Mike Lazaridis

BlackBerry maker RIM's maligned co-CEOS Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are stepping down, and co-COO Thorsten Heins is taking the reins solo. And while the markets aren't sure about Heins yet, he has one thing going for him his predecessors didn't.

This week, Research In Motion's Blackberry network suffered a massive outage that spanned continents and cut off the cellular oxygen to millions. Competing phone carriers and handset makers are certain to jump on the chance to woo some of those frustrated customers.

Last year, 24/7 Wall St. put together a list of CEOs who need to retire, basing its judgment on quarterly earnings, stock price, and innovation. Now, with most large public companies having reported their second quarter results, 24/7 is back with a list of nine CEOs who are performing so poorly that they ought to be removed immediately. Read on to find out who, and why.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then the executives of Waterloo, Ontario–based Research In Motion (RIMM) have been blushing for a decade. Since the company first released its BlackBerry handheld device in 1999, it has competed against a growing army of handset developers,...