December 4, 2003

Dr. David A. Mack

U TA O R G C O N S U LT I N G 5 3 3 4 T E A M
University of Texas at Arlington
302 Business Building
817 272 3085
davemack@uta.edu
davemack@flash.net

RE: Consulting Project

Dear Dr. Mack:

Our team contracted to perform a consultation with XXXXXX Systems, an international technical
consulting firm based in Smalltown, USA. We were asked by the Human Resources Department at the corporate
headquarters to conduct a study concerning Succession Planning (SP). Jim Pary, Human Resources Planning and
Program Manager led the client team, which had been given a mandate last year by CEO John XXXXXX, to form
an initiative on this topic.

Their team desired information on best practices, and a model that would identify those practices that
would fit with the needs of their culture and would help develop existing elements of their current training,
leadership, performance, and high-potential practices. The XXXXXX Systems team understood the requirements
for our class assignment, and was willing to assist us in performing a survey to measure employee and management
characteristics. We agreed that identifying cultural and preferential attributes, as well as profile information, would
help identify the best practices elements that would be most likely to succeed in the XXXXXX Systems culture.

We have done two reports for this assignment: one for you in light of the class parameters and which we
present here, and one for our client, which includes a great deal of reference and resource material on the subject of
Succession Planning, and spans several notebook binders in addition to an expanded report of our study. Although
this increased amount of work has been very laborious, we hope that the extra effort and care we took will reflect
well on UTAs graduate program. As you have said many times in class, in the end all you have is your reputation,
and we submit our report with the confidence that we have done our work honestly and according to good research
guidelines.

Our engagement with the client taught us a great deal about the behavioral side of understanding
management initiatives. If we, as well as our client, have come away from this project with a better concept of the
human side of programs that look good on paper, but need the fit of cultural motivation with system design in order
to work, then we have been successful.

Sincerely,
UTA Orgconsulting5334 Team

John Doe
Jane Doe
Sam Smith
Tina Smith
Bill Jones

Orgconsulting5334@yahoogroups.com
Orgconsulting5334@yahoo.com
 SUCCESS ATTRIBUTES THAT RELATE TO SUCCESSION PROGRAMS

FOR XXXXXX SYSTEMS

DECEMBER 2003

University of Texas at Arlington

College of Business Administration
Orgconsulting5334 Group
John Doe
Jane Doe
Sam Smith
Tina Smith
Bill Jones
orgconsulting5334@yahoogroups.com

Special Thanks to
Dr. David A. Mack, Instructor, University of Texas at Arlington
Jim Pary, Human Resources Planning and Program Management, XXXXXX Systems
Dan Smit, Director of Human Resources Global Infrastructure Services, XXXXXX Systems
Dr. Dennis Tall, Member, Boston University Executive Development Round Table
Dr. William Rothwell, Author, Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Whiteside, Instructor, University of Texas at Arlington
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Page 4

INTRODUCTION Page 5

BACKGROUND OF THE TOPIC OF SUCCESSION PLANNING Page 7

APPROACH TO THE STUDY Page 12

LITERATURE REVIEW Page 17

RESEARCH WITH THE CLIENT Page 23

SURVEY METHODOLOGY Page 27

FINDINGS Page 33

CONCLUSIONS Page 45

REFERENCES Page 48

APPENDIX Page 52

PowerPoint, Survey Response Document, and Excel Results Database are under separate cover
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

By using several research methods, we discovered that there were four stages that needed

to be assessed for a successful succession planning (SP) program: 1) foundation of culture,

communication and strategy, 2) process of mapping, best practice identification, and

involvement, 3) system of modules, infrastructure, software and mentoring, 4) program of

implementation, measurement and results. The strategic goals of the company must be identified

for the workable design and execution of Succession Planning. Additionally, candidate

development must be aligned with business development and constructively support the cultural,

leadership and communication elements. By nature, such programs continue to evolve with the

business need over the long term and permeate through all levels of the company.
 INTRODUCTION

The Client and the Study

Overview of the company. XXXXXX Systems Corporation was founded in 19XX and is

a provider of information technology (IT) services and business solutions. The company is

headquartered in Smalltown, USA and employs more than 10,000 associates worldwide. In

2002, the company reported $1.3 billion in revenue. Despite its rapid growth and success, the

company acknowledges its vulnerabilities. Pressures from the explosion of digital technology in

every facet of current business, rapidly fluctuating economies, and global influences continue to

serve as catalysts for change in the industry. XXXXXX Systems revenue growth continues but

not at the levels previously attained; its earnings per share has fallen 18% over the last 12 months

(Appendix D). XXXXXX Systems understands that leadership is crucial to navigating these

pressures and turning them into advantages. To this end, the company has instituted People Day,

a day to formally review the state of affairs of its leadership pool. To help facilitate this task

CEO Joe XXXXXX has directed the corporate Human Resources Department (HRD) to develop

a Succession Planning program.

The Human Resources Department. Dan Amber, Vice President of Human Resources and

Best Practices, has led the Human Resources Department since 2002. Amber graduated from

West Point and has a primary background in real estate planning and project management.

Additionally, he has held several leadership roles as part of Joe XXXXXXs other ventures.

Since joining the Human Resources (HR) organization, Amber and his HR management team

have been charged with developing a mechanism for identifying, developing and deploying the

companys best talent to fill key leadership positions now and in the future. These tasks make

up what is commonly known as Succession Planning: the systematic effort by an organization to

5
ensure continuity of prepared leaders to fill key positions in the near and long term. After a year

of struggling with the initiative, the Human Resources management team perceived that they

were not making sufficient progress. They began discussions with our team to help them with

this initiative.

The business problem. XXXXXX Systems' current process for identifying internal talent

to fill key positions is largely ad hoc, subjective, and does not adequately support business needs.

The Human Resources Department needed to identify and develop a sustainable succession

planning process based on current and future needs of the organization.

The problem for the department has been to understand what components and design

pieces are important to such a program, and how to answer the challenges of industry and

functional needs reflected in the companys varied services portfolio.

The objective of the study. Our objective was to discover what a good program would

look like and how the company might be able to implement and tie such a process to existing

people strategies and initiatives (Appendix A). As cultural variables have a profound effect on

the design, development and success of internal programs, we worked to discover what those

variables were. We set out to learn about the topic and discover the variables through:

1) The study of best practices and elements in the industry via research in literature.

2) The study of the companys program resources and culture via client interviews.

3) The administration of a survey of the client and company population affected by

succession and program issues.

6
BACKGROUND OF THE TOPIC OF SUCCESSION PLANNING

7
History

Frame of reference. The study of organizations and strategic behaviors is a young

science and succession topics have only become popular in the last 15 to 20 years due to

highly public and disastrous leadership transitions at successful companies like General Motors

(Robert Stempel), AT&T (Robert Allen) and Eastman Kodak (Kay Whitman) (Charan, 1999).

The potential for leadership disasters appears to be inevitable for those who are unprepared.

Rapid changes in operations, business processes, information based work, and portfolio

diversification from mergers and acquisitions challenge the ability of top management to guide

their companies and train the visionaries that will take over in the future. The transfer of how to

get work done processes is being lost with the aging and retirement of senior management and

the mobility of the younger workforce. Leadership is in crisis (Rothwell, 2001).

8
 Relation of strategy and risk management. In the five-year period from l992 to l997, 125

of the Fortune 500 CEOs-one out of four-stepped down from their position (RHR, 1999). A 2000

study sponsored by Anderson Consulting and the Economist Intelligence Unit found that only 21

percent of CEOs say they and their colleagues are prepared to lead the corporation of the next

century (Lorsch, 2003). A 2002 study of 2500 public companies conducted by Booz Allen

Hamilton revealed that involuntary successions increased by more than 70 percent over 2001

(Bowes, 2003). More recently, CEO and other key leadership departures at such companies as

Enron, WorldCom, McDonalds, Tyco International, AOL Time Warner and Kmart have

underscored the importance of managing leadership risk. The management of such risk is in early

identification of successor candidates or high-potentials (hi-pos) that can be groomed and

given experience in understanding the larger context of running the corporation. This would

insure a consistent leadership presence and help alleviate gaps that might cause a successful

company to falter.

Drivers for Succession Planning. The interest in succession planning has grown to

include an understanding of leadership behaviors and core competencies that aspiring

individuals must possess. Additionally, researchers and companies have realized that

succession value does not reside only for top positions, but throughout the operations of an

organization. Organizations are often faced with the need to replace key management staff on a

very short notice due to rapid change of mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, rightsizing, and re-

engineering. Also, there is [an] increasingly competitive market for skilled and talented

individuals (Orellano, 1997). Without the development of leadership throughout a company, not

just at its helm, the implementation of strategy for survival and advantage is threatened.

9
 The performance link. A growing body of research suggests that succession planning

impacts the bottom line. Companies with above-average bench strength are four times more

likely to outperform their industry peers than companies with below-average bench strength.

Similarly, companies with below-average bench strength are four times more likely to under-

perform compared to their industry peers than companies with above-average bench strength

(CLC, 2001). A 2003 study by Hewitt Associates revealed that top companies that regularly

focus on leadership development outperform their industry peers in both financial growth and

returns and consistently perform at or above the 50th percentile, relative to the industry, in total

shareholder return (Hewitt Associates, 2003). We are indeed entering a very new economy,

where historical reliance upon developing economies of scale and scope to gain competitive

advantage, under an Industrial Age model, have shifted to gaining economies of expertise in an

Information Age model; the role of the corporation today is to manage its knowledge base

(McCarthy, 1999).

Key Organizational Players

Boards, executives and employees. According to top succession planning specialists such

as Ram Charan and William Rothwell, SP is not just an activity of going through the motions of

filling vacancies with available recruits. It is a process of active engagement by boards and top

executives who build a foundational strategy for the company and set the tone for mentoring and

guiding development of managers. This mirrors their guidance and development of the business

venture itself. The failure of companies is tied directly to the actors responsible for

understanding the needs behind crucial positions within the company. Agility and wisdom in

operations, marketplaces and citizenship of successful businesses is tracked directly to the

business and organizational integration of leaders and their direction in developing the talent and

10
managers of the business (Charan, 2001a, 2001b, 2002; Rothwell, 2001, 2002). The ability of

leaders themselves to understand the changing environment of their businesss development and

hence, their own role is crucial to success (Schaefer, 2002; Welch, 2003).

Human Resources departments. In most organizations, HR has been tasked with leading

and formulating strategies and designing programs that encourage the creation, dissemination

and application of knowledge to the organizations advantage. An organizations intellectual

capital has increasingly become a key source of competitive advantage. This reality makes

effective management of intellectual capital a core organizational capability. Human Resources

departments have been struggling to become strategic business partners. The issue of succession

planning has presented a pivotal opportunity for HR to demonstrate its value to the organization.

Unfortunately, a large majority of HR departments are not prepared to take on the more strategic

role of managing people risk and leveraging the companys intellectual capital. This is

because HR organizations have been overly focused on streamlining the costs of HR activities

and improving the effectiveness and efficiencies of traditional HR processes related to payroll

and benefits administration. However, failure to step up and demonstrate their value to the

bottom-line will result in more outsourcing of HR functions (HR Report, 2002).

XXXXXX Systems Human Resources department as internal consultants. This leadership

transformation is exactly the dilemma that the XXXXXX Systems HR team faces. It is

challenged with becoming a strategic business partner. Like other functional units, HR is

expected to demonstrate an understanding of the business and to use this understanding to

develop and leverage the companys key source of competitive advantage- its people. This

elevated role of HR is not to suggest that senior leadership is removed from being involved in the

decisions of people. However, what it does suggest is that top leadership is placing a greater

11
degree of reliance on HRs ability to consult in the areas of people strategy and leadership

development so that executives can make good business decisions around talent deployment and

business operations, decisions that can have significant consequences for any company (Murray,

2002).

Definition of Terms

Working definitions are as follows:

1. Succession Planning (SP) - is the systematic effort by an organization to ensure

continuity of prepared leaders to fill key positions in the near and long term.

2. Best Practice (BP) is a method, procedure or activity that contributes to the highest,

most resources-effective performance of a discipline.

3. High Potentials (Hi-Po) Exemplary performers perceived to have high potential for

future advancement into higher levels of leadership. Key source of replacement for

critical positions.

12
 APPROACH TO THE STUDY

Team, Client, and Research Components

Team Interaction. As a team, we had no previous background or experience with the

topic, but one member of our group is a Human Resources Manager who is familiar with the

subject area of Succession Planning and with the terminology used for evaluation and placement.

She facilitated our learning the context of the topic and of understanding the components of the

topic. While the industry depth on this particular topic was fairly shallow, each member brought

areas of expertise: human resources, marketing, technology, ethnography, finance, economics,

research, leadership, and process flow that were beneficial to the study. In order to take

advantage of these areas of expertise, each team member was assigned a lead role in one or more

aspects of the study. One team member was responsible for literature review of best practices.

This involved reading and analyzing case studies of companies identified as leaders in this topic.

Another team member led the survey design and identification of factors that could be used as

part of our correlational research. Other team members took on lead roles in statistical analysis

of data and development of process maps and tools for use in succession planning.

All members had experience with digital communications and we relied on this heavily

for accomplishing the work. The team created a Yahoo group site and email account for uniform

communication and to archive working files and research articles. This allowed us to pass

information through a single email notification, kept our boxes from filling up with attachments,

and allowed the team to access documents from a central repository. We met at least weekly as a

whole and also in small groups, either in chats, emails, or in person on campus.

The project segmentation was designed to create efficiency. However, such a structure

relied heavily on members not assigned to a particularly aspect of the project to remain involved

13
and take ownership for understanding all aspects of the project. Likewise, team leads needed to

consistently communicate the status of their efforts and quickly recognize when they were

stuck so that work allocation and job roles could be realigned and addressed early in the

process. Unfortunately, this result was not consistently achieved and issues of not my area

and feelings of being left on ones own and overburdened became a regular source of

conflict within the team. Because the group did not elect an overall Project Lead, there was also

a greater need for unanimous consensus building on each aspect of the project, thus delaying

some critical decisions. Despite the team challenges, the group maintained a high interest in the

subject matter and a strong commitment to delivering a product to the client and a research paper

that reflected our achievement in this area.

Client Interaction. We decided that throughout our study we would maintain a high level

of dialogue with our client. This included bi-weekly meetings that were held on-site with the

client. The purpose of the meetings was to 1) collect data, 2) communicate our progress, 3)

summarize our findings and 4) engage the client in feedback and dialogue that would help to

further refine our study and create effective client relations. The onsite meetings were only an

hour long and both the client and the team agreed that the meetings would occur every other

Wednesday regardless of whether full attendance could be achieved on both sides. This decision

had consequences as key members of the team and the client were missing from meetings

involving critical discussions. Additionally, although most functional heads (e.g. Staffing,

Operations, Talent Management, Best Practices) were regular participants in the meetings, the

head of Human Resources was only able to attend two of the bi-weekly meetings, and therefore

was unable to take an active part in facilitating thought provoking dialogue on the issues of

succession planning in the meetings. Despite the drawback, the regularly meeting times helped

14
to create needed structure for a study with a very aggressive timeline. In addition to the bi-

weekly meetings, the client received weekly project status reports via e-mail every Monday.

Email and phone communications between the client and team contacts also occurred as needed.

Topic of Succession Planning and XXXXXX Systems Implementation

The four stages. Our client initially outlined the topic in broad terms from the needs to

address succession as a more progressive alternative for replacement systems and for the

identification of promising managerial candidates. There were also needs to address the variety

of pressures from vertical needs, technology and economic changes, and portfolio diversification

which the company had undergone in recent years. The client also wanted to address the need to

move the company from an entrepreneurial management strategy to a professional management

strategy for long term growth. Finally, they wanted to address the desire to build a reputation for

XXXXXX Systems as a leadership platform flagship. As the study progressed, we narrowed the

topic to the issue which yielded the most significant, action orientated results for the succession-

planning subject. We formed four stages through which the subject could be tackled to start

achieving the broader goals.

1) Foundation of identifying culture, communication and strategy.

2) Process of mapping, best practices and involvement.

3) System of modules, infrastructure, software and mentoring.

4) Program of implementation, measurement and results.

15
An important issue was the discovery that successful programs are not out-of-the-box, but

continue to be refined, and grow with the business and the development of the leaders and

candidates who participate in the program.

Research steps and sources. The research was divided into three parts. The first part

consisted of an extensive literature search on topics of succession planning and leadership

development. This allowed the team members to learn the history and rationale for succession

planning, the terminology, trends, problems and solutions, as well as some of the environmental

factors that companies, executives, employees, and HR departments face. The second involved

interviews with members of the client team, academic experts, and Human Resources association

specialists. This allowed the team members to understand what issues existed in the clients

world, and gain a general understanding of implementation across the field. We gained valuable

insight about the ties between culture, business strategy and how components of programs

worked for different company environments and needs. The first two parts of our study helped us

toward the formation of our hypotheses, and the development of foundation and process material

for the client. Third, we performed a survey in the form of a questionnaire by which we gathered

data on demographic, business profile and workplace elements so that we could test our

hypotheses. This helped us to develop a simple cultural and workplace profile of the client that

would aid identification of best practice implementation for their particular needs.

Goals. Our team goal was to perform a valid behavioral study of a business management

dilemma using authentic engagement practices and scientific methodology by consulting. We

sought to use the individual talents of our team members to accomplish a professionally oriented

survey and report on our topic. Our clients goal was to have the study done by the time of their

annual People Day in December, and they specifically requested additional research on the

16
topic of best practices accompanied by process mapping of succession planning programs. This

was above and beyond the scope of the class assignment, but requested in order to facilitate their

understanding and their ability to communicate and substantiate study results for the top

management, who had originally given them the SP mandate. We attempted to answer this extra

request; we understood that our work could have a positive or a negative impact on the eventual

success of planning and implementation. Our study could serve as a good foundation for future

decision-making. Therefore we did a great deal of literature and association research and

interviewed experts in the field as well as XXXXXX employees to get a grasp of the motivation-

need for our approach to the study of the topic. We also attended a major HR-Association

function on the topic of Succession Planning with our client, at their invitation, and through their

sponsorship.

17
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Development of the Literature Based Research

Sources and activities. We studied numerous papers and publications to find out what

succession planning is, and to assess the best practices of companies in an attempt to arrive at a

benchmark of sorts. We successfully subscribed to or gained permission to human resource

association archives (CLC; SHRM) and gained access to primary sources of research through

private academic and professional databases (Questia; Best Practices LLC) and pricey

membership-only leadership council publications (BUEDRT). We read books, and called on

friends, associates, and family, who worked in the Human Resources field or for companies that

used software solutions such as PeopleSoft, for input. We also perused several hundred articles

via the Internet and on-line archives of the University Library system. We collected many of

these studies in notebooks for our clients future reference, and summarized others for inclusion

into their copy of our report. Although we thought about performing a metastudy, we discovered

that other scholars had already done this and decided to simply reference those works for our

clients future use. We pulled out lists and examples of programs, motivations, and rationales

from all of this data. We contacted academic leaders in the field and corresponded with them to

request clarity on issues and direction to pertinent information.

The list of dozens of companies covered in these studies includes Saturn, Lucent, AT&T,

Shell, Bell Atlantic, Verizon, Clorox, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, RBC Financial Group, GE,

Wellpoint, FedEx, Delta Air Lines, New York Life, Hewett Packard, and Capital One (CLC,

2002; BP LLC, 2003; BP LLC, 2002; CEI, 2003; Palus, Horth, Selvin, Pulley, 2003; Kiger, 2002;

Zemke, 2002; Gale, 2001; Zelsman, 2000; O'Connell, 1996).

18
 The amount of recent literature on this topic was overwhelming with much of the

emphasis on creating a business case for succession planning, listing attributes of leaders, and

understanding the required steps in succession planning (Burns-Martin, 2002; HR Focus, 2003;

McMaster, 2002; Melymuka, 2002; Schafer, 2000; Woolf, 2001). A further narrowing down of

the research topic for hypotheses development would occur as a result of client interviews.

Key findings. One of the key challenges in our study of succession planning was the

variety of models, terms, definitions and opinions on the topic. The focus of our literature

review efforts was to capture a universal definition of succession planning and common

processes that appeared to be most critical to the development of a succession-planning model.

Additionally, we aimed to look beyond processes but to look at organizational and culture factors

that were critical to creating a supportive environment for successful implementation of a

succession planning program.

Our study began to take form as we came to understand that succession planning is not

just about replacement planning. While the term succession planning would suggest a focus

solely on successors, the real focus for organizations is on training and development activities

for emerging leaders. The chief aim of replacement planning is to minimize injury from the

immediate and unplanned loss of the key job incumbents. Succession planning goes beyond this

because it focuses on proactive steps and attempts to ensure the continuity of leadership by

developing internal talent through planned development activities (Rothwell, 2002). The

ultimate goal of succession planning is to promote the best and the brightest across the

corporationhaving the right person in the right place at the right time for the right job

(Roberts, 2002). Succession planning emphasizes learning and development activities. A 2002

study of over 150 companies by Hackett revealed that the most significant by-product of

19
succession planning was the best practice learning and development activities that produced

significant and measurable benefits (Hackett, 2002). Many organizations have recently moved

away from the traditional term of succession planning to talent management, a term that is

more inclusive of the many activities that are necessary in identifying, developing and retaining

talent (Falmer, 2002). This broader understanding of succession planning allowed the team to

look beyond the issue of knowing who would replace someone, and to look at the supportive

factors needed to develop and retain talent throughout the organization.

Models. A succession planning model should reflect the organizations goals and values.

Our reading revealed three common models. These models are often further refined to reflect

organizational differences.

The traditional model involves CEOs and other top executives identifying their own

replacements. It is typically a secret process to the degree that top management will not openly

talk about candidates selected. Manual systems and replacement table formats are used to chart

their selections. Human Resources departments may or may not be involved, and HR processes

such as performance appraisal systems and management development are not typically included.

Assessments from peers, customers or subordinates are also not part of the selection criteria. The

approach focuses on targeted positions and doesnt emphasize personal career development or

team development (Orellano, 1997). The traditional model is often the beginning of most

succession planning programs; however, many organizations quickly recognize that such a model

does not meet long-term business objectives. As a result, many organizations curtail their

succession planning efforts (Bowes, 2003).

The integrative approach includes both succession planning and succession

development. It incorporates systematic processes and automated tracking systems to assure

20
objectivity and consistency. It is future-oriented and consistent with the strategic planning

process. It is also flexible and responsive to change and linked to other human resources

planning activities (Orellano, 1997).

The succession planning pools model is very similar to the integrative approach.

However, it stresses the identification of high potential candidate pools. High potentials are

defined as exceptional performers identified as having the ability to be promoted into

increasingly higher levels of leadership such as senior management. They possess the personal

and leadership characteristics required of leaders in the organization. These characteristics are

often lumped into a broader category called competencies (Wolfe, 1993). Competencies

refer to the skills, experience and behaviors necessary to perform a job. Most organizations that

use competencies have core competencies that apply to all employees, i.e. honesty and

integrity, and specific competencies that apply to particular positions or position levels, i.e.

managers, supervisors (Green, 1999). Hi-potentials are usually selected by a task force of senior

managers, often with the assistance of Human Resources, who set aside a day or more to go

through a list of all employees above a certain level and to assess which individuals should be

identified as high potential. To facilitate decision-making, they will often agree on some criteria

by which to select the individuals, and may have the persons most recent performance appraisal

as an additional resource. In some cases, candidates may be further narrowed down through an

assessment center process or through an interview/evaluation process. Once the pool has been

identified, those who make the list will generally receive some special attention. How much

attention candidates receive depends on the organizations willingness to make a financial

commitment to the program. Often the HR department puts together a fast track program

through which they assist the person to develop an individual development plan (IDP). They

21
may provide some group training and they may institute a mentoring program, and identify

certain training programs these people should attend. Senior managers may select candidates for

assignment to special projects or task forces in order to aid decision-making development and

understanding of broader needs of the business. This approach recognizes the value of providing

a broad background for the high potential employees, rather than a single functional stream of

experience. However, the process is only effective if the committee or task force is diverse and

open to organizational diversity (EOWA, 2003). Most companies identified as best practice

organizations for succession planning utilize this approach (Best Practices LLC, 2003).

Direction of findings. The team began to focus its efforts on determining how a

succession planning pool approach could be successfully implemented for XXXXXX Systems.

This required a further review of case studies and articles that addressed the specific processes

and characteristics of companies that utilized this approach. We identified several success

factors that were instrumental in the development of a succession planning program. These

success factors are:

1. Organizations have senior leaders that believe development is a major leadership

activity and senior leaders model this activity.

2. More organizational resources are dedicated to training and development.

3. Organizations possess a culture that has a higher tolerance for risk allowing emerging

leaders to develop without severe penalties.

4. Organizational cultures stress individual ownership for development.

5. Organizations tie succession planning to other strategies that are designed to increase

organizational commitment such as diversity, employer of choice, and corporate

citizenship.

22
 6. Core values and common leadership criteria shared and understood by employees.

7. Strong commitment to promoting from within.

9. Aggressive management of poor performance and behaviors that conflict with

company values.

10. Meritocracy. Compensation and other rewards are based on results and leadership

behavior including self-development.

11. Best Practice organizations perceive Human Resources as a strategic business partner.

12. Leverage of technology for better metrics and integration with other HR systems and

programs.

At last, we started to see some organizational behavior elements that could make or break

the initiative of succession planning. Our next aim was to gain a better understanding of the

culture and organizational dynamics at play within XXXXXX Systems. This would be done

through the informational interviews.

23
 RESEARCH WITH THE CLIENT

Group Meetings and Client Communications

We were able to have ongoing contact with various client team members via emails,

before and after scheduled meetings, and at the HR seminar that both groups attended together.

These informal discussions helped us understand the needs and direction of the client outside of

the agenda driven meetings. During meetings we were able to go into depth on agenda items to

achieve better development of ideas and to freely engage in questions and answers. We were glad

to see that although client team members had tight schedules, they often would alter schedules to

attend meetings. We appreciated the openness of communication and the motivation of the client

team members to their mission and concern for development of the companys future through its

people. We discovered that the client team members were talented and committed to achieving

not just good, but best results, and that they had done best rated work in separate projects

related to the SP initiative. We usually only had to broach a topic once in order for its substance

to be picked up and grasped, and observed that information was integrated very quickly, which

made progress during the study more attainable.

Interviews

People and questions. The team conducted face-to-face or telephonic interviews with 12

key members of Human Resources organization. This included the VP, of Human Resources and

the functional heads of Training and Organizational Development, Performance Management,

Staffing, Employee Relations, Compensation and Benefits, Operations as well as the HR

Business partners for XXXXXX Systems horizontal and vertical business units. An interview

was also held with "Executive Business Sponsor," Jim Johnson, SVP, Global Information

Systems. Interviews lasted from 45 minutes to 90 minutes and included three questions that

24
were asked of all interview participants. The other questions were specific to the interviewees

functional area. The three standard interview questions were: 1) What processes and criteria do

you currently use to identify successors? 2) What jobs are considered to be most critical for the

identification of successors and why? 3) What do you see as the biggest challenge to

implementation of a succession planning program at XXXXXX Systems? The findings from

these questions and others provided considerable insight into the client and the XXXXXX

Systems culture, and the group began to gain a true understanding of the business problem at

hand.

Key findings. The interviews provided additional insight into the clients grasp of the SP

business problem. Initially, we were told that the company did not have very much in the way of

any succession planning practices. A candidate pool list had been compiled over the past year,

but the Human Resources team acknowledged that the list carried very little credibility. The

process for identifying successors was strictly left up to the current incumbent who often selected

replacements that they got along well with. Only one of the successors identified in the pool

of 75 actually went on to fill a higher leadership position, although several positions became

available during the year. John Thompson, SVP of Global Information Systems and Executive

Sponsor explained that often times there is a gap concerning who the incumbent believes should

be his/her replacement and who the incumbents manager believes the replacement should be.

Other times, a potentials movement into an open position could create a weakness, as the

potentials former position had no replacement, so the movement did not happen.

One area that the Human Resources team struggled with was identifying a common set of

characteristics that could be utilized for the identification of high potential. They pointed out

that it took almost 6 months to get the executive team to commit to a common set of core values,

25
i.e. Initiative, Adaptability, etc. that could be communicated to associates throughout the

organization. Part of the struggle appeared to be the ability to effectively communicate the

importance of such efforts and gain management buy-in. The head of Human Resources lack of

experience in the field of organizational design or development may have some bearing. He

acknowledges that he is the only participant in discussions of succession planning and talent

development with executive members. However, members within his team, who are the subject

matter experts, expressed the desire to be included in such discussions.

Despite these challenges, some HR business partners have developed useful succession

planning models for their respective clients or business groups. The manager of organizational

training and talent management also recently developed a model for a corporate succession

planning program. It appeared to us that there was very little shared knowledge of what various

HR business partners were doing in this area. Instead such initiatives were treated as fairly

clandestine as though attention to the endeavors was unwanted. When pressed for details, we

received disclaimers first that activities were widely variant and un-standardized, but later found

these initiatives to be pockets of highly integrated formats. Interestingly enough, a review of the

models found them to include many best practice components. In fact, combining aspects from

each would likely create a succession planning model that is equally as impressive as those the

team had reviewed through the best practices literature. Our report to the client team that they

were actually ahead of the game, and doing very well in their efforts was met with surprise.

We realized that through our discussion, the consultants role of objective support was an

important component to the client team opening up and taking ownership of the work that was

happening across the organization.

26
 This finding further underscored the need to look at why a formal succession plan had not

been established. The Human Resources team provided excuses related to concerns about

auditing, retention and recruiting, about measurement systems, automation, competitor practices,

management flexibility needs, etc. There appeared to be a tremendous need to deliver a

perfect process that would not be subjected to upper management scrutiny or criticism. In fact,

the issues raised by the HR team are those that every organization faces but this is where the best

practice companies press on and succeed. They understand that continual development of the

program is inherent for SP. What is the defining difference?

27
 SURVEY METHODOLOGY

Hypotheses

Developing the research hypothesis. We had to look at the cultural landscape and assess

how the management and potential candidates interacted with jobs, and assess who was

perceived as really guiding the leadership program. We had to assess how the behaviors of

leadership were demonstrated: assertiveness, risk-taking, and aspiration, and if there were gaps

between what was desired and the existing cultural performance. We also had to assess what

attitudes and attributes might be associated with employee perception and buy-in to a selection

program that might have relocation or job rotation involved. We needed to see if managers and

employees trusted the company to design career tracks and to offer training, if employees took

training, and if they would risk committing their future to the company instead of moving on.

How might these things relate to a particular strategic related track of leadership/operations and

leadership/administration tied between individual and company achievement? Was there an

artifact below the surface that threatened to derail progressive changes? If we could quantify

these intangible attributes, we might be able to shed some light on what types of interactive

climate would help the HR department consult with leadership about leaderships role and

sensitivities through the ranks. A program that addressed our findings could be designed to

XXXXXX Systems specific company culture, and problematic gaps could be addressed for

improvement. In a nutshell, we were designing a small-scale example of discovery that could

enable the selection of a best implementation method for development by the leadershipitself a

Hi-Po type of selection program.

To reflect the desired XXXXXX Systems attribute of initiative, we wanted to measure

assertivenessthe willingness to be self motivated and self actualizing, and that relationship to

28
success, as measured by career movement. We wanted to measure employees adaptability and

willingness to take risk such as moving or taking short term job assignments as might be

requested by the company for an IDP, in the belief that the company had a long term plan for

their careers. We wanted to test for the aspiration employees had for career development and for

initiative toward training and development, and of their perception of job involvement and/or

work involvement as it related to the job and to the organization. We surmised from our research

that commitment and perception of corporate citizenship was related. We also wanted to see if

there were links between age demographics and the various concepts we were investigating.

Therefore we developed the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis1. Assertive employees are successful in the company.

Hypothesis 2. Employees are more likely to take risk when they trust in the

company.

Hypothesis 3. Employee aspiration is related to commitment.

We also added several scales that were suggested by HR specialists to assess

organizational culture and perceptions. This information would be useful for the design of the

XXXXXX Systems program, and help the client team and leadership understand gaps and

strengths in communication, career path implementation, and employee interests across the

companys various industry involvements.

Survey for the Scientific Stage of the Study

The last phase of our research involved a questionnaire. Our team spent a lot of time in

discussion about the development of concept variables, what measurement variables we could

29
use for testing, and on constructs. We spent hours drawing on the white board, discussing

behavioral characteristics and the cultural framework we were experiencing at XXXXXX

Systems. We had difficulty finding scales that were tailored to our research, and realized that we

were on new ground in our examination of the behavioral relationships between SP and its

successful design, implementationand eventual usefulness. After all, the ultimate goal is to

increase company performance, competitive advantage, and sustainability. It would be a waste of

resources if it were just another resented HR system that collected evaluations and alienated

line managers and employees. We needed to assess the XXXXXX Systems situation: who is in

charge of SP, and why isnt it already being done?

The questionnaire was designed to test for cultural and organizational factors that could

serve to support or deter successful implementation of a succession planning program. The

factors identified were based on common characteristics of companies identified as developing a

best practice succession program. These factors were compared against the feedback from the

client interviews and the data found in books and articles related to succession planning. The

questionnaire included a set of fixed format and self report items that respondents could

complete on-line and at their own pace.

A random sample of 200 participants was identified throughout the corporation. Based

on instructions provided by the team, the client conducted the sampling. A communication was

sent out from Dan Amber, VP of Human Resources, to participants informing them that they had

been identified to participate in a questionnaire concerning career development and succession

planning. The communication expressed anonymity and indicated an academic research team

would analyze the data. The communication also included an electronic link to infopoll.com that

30
respondents could select to complete the on-line survey. Participants were given 48 hours to

respond to the survey (Appendix E).

The team purchased the use of the survey site for the purposes of this study, and

considered the $20.00 share for each member as a part of the student materials fee for the course.

Use of an independent site was deemed useful to assure privacy and error-free data collection. It

also allowed digital tabulation, graphical views of the data, and tech support. This allowed

freedom from manual tabulation, missing or erroneous data entry by the researchers, and a digital

record that could be downloaded for documentation purposes.

Developing the Survey

A master list and answer key of survey scales was assembled by one of the team

members. Three other team members and one member of the client team narrowed the material

down to an 87-question instrument. A pilot was performed to test the workability of the site, and

to check the appropriateness and technical presentation of the questions. Qualitative and

quantitative questions used likert, yes/no, drop-down menus and comment box fields for

answers. Some questions were in scales to be tested as sets; some questions were single

measures. Comment boxes allowed interview style input to expand on descriptive information.

The survey is divided into six parts. Each part measures various sets of variables linked to

the initial hypothesis and to organizational description.

Part A (Information about your Workplace) concerns business profile, Assertiveness,

Aspiration and Success.

Part B (Information about type of Organization Preferences) deals with Employee

Satisfaction and High-involvement work practices (HIWP).

31
 Part C (Information about Corporate Citizenship and Business Benefits) deals with

corporate citizenship and Commitment, Risk and Trust.

Part D (Information about Getting the Work Done Preferences) deals with Employee

perception of leadership.

Part E (Information Ranking Management Programs) tests Succession planning and

management program against best practices.

Part F (Information about You) concerns demographics.

Concepts and Measurements

Assertiveness-initiative and success. Measured by input, progressive number of

assignments, positions, speak-up, self actualization, self control, self-motivate, role time,

progressive number of assignments, positions, projects, roles. lateral or vertical moves, time.

Risk-adaptability and trust. Measured by willingness to make changes, perception of

potential, support, willingness to work in non-direct queue, willingness to relocate, rotate, accept

special assigns, believe company has career track, believe company has employee best interest.

Aspiration-job involvement and commitment. Measured by training/development, career

goals, workplace, personal, and environmental measures, number of roles, eventual position,

perception that company has career paths in industry and for individual, HIWP.

Age relationships. Risk, aspiration, assertiveness.

Sample Selection

The population is the employee base of XXXXXX Systems. The company runs surveys

on a random selection sample of 1/12th of its population every month. Through a similar random

selection process, a sample of 200 employees at Account Leader level and above (1/7th of the

population), was sent the link to the online survey.

32
Data Collection

At the initial cutoff time of 48 hours, 69 people had responded. At the 5-day mark, 94

people had responded. This represents a 35 percent and 47 percent response rate, both of which

are considered high. We believe that the introductory letter by the VPHR and the regular survey

practices of the firm contributed to this high rate.

Data Analysis

As some of the data was descriptive and all of it was viewable via graphical and

percentage form; we were able to make visual confirmation of trends. We were able to see that

some questions, such as awareness of available training had nearly 100 percent similar responses

for a single answer or a shared trend of answer. This allowed refinement and cleaning of the data,

and better selection of specific sets of questions for our statistical analysis. Because we were

dealing with some untested questions, we also had to review how the testing results might affect

our interpretations and we refined the analysis to a smaller number of results. This had been

expected, and was one motivation for a variety of question types and sets. We had hoped to find

at least one strong set of data which could be tested for correlation. One member of the team put

together a Variables Key Document (Appendix B) and another member ran the data sets on

NCSS software and Excel to find Pearson Correlation Coefficient r values and other statistical

information (Appendix C). We had some help from a UTA statistics instructor, but due to time

constraints, did not run as many tests as we would have liked. However, we found some

interesting results, which corroborate the findings from the interviews, research and general

descriptive data.

33
 FINDINGS

Explanation of Data

As Dr. Whiteside stated to the statistics sub-team, the data from this survey could yield

volumes of study; although there are many factors, which could be analyzed, and relationships

discussed, we will cover just a few here. Also, as we began analysis with 69 responses, reran

testing at the 71 mark, and ended up with 94 for the week, we will round descriptive percentages

to show trends only. Statistical correlations are noted and discussed separately. We refer readers

to the response document and excel spreadsheet, both under separate cover, for further analysis.

Correlations should be in the .40-.60 range to measure high, and show a good relation between

variables. A negative correlation, -.25 for example, would mean that in the presence of one

variable, the other variable has an opposite tendency, for example, the higher an attribute is, an

other would be oppositelower.

Analysis. 60 percent of the employees surveyed have referred other people for

employment within past 12 months and 90 percent of respondents believe that they were able to

provide input for strategic decisions. These figures show that employees perceive that they are

able to speak up and that the company values their input. Assertiveness correlation is .24

although, which is not high.

Success Factor. 61 percent of the employees have been working in same role for the

duration of their employment with the firm. 40 percent of employees have been with XXXXXX

systems for a period of 1-5 years.

62 percent of them held 2-5 roles within this time span. 34 percent were assigned 2-5 projects.

This shows a trend against success as measured by a progressive number of positions or

assignments in relation to the tenure at the company. A correlation of .35 for success as measured

34
by role and tenure data is not high, but due to the short tenure of 2-5 years, and in light of

possible acquisition, could be indeterminate (SET 1 Appendix C). Specific correlation for

number of roles and tenure was .28, and number of progressive assignments and tenure was .18,

both of which are weak for assertiveness to success relationships. Assertiveness showed a

correlation of .24 for career change and choice, also not high, but possibly affected by factors

such as the economy and reputable employment with a high-level firm (J/8, I/7 Appendix C).

About 54 percent of employees agree that they are satisfied with their jobs and 27 percent

of the employees are satisfied with the organization at present time. The correlation between job

and satisfaction measures is .26, which is not high, and confirms the need for the organization to

pursue development (AF/25-1, AI/25-4 Appendix B, C). As it is positive, it shows that job

satisfaction is related to organization satisfaction. A negative correlation would have shown one

of the satisfaction measures matched to a strong dissatisfaction measure. Due to the low .26, with

higher results for job than organization satisfaction, we might interpret frustration into the

analysis, especially in light of the scales source comments:

Employee satisfaction was measured by averaging into a single scale employee

response to two questions from the 1997 survey (Veterans Health Administration

(VHA) 1997 internal performance data from all 146 of its US healthcare

facilities.): responses to the two items were significantly correlated at the facility

level (r = .81), and together produced a highly reliable scale (Cronbachs alpha r =

.86) (Harmon, et al, 2002)

Questions (AG-AQ/25-18 to24 Appendix B)

. . . were more reliably used together than independently (Cronbachs alpha r = .

96 at the facility level, compared to an average pair-wise correlation of .73).

35
 Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Coefficients for Study Variables

Variable Mean S.D. Satisfaction.

Satisfaction Scale 3.24 0.15

High-Involvement Work Practices 2.87 0.14 .78*

Notes: * Denotes that the correlation is statistically significant at p < .05

For simplicity here, the ten items comprising the HIWP construct were averaged

into single scale score (Harmon et al, 2002).

This correlation could show commitment, and should be run by a future study. The team was not

able to assess this question, nor the scale for corporate citizenship due to time constraints

(Maignan, Ferrell, Hult, 1999).

The correlation between training taken and belief that the company had a career track for

the industry and for the individual was very low: .06 (SET 2 Appendix C). Interpretation in light

of interview and survey comments would suggest that employees take training only for

immediate job need, and not for job development. With about 60 percent of the respondents

reporting that they take training, aspiration seems high. However, in light of the nearly 100

percent awareness that training is available, a 40 percent rate of no training taken, coupled with

the 91 percent of respondents who have some college to masters degree may mean that a

population who understands the importance of development sees no tie to improvement at their

current company. Risk, as measured by relocation willingness and trust, as measured by belief in

a role path at the firm was very weak: .01. The relationship of age to relocation was higher, at .

02, but this is still very low.

According to the guidelines provided by Dr. Rothwell on the perception of the level of

management programs, the score is 28.9: needing improvement, but some components in place.

36
The Rothwell scale for getting work done preferences results was not analyzed (27 Appendix B).

Data on level of management programs listed at 26.9 out of 50.

SCORES

50-40 Congratulations. The succession planning and management program in your

organization conforms with best practices.

39-30 Pretty good. Your organization is on the way toward establishing a first rate

succession planning and management program.

29-20 Okay. While your organization could make improvements, you appear to have

some of the major pieces in place for a succession planning and management program.

19-10 Not good at all. Your organization is probably filling positions on an as-needed

basis.

9-0 Give yourself a failing grade. You need to take steps immediately to improve the

succession planning and management practices of your organization (Rothwell, 2002).

Demographics

The sample group of employees at XXXXXX are mostly male (81percent), with almost

2/3 having at least some college, 31 percent having a masters degree. Almost 70 percent are in

their mid thirties to late forties. Business profiles shows respondents from all levels and

functions of the business, including the COO, and from vertical and administrative teams across

industry units that represent global diversity of location, teams, and account sizes.

Acceptance or Failure to Accept Hypothesis

There is a disconnect between what the employees perceive and provable job satisfaction.

The satisfaction result failed to show significant employee satisfaction, though comments show

willingness for improvement. The output shows the employees (that are left after downsizing)

37
both aspire to training and development and to career pathing. However, they do not currently

expect to find career pathing or commitment at XXXXXX Systems, and in light of high levels of

aspiration, may go elsewhere to continue their development and job involvement (exactly what

has borne out from our interview data, also see respondent comments.) Also, it appears that

success is not found in a strong relationship with assertiveness and the results do not support a

correlation between job involvement/aspiration and commitment at the company. We did not

have sufficient correlation between risk and trust. Therefore, we fail to accept:

Hypothesis1. Assertive employees are successful in the company.

Hypothesis 2. Employees are more likely to take risk when they trust in the

company.

Hypothesis 3. Employee aspiration is related to commitment.

Other Analysis of Some Data Elements and Comments

Rotation/relocation. Employees generally want rotations but not relocation. If relocation

is part of HR strategy, then the incentive for relocation is probably not high enough, and the

benefits of relocating need better communication. Although employees may believe their career

development should include job rotations (86 percent), they dont see it as likely (only 70

percent expect to make 1-2 lateral moves in the next 5 years).

Unless living in Dallas on a long term contract associates are commodities that are
useful only as long as their current engagement - particularly due to off-shore work, lack
of relocation assistance, lack of tolerance for bench time, availability of cheap local staff
at new employment locations.

Some of the answers I provided are due to the location I'm employed in (Switzerland). I
generally feel that XXXXXX Systems promotes diversity, but does not really understand
it. This leads to non-American associates not feeling close to the company. XXXXXX

38
 Systems is an exciting company to work for, but I'm convinced that XXXXXX Systems
would be more successful would they have stronger corporate presence in regions outside
the US.

Career aspirations. We learned from the HR department the each employee has an IDP

entered in the Performance Link tool. But the survey reveals otherwise. An IDP is extremely

important both as a retention tool and as a system for implementing SP. All employees must have

an IDP although only some of them will be a part of SP. The IDP discussion must, in general,

allow employees to aspire, believe they can reach their goals at PSC, while also remaining

realistic.

Note that although 70 percent said PSC did not have a development plan for them, close

to 68 percent believe they can develop to the position they aspired to, within PSC. This is a clear

indication of initiative and other related characteristics.

Although we have been exposed to the fact that there is a continuous need for people in

certain positions like an Account Manager, the survey reveals that there are other positions that

people aspire for but do not believe they will reach in XXXXXX because there are too many

people in the queue.

Typical comments include:

no room
Too few roles and incumbents who are not likely to move out of those roles any time soon.
No room for any other position due to location size
too many people in the queue already
Limited number of roles
I believe the role is filled for many years to come.
XXXXXX Systems is a great 'training ground' for up-and-coming leaders, but once you
reach the Director level, there is very little room to grow.

Other issues that came up repeatedly as a reason for not believing they can reach their position

goals (note comments are included from all parts of the survey):

Hiring from outside

39
 It appears to me that there is a huge leap from most roles in the company to an Account
Manager role. It is easy to find external fills because the unknown is more exotic. As a
result, an internal associate can't hold a candle to an external resume which is easily
fudged. Our internal associates often wallow in dead end positions. Frequently changing
positions can be viewed as risky due to recent and numerous job reductions.

Lack of a career plan

There are a few clear career paths established in some areas, but we seem to still depend
on the associate to pretty much manage their own career. True leaders in a company
need to recognize strengths and/or weaknesses in associates, and challenge people with
projects and opportunities that enable them to grow, to work outside of their comfort
zone.

There is NO focus on career development or succession planning, as this account is

struggling to transition all of the work as it stands today.

Lack of IDP plans, lack of comments throughout the year in performance link, occurring
at the highest levels.

We as a company overall don't have a detailed strategy / business plan that

communicates crisply, concisely our offering set. Nor do we have a process that
communicates to the associates the upcoming skills necessary to help grow our company.

Discrimination

Women are not promoted

My impression is that I do not have the proper last name

Performance is not recognized or rewarded

We as a company are not rewarding our associates quickly for great things they do. Even
a timely, token reward would be appreciated. But it seems we have forgotten that.

Our main problem is not making senior leaders fully accountable for results. Time and
time again, results are missed and senior leaders get huge rewards akin to a "good old
boys club".

We still seem to want recycle some leaders in the company instead of promoting those
that show strong signs of leadership, good people skills and that may new, fresh creative
solutions and deliver on opportunities to grow the business. There are good people within
the company that don't necessarily gauge or look to gain attention from the number of
courses they have taken or that's written-up/tracked on an IDP.

Not a meritocracy

40
 Have to be within a chosen few

Our company does a very poor job at rewarding their highest performers. We tend to be
socialistic in our approach to compensation. We don't differentiate!!!

GREAT PERFORMERS at their salary max should be given bigger bonus's [sic] 15-25
percent. That how Wall Street firms keep talent. We don't have a clue!

Training and development. Training should be a part of every employees IDP and each

employee should receive training according to the needs of the current role as well as their

development needs. As noted in the following comments on why employees feel they cannot

reach the position they desire, T&D is an important for employee growth and the retention

interests of the company:

Lack of investment in people

Limited training dollars

I do not think XXXXXX Systems would support the type of development courses required
to move into this next level of leadership.

Training budgets have been slashed. Internal training is available and is very high
quality but is limited. Budgets to attend trade show to do valuable learning and
networking have also been slashed.

While we may have a good focus o n technical training, I feel we may lag behind in
personal/professional development.

The fact we dont bake in dedicated people management as part of costs of certain
services. We dont absorb costs to put an extra person on an account to learn and be
mentored because it would be an additional cost/investment. All these add up to low
commitment for people management development. Role playing and formal classes isnt
the same as learning live under an experienced leader/mentor.

Leadership and Direction

We are no longer being led, we are only managed. Also, we have no real strategy that the
associates of this company can rally behind.

The company still does not have a clear direction and most of all is reluctant to
undertake DRAMATIC change, which in order to survive will be required in the next 2-4
years.

41
 I do not think XXXXXX Systems has the vision or Sr Leadership necessary to change the
direction of their business strategy. And, unless that change occurs, we never see the type
of real growth needed to support continued leadership development. XXXXXX Systems is
a great 'training ground' for up-and-coming leaders, but once you reach the Director
level, there is very little room to grow.

We as a company overall don't have a detailed strategy / business plan that

communicates crisply, concisely our offering set. Nor do we have a process that
communicates to the associates the upcoming skills necessary to help grow our company.

The economy

Not until business becomes more stable

No, at least not in the Industrial Segment. Sales aren't strong enough for me to point a
person to this area.

Because it's down sizing

Yes, only if we were hiring and/or signed new business. Otherwise, I do not even discuss
it.

Risk, uncertainty and the significant RIF's that have taken place over the last 24 months;
Lack of corporate investment, minimalistic European operations outside UBS;
Geographic withdrawal related to lack of investment; no alignment between corporate
structure

This organization is unique as we are located in Lake Mary FL and currently downsizing.
There are NO other jobs in the area; therefore we are releasing associates on a monthly
basis.

Downsizing and its effects on morale and business

It feels like the pride in (and dedication to) the company is slipping away. Most
associates are very oppressed by the workloads and expectations given them. We have
given too much focus to reducing expense. I don't know how we can avoid that being
public, but the associates are bearing this company on their shoulders and unless they
see a light at the end of the tunnel, we'll lose the best of them as the economy rebounds
and other companies that are in better shape, with better models, begin to grow.

I am proud to work for XXXXXX Systems however three of my best friends were
downsized. In addition, a former boss who is now a VP at a Fortune 500 company was
unceremoniously let go and now bad mouths XXXXXX Systems at every opportunity. We
will never get work at his company. This is life but I think we need to remember the full
impact of downsizing and use it only as a last resort.

42
Other Constructs and Factors Covered in the Study

Due to the newness of the study subject: behavioral aspects that contribute to

implementation in an organizational setting, future work on constructs is recommended.

Many questions give a descriptive view and allow a cursory insight into issues that may

need to be considered and expanded on for strategic, operational, pathing, and management

efforts.

Due to the newness of the study subject: behavioral aspects that contribute to

implementation in an organizational setting, future research is recommended, with stress on

demographic and business profile data that is pertinent to the specific business environment. As

much research has been done with non-technical, low-skilled, student, non-information systems

types of populations, some previous studies may not adequately reflect intended business

environments, employee, or management/leadership parameters.

Gender: due to large number (almost 80 percent) of male respondents, and belief of

researchers that females in the tech industry have a tendency to align in general with assertive

behaviors inherent in technical fields, this study did not pursue correlations based on gender.

Future refinement and specific questions are recommended for gender relationships, especially

for recruitment and pathing purposes.

Education: due to large number of respondents with some college or a degree, this study

did not pursue correlations based on education. Future study might include types of major/minor

pursued related to constructs and influence of non-academic certifications and

professional/association credentials.

Comment sections: taxonomy and social network studies are recommended for future

research to assess values, communication and organization structure components, also for

43
assessing strategic inherency in business process implementation. Coding of comment sections

was not done, due to time constraints.

Question Descriptions

1-2) Future study recommended for differences between vertical responses, and specific

industry/team perceptions. Differing client environments and operations may need to be assessed

for communication and mission enhancement, as well as pathing design.

3-22) Role and tenure have scales available in academic studies. Role parameters,

project, assignments, and grades may have differing meanings across so many vertical and

industry types. Time factors for job engagement, and changes in work style (i.e. tendency to

move to extreme programming and away from waterfall development cycles) may have

influences in future innovation and work flexibility. Career move normality should be assessed

for trends and relation. Training and development and pathing issues may relate to workplace

communication, economic pressures and general tendencies for shorter term learning cycles due

to rapid technology changes, increased pressure for innovation, and flexibility, also reflect open

and flatter communication and organizational designs.

23-29) Constructs of corporate citizenship has been found to have vital relationships to

performance, market position, employee satisfaction, change management, strategies of

employer of choice, worker empowerment, community support, legal adherence, stakeholder

confidence, innovation, and other internal and external factors. Future study is recommended in

this area in order to further define best practices, behavioral, and strategic alignment.

33) Taxonomy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, symbol/story-telling, knowledge

movement (implicit, explicit, tacit), and social network, etc, coding is recommended for

comment section items to assess issues for future research.

44
Limitations and Lessons Learned from this Research Study

We had trouble getting a grasp on the changing information inputs from the company

related to the elements, personnel, and needs they had or perceived they had. The desires of the

client to have a model and process maps ready for their December event overshadowed our

initial survey-based study. Attention was continually placed on the deliverables of a plan for

implementation, rather than a study of the company and the behavioral variables involved in

their problem. Although the company had sufficient program design work done, we were

expected to compile and organize this work for them, and our survey work became a secondary

and last minute exercise by both teams. We also had trouble morphing our understanding from

lists of activities and steps as found in publications, to the behavioral side of why and how such

programs are or are not implemented even in willing companiesand why there is such a high

failure rate of programs of this kind.

We had substantial trouble working with the testing part of our study due to the inherent

conceptual nature of behavioral research that contrasted with the systematized subject matter and

directions of the program topic and array of popular easy fit solutions. The attention of both

teams was on the system itself, not on the organizational behavior of the employees, managers

and leaders. The students were pulled into a pair of hands position by the design and process

mapping activities. This may be in part due to the lack of pure management/leadership

experience/autonomy on the part of the team members, of the socio-cultural desire to please the

client and to do a good job, and the difficult nature of focusing on intrinsic and extrinsic

factors and reporting on them.

45
 CONCLUSIONS

Linking Survey Results to Other Research Findings

In the course of performing our study, we found that we had stumbled on a new area of

behavioral research for which there were few sources and studies: that of the discovery and

matching of strategic-cultural business profiles for successful SP Process implementations. We

discovered that although succession planning and activities are becoming broadly pursued, there

is a high rate of failure or attrition in compliance. We believe that this is due to the lack of

attention to the foundational step of culture, communication and tie to business strategy.

Summary of Study

The study was able to identify components for best practice succession planning

programs, and cultural characteristics for organizational matching which could help lead to

successful implementation. The team also designed form types and outlined a connection of

current modules, which could be used in a pilot program, and assembled data and resources for

future use by the XXXXXX Systems HRD and Corporate Executives.

Recommendations:

1. Create clear business case and build on executive buy-in.

2. Link succession planning outcomes to business objectives in order to ensure the right

people, in the right place, at the right time.

3. Succession Planning should complement and leverage HR strategies and programs

like recruitment, training & development, and performance management.

4. Identify key roles and responsibilities of Board, CEO, Senior Management, Line

Managers, Employees, Succession Planning Executive Sponsor and Talent Review

Committee.

46
 5. Identify key critical positions and develop profiles that describe the skills, experience

and competencies needed.

6. Identify individuals with potential to go into these roles. Factors to consider include

career aspiration, performance results and leader attributes which will be used with

other assessments such as panel interviews, 360 multi-rater assessments to assess

potential.

7. Document gaps and planned development via Individual Development Plan.

Comments from the Client

We gave the final presentation to the client at their corporate headquarters on December

8, 2003. In attendance were: Dan Amber, Vice-President of Human Resources; Jim Pary,

Manager of Best Practices and Operations; Charles Arroll, Manager of Staffing and Employee

Relations; Buzz Mile, Manager of Talent Management; Don Randle, Senior HR Business

Partner; Dan Cism, HR Business Partner; Kurt Blaste, HR Business Partner; and Danea Tallson,

Training and Development. We discussed information concerning the study, our findings and

recommendations. We also submitted and demonstrated software tools by which necessary data

could be captured and processes successfully implemented. This includes input forms developed

via an Access data base. The input forms were developed based on process items we discovered

from the informational interviews as well as components we discovered in our best practice

research. We utilized the cultural needs we discovered to design a preliminary system that would

facilitate executive buy-in and communication across the company. The delivery of information

research, best practices documentation, succession planning model and organizational profile as

47
discovered by the scientific analysis was successfully met within the agreed upon time frame of

People Day, December 12.

Additionally, we were able to evaluate for the client that we saw the potential for success.

The key points of success include:

The company already had pockets of succession planning initiatives in line with

best practice research.

They were ahead of other companies in initiating this type of program because

they now had an understanding through this study of the cultural and

organizational components important to success. Lack of understanding in this

area is a frequent reason for why many succession planning efforts fail.

They have executive support to appropriately dedicate time and resources to the

effort.

Due to our study, the client recognized the importance of aligning the succession

planning process to the companys strategy.

We received very high levels of comments. One attendee said You know you have

succeeded in the presentation when the client is discussing and refining the forms in the

meeting. We were pleased that the Vice-President of HR adapted the material into action items

during the meeting. Additionally, we received numerous positive feedback from the client to

include:

You successfully captured organizational needs and cultural components.

You achieved a simple, workable solution that exceeded our expectations in terms of

quality and thoroughness.

48
Several comments expressed accommodation for the level of work for the team and a

request for contact information to send positive evaluation to Dr. Mack.

Several members requested that we consider future employment with the company.

49
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Bowes, Barbara. June 14, 2003. Can You Replace Them?. Winnipeg Free Press.

Bruckman, John C. PhD. Executive Succession: A Development Ladder.

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Burns-Martin, Tracy. Nov 2002. How To. T+D. Vol. 56 Issue 11.

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Charan, R., Drotters, S. and Noel, J. 2001. The Leadership Pipeline: How to Build the
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Charan R., Useem, J. May 2002. Why Companies Fail. Fortune.

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Succession Planning for Results: Summary Report of 42 profiled Companies. 2003. Cutting Edge
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Ellis, Kristine. June 2003. Making Waves. Training. Vol. 40 Issue 6.

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Top 20 Companies for Leaders Study. 2002. Hewitt Associates.

Hackett Best Practices. 2002. www.hackettbestpractices.com.

Special Report on Succession. July 2003. HR Focus. Vol. 80 Issue 7.

2003 Succession Survey. July 2003. Hrfocus. Vol. 80 Issue 7.

HR Has Many Ideas ... But Little Support for Succession Preparation. July 2003. HR Focus. Vol.
80 Issue 7.

HR Report Issue 272, April 2002. HR Report.

An Introduction to Succession Management. 2002. businesshr.net.

http://intellect.businesshr.net/info/guides/ succession.html.

Kiger, Patrick J. April 2002. Succession Planning Keeps WellPoint Competitive. Workforce. Vol.
81 Issue 4.

Lorsch, J. Leadership: Successful CEO succession planning, wwww.eiu.com, EIU Briefing, June
2003

Maignan, I. Ferrell, O. C. Hult, G. T. M. 1999. Corporate Citizenship: Cultural Antecedents and

Business Benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Volume 27, No. 4.

McCarthy, J. 1999. Framing the Executive Development Agenda for the Future. A Report on the
Executive Development Roundtable Spring Meeting.

McMaster, Mark. December 2000. Grow your Own Managers. Sales & Marketing
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Melymuka, Kathleen. October 28, 2002. Bench Strength. Computerworld. Vol. 36 Issue 44.

Murray, Linda. 2000. Effective Succession Management: Building Winning Systems for
Identifying and Developing Key Talent. Benchmarking Linkage Inc.

O'Connell, D. 1996. High Potential Identification. Executive Development Roundtable

Boston University School of Management.

Orellano, T., Miller, J. April 1997. Succession Planning: Lessons From Kermit the Frog.
Unpublished white paper: SHRM.

Potts, Tom., Sykes, Arnold. 1993. Executive Talent: How to Identify and Develop the Best.
Homewood, Ill.: Business One Irwin.

Palus, Charles J., Horth, David M., Selvin, Albert M., Pulley, Mary Lynn. Winter 2003.
Exploration for Development Developing Leadership by Making Shared Sense of Complex
Challenges. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research Vol. 55, No.1.

Roberts, Bill. November 2002. Matching Talent with Tasks. HR Magazine. Vol. 47.

Rothwell, William J. 2001. Effective Succession Planning. New York: AMACOM.

Rothwell, William J. May/June 2002. Putting Success into Your Succession Planning.
Journal of Business Strategy. Vol. 23 Issue 3.

Savage, Brett, S., PhD. July/August 2001. The Benefits of Developing Internal Leadership at All
Levels. B.T. Novations. Vol. 4.

Schaeffer, Leonard D. October 2002. The Leadership Journey. Harvard Business Review. Vol.
80, Issue 10

Schafer, Maria. December 2000/January 2001. Developing Leaders. Software Magazine. Vol. 20
Issue 6.

Sorcher, M. and Brant, J. February 2002. Are You Picking the Right Leaders. Harvard Business
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Stein, Nicholas. May 2000. Winning the War to Keep Top Talent. Fortune.

Stein, Nicholas. May 29, 2000. Keep Talent. Fortune.

The Lost Art of Succession Planning, www.rhrinternational.com, RHR International Company,

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Welch, J. 2003. Jack: Straight from the Gut. Warner Books.

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Woolf, Barry. September/October 2001. In Quest of Leaders Searching Beyond the Board Room.
Rural Telecommunications. Vol. 20 Issue 5.

Wolfe, Rebecca. 1996. Systematic Succession Planning: Building Leadership from Within. Crip
Publications.

Michelle Zelsman. May 7, 2001. Succession planning preps IT staff. InfoWorld.

http://www.itworld.com/Career/4048/IWD010507casuccession/

53
 APPENDIX

Appendix A. Proposal for XXXXXX Systems

Appendix B. Variables Key Document

Appendix C. RSquare Values of the Variables

Appendix D. XXXXXX Systems Financial Analysis

Appendix E. Survey Questionnaire

54
Appendix A. Proposal for XXXXXX Systems

Project Proposal for a Succession Planning Program for XXXXXX Systems

Fall 2003

Orgconsulting5334 Group

UTA MBA Candidates

John Doe
Jane Doe
Sam Smith
Tina Smith
Bill Jones

Contacts
Dr. David A. Mack davemack@uta.edu 817 272 3085
Tina Smith orgconsulting@yahoogroups.com 972 455 7900

Table of Contents
Executive Summary Page 2
Where the Company is Page 2
What the Study Seeks to Achieve Page 3
Our Consulting Team Page 4
Activity Summary and Tentative Schedule Page 5

56
 Executive Summary

Succession planning is noted by business experts as an important part of a successful company's strategic
plan, incorporating the vision of where the company will be going in the future, while strengthening the
company in the present through its most valuable resourceits employees. XXXXXX Systems has wisely
been active in developing and nurturing its human capital with training and development programs based
on leadership building. The company wants to assure a continuing sequence of qualified people to move
into tactical and strategic positions within the organizationby identifying promising people, and by
developing career paths. Currently, systems in place use standard subjective methods for ranking and
replacement, but top management and the HR department desire a more objective system that reflects best
practices and reflects XXXXXX Systems unique competencies, varied business unit needs, and overall
high industry reputation.

Together with XXXXXX Systems managers and employees, Orgconsuting5334 will gather internal and
external data toward developing a user-friendly model for XXXXXXsystems succession planning process.
We will research the company, investigate best practices and identify how our client could benefit from
them.

ComponentsFindingsProgram
| | |
attributes, goals, values, profiles macro and micro environment templates, tools, methods
interviews, surveys, testing academic research communication, training
company resources industry practices and trends leadership
vision and change competencies, future name, module building

Where the Company is

A successful succession planning (SP) program needs (*):

1. buy in from Senior Management 6. manager training

2. a specific goal 7. program pilots
3. a program design 8. program evaluations and flexibility
4. assessments and templates based on chosen attributes 9. revision and feedback to assess feedback
5. reporting and tracking 10. measurement and celebration of success

The company has already anticipated and made inroads in many of these needs:
1), 2) 10) XXXXXX Systems has received a mandate from top management to identify candidates for
development and career path direction, toward advancement in the management and leadership of the
company. The company has had recent success in developing an employee to fill a key Account Manager
role. In addition, the company currently holds an annual People Day to highlight Human Capital
Development and successes.
6) 8) 9) XXXXXX Systems currently has a leadership training and development program with which to
meld such a program. The high caliber of talent, skill, service level of its employees, and managements
leading identification of many elements necessary for designing and implementing an SP program initiative
point to the growth of a successful program.

Elements of this study will help identify goals, components, design, reporting, and pilot models as discussed by HR:
User-friendly templates for us to utilize in the organization and administration of succession planning
events to keep the managers on track. This includes "replacement" planning (org chart style possibly) and
well as "developmental" planning (talent profile outlines based on competencies).
 Reference to and examples of "best practice" processes that appear to be successful and sustainable to
enhance both the tactical and career-path desires of our organization, utilizing the tools provided above.
The focus in this cycle is to provide a consistent model that can be used throughout all business units that is
easily communicated, populated, and executed to drive cross-functional successions in conjunction with
our "Leadership Matrix". (TK)
(*) Thanks to Tracy Burns-Martin for the list concepts. How To. T+D. November 2002, Vol. 56 Issue 11.

What the Study Seeks to Achieve

The Deliverable
Orgconsulting5334 and XXXXXX Systems managers are undertaking a study using behavioral science methods and
human resource best practices in order to test for key success factors required of a program that would be tailored to
the companys needs and values as a service company in the information technology field. The deliverable must be:
Adaptable across the particular needs of its horizontal, vertical business segments, global, and
administrative infrastructure, yet useful in areas of specialization of leadership development.
Easily communicated, performed, monitored, and audited
Designed to use the core competency of XXXXXX Systems intellectual resources and technological
expertise.
Aligned with strategic plans and key HR components like Training and Development, and Staffing and
Recruitment. Also tied to other annual review processes like performance assessment.
Expandable for future management needs, and ensure that talent is identified and developed for currency
and flexibility.

How the Deliverable will be Achieved

Orgconsulting5334 and XXXXXX Systems will perform the study by:
Collecting data pertinent to: 1) the values and competencies of the company and 2) what it sees as its vision
and its goals for leadership achievement. This will take place through interviews, surveys, print and Internet
research.
Collecting data about current business and industry practices to identify best practices, and locating surveys
that are matched to testing for attributes related to XXXXXX Systems design goals and best practices
recommendations.
Tabulating results of testing and collected data, and identifying promising models which are reflective of
best practices, but exhibit XXXXXX Systems competitive advantage.

Some research phases have already begun in preparation for this proposal, and some research phases will occur
simultaneously with each other. Replication may be warranted for further validity as the study progresses and the
HR and consultants identify promising directions in the study. Each phase will cover a basic period of 1-3 weeks.
Reporting meetings are tentatively scheduled every 2 weeks with HR and consultants. The purpose of the meetings
will be information sharing, feedback, progress identification, and discussion for development of next actions. By
doing this we believe all parties will be better informed and able to constructively participate. We anticipate intense
collection and assembly of components in the short study time of 2 months, but feel that the high quality of the
dialog and resources point toward positive achievements.

Currently, we have identified that XXXXXX Systems has the following assets:
Some sub-level models in development
Follows a standard of subjective management ranking and review
Elementary profile criteria
Highly motivated management and high talent base for candidates
A window of opportunity
A successful T&D program
Issues and concerns include:
Retention and career track in light of cyclical economy
Recruitment and reputation as a top industry employer
Desire for a more objective system

58
 Widely varied needs across company levels and divisions for profiles and tracks

The time frame for the study is Fall 2003, with closing presentations scheduled at UTA and XXXXXX Systems in
December 2003. We do not anticipate costs for study related outsourced advice, items or activities; some tools or
expertise will be used with written authorization by the particular expert or company due to the specific academic
purpose of this study.

Our Consulting Team

Orgconsulting5334 is comprised of 5 Masters Candidates, under the guidance of Dr. David Mack, Assistant Dean of
the School of Business, University of Texas at Arlington, and Specialist in Business Management Consulting.

The consultants are:

XXXXXXXXXX MBA, MS in Technology, Computer Science Certification
Sales and Marketing Telecom Industry
Primary contact with Dr. Mack and team facilitator, research coding
XXXXXXXXXX MBA in HR Management
Seasoned Human Resources Professional
Primary contact with XXXXX (PS) and study facilitator, HR coding
XXXXXXXX MS in Information Systems
Engineering Planner/Analyst General Motors
Interview and process documentation, data documentation
XXXXXXXXXX MBA in Finance, MBA in Economics
Finance, Economics, and Public Relations
Statistician and document outlines, survey administrator
XXXXXXXXXXX MBAO with Executive Management Certification
I.T. and Business Process Management Consultant
Research strategy and instruments, document editor

Our members say:

Im looking forward to working with XXXXXX Systems because it is in an industry I've always had an
interest in and it's a great opportunity to work with such an industry leader. The HR leadership and business
partners have a great enthusiasm for creating a learning organization. (RP)

XXXXXX Systems is known as a leader in the types of services it performs for its clients, and I believe
they have a head start on tackling issues about which other companies are just now becoming aware. Im
very impressed with the fact that they identified early the need for leadership targeting, and Im looking
forward to being a part of their spearhead into this important strategic initiative. (SR)

Im looking forward to working for and with XXXXXX Systems so as to provide this prestigious company
with findings that will help it to solve problems they are facing. It gives me great pleasure that the
executives at XXXXXX Systems are extending full cooperation. Our plan of action has become very
focused because people at XXXXXX Systems are dedicated to this cause. (AR)

We are excited to work with XXXXXX Systems on this study, and believe that the dialog of study, feedback, and
ideas will not only identify the desired components for a an SP program, but reinforce and advance the current
successful skills and programs XXXXXX Systems people have been developing to this point.

Respectfully Submitted,

Orgconsulting5334 Group

59
University of Texas at Arlington
September 30, 2003
Attributes and Goals Tools, Methods and Survey
Instruments

Best practices and Industry Info XXXXXX Systems Program

Management/Company/Division Needs

Model and Design Model and Design

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Activity Summary and Tentative Schedule

Project Scope: A Succession Planning Model which:

Can be used to identify key competencies & employees
Ties into Training & Development
Is based on
Best Practices
Primary and Secondary Research
Project Phases
1. Secondary Research Phase 10-01-03 to 10-15-03
Methodology
Best Practices
Survey Instruments

2. Interview Phase 10- 06-03 to 10-15-03

Identify employees to be interviewed
Find out what they want to see in the SP model
How are key attributes identified?
What criteria should be used to identify the key people?

3. Survey Phase 10-15-03 to 11-03-03

Design and/or select surveys based on Phase 1 & 2
Conduct Surveys 10-20-03 to 11-03-03

4. Survey Tabulation Phase 11-03-03 to 11-17-03

Results
Based on Phases 1 & 3
Report on survey progress
Matching
Based on Phases 2 & 4
Report on design progress

5. Analysis and Recommendation Phase 11-17-03 to 12-01-03

An SP model and name reflecting XXXXXX Systems culture (#)
Tools identification and component checklists
Communications strategy
Ties to T&D
Next Steps
Presentation Material
(#) Thanks to Dr. William Rothwell of Penn State for this advice via an email interview 0903

Project Communication
Weekly Status: E-mail reports on Mondays
Project Phase Transition Meetings (10-06-03, 10-15-03, 11-03-03, 11-17-03, 12-01-03)
Small team interactions weekly onsite and via E-mail with focus HR and Management as
determined within phase activities

60
 Each Phase to be accomplished with data collection, information sharing, feedback, and refocus of
direction

61
Appendix B. Variables Key Document
Ax=Assertiveness
Sy=Success
Rx=Risk
Ty=Trust
Asx=Aspiration
Cy=Commitment

v xls/q decimal for q x y r cumulative score for set item

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ax E/3 E/3 F/4 r role length
Sy F/4 XXXXXX
length
Ax G/5 G/5 F/4 r # roles
Ax H/6 H/6 F/4 r # proj/assign
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sy I/7 career change
Ax J/8 J/8 I/7 r choose change
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asx Q/10 training taken
no=1 1 Z/19 r
yes=2 1 AA/20 r
2 Z/19 r
2 AA/20 r
Cy Z/19 PS track indy
Cy AA/20 PS track you
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rx T/13 T/13 V/15 r relocation
Ty V/15 yes PS role
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cy AF/25-1 # satis-job
Cy AI/25-4 # satis-org
Cy AFAI/25 # AF/25-1+ AI/25-4 satis-scale
AF/25-1 AI/25-4 r
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Asx S/12 # rotation

Cy 25-environ # HIWP-percep
AG2 AH3 AJ5 AK6 AL7 AM8 AN9
Asx 25-self # HIWP-indiv
AO10 AP11 AQ12
Cy 25-HIWP # HIWP-scale
AG2 AH3 AJ5 AK6 AL7 AM8 AN9 AO10 AP11 AQ12
25-self 25-environ
S/12 25-HIWP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CH/30 age ranges # demographic
CH/30 Q/10yes2
CH/30 S/12
CH/30 T/13
CH/30 V/15
CH/30 25-HIWP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26-int func coord # org- percep
AR1 AS2 AT3 AU4 AV5
Cy/26-commit # commit-scale
BI18 BJ19 BK20 BL21 BM22 BN23 BO24
26-int func coord 26-commit (pubd range .57-.61)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27-all org does work
27-we do # we control
BP1 BT5 BV7 BW8
27-they do # they control
BQ2 BR3 BS4 BU6
27-we do 27-all
27-they do 27-all
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

63
Appendix C. R-Square Values of the Variables

R SQUARE VALUES OF THE VARIABLES

X Y R Cumulative r score
E/3 F/4 0 .346
G/5 F/4 .276
H/6 F/4 .167 SET 1

J/8 I/7 .234

Q/10 Z/19 .045 .062
AA/20 .056
SET 2

T/13 V/15 .008

AF/25-1 AI/25-4 .26

CH/30 Q/2 .002 .085

CH/30 S/12 .065
CH/30 T/13 .002 SET 3
CH/30 V/15 .025

Cumulative stats for SET 1

Run Summary Section

Parameter Value Parameter Value
Dependent Variable C10 Rows Processed 92
Number Ind. Variables 3 Rows Filtered Out 0
Weight Variable None Rows with X's Missing 2
R2 0.3462 Rows with Weight 0
Missing
Adj R2 0.3234 Rows with Y Missing 0
Coefficient of Variation 0.2213 Rows Used in 90
Estimation
Mean Square Error 0.440948 Sum of Weights 90
Square Root of MSE 0.664039 Completion Status Normal
Completion
Ave Abs Pct Error 20.014
STATS FOR E/3 And F/4

Regression Statistics
Multiple 0
R
R 0
Square
Adjusted -0.01136
R
Square
Standar 0.811844
d Error
Observa 90
tions

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regressi 1 0 0 0 1
on
Residual 88 58 0.65909
1
Total 89 58

Coefficients Stan t Stat P-value Lower Upper Lower Upper

dard 95% 95% 95.0% 95.0%
Error
Intercept 3 0.27 11.0858 2.19E- 2.46221 3.53779 2.46221 3.53779
0615 7 18
OS1Q3 0 0.13 0 1 -0.26852 0.26852 -0.26852 0.26852
512 2 2

STATS FOR J-8/I 7

Regression Statistics
Multiple 0.15292
R
R 0.023384
Square
Adjusted 0.012287
R
Square
Standar 0.585598
d Error
Observa 90
tions

65
ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regressi 1 0.7 0.72258 2.10710 0.15017
on 225 1 8 2
81
Residual 88 30. 0.34292
177 5
42
Total 89 30.
9

Coefficients Sta t Stat P-value Lower Upper Lower Upper

nd 95% 95% 95.0% 95.0%
ard
Err
or
Intercept 2.370968 0.2 8.31097 1.07E- 1.80403 2.93790 1.80403 2.93790
852 9 12 5 5
81
OS1Q8 -0.19355 0.1 -1.45159 0.15017 -0.45853 0.07142 -0.45853 0.07142
333 2 8 8
36

STATS FOR T/13 AND V/15

Regression
Statistics
Multiple R 0.092582
R Square 0.008571
4
Adjusted -
R Square 0.002695
Standard 0.474683
Error 8
Observati 90
ons
ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regressio 1 0.17142 0.17142 0.76080 0.38545
n 9 9 7
Residual 88 19.8285 0.22532
7 5
Total 89 20

66
 Coefficie Standar t Stat P-value Lower Upper Lower Upper
nts d Error 95% 95% 95.0% 95.0%
Intercept 1.438095 0.13011 11.0527 2.56E- 1.17952 1.69666 1.17952 1.69666
2 2 4 18 5 6 5 6
OS1Q13 - 0.06551 -0.87224 0.38545 -0.18734 0.07305 -0.18734 0.07305
0.057143 3

STATS FOR AF/25-1 AND AI/25-4

Regression
Statistics
Multiple 0.50971
R 4
R 0.25980
Square 8
Adjusted 0.25139
R 7
Square
Standar 0.86516
d Error 5
Observa 90
tions

ANOVA
df SS MS F Significance F
Regressi 1 23.1200 23.1200 30.8880 2.88E-
on 1 1 5 07
Residual 88 65.8688 0.74851
7
Total 89 88.9888
9

Coeffici Standar t Stat P-value Lower Upper Lower Upper

ents d Error 95% 95% 95.0% 95.0%
Intercept 0.98541 0.41072 2.39921 0.01854 0.16918 1.80164 0.16918 1.80164
2 4 5 5
OGS2Q 0.58400 0.10508 5.55770 2.88E- 0.37517 0.79282 0.37517 0.79282
1I1 3 2 07 8 7 8 7

67
Appendix D. XXXXXX Systems Financial Analysis
XXXXXXXXXX
Analysis of XXXXXX systems Corp (PER):

This is a chart for the historical share price of XXXXXX from Jan 02 Oct 03. The share price
of the company gradually went down from $20.42 (Dec 01) to $10.69 (July 02). There has been
negligible fluctuation in the share price since July 02 to date.

Key ratio analysis

Price/earning: 20.66

The stock's price divided by its earnings per share. In general, the higher the P/E, the faster and
more consistently the market expects a company's earnings to rise. Here XXXXXXs earning per
share is $0.51 approx. Its competitors have a P/E, computer science corp(csc). of 15.40 and
Electronic data corp (eds). n/a. We can say that the market has faith is XXXXXXs share and
expects its earnings to rise in near future.

Price/sales: 0.86 (csc:0.60 , eds:0.49)

The lower the P/S, the better when looking for value in a company. XXXXXXs higher P/S ratio
indicates that its share his over valued in market as compared to its peers. Its not alarming as
0.86 is still small enough.

Return on equityt: 8.96%( csc: 10.69%, eds: -0.27%)

A trend of rising ROE shows management has become increasingly efficient at investing the
shareholders' stake in the company. XXXXXXs Roe indicates that the firms management is
doing a good job (though not exceptional) managing shareholders interests.

68
Total debt/equity: 0 (csc: 0.548, eds: 1.171)

Debt levels provide vital clues to a company's future. While borrowed money can help
companies grow faster, too much debt, particularly during an economic slowdown, can cripple a
company's earnings or even send it into bankruptcy. A good measure of debt is debt to equity,
figured by dividing a company's long-term debt by its shareholders' equity. XXXXXX has no
debt obligations this may be good as the firm is not at risk of defaulting but no debt also means
that firm is not expanding but in XXXXXXs case they might be able to generate enough
revenues so as to support their expansion. They might not need any debt for their growth.

Thoughts:

For the six months ended 6/30/03, revenues rose 6% to $696.4 million. Net income before acct.
change fell 50% to $19.8 million. Results reflect higher Government Services revenue due to
acquisitions, offset by lower operating margins. XXXXXX is a growth stock. Right now
investing in its stock would have fence level of risk. Its share price might shoot up due to recent
and future developments but its not recommended as an outperforming stock whose value is
going to shoot up in future

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Appendix E. Survey Questionnaire*

XXXXXX Systems Workplace and Industry Survey

This survey is being used to understand current perceptions on training, career development and
other workplace issues within XXXXXX Systems.

Please answer all multiple choice questions to the best of your ability.
If you have difficulty answering a question or section of questions, or have any questions about
what a question or section means, please note this in the comment box found at the end of the
survey. You may also add comments that do not relate to the content found on the survey.

Confidentiality
We value your attention to the survey and want to confirm that an academic consulting group is
conducting the survey. All answers will be gathered and tabulated by an independent firm to
ensure the anonymous nature of the responses and the anonymous identity of those who
participate.

Thank you in advance for your time and your responses.

A. Information about your Workplace

1)1.1. What is your Industry? Please select from the drop down menu.
Consulting Services
Corporate
Financial Services
Global Infrastructure Services
Global Software Services
Government Services
Healthcare
Industrial Services
Strategic Markets
2)1.2. What is your Team?
3)1.3. How long have you been in this role?
Under 1 Year
1 - 5 Years
6 - 10 Years
11 -15 Years
More than 16 Years
4)1.4. How long have you been with XXXXXX Systems? (Add time with merged or acquired
company to time with XXXXXX Systems, if applicable.)
Under 1 Year
1 - 5 Years
6 - 10 Years
11 -15 Years
More than 16 Years

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5)1.5. How many roles have you held during this time? Time refers to the response you selected
under question 1.4.
1
2-5
6 - 10
11 - 15
More than 16
6)1.6. How many projects or assignments have you been assigned to during this time? Time
refers to the response you selected under question 1.4.
1
2-5
6 - 10
11 - 15
More than 16
7)1.7. How many career changes have you experienced in your lifetime?
None
1-5
6 - 11
12 -16
More than 16
8)1.8. How often have you chosen to change employers and done so?
None
1-5
6 - 11
12 -16
More than 16
9)1.9. Does XXXXXX Systems offer training courses in the following areas? Please check all
that apply.
Technical
Professional Development
Management/Leadership Development
Other
No Training Offered
10)1.10. How many of these courses have you taken in the last year? Complete if you
indicated training courses were available in question 1.9.
None
1-5
6 - 11
12 -16
More than 16
11)1.11. Would you request training or would your manager suggest training, or both?
I request
Manager suggests
Both
12)1.12. Do you believe your career development should include job rotation?
Yes No I don't Know

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13)1.13. Do you believe your career development should include job relocation?
Yes No I don't know
14)1.14. What is the highest position or role you would value from in your career?
15)1.15. Do you believe you can develop to this position or role at XXXXXX Systems?
Yes No
16)1.16. If you answered 'YES' to question 1.15., how long do you believe it will take you
to achieve this position or role?
Under 1 Year
1 - 5 Years
6 - 10 Years
11 -15 Years
More than 16 Years
17)1.17. If you answered 'No" to question 1.15., why not?
18)1.18. How many lateral moves would you like to make in the next five years?
None
1-2
3-4
5-7
More than 8
19)1.19. Do you believe XXXXXX Systems provides clear growth and development
career tracks within your industry?
Yes No
20)1.20. Do you believe XXXXXX Systems has a growth and development track
specifically for you?
Yes No
21)1.21. Would you refer XXXXXX Systems to prospective employees?
Yes No
22)1.22. If you answered "NO" to question 1.21., please indicate why not?
23)1.23. How many people have you referred for employment with XXXXXX Systems in
the last 12 months?
None
1-5
6 - 11
12 -16
More than 16
24)1.24. Are you able to provide input for strategic decisions in your current role?
Yes No

B. Information About Type of Organization Preferences

For each item, select the number that best describes your level of agreement.
1=Strongly Disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Neither agree or Disagree; 4=Agree; 5=Strongly Agree
25)2.1. For each statement, please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement.
1 2 3 4 5
1. Considering everything, I am satisfied with my job.
2. Employees are rewarded for providing high quality products and services to customers.

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3. Managers let employees know how their work contributes to the organization's mission and
goals.
4. Considering everything, I am satisfied with the organization at the present time.
5. Employees are kept informed on issues affecting their jobs.
6. Sufficient effort is made to get the opinions and thinking of people who work here
7. Employees have a feeling of personal empowerment and ownership of work processes.
8. A spirit of cooperation and teamwork exists.
9. There is trust between employees and their supervisors/team leaders.
10. I am given a real opportunity to improve my skills in the organization.
11. I feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things.
12.. Conditions in my job allow me to be about as productive as I could be.

C. Information About Corporate Citizenship and Business Benefits

For each of the following statements indicate your level of agreement or disagreement.
1=Strongly disagree; 2=Disagree; 3=Uncertain; 4=Agree; 5=Strongly agree
26)3.1. For each statement, please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement.
1 2 3 4 5
1. All of our business functions (e.g., marketing/sales, IT, manufacturing, R&D, etc.) are
integrated in serving the needs of our target markets.
2. All of our business functions and departments are responsive to each other's needs and
requests
3. Our top managers from every function regularly visit our current and prospective customers.

4. We freely communicate information about our successful or unsuccessful customer

experiences across all business functions.
5. Our managers understand how everyone in our business can contribute to creating customer
value.
6. The managers of this organization try to comply with the law.
7. Our companies seeks to comply with all laws regulating hiring and employee benefits.
8. We have programs that encourage the diversity of our workforce (in terms of age, gender, or
race).
9. Internal policies prevent discrimination in employees' compensation and promotion.
10. The salaries offered by our company are higher than industry averages.
11. Our business supports employees who acquire additional education.
12. Our business encourages employees to join civic organizations that support our community.

13. Flexible company policies enable employees to better coordinate work and personal life.

14. Our business gives adequate contributions to charities.

15. A program is in place to reduce the amount of energy and materials wasted in our business.

16. We encourage partnerships with local businesses and schools.

17. Our company specifically supports local sports and cultural activities.
18. Employees feel as though their future is intimately linked to that of this organization.
19. The bonds between this organization and its employees are very strong.

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20. Employees would be happy to make personal sacrifices if such sacrifices were important for
the business' well-being.
21. In general, employees are proud to work for this organization.
22. Employees often go above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the company's well-being.

23. Our people are very committed to this firm.

24. It is clear that employees are fond of the firm.

D. Information About Getting the Work Done Preferences (For Managers)

If you are responsible for hiring and directing the work of others, please complete this section as
well as the next section (Section E). If you are not involved in hiring and directing the work of
others, please go to last section (Section F- Information about You.)
27)4.1. What factors do you consider for getting work done when a vacancy occurs?
Yes No
1.Replacing the position from inside the organization?
2. Replacing the position from outside the organization?
3. Outsourcing the work?
4. Shifting the work to another department that has less to do?
5. Eliminating the work entirely?
6. Using contingent or temporary workers to get the work done?
7. Reorganizing the department to re-allocate the work responsibilities among the existing
workers?
8. Forming a team so that team members can spread the work among themselves?
E. Information On Talent Management Programs (For Managers)
If you are responsible for hiring and directing the work of others, please complete this section. If
you are not involved in hiring and directing the work of others, please go to the last section

(Section F- Information about You.)

28)5.1. For each of the following items mark the number on the scale that indicates the
level of management programs at your company.
Very Poor Poor Neither Poor nor Good Good Very Good
1. Clarified the purpose and desired results of the succession planning and management program.

2. Determined what performance is required now for all job categories in the organization by
establishing competency models.
3. Established a means to measure individual performance that is aligned with the competencies
currently demonstrated by successful performers.
4. Determined what performance is needed in the future by establishing future competency
models for all job categories.
5. Created an ongoing means by which to assess individual potential against future competency
models
6. Established a means by which to narrow gaps through the use of individual development plans
(IDPs).
7. Created a means to follow up and hold people accountable.
8. Created a means by which to document competence and find organizational talent quickly
when needed.

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9. Created and sustained rewards for developing people.
10. Established a means by which to evaluate the results of the succession planning and
management program.
29) void space

F. Information About You

30)6.1. Age
Less than 25
25 -36 Years
37-48 Years
49-60 Years
More than 60 Years
31)6.2. Education Level
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Ph.D
Other
32)6.3. What is your gender?
Male
Female

Thank You
We are appreciate the time and care you have taken to fill out this survey.

You may add any additional comments in the comment box below.
33)7.1. Please include any additional comments here:

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* Note: #) in front of Question number is keyed to Appendix B. Variables Key

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