Analyzing Succession Management Practise in the Context of Organizational Survival: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Qualitative data analysis methods are becoming more and more useful in management sciences. In this paper, an attempt is made to qualitatively ascertain the extent to which effective management succession influences organizational survival. An open-ended interview schedule with 15 questions was administered on 15 randomly selected individuals belonging to top, mid and low level management cadre across 5 money deposit banks in Nigeria. Qualitative content analysis was used to carry out coding of the responses. Cohen Kappa (κ) intercoder reliability test of trustworthiness gave a coding consistency value of 0.86, showing a near-perfect agreement. The final themes generated include; succession ingredients; succession results, and succession checks. It was found that for succession to truly drive an organization towards survival, certain key inputs, otherwise known as ingredients must be in place. Furthermore, the many shortcomings in the process of succession must be checked and corrected. If rightly corrected, succession checks could help gain positive results, however, if not carefully monitored, results could be negative.

Succession management and corporate sustainability in Ghana: a leadership succession paradox

“…Ritchie (2020) has explained that organizations that operate within this framework of leadership succession often lend themselves to a highly competitive workforce. In line with this belief, Estedadi et al (2015) have observed that, in an increasingly competitive global economy, businesses are more inclined to planning and managing succession than before (Fadeyi, 2019; Barnabas et al , 2016). This means that more organizations now operate with replacement candidates for key positions (Seniwoliba, 2015), resulting in deliberate and systematic leadership continuity, knowledge management, individual career advancement and leveraging a reliable talent pipeline (Schoonover, 2011).…”

“…In the case of NED firms where SP non-practice is reported, SMOs appear to disregard the human capital component of this framework for leadership development and organization performance, and pragmatic steps, such as the present research, must be taken to protect NED firms against operational shocks (Ritchie, 2020). SP is such an indispensable organizational leadership and performance management tool that all forward thinking institutions – public, private and nonprofit – must endeavor to take advantage of Fadeyi et al (2019) to prepare potential organizational leaders to readily and ably assume leadership positions whenever such positions become vacant (Donner et al , 2016).…”

“…This leadership succession imperative, therefore, suggests that organizations risk losing both competitive edge and corporate sustainability if they fail to plan and appropriately implement succession of their key position holders (Fadeyi et al , 2019). Indeed, it has been argued that about 70% of all succession management plans fail at the implementation stage (Prabhakar and Gowthami, 2013), and, in some cases, the “lack of a succession management culture generally reduces the scope for leadership development and planning” (Fadeyi et al , 2019: p. 414). This brings up a number of corporate leadership issues.…”

“…This means that more organizations now operate with replacement candidates for key positions (Seniwoliba, 2015), resulting in deliberate and systematic leadership continuity, knowledge management, individual career advancement and leveraging a reliable talent pipeline (Schoonover, 2011). This leadership succession imperative, therefore, suggests that organizations risk losing both competitive edge and corporate sustainability if they fail to plan and appropriately implement succession of their key position holders (Fadeyi et al, 2019). Indeed, it has been argued that about 70% of all succession management plans fail at the implementation stage (Prabhakar and Gowthami, 2013), and, in some cases, the "lack of a succession management culture generally reduces the scope for leadership development and planning" (Fadeyi et al, 2019: p. 414).…”

Investigating the Influence of Leadership Capabilities on the Survival Instincts of Faith-Based Organizations in Nigeria

“…Despite daunting environmental conditions, organizational sustainability is of paramount importance for a company to remain in business (Barnabas, Nwuche, & Anyanwu, 2016). Fadeyi, Oladele, Imhonopi, & Nwachukwu (2019) claimed that FBO survival is a motivation that has the potential to improve satisfaction and help implement other organizational objectives. These scholars noted that management skills play a fundamental role among the many factors that contribute to an organization's survival.…”