Leadership Succession
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Friedman, Stewart D., PUBLISHER: Transaction Publishers, This volume focuses on the most critical strategic activity in any organization, namely, who gets chosen to sit in the top echelon ong>ofong> the pyramid. Friedman argues that it is the quality ong>ofong> corporate leadership that will determine corporate winners and losers in the global competitive game. The stakes in leadership ong>successionong> are high. The selection ong>ofong> key figures is the one human resource activity that no one belittles for being ong>ofong> secondary importance. Indeed, leadership ong>successionong> is so important and central in many executive minds that it crowds out any other work. The ong>successionong> process is ong>ofong>ten fraught with political intrigue, it lacks discipline, and excludes meaningful involvement ong>ofong> senior human resource executives. The contributors to this imaginative volume reveal a ong>successionong> planning process that is frequently sloppy, superficial, and regularly sabotaged by senior management when they give it short shrift in terms ong>ofong> quality time. In addition, senior management ong>ofong>ten overrides sound decisions when it comes to filling key positions. The result is a lack ong>ofong> integrity throughout the human resource systems that eventually leads to a collapse ong>ofong> belief in the system and its governance. Noel M. Tichy, a leading figure in the studies ong>ofong> human resource management, has said, "Stewart Friedman is to be congratulated for a successful effort in providing a state ong>ofong> the art look at leadership ong>successionong>. He] provides us with an empirical database ong>ofong> what is happening in U.S. corporations, helpful prescriptions for future improvement ong>ofong> leadership ong>successionong>, and a realistic assessment ong>ofong> the human resource executive challenges in this area."