????惠普公司（HP）經(jīng)歷了漫長的暴風(fēng)雨之后，終于依稀看到了彩虹的光亮。不是我們高興得太早，而是因為惠普上周四發(fā)布的兩項重要公告帶給我們的希望。

????其一是拉吉夫?古普塔被指定為首席獨立董事。這項任命履行了2個月前梅格?惠特曼被任命為CEO、雷?萊恩成為董事會執(zhí)行主席時所作的承諾。自2009年以來，古普塔一直是惠普公司的董事會成員。

????董事會為什么選擇了古普塔？原因之一是，他并非1月份入選董事會的4位新董事之一（這一程序是由雷?萊恩主導(dǎo)的）。他也不是機構(gòu)股東服務(wù)公司（ISS）在今年股東大會召開之際（proxy season）建議惠普公司罷免的3位董事之一。如此看來，就這個職務(wù)而言，相比于董事會的某些其他成員，古普塔似乎是一個更安全的人選。然而，誰將留在惠普董事會的確是萊恩在今年年初的時候就已經(jīng)決定的，這也意味著是他再次選擇古普塔繼續(xù)擔(dān)任公司董事。

????古普塔在首席獨立董事任上將發(fā)揮多大的作用，其職責(zé)范圍究竟有多大，將是個有趣的話題。惠普公司在任命公告中并沒有對此進行詳盡的描述。此前，古普塔一直擔(dān)任惠普薪酬委員會委員，而股東們今年投票否決了惠普公司的薪酬安排。

????此外，惠普公司昨天還發(fā)布公告稱，該公司已與關(guān)系投資者公司（Relational Investors）的拉爾夫?惠特沃思達成協(xié)議：這位維權(quán)投資者也將加入惠普董事會。此舉將使該公司的董事會總?cè)藬?shù)增加至14人，但這種擴容或許只是暫時的。惠普公司的10Q季度報告之中還藏著另外一條啟事：“2011年9月8日，多米尼克?塞內(nèi)基耶告知董事會，由于她還有其他的職業(yè)追求，在惠普公司明年的股東大會上，她將不再謀求連任。”塞內(nèi)基耶剛剛在1月份被提名為公司董事人選，并于3月份第一次被股東大會選舉為公司董事。

????惠特沃思在維權(quán)股東圈內(nèi)享有盛譽，惠普公司與他達成的協(xié)議，是該公司為打消股東顧慮而實施的一項頗具勇氣的舉措。

????Not that we should get ahead of ourselves, but two significant announcements from HP on Thursday show the faint glimmer of a rainbow at the end of a very long corporate storm.

????One was the designation of Rajiv Gupta as lead independent director. The appointment fulfilled a promise made two months ago when Meg Whitman was appointed CEO and Ray Lane became executive chair of the board. Gupta has been on HP's (HPQ) board since 2009.

????Why did the board pick Gupta? For one, he was not among the four new board members chosen in January, a process that was led by Ray Lane. Nor was he one of the three HP board members that ISS recommended against this proxy season. In that way, Gupta may have been a safer choice for this role than some of the other members of the board. Lane did, however, determine who would stay on the HP board earlier this year and thus did re-select Gupta for the board.

????It will be interesting to see how active a role Gupta assumes as lead independent director and the scope of his job description. HP did not offer much of a description in their announcement of his appointment. Gupta has been serving on HP's compensation committee and shareholders voted against HP's compensation practices this year.

????HP also announced yesterday that it had entered into a letter of agreement for activist investor Ralph Whitworth of Relational Investors to join the company's board. The move will increase the board's total membership to 14, but the increase may be temporary. Buried in the company's 10-Q filing was a notice that, "On September 8, 2011, Dominique Senequier notified the Board … that due to her other professional commitments … she will not stand for re-election at HP's next annual meeting of stockholders." Senequier had just been appointed to the board in January and elected by shareholders for the first time in March.

????The agreement HP has struck with Whitworth, who is well-known and respected by active shareholders, represents a bold defense by the company against shareholder concerns.