The Modeling of Succession Management in the Faculty Members of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences: A Grounded Theory

Background: One of the strategic requirements of any organization is to have a plan for the replacement of managers, the process of which is known as succession management. Universities also need succession management. Objectives: The present study aimed to propose a valid model for succession management in medical universities. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with a mixed sequential exploratory design in three stages. In the first stage, 29 articles were reviewed, and in the second stage, 12 semi-structured interviews were encoded with open, axial, and selective coding. The quantitative section was performed using 205 researcher-made questionnaires. Results: In total, 30 components emerged as the paradigmatic model. Some components have been reported in previous studies, and the most important dimensions emphasized by the faculty members in this study included managerial skills, senior management beliefs, the complexity of the environment, intradepartmental interactions, extracurricular pressures, organizational misconduct, the crisis of capable executives, provincial indigenous management, intra-university administrators, non-competitive rewards, physical and mental fitness, academic independence, use of scientific models, and promotion of the counseling culture. These components were related to the central issue of the organizational influential factors in succession management. Conclusions: According to the results, organizational factors such as merit-based human resource management, organizational culture, knowledge-based management, and the use of scientific models played a key role in the establishment of succession management in medical universities due to their impact on preparation, facilitation, and motivation.