A.G. Lafley's return as boss at Procter & Gamble will be beneficial to the company because he "knows where the bodies are buried," management expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told CNBC on Friday.
"It's pretty exciting to have somebody who knows the ground, knows the key constituents," Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "[But] the downside of course: What did [he] contribute to the current mess?"
The appointment of Lafley as chairman and CEO of P&G, the company he ran from 2000 to 2009, was announced Thursday and is effectively immediately. He succeeded embattled chief executive Bob McDonald—who had taken the reigns when Lafley retired.
(Read More: P&G Brings Back A.G. Lafley as Chairman & CEO)
"Here when you have somebody who comes back from the past," Sonnenfeld continued, "say Michael Dell [at Dell], we've seen that or Howard Schultz of Starbucks [and] of course the legendary move of the return to power of Steve Jobs [at Apple], it can be great."
On Lafley's appointment, hedge fund manager and major P&G investor Bill Ackman told CNBC: "A.G. Lafley is one of the greatest CEOs and we're delighted to have him back."