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Charlie Bell became chief executive of McDonalds in April. Within a month doctors told him that he had colorectal cancer. After stockmarket hours on November 22nd, the fast-food firm said he had resigned; it would need a third boss in under a year. Yet when the market opened, its share price barely dipped then edged higher. After all, McDonalds had, again, shown how to act swiftly and decisively in appointing a new boss. Mr Bell himself got the top job when Jim Cantalupo died of a heart attack hours before he was due to address a convention of McDonalds franchisees. Mr Cantalupo was a McDonalds veteran brought out of retirement in January 2003 to help remodel the firm after sales began falling because of dirty restaurants, indifferent service and growing concern about junk food. He devised a recovery plan, backed by massive marketing, and promoted Mr Bell to chief operating officer. When Mr Cantalupo died, a rapidly convened board confirmed Mr Bell, a 44-year-old Australian already widely seen as his heir apparent, in the top job. The convention got its promised chief executives address, from the firms first non-American leader. Yet within weeks executives had to think about what to do if Mr Bell became too ill to continue. Perhaps Mr Bell had the same thing on his mind: he usually introduced Jim Skinner, the 60-year-old vice-chairman, to visitors as the steady hand at the wheel . Now Mr Skinner , an expert on the firms overseas operations, becomes chief executive, and Mike Roberts, head of its American operations, joins the board as chief operating officer. | 
