????荷蘭皇家殼牌石油公司（Royal Dutch Shell）周二宣布，本?范博登將擔(dān)任公司新任CEO。雖然公司的這一選擇出人所料，但回過(guò)頭來(lái)想想，也只有這個(gè)選擇才不會(huì)讓人們感到意外。

????英國(guó)沃里克大學(xué)商學(xué)院（Warwick Business School）副教授克里斯蒂安?斯塔迪勒認(rèn)為：“誰(shuí)是殼牌公司的CEO，這個(gè)問(wèn)題的重要性比埃克森美孚（Exxon Mobil）CEO人選來(lái)得稍微弱一點(diǎn)。”斯塔迪勒曾經(jīng)寫(xiě)過(guò)一本書(shū)《永續(xù)成功》（Enduring Success），其中收錄了多家超過(guò)百年歷史的歐洲公司。

????雖然在《財(cái)富》（Fortune）世界500強(qiáng)榜單（Global 500 ）中排名第一，但與規(guī)模略遜一籌的美國(guó)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手相比，強(qiáng)勢(shì)的中央領(lǐng)導(dǎo)一直都不是殼牌公司的傳統(tǒng)。殼牌由常務(wù)董事組成的一個(gè)委員會(huì)負(fù)責(zé)運(yùn)營(yíng)，委員會(huì)的成員由荷蘭皇家石油公司（Royal Dutch Petroleum）和殼牌運(yùn)輸貿(mào)易有限公司（Shell Transport and Trading）的代表組成。1907年，這兩家公司以松散的方式合并成今天的殼牌。

????斯塔迪勒表示，上世紀(jì)50年代，麥肯錫（McKinsey）研究了殼牌非正統(tǒng)的安排，同時(shí)建議公司設(shè)立一名美國(guó)式的CEO。但殼牌公司拒絕了這一建議，雖然后來(lái)公司采取了措施，以實(shí)現(xiàn)更集中的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)方式，但舊的習(xí)慣很難根除。

????從某種意義上來(lái)說(shuō)，這不失為一個(gè)加分因素。如今的石油巨頭變得日益全球化，但各地的情況存在較大差異。殼牌下放決策權(quán)給行政管理層的意愿強(qiáng)化了公司與各地市場(chǎng)的聯(lián)系。但從不利的一面來(lái)看，公司越來(lái)越難控制成本。2012年，這家公司的收入比埃克森美孚多出318億美元，但利潤(rùn)卻比對(duì)手少了183億美元。究其根源，很大程度上或許正是因?yàn)檫@種管理方式。

????55歲的范博登對(duì)這種體制非常了解。范博登與即將退休的CEO彼得?沃瑟一樣，也是殼牌的終身老兵，已在公司工作了三十年。不過(guò)，沃瑟是財(cái)務(wù)出身，而范博登的背景主要是運(yùn)營(yíng)與技術(shù)。今年1月份之前，他一直在負(fù)責(zé)殼牌的化學(xué)品業(yè)務(wù)，后來(lái)被任命為公司下游部門(mén)主管，負(fù)責(zé)煉油廠業(yè)務(wù)，并成為殼牌執(zhí)行委員會(huì)委員。斯塔迪勒認(rèn)為：“對(duì)他的任命將極大鼓舞公司的技術(shù)部門(mén)。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓。

????Ben van Beurden is a Shell lifer who will likely inspire the The only thing that shouldn't surprise us about the choice of Ben van Beurden as the new CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, announced Tuesday, is that his choice comes as a total surprise.

????"It matters slightly less who is the CEO of Shell than the CEO of Exxon Mobil," argues Christian Stadler, an assistant professor at Warwick Business School in the U.K., whose book, Enduring Success, is about European companies that have survived more than 100 years.

????Unlike its smaller American competitor, Shell, the No. 1 company on Fortune's Global 500 list, has never had a tradition of strong central leadership. Until the first decade of the 21st century it never even had a CEO. Instead it was run by a committee of managing directors comprised of representatives from the two companies that came together, loosely, in 1907, to form the company we know as Shell: Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading.

????During the 1950s, says Stadler, McKinsey took a look at Shell's unorthodox arrangement and recommended it install an American-style CEO. But Shell (RSDA) refused, and while lately it has taken steps toward more centralized leadership, old habits die hard.

????In some ways that's been a plus. Big Oil is as global as it gets, but local conditions vary widely. Shell's willingness to push decision-making down the chain of command has helped strengthen its ties to local markets. On the minus side, it's harder to control costs that way. That might have something to do with the fact that Shell earned $18.3 billion less in 2012 than Exxon Mobil (XOM) did, despite $31.8 billion more revenue.

????Van Beurden, 55, knows the system. Like outgoing CEO Peter Voser, who is retiring, van Beurden is a Shell lifer who's been with the company for three decades. But where Voser was a finance guy, van Beurden's background is in operations and technology. He ran Shell's chemicals business until January this year, when he became downstream director in charge of refineries and was promoted to Shell's executive committee. "His appointment will inspire the technology people in the company," says Stadler.