Abstract:
The University of Cape Coast, Ghana has 15 doctorates and centres
with their heads designated as directors. The paper assesses the approach(es) to
succession management of non-academic directors of the university. We
conducted in-depth interviews with nine of the 15 directors. We presented the
qualitative data which was analysed applying inter-textual analytical tool by
examining the relationship among our three sets of data to ascertain the extent
to which our research objective is achieved. We found that the university does
not adopt any formal approach due to the absence of a formal succession plan.
The institution therefore depends on its statutes which make succession appear
as an ordinary role replacement, thereby departing from the conversional
approach to managing talent. We recommend that the university should
design and commit to its own leadership succession plan and consider
competence/performance record as well, instead of depending solely on
seniority as ‘succession’ criterion.
