The Current State and Obstacles of Leadership Replacement and Succession at King Abdul Aziz Medical City in Riyadh

(Abdulmalek Taher Abdo Al-mekhlafy and Haya Salem Msoud Al-Qahtani)

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Abstract

Administrative leadership is the main base for various administrational functions in organizations, which have to adopt succession plans to prepare second line of administrative leaders to avoid future problems. This study aimed to define the status of leadership replacement in King Abdul Aziz Medical City (KAMC), to identify the necessity of adopt the leadership succession approach in KAMC, to check the availability of its requirements, and to identify its main obstacles. Descriptive method was used, where a questionnaire was developed and tested for validity and stability, then distributed to a random sample of the study population, 280 of questionnaires were retrieved. The study revealed that several practices are followed when replacing the administrative leadership in the city including relying on the recommendation of current leaders when appointing alternative leader. It also include considering the integrity of the candidate, attracting leadership competencies from outside the city, and assess the leadership capability of the individual prior to appointment. The study also revealed that KAMC did not advertise its vacant leadership positions in addition to poor preparation of alternative leaders before the position is vacant. There were no recruiting for leadership talents to prepare them for the future and failure to follow objective criteria of administrative leaders' selection. The study confirmed the need of the KAMC for an integrated succession plan. The city has some requirements for it, and lacks others. The study also highlighted some potential constraints including resistance of some current leaders, their insistence on staying in their positions, and the lack of a succession culture. The study recommended the necessity to announce any vacant leadership positions, and set of objective criteria for positions recruiting, establishing a department to search for promising leaders, and developing leadership training programs. Key Words: Leadership development, Leadership Talents.
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