Abstract: Governance capacity identification is the foundation of effective selection of independent directors as governance capacity is their core function. In view of the fact that independent directors' governance capacity are currently evaluated only from a single point of view, the paper constructs an element character system and evaluation model of governance capacity identification for independent directors. First, the indicators are extracted from the grounded theory and RepGrid method. Then, in order to take the function of independent directors' individual elements and the board decision into consideration, the evaluation model is set from the combination between individual element identification model and VIKOR method. Finally, an empirical case is given to prove the indicators and the effectiveness of the model can illustrate the advantage of the individual management ability and analyze the elements of governance capacity. The final conclusion has meaningful enlightenment for independent directors' operation in the board governance function.

Key words: independent director, governance capacity identification, evaluation model, the grounded and RepGrid method