Kroger 2012 Annual Report Download - page 16

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14
IN F O R M A T I O N C O N C E R N I N G T H E B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S
CO M M I T T E E S O F T H E B O A R D
The Board of Directors has a number of standing committees including Audit, Compensation, and
Corporate฀ Governance฀ Committees.฀ All฀ standing฀ committees฀ are฀ composed฀ exclusively฀ of฀ independent฀
directors.฀All฀Board฀committees฀have฀charters฀that฀can฀be฀found฀on฀our฀corporate฀website฀at฀ir.kroger.com฀
under Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance. During 2012, the Audit Committee met five times,
the฀ Compensation฀ Committee฀ met฀ four฀ times,฀ and฀ the฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀ Committee฀ met฀ two฀ times.฀
Committee memberships are shown on pages 8 through 13 of this Proxy Statement. The Audit Committee
reviews financial reporting and accounting matters pursuant to its charter and selects our independent
accountants. The Compensation Committee recommends for determination by the independent members
of our Board the compensation of the Chief Executive Officer, determines the compensation of Kroger’s
other senior management, and administers some of our incentive programs. Additional information on the
Compensation Committee’s processes and procedures for consideration of executive compensation are
addressed฀ in฀ the฀ Compensation฀ Discussion฀ and฀ Analysis฀ below.฀ The฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀ Committee฀
develops฀criteria฀for฀selecting฀and฀ retaining฀members฀ of฀the฀Board,฀ seeks฀out฀qualified฀ candidates฀ for฀the฀
Board, and reviews the performance of the Board and, along with the other independent board members,
the CEO.
The฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀ Committee฀ will฀consider฀shareholder฀recommendations฀ for฀nominees฀ for฀
membership on the Board of Directors. Recommendations relating to our annual meeting in June 2014,
together฀with฀a฀description฀of฀the฀proposed฀nominee’s฀qualifications,฀background฀and฀experience,฀must฀be฀
submitted in writing to Paul W. Heldman, Secretary, and received at our executive offices not later than
January 14, 2014. The shareholder also should indicate the number of shares beneficially owned by the
shareholder.฀ The฀ Secretary฀ will฀ forward฀ the฀ information฀ to฀ the฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀ Committee฀ for฀ its฀
consideration. The Committee will use the same criteria in evaluating candidates submitted by shareholders
as฀it฀uses฀in฀evaluating฀candidates฀identified฀by฀the฀Committee.฀These฀criteria฀are:
•฀ Demonstrated ability in fields considered to be of value in the deliberations of the Board, including
business management, public service, education, science, law, and government;
•฀ Highest standards of personal character and conduct;
•฀ Willingness฀to฀fulfill฀the฀obligations฀of฀directors฀and฀to฀make฀the฀contribution฀of฀which฀he฀or฀she฀is฀capable,฀
including regular attendance and participation at Board and committee meetings, and preparation for all
meetings, including review of all meeting materials provided in advance of the meeting; and
•฀ Ability฀to฀understand฀the฀perspectives฀of฀Kroger’s฀customers,฀taking฀into฀consideration฀the฀diversity฀of฀
our customers, including regional and geographic differences.
Racial, ethnic, and gender diversity is an important element in promoting full, open, and balanced
deliberations฀of฀issues฀presented฀to฀the฀Board,฀and฀is฀considered฀by฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee.฀
Some consideration also is given to the geographic location of director candidates in order to provide a
reasonable distribution of members from the operating areas of the Company.
The฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀typically฀recruits฀candidates฀for฀Board฀membership฀through฀its฀
own efforts and through suggestions from other directors and shareholders. The Committee on occasion has
retained an outside search firm to assist in identifying and recruiting Board candidates who meet the criteria
established by the Committee.
CO R P O R A T E G O V E R N A N C E
The Board of Directors has adopted Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance. These Guidelines,
which฀ include฀ copies฀ of฀ the฀ current฀ charters฀ for฀ the฀ Audit,฀ Compensation,฀ and฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀
Committees, and the other committees of the Board of Directors, are available on our corporate website at
ir.kroger.com.฀Shareholders฀may฀ obtain฀ a฀copy฀of฀the฀Guidelines฀by฀making฀a฀ written฀request฀to฀ Kroger’s฀
Secretary at our executive offices.