P&G: best man for the job That fishy smell is hard to wash out. Procter & Gamble's chief executive Bob McDonald - who had long been under pressure about the consumer goods leviathan's growth and profitability - unexpectedly announced his retirement on Thursday evening. He was replaced by his predecessor AG Lafley, who ran P&G from 2000-09. The company stated emphatically that Mr McDonald had simply decided to retire, that Mr Lafley was simply the best man for the job, there was no crisis brewing and there would be no major change in strategy. But is something going on behind the scenes? It is hard to imagine there is not, but we may never know. At any rate, the market signalled its happiness with the change, sending the shares up 4 per cent on Friday. At a high level, the move makes sense. Mr McDonald has been dealt a tricky hand in the form of a wobbly global economy and a company that, under Mr Lafley, had focused more on premium products than cheap ones, and which trailed peers in exposure to high-growth emerging markets. Still, bosses are ultimately judged on the numbers, and Mr McDonald's were not great. Sales grew by an average annual rate of 2 per cent or so during his tenure, compared with Mr Lafley's 8 per cent. He launched an aggressive cost-cutting campaign, but the company's margins look about like they did when he took over. The explanation for this is that the savings from cutting jobs and overheads are being invested in marketing and product innovation. But if the investment is going to pay off in the form of growth, it has not happened yet. Mr Lafley's reputation is not completely stainless, however. His decisions to buy Clairol in 2001 (for $5bn), Wella in 2003 ($2.8bn) and Gillette in 2005 ($57bn in stock) tilted P&G towards beauty and grooming, of all of the company's segments, those businesses have had the weakest organic growth in recent quarters. And growth by acquisition is the last thing P&G needs now. What would lead to that clean, fresh smell investors love? Either proof that the company's investments will increase market share - or a decision to wind those investments down.