Relationship of Succession Practices to Successful Leadership Transition

Abstract

The study measures how the level of implementation of the top ten succession practices according to literature affect the perceived level of successful leadership transition of selected multigenerational Filipino family businesses and whether their organization profile has a significant moderating influence on the relationship of the two variables. The study surveyed a sample size of 71 respondents, each belonging to their own family business, and interviewed 10 among the respondents in order to gain a deeper understanding on the results. The results suggested that there is a strong positive correlation between the level of implementation of succession practices and the perceived level of successful leadership transition of the selected multigenerational Filipino family businesses regardless of their organization profile. It was found that family businesses highly implemented succession practices relating to communication, but the definition of the responsibilities of the predecessor after transition and measuring the performance of the leadership position were least implemented. The incorporation of the vision of the company in the succession plan in such a way that decisions were made with the company vision in mind was also found to be the most positively significant factor that affected the perceived level of successful leadership transition.

Keywords

• family business
• succession planning
• succession practices
• leadership transition