Groupon CEO Andrew Mason on the Hot Seat?

Is Groupon’s quirky CEO Andrew Mason on his way out? According to “sources close to the situation,” several Groupon board members have been seriously talking about making changes to the daily-deal giant’s leadership, including possibly replacing Mason with a more experienced CEO. “The board of Groupon has a regularly scheduled meeting later this week; sources said such management issues are likely to be discussed there, due to increasing frustration by some directors about the novice CEO’s performance so far,” according to Kara Swisher at AllThingsD. While Swisher says replacing Mason isn’t likely to happen right away, if at all, there is an obvious rift between some of Groupon’s key players, including Mason, executive chairman Eric Lefkofsky, and board member and co-founder Brad Keywell. Lefkofsky and Keywell have apparently been pushing Mason to be more aggressive in turning the company around. A complete upheaval of Mason at this stage of the game doesn’t make much sense to David Wolinsky at NBC Chicago. But giving Mason a “smaller pair of boots while someone else takes the reins with him” could be the way to go. (AllThingsD, NBC Chicago)