Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 21

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19
With respect to the roles of Chairman and CEO, the Guidelines฀provide฀that฀the฀Board฀will฀determine฀
when฀it฀is฀in฀the฀best฀interests฀of฀Kroger฀and฀its฀shareholders฀for฀the฀roles฀to฀be฀separated฀or฀combined,฀and฀
the฀ Board฀ exercises฀ its฀ discretion฀ as฀ it฀ deems฀ appropriate฀ in฀ light฀ of฀ prevailing฀ circumstances.฀ As฀ part฀ of฀
the succession planning process, the Guidelines provide that upon the selection of a new Chief Executive
Officer,฀the฀Board฀will฀determine฀whether฀a฀separation฀of฀the฀offices฀is฀appropriate.฀The฀Board฀believes฀that฀
the฀combination฀or฀separation฀of฀these฀positions฀should฀continue฀to฀be฀considered฀as฀part฀of฀the฀succession฀
planning process, as was the case in 2003, and again in 2014, when the roles were separated.
Our฀ Board฀ and฀ each฀ of฀ its฀ committees฀ conduct฀ an฀ annual฀ evaluation฀ to฀ determine฀ whether฀ they฀ are฀
functioning฀effectively.฀As฀part฀of฀this฀annual฀self-evaluation,฀the฀Board฀assesses฀whether฀the฀current฀leadership฀
structure฀continues฀to฀be฀appropriate฀for฀Kroger฀and฀its฀shareholders.฀Our฀Guidelines฀provide฀the฀flexibility฀
for฀our฀Board฀to฀modify฀our฀leadership฀structure฀in฀the฀future฀as฀appropriate.฀We฀believe฀that฀Kroger,฀like฀
many฀U.S.฀companies,฀has฀been฀well-served฀by฀this฀flexible฀leadership฀structure.