Finally, the relationship between boards of directors and the full-time management varies widely and does not necessarily in all cases represent a healthy condition that will provide the vigor and the strength for the company to achieve its maximum potential. Let me turn now from these general remarks to the General Electric Board itself and to put before you my analysis and my reasons for contending that the General Electric Board is second to none. The first thing that the General Electric Board has going for it is tradition, for from its inception the company acquired stature and prestige. Among its first Board of Directors were such names as Thomas Edison and J. Pierpont Morgan, and throughout its history it has remained a "prestige Board", a Board to which it was an honor to belong. This factor, coupled with the fact that General Electric as a company is so diversified, engaged in so many fascinating fields of business, covering such a broad segment of the economy, has given it an irresistible appeal to anyone invited to serve and has made it possible for General Electric to attract to its Board those to whom it decides to extend the invitation. Contributing to the quality of the G. E. Board is the manner in which the Directors are chosen, and here the difference is subtle. In many widely held companies the names of new directors proposed for the board often originate with the chief executive officer and are carefully chosen by him because he feels that the new directors will help him solve his problems, and these may not necessarily be the -8-