Add COOs To The Endangered Species List?

Is the chief operating officer (COO) role going away? The numbers seem to back that up. According to the Crist|Kolder Associates Volatility Report 2013, companies have continued to eliminate the COO role with a 4.2% decrease in the number of COOs in 2013 – now only 35.2% of Fortune 500 and the S&P 500 companies report having one (down from 48% in 2000). And health care organizations are among the least likely to have a COO (26.6%).

Why the change? There are a number of opinions. COO "just seems to me kind of an antiquated . . .