CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.0 Chapter Overview - DSpace@UM

management policies, practices and outcomes (Rioux & Bernthal, 1999). Since the surveyinstrument had been developed and tested before in a Malaysian workplace condition, byDevelopment Dimension International Malaysia, a further pilot test was not required. Theinstrument was a 6-page self-administered questionnaire consisting of four sections,namely section A, B, C and D.Section A of the questionnaire included the organization’s general profile. There were 11questions covering the organization’s current approach and readiness level for successionprogram. First, the respondent was asked to indicate whether there was a formalsuccession plan or not in his/her firm. If the respondent firm’s did have a formalsuccession plan in operation he/she was asked to indicate how long the company hadbeen in existence. This was followed by a third question on the current approach tosuccession, the respondent was asked to choose one of the 3 options that best describedthe firm’s current approach: “Heir – identify and nurture a single heir for each position”;“Pool – develop reservoir of qualified candidates who are capable of filling a number ofvacancies”; and “React – wait until a position opens, then begin searching for areplacement (without any formal pre-planning)”. Then, the respondent was asked to ratethe overall effectiveness of the firm’s current approach in making succession decision ona scale ranged from (1) ‘Not at all effective’ to (10) ‘Extremely effective’. For questionnumber 5, the respondent was asked to indicate ‘Yes’, if the respondent’s firm intendedto make changes in its approach to making succession in the next 1 to 2 years. This wasfollowed by the questions : “Which organizational level do you have clearly defined planfor succession?”; “What percentage of jobs in your organization are covered by a formal41