HARPER AND ROW <HPR> TO MULL OPTIONS AFTER BIDS Harper and Row Publishers Inc said its board of directors decided to take no action on two takeover bids that the company has received. Instead, it appointed a committee of independent directors to study strategic alternatives for the 170-year-old firm. The alternatives include continuation of the company's existing business plans, possible business combinations, sales of stock, restructuring and the sale of all or part of the company. Kidder Peabody and Co Inc has been retained to advise on the alternatives, Harper and Row added. Private investor Theodore Cross last week offered 34 dlrs a share for Harper and Row, prompting a rival bid of 50 dlrs a share from another publishing firm, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc <HBJ>. After considering the two offers at a meeting on Friday, the Harper and Row board decided not to act on them. The directors unanimously expressed their strong desire to preserve the company's independence and take advantage of its "considerable future prospects," according to director Winthrop Knowlton, former chief executive and now chairman of the newly established independent committee. "However, given the significant current interest in the company, we also feel that we should carefully review all the options available. The committee will consider all the pertinent facts and alternatives.... We intend to make a careful and informed decision but will proceed expeditiously to a conclusion," Knowlton said. Pending its deliberations, Harper and Row's board has postponed indefinitely a special meeting of stockholders that had been scheduled for April 2 to discuss a proposal to recapitalize the company's stock to create two classes of shares with different voting rights.