Last year about this time Micheal Dell returned to his CEO post at the company he founded.  Under Kevin Rollins’s CEO leadership, Dell’s market share hit a four-year low and growth prospects were grim.  Rollins resigned and Dell reclaimed his CEO role.

Last year about this time Howard Schultz sent a memo to his Starbucks executive team challenging them to get smarter about how they are running the company and to get back to the company's core business.  Starbucks CEO Jim Donald was charged with driving sales and driving innovation at the company.  In 2007, Starbucks stock value fell 48% and the company reported its first every year-over-year drop in customer traffic.  Donald is out and Schultz is back as CEO.

The jury is still deliberating on Michael Dell and the turnaround of his company.

The jury is just convening about Howard Schultz and the turnaround of his company.

For the most riveting and rambunctious discussion about this unexpected CEO change-over at Starbucks, read the comments on the Starbucks Gossip blog.