CEO departures down in 2002.

• Position: Management - According to outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Does chief executive officer stability indicate an end to corporate upheaval resulting in part from governance issues? CEO departures in 2002 took a sudden downward turn as companies announced 749 during the year, 19% fewer than the 929 recorded in 2001.

This decline may indicate that boards of directors, in an effort to offset some of the uncertainty in the economy and the markets, chose to maintain some stability at the very top of the corporate ladder, according to the international outplacement firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The 64 CEO changes recorded in December, 2002, were 28% more than the 50 departures tracked in November and 10% more than the 58 in December, 2001--only the fourth instance in which the monthly total surpassed the year-ago figure.

The fourth quarter was the second-highest in terms of CEO turnover, with 187. That was a bit higher than the 184 in the third quarter. None of the quarterly figures in 2002 topped the figures recorded in the same quarters the previous year. "The drop in CEO departures in 2002 was somewhat surprising, considering the economic turmoil and governance scandals that shook Corporate America during the year," indicates Rick Cobb, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Perhaps corporations were attempting to preserve some stability at the top, which resulted in fewer CEOs being asked to leave."

Further evidence that boards are seeking more stable corporate leadership is the fact that 81% of the December CEO announcements detailing succession plans indicated that the replacement CEO is from within the company. "In addition to fewer CEO oustings, it may be that fewer chief executives are leaving voluntarily due to the limited number of available opportunities," reasons Cobb.

Cobb recalled that, in 2000, a...