Succession Planning and Diversity Relationship: Corporate Sector Study

Abstract

Today, most of the organizational survival, in a globally competitive environment, depends in a part on having identified and developed replacements, i.e., successors for key positions. The major current problem is the lack of effective succession planning strategies to facilitate the transfer of expertise from retiring employees to younger employees. Succession planning is defined as the process of identifying one or more successors for key positions and preparing them for expanded organizational responsibilities through job assignments and other developmental activities. Review of literature has underscored many research gaps relating to the factors affecting succession process to have an effective process and it relationship with generation diversity. As both these variable are inter-dependent variables, moreover there is a lack of awareness in companies regarding its process; as most of the Indian companies are just carrying it on their paper work but not implementing it in their real processes. In this context, the study is an attempt to fill these gaps relating to the factors affecting succession process and relationship between succession planning and generation diversity.

The main objective of the research is to identify the factors affecting succession process, its relationship with generation diversity and identification of the problems of succession plan and Generation diversity. At the methodological plane, the study has used both the primary and secondary sources of data. The secondary data have been obtained from BSE 100 companies. In addition, the primary data have been used which have been collected through a well structured questionnaire. For analysis of the data, appropriate multivariate statistical and econometric techniques have been used which include correlation, regression, factor analysis and so on. The findings of the study will go a long way to serve a policy guide for academicians, planners and the corporate world.