Four years ago, Bob McDonald declared himself “honored” to be succeeded by A.G. Lafley as chief executive of Procter & Gamble Co. (PG). McDonald called Lafley “one of the greatest CEOs in P&G history.”
In the same December 2009 press release, Lafley said, “I am retiring with confidence in Bob McDonald and his team. This is the right time to complete our management transition.”
Or, maybe it wasn’t. McDonald no doubt felt less honored to be succeeded this week by Lafley, who was asked by the board of the Cincinnati-based consumer-goods empire to resume the CEO role after McDonald’s abrupt decision to retire.
Under McDonald, P&G’s profit margins, market share and stock price lagged relative to peers such as Unilever PLC (UL), Colgate-Palmolive Co. (CL) and Clorox Inc. (CLX).
Critics in the investment community have blamed McDonald for allowing lower-priced competitors to win market share from such gilded P&G brands as Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, and for being slow to capitalize
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