This CEO succession study shows shortfalls in C-suite talent development and succession planning. Rumors and speculation abound when it comes to discussions about CEO succession at high-profile companies such as Ford, Proctor & Gamble, and Cisco Systems. “That’s because succession planning processes are not transparent and may be less systematic than you would expect,” says Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty member David Larcker, who codirected this new study about CEO succession by The Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University and The Institute of Executive Development (IED). The study is based on in-depth interviews with executives and directors at 20 companies regarding their succession and executive development practices. The researchers found that only 46% of respondents have a formal process for developing successor candidates for key executive positions. What’s more, only 25% of respondents agreed that there was an adequate pool of ready successor candidates for the CEO position at their companies.
Copyright held by David F. Larcker and Scott Saslow. Further inquiries about reproduction and use should be directed to the Corporate Governance Research Initiative.
