UK: WHEN THERE'S ROOM AT THE TOP.

The need to appoint outside chief executives, says Robert Heller, is a sure sign of failure.

The spate of axed chief executives, and their replacement by outsiders, could readily look like a major trend. If so, not only may heads that wear the crown lie uneasily, so should those of others whose promotion to leading roles may never materialise - unless, that is, they are anointed as somebody else's outsider.