The ability to backfill leadership positions has become a key focus of business leaders since 2005 when the baby boom workforce started to age. An aging workforce threatens the capability of business leaders to develop leadership pipelines to ensure business success. Grounded by the social exchange theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful strategies that technology services managers used to align core business objectives to improve succession planning at a technology services organization located in Dallas, Texas. Data collection and triangulation included semi structured telephone interviews with 12 technology services managers, company documents, and archival information. Data analysis included the examination of rich text data, coding, and classification of themes using Yin's 5-step approach. Four themes emerged, revealing that these managers (a) created and sustained a leadership talent pipeline for high potential employees for future leadership roles; (b) sourced internal candidates with core leadership competencies; (c) remediated leadership skills gaps through developed relationships and documented processes; and (d) re-engineered the replacement planning process for the internal leadership talent pipeline. Implications for positive social change include the potential for technology services managers to implement effective succession planning strategies that could increase employee morale, enhance profitability and growth, and promote healthy community partnerships.

This practice doctorate study addresses the question of succession in family business, and whether it is possible to facilitate the succession process and enhance family relations by working in a systemic, conversational and dialogical way. The high percentage of successions in family businesses which fail and result in closed down businesses has led to extensive research and caused public debate in Sweden. This study contains of four sections. The first section gives an introduction to my felt need of developing the facilitation of the succession process in business families. It also contains a philosophical background to the systemic way of working and a presents my ontology, epistemology and methods for my study and its ethical considerations. The second section puts my study in a wider perspective of this study with a short presentation of the field of family business research; there are interviews with mainstream consultants that are elaborated on and lastly there is a gender perspective on family business consultations. The eight essays in the third section portray my action research into my facilitation of the succession process in the Bjärges family. The succession process began at the end of 2006 and lasted almost five years. Facilitation was performed during the first two and a half years and the last follow-up conversation was held in the beginning of 2011. The Bjärges essays are written in a generative and reflexive way by means of radical, social poetics thus allowing personal involvement in the text. Some of the essays study the succession process from the perspective of dialogical moments; a couple of them reflect on the succession process in a longer perspective and finally there are follow-up conversations with the family members. The fourth section deals with knowledge gained from working with this study, knowledge I have taken into my practice where I facilitate family members to make their own decisions. It also includes my reflections on theory and on differences in consultancy to family business. Accountants and legal advisors focus on what is best for business, while facilitators working in the dialogical way have family relations at heart. This work proposes a 3rd Way, a new way of facilitating and supporting business families by collaboration of different competences in multi-professional teams. Thus both business and family relations would be addressed.

Forskningen om familjeföretag är relativt omfattande. Men det finns fortfarande många frågor som är obesvarade. En viktig fråga som berör familjeföretags utveckling är viljan att ta in extern kompetens inom ekonomiområdet. Det kan röra sig om tjänster såsom ekonomichef, controller eller redovisningekonom. I detta arbete har vi försökt besvara frågan om varför ledningen i familjeföretag väljer att ta in extern kompetens inom ekonomi. Teorin för fram att familjeföretag i det längsta drar sig för att ta in extern kompetens till förmån för den egna familjens medlemmar. Slutsatserna man kan dra efter att ha utvärderat svar från åtta familjeföretags VD:ar samt externt tillsatt personal inom ekonomi är att de till största delen ser mycket positivt på tillsättandet av extern personal inom ekonomi. De flesta för fram åsikten om att utan att tillsätta extern personal hade bolagen i fråga inte kunnat utvecklas så framgångsrikt som de har gjort. De ser extern personal inom ekonomiområdet som en styrka med avseende på de nya kunskaper, erfarenheter och kompetenser som kommer företagen till del. Det många pekar på i intervjerna är att man får in en person som kan komma med andra lösningar på problemen än de konventionella, men även en mindre känslosam attityd till familjeföretagets affärer, vilket kan vara en klar fördel. Nya synpunkter och kunskaper kommer företaget till godo. Dock är den personliga dynamiken med den externa kompetensen av stor vikt för företagen i undersökningen, man bör passa in i företagsandan samt vara lätt att ha att göra med, men ända ha integritet. Nackdelar som man har pekat på är till exempel om den externt tillsatte experten eventuellt slutar sin tjänst eller manipulerar bokföringen. Med tanke på alla de lagar och regelverk som styr företagens vardag krävs en hel del specialistkunskap inom ekonomiområdet, särskilt inom koncernredovisning, beskattning, bokslut och årsredovisning. Dessa kunskaper kan i ett fåtal fall tillgodoses av familjemedlemmar, men i de allra flesta företag är det kompetens man måste få in i företaget utifrån. Vi anser att vår undersökning har gett oss svar på de frågor som vi hade ställt upp angående familjeföretags syn på att anlita extern kompetens inom ekonomi. Nämligen att familjeföretag som vill utvecklas vinner mycket på att anlita extern kompetens inom ekonomi. Inte bara ekonomiskt utan även på många andra områden. Nyckelord: Familjeföretag, Extern ekonomisk kompetens, Bolagsstyrning, Familjeföretags komplexitet, Successionsplanering. / Research on family business is quite extensive. But there are still many questions that remain unanswered. An important issue relating to family business development is the desire to bring in external expertise in the finance area. It may involve services such as finance manager, controller or accountant. In this work the authors have attempted to answer the question of why the management of family businesses chooses to bring in external expertise in economics. The theory implies that the family business as long reluctant to bring in external expertise for the benefit of their own family members. The conclusions to be drawn after evaluating responses from eight family business CEOs and externally added staff in finance is that they are mostly very much welcoming the appointment of external staff in finance. Most of the view implies that without the addition of external staff, the companies would not develop as successfully as they have done. They see external staff within the finance area as strength for the new knowledge, experience and skills that businesses will benefit from. Many CEO: s advocates that you get in a person who can come up with other solutions to the problems than the conventional ones, but also a less emotional approach to family business affairs, which may be a distinct advantage. New ideas and knowledge will benefit the company. However, the personal dynamics of the external competence are of great importance to companies in the survey, it should fit into the entrepreneurial spirit and be easy to deal with, but still have privacy. Disadvantages as some have pointed out are for example, if the externally appointed expert may terminate their service or manipulate the records. Given all the laws and regulations that govern todays businesses requires a lot of expertise in economics, especially in the consolidated financial statements, taxation, financial statement and annual reports. This knowledge can in a few cases be met by family members, but in the vast majority of companies, you need to get the skills into the company from outside. We believe that our study has given us answers to the questions we had put up on the family company's approach to the use of external expertise in economics. Namely, those family businesses that want to develop win a lot of hiring external expertise in economics. Not just economically but also in many other areas. Keywords: Family firm, External financial competence, Corporate governance, Complexity of family firms, Succession planning.

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical background on the knowledge management principles required in determining the current state of knowledge management within the Pyrometallurgical industry. Emphasis is placed on identifying initiatives that is required for embedding tacit knowledge within an organisation. Knowledge is what people know and there is no knowledge without someone knowing it. Knowledge can be present in ideas, judgement, relationships and concepts. Unlike data and information, knowledge is never static but is continually shaped inside peoples' heads through experience, reasoning and the inflow of new stimuli. Tacit knowledge is the information about work processes and products that individuals hold above and beyond what organisations has documented. It is the "tricks of the trade" that promote smooth organisational functioning, overall know-how, and competitive advantage. In order to ensure that an organisation maintains its competitive advantage, special focus must be placed on tacit knowledge management. The state of knowledge management within the Pyrometallurgical industry in South Africa was assessed in the use of survey questionnaires. The Pyrometallurgical industry has still got a long way to go in order to ensure that the tacit knowledge is embedded within their organisations. Key areas of concerns are the lack of experienced mentors as well as enough resources in order to foster tacit knowledge transfer. A practical tacit knowledge management framework is proposed in order to assist management in looking after this critical asset of their organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical background on the knowledge management principles required in determining the current state of knowledge management within the Pyrometallurgical industry. Emphasis is placed on identifying initiatives that is required for embedding tacit knowledge within an organisation. Knowledge is what people know and there is no knowledge without someone knowing it. Knowledge can be present in ideas, judgement, relationships and concepts. Unlike data and information, knowledge is never static but is continually shaped inside peoples' heads through experience, reasoning and the inflow of new stimuli. Tacit knowledge is the information about work processes and products that individuals hold above and beyond what organisations has documented. It is the "tricks of the trade" that promote smooth organisational functioning, overall know-how, and competitive advantage. In order to ensure that an organisation maintains its competitive advantage, special focus must be placed on tacit knowledge management. The state of knowledge management within the Pyrometallurgical industry in South Africa was assessed in the use of survey questionnaires. The Pyrometallurgical industry has still got a long way to go in order to ensure that the tacit knowledge is embedded within their organisations. Key areas of concerns are the lack of experienced mentors as well as enough resources in order to foster tacit knowledge transfer. A practical tacit knowledge management framework is proposed in order to assist management in looking after this critical asset of their organisation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

家族企業是台商企業普遍的經營型態，隨著近幾年台商第一代創業主接近退休年齡，各個台商家族企業中逐漸掀起一波接班潮，未來能否突破接班的挑戰，是台商家族企業走向永續經營的關鍵。然而，家族企業對各接班規劃關鍵因素的認知，都有可能影響接班的最終成果，因此，本研究以台商家族企業的第一代創辦人及第二代接班人選為對象，分別探討家族企業對傳承與接班、治理、成長、確信性、退場策略、財富管理等六項接班規劃關鍵因素的重要性認知程度及影響力認知程度，以分析台商家族企業對接班相關議題的認知現況，以及重要性和影響力兩者認知的差異。此外，本研究更進一步分析職位、性別、年齡、身份等個人特性，以及產業類別、公司年齡、所在地、員工人數等企業特性對各個接班規劃關鍵因素認知的影響。 本研究以結構性紙本問卷進行調查，採用資料分析方法包含探索性因素分析、信度分析、相關分析、成對樣本T檢定、平均數比較、獨立樣本T檢定、單因子變異數分析等方法進行檢定。研究發現，各個接班規劃關鍵因素認知無論在重要性或影響力上，多數都彼此存在顯著正向相關，且重要性的程度均顯著大於影響力的程度。此外，更進一步發現身份、員工人數、產業類別會對認知的結果產生影響。 / Family business is one of general types of companies in Taiwan. As the first generation entrepreneurs reached the retiring age in recent years, many Taiwanese family businesses gradually tend to prepare for succession planning. Whether those Taiwanese family businesses could go through the challenges of succession in the future will be the key factor of their sustainable operation. However, their perceptions of succession planning related issues could influence the result of succession. With their first-generation founders and second-generation successors as research object, this study explored their perception level of the importance and capability to the key factors of succession planning, including succession and next generation, governance, growth, assurance, exit strategies, and wealth preservation. Then, we could capture the thought of family businesses and figure out the difference between importance and capability of each factors. Besides, this study also analyzed the influence of some individual characteristics（ position, gender, age, and status） and business characteristics（ industrial categories, established year, location, the number of employees）. This study employed a paper-based questionnaire survey with a structured format and tested by explorative factor analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, paired sample t-test, comparison of means, independent-sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Through those data analysis, the results showed that almost all factors revealed in the study are significantly positively correlated to each other in the perception level of importance as well as the perception level of capability. And, the perception level of importance is always higher than the perception level of capability. Furthermore, some characteristics, including individual status, industrial categories, and number of employees can significantly influence the result of the perception level.

This Master's Thesis deals with the issue of talent management at Tesco Stores ČR a.s. The main goal was to create an action plan for cooperation with talent's at Tesco Stores ČR a.s. leading to an increase in employee engagement. Through a detailed study of specialized literature, talent management and its processes, employee development, succession planning, career management and performance management were defined. An analysis of the current system of talent management in the company was created based on interviews and a questionnaire survey. A SWOT analysis generated recommendations and suggestions for improvement on specific activities for talents, optimization of succession plans and development programmes.

This paper analyzes the relevance of succession planning from today's labor market perspective. Consequently, it reviews the reasons, methods and limitations of external and internal hiring concluding that corporations should employ a balance of both. Research shows that succession planning provides a means for organizations to develop, retain and promote internal talent. Because succession planning often consists of opaque processes, emergency planning or unmethodical decisions, the thesis identifies whether succession software on the example of the Business Execution Suite from SuccessFactors can add value to conventional succession planning. Although this Software-as-a-Service solution does offer a variety of best practice tools, the author concludes that the success of a succession program moreover depends on systematic process and role definitions as well as a facilitating corporate culture. Secondary research, internal company documents and an expert interview support the author in finding conclusions.

Formal succession planning strategies for retiring Baby Boomer generation of leaders in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are nonexistent in many NPOs, including faith-based NPOs. Top NPO leaders possess vital organizational knowledge and experience. The lack of strategic succession planning adversely affects organizational sustainability and mission fulfillment. Guided by the conceptual framework of knowledge transfer, the current study supplies a description of succession planning strategies used in faith-based organizations that have Boomer leaders. This multiple case study included 3 faith-based NPOs in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida and their top-level leaders. They supplied descriptions of formal succession planning strategies through semistructured interviews and through related organizational documents. An inductive analysis of the data revealed that (a) key leaders were the initiators for developing a strategic plan for succession, (b) boards of directors were critical to the process, and (c) leadership transition, planned or unplanned, required preparation and documented policies that must be reviewed at regular intervals. Leadership development is a valuable practice, which contributes to succession planning strategy. Influential leaders and board members of NPOs may receive inspiration to engage in succession planning strategies to maintain capable and prepared leaders at the top levels of the organizations as a means to ensure organizational sustainability and mission fulfillment. Positive social change happens in communities by encouraging a positive societal culture and identity through uninterrupted NPO services and programs. Improving the lives of community members enhances the communities in which they live.

Health care organizations can provide comprehensive, formal learning opportunities to develop nurse leaders for advanced leadership roles. The purpose of this doctoral project was to create an evidence-based nursing leadership academy focused on development of advanced leadership skills and competencies to cultivate frontline and midlevel nurse leaders for executive nursing and health care leadership positions. The practice-focused question addressed how an advanced nursing leadership education program would affect the knowledge level and competencies of nurse leader participants. The American Organization of Nurse Executives' (AONE) 5 nurse executive competency domains served as the framework for this project. Data were collected from 10 nurse manager and nurse leader participants, selected based on their performance and desire to succeed into an advanced leadership role, who completed the AONE nurse executive competency assessment. Findings indicated that greatest improvement was observed in the knowledge of the health care environment domain, followed by the communication and relationship building domain. Findings may be used to provide advanced leadership education to frontline and midlevel nurse leaders to support succession planning and development of nurse leaders to advance into executive leadership positions.