ABSTRACT
Succession planning has become more imperative than ever because great leaders are scarce and competition for them is strong and almost vicious. The advantages of succession planning are obvious and easily recognizable by any management team, yet it is puzzling that many of them cannot either see the obvious benefits of succession planning or fail to avoid the inevitable consequences of the failure to plan for succession. Succession planning is an effort designed to ensure the continued effective performance of an organization, division, or work group by making provision for the development, replacement and strategic application of key people over time. A critical element in succession planning is to understand the context in which future successors are likely to operate. With globalization, many companies from the emerging economies are becoming a formidable force to reckon with in the international markets. One of the criticisms of succession planning in the past was that it was managed independently of the business strategy.
