the efforts of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, who want Cisco Systems' to reviews its executive compensation policy. The Sisters, who own 10,000 Cisco shares and had their proposal turned down last year, want Cisco to produce a report by January 1 that evaluates whether its executive pay should be modified. They also want an explanation as to whether layoffs or the level of pay of the lowest paid workers should cause any adjustment to executive pay. The proposal comes at a time when Cisco CEO John Chambers received a raise to US$350,000 from US$1. Mind you, Chambers' modest salary (pre-raise) didn't mean he was forced to look for loose change under the cushions when you look at his healthy stock option package.
