Inside/Outside Succession and Organizational Size: The Pragmatics of Executive Replacement

Abstract

The article discusses research pertaining to the impact of organizational size on inside versus outside executive succession. The study results indicate that larger organizational size is associated with greater incidence of inside executive succession. In the study smaller companies were more than twice as likely to experience outside succession. Experts say outside succession is perceived as risky and disruptive to organizations. They also speculate that larger organizations may have several characteristics which impede the selection of outside successors.