By Serena Ng, Joann S. Lublin and Ellen Byron 

For the second time in six years, Procter & Gamble Co. directors replaced Chief Executive A.G. Lafley with an insider whom he groomed. This time, they need to make sure the change sticks.

P&G said Tuesday that 35-year-veteran David Taylor will take over as CEO on Nov. 1, with Mr. Lafley shifting to the role of executive chairman. The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported on the expected change.

The world's largest consumer-products company has long spawned scores of executives who left and became successful CEOs at companies such as Unilever PLC, Microsoft Corp. and Estée Lauder Cos. But when it comes to its own succession, P&G has had a checkered record. The leadership change, which P&G said will occur on Nov. 1, will again test its promote-from-within culture.

The company has gone through three CEOs in 15 years, including two who held the job for far less than the 10 years or so that P&G generally likes its leaders to serve. Mr. Lafley's original predecessor, Durk Jager, was CEO for just 17 months before the board ousted him in 2000. His next predecessor, Robert McDonald, held the post for less than four years before retiring amid shareholder and employee discontent in 2013.

As Mr. Lafley prepares to relinquish the job he has now held for more than 11 years, P&G is tapping another company veteran to revive its fortunes. Mr. Taylor is former manufacturing plant manager who switched to brand management and worked his way up P&G's ranks over 35 years. The Charlotte, N.C., native has also worked in Asia and Europe and marketed a wide range of products from diapers to shampoos.

Widely viewed by colleagues and the investment community as a safe pick, the 57-year-old Mr. Taylor has a record of expanding some of P&G's core household brands and overseeing divestitures of underperforming businesses. He made his mark expanding products including air-freshener line Febreze, which hit $1 billion in sales in 2011, and he led decisions to exit brands like Iams and Eukanuba pet food, which P&G sold last year for over $3 billion. In his current role overseeing P&G's sprawling beauty and grooming business, Mr. Taylor presided over the company's recent $13 billion deal to shed 43 beauty brands that made up nearly a third of the beauty division.

Like Mr. Lafley, Mr. Taylor maneuvers easily within P&G's insular culture, which favors calm and modest demeanors, current and former colleagues say. "He's got the trust of the people in the company," said Mr. McDonald, now U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. That trust "gives him the ability to be direct," Mr. McDonald added.

To help smooth the transition, the 68-year-old Mr. Lafley will probably remain chairman for one to two years rather than the six months he held the role after handing Mr. McDonald the reins in 2009. Company executives, in meetings with investors and analysts, have been trying to assure them the succession will be handled better this time round. P&G is "very aware of its poor transition history," said Sterne Agee CRT analyst April Scee in a report this month.

Mr. Taylor faces pressure to avoid missteps that resulted in the failure of certain predecessors, who abruptly lost support of employees and investors. Mr. Jager overhauled P&G's organizational structure shortly after starting the job, and the company's stock plunged after it badly missed earnings forecasts, which led to his ouster. Mr. McDonald, meanwhile, inherited a cost-heavy and bloated business and tried to expand it aggressively abroad while its U.S. operation was still reeling from the recession. P&G's performance suffered, and pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman helped lead to Mr. McDonald's departure.

Mr. Taylor is taking over P&G after it has undergone an overhaul in the last few years, eliminating thousands of jobs, redrawing its supply chain and axing 100 brands to simplify its business. A cost-cutting program that began in 2012 is close to completion, giving the incoming CEO a relatively clean slate. Still, P&G's sales growth has decelerated further in the last two years, and its stock price has underperformed the broader market.

Some leadership experts contend that P&G's management model is broken. The issue is whether the company's promote-from-within culture has effectively pushed out talented executives once they were passed over for the top job or groomed individuals who may be ill-equipped to handle new challenges because they have never worked anywhere else. When companies rely exclusively on veteran insiders for their next CEO, "the gene pool becomes too inbred," said David Dotlich, head of Pivot Leadership, a unit of recruiters Korn/Ferry International.

Some P&G watchers expect that Mr. Taylor's CEO appointment will spur the departures of other senior executives. Earlier this month, Melanie Healey, a top P&G executive once seen as a CEO candidate, retired from the company at age 54. She previously oversaw P&G's North American business, which struggled to grow consistently in the wake of the recession.

Other current P&G executives who have been considered CEO candidates include Giovanni Ciserani, who leads P&G's fabric and home care businesses and Martin Riant, head of the baby care business. Patrice Louvet, a well-regarded beauty division executive, meanwhile, could be a CEO contender the next time P&G looks to change leaders. Mr. Ciserani turned 53 this month. Mr. Riant is 56 while Mr. Louvet will have his 51st birthday in September.

Mr. Louvet is a strong ally of Mr. Taylor, who is currently his boss, according to a recruiter familiar with P&G. "He is a keeper," the recruiter said.

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