When Estée Lauder Cos announced last week that a long-time insider, Stéphane de La Faverie, was going to be its next CEO, many on Wall Street felt that the slumping beauty giant would have been better off choosing an outsider to really shake things up and bring in new perspectives more than a lifer could.
In contrast, Ross Stores, whose business is healthier than Estée Lauder's though softer than that of its direct rivals, chose an outsider in Jim Conroy, CEO of Boot Barn, despite him coming from a different kind of retailer and Ross's strong talent development machine.
