CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.0 Chapter Overview - DSpace@UM

growth, desire to improve business results and changes in business demands that willcreate new skill requirements are the main reasons why succession planning is importantto the responding firms. Most firms indicate that performance and competency-basedapproach are the most valuable practices of succession planning. This is in line with therecent trend in strategic HRM, whereby an increasing number of organizations inMalaysia are using competencies to drive integrated human resource processes,particularly in the areas of talent management, leadership development and successionplanning.The study indicates that most firms rely on information obtained from performanceappraisal data, face-to-face interviews, analysis of work samples, and recommendationsas important methods to identify and evaluate candidates for succession planning.Further, performance management, training and development, and career planning aresome of the organizational systems which on average are linked to succession planning.The study also reveals that on average, effective succession planning characteristics ofthese firms include the involvement of CEO and most senior leaders. A majority of thefirms do not openly share information with the succession candidates and they hardly usecomputerized tracking system for succession. However, the effectiveness of theirsuccession planning characteristics is only average due to the fact that successionplanning is relatively new in the context of Malaysia.The reliability tests on variables used, i.e. organizational outcomes, successioncharacteristics, organizational system and methods of evaluation show relatively high89