Paul Pressler's Fall From The Gap

When Paul S. Pressler arrived as the chief executive officer of Gap Inc. (GPS ) in the fall of 2002, he was exactly what the board wanted--or at least what it thought it wanted. The polished, good-looking Disney veteran was a hard-nosed operations wizard, not a dreamy fashion junkie. He seemed to be just the man to restore discipline to the floundering company. But over the next four years, Gap's performance came apart at the seams. On Jan. 22, Pressler resigned.

The immediate post-mortem analysis: He was a numbers guy who didn't appreciate the nuances of the fashion business. That's true, but it's only part of the story. Pressler's problems involved more than just a few bad bets on colors and styles. According to 12 former employees interviewed by BusinessWeek, he also bungled some of the very things that were supposed to be his strengths, including cost-cutting campaigns, human resources initiatives, and supply chain streamlining efforts. One ex-employee characterizes Pressler's tenure as "total system failure."