Identification of Psychological Factors Related to Succession: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate and explain the dimensions and psychological components of Successor Program in higher education. The present research is applied in terms of purpose and qualitative in term of method. The population of research was managers and full-time faculty members of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. Data were collected using exploratory and semi-structured interview, which after 12 interviews, theoretical saturation was obtained. For analysis of data, the content analysis method was used. Reliability was achieved using the triangulation method at the appropriate level. Results indicated that the succession model consists of six main components including causal factors of succession, contextual factors of succession, intervention factors of succession, central phenomena, succession strategies and consequences of succession. These six main components were measured by 86 indicators. Consequently, all six variables were identified as psychological factors related to succession program in higher education.