To ensure its business is conducted with the highest degree of transparency and accountability, Seagate has expanded the scope of its board of directors. Below is a Q&A with three members of the company’s board of directors for their perspectives on corporate governance.

Here are excerpts from a conversation with: Bill Bradley, former U.S. senator and current managing director of Allen and Co.; Don Kiernan, retired senior executive vice president and CFO of SBC; and John Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec.

Senator Bill Bradley

Q: Seagate’s board has taken a more active role in reviewing the company’s audit practices and financial statements. Why is that important for stakeholders?

Bill Bradley: The more transparent a company is, the better off everyone will be: customers, shareholders and the general public. The current laws were written to prevent further corporate abuses and protect the average investor. Top executives need to be more accountable to their boards, and boards need to be more vigilant. That’s what we’re trying to do at Seagate and why we spend so much time making compliance and all the rules a way of life.

Don Kiernan: We are putting in a lot more time, probing all aspects of Seagate’s internal controls. Companies everywhere are stepping up their governance activities. Governance is like any quality improvement program. You have to apply the same kind of intense focus on it if you’re going to have any kind of success.

John Thompson: Since the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (which reforms corporate governance), corporate boards are putting in more time understanding a company’s operations, business strategies and financial controls. I’d estimate our time on these matters has expanded by at least 50 percent. We’re representing the interests of investors as opposed to the interests of management.

Don Kiernan

Q: Given the current climate, do companies have an obligation to do more for society?

Bradley: I think the greatest obligation companies have are to their employees and shareholders. And I think companies absolutely must have a set of values that are clearly understood. For example, you can’t just say you’re going to give more to charity. You have to identify what’s important to your business and do what you think is appropriate, whether it’s focusing on education in the community or providing more training opportunities for your employees.

Kiernan: Having a greater social conscience is an inherent part of business now. We too often treat these issues as separate from the business side, but they are really the underlying fabric of a great company. But I agree that you have to be focused on who you are as a company and what you do. You have to concentrate on doing good in every community in which you operate.

Thompson: It’s an important part of the culture of any company to demonstrate to customers and employees that it cares about its communities. We have a responsibility to partner with our employees in those communities, be it in education, the arts or whatever. At Symantec, for example, we’ve taken an active stand in supporting Teach for America (which recruits recent college graduates to teach in under-privileged communities) and the Special Olympics. We encourage our employees to reach out to their communities and we support their efforts with a matching grant program.

John Thompson

Q: From your experience, are you convinced that companies can profit by doing more in the social arena?

Kiernan: There’s no other choice. If you ignore social issues for short-term gains, you’re sacrificing long-term profits. At SBC, we worked very hard at making our communities a good place to work for our employees and, because of our presence and involvement, a better place for our fellow citizens. It underpins a company’s reputation and brand. It’s just good for business.

Thompson: Companies are made up of people and half our revenues at Symantec come from the consumer segment. Our employees are also consumers, and they have a big influence on their friends, colleagues and other potential buyers of our products. We look at social responsibility as not only the right thing to do, but also the right thing for our business.

If we’re perceived as being an unethical, socially irresponsible company, that can have a very negative impact on our brand. So there is a direct link to how you behave in the marketplace, how you behave in your communities and how consumers perceive your brand.