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Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations
Non-profit organisations (NPOs) play a vital role in South African society, providing critical services for many underserved and marginalised communities. Despite the evidence of the importance of NPOs in transforming the South African economy and society, there is very little research on succession...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Graduate School of Business (GSB)
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613189914492928 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Buchholz, Este |
| author2 | Dharani, Babar |
| author_browse | Buchholz, Este Dharani, Babar |
| author_facet | Dharani, Babar Buchholz, Este |
| author_sort | Buchholz, Este |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Non-profit organisations (NPOs) play a vital role in South African society, providing critical services for many underserved and marginalised communities. Despite the evidence of the importance of NPOs in transforming the South African economy and society, there is very little research on succession planning for executive leadership transformation within this sector. The Literature on this topic is primarily based on case studies from other countries. South African studies were conducted in the public or private sector, which does not address the unique context of NPOs. This dissertation aims to address the gap in the current academic literature by exploring the unique ways in which NPOs implement succession planning to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation within the South African non-profit sector. The primary research question is, “How do NPOs plan organisational succession to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation?” The study used Eisenhardt's method of building theories from case study research as the overarching research methodology. Data was collected from eight NPOs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the ex-Executive Director (ED) and the incumbent ED of each NPO. Both in-case and cross-case analyses were used to derive the findings. Key findings from the research include the importance of being intentional about creating diverse and inclusive organisations, having reciprocal trust between the Executive Director and the board, and creating informal learning opportunities for potential successors. Future research should focus on the first 12 - 24 months of the incumbent ED, exploring the main challenges faced by the new leader as a black person |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41254 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:12.136Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Graduate School of Business (GSB) |
| publisherStr | Graduate School of Business (GSB) |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41254 Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations Buchholz, Este Dharani, Babar diversity inclusion leadership non-profit organisation NPO racial transformation succession planning Non-profit organisations (NPOs) play a vital role in South African society, providing critical services for many underserved and marginalised communities. Despite the evidence of the importance of NPOs in transforming the South African economy and society, there is very little research on succession planning for executive leadership transformation within this sector. The Literature on this topic is primarily based on case studies from other countries. South African studies were conducted in the public or private sector, which does not address the unique context of NPOs. This dissertation aims to address the gap in the current academic literature by exploring the unique ways in which NPOs implement succession planning to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation within the South African non-profit sector. The primary research question is, “How do NPOs plan organisational succession to achieve successful internal executive leadership transformation?” The study used Eisenhardt's method of building theories from case study research as the overarching research methodology. Data was collected from eight NPOs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the ex-Executive Director (ED) and the incumbent ED of each NPO. Both in-case and cross-case analyses were used to derive the findings. Key findings from the research include the importance of being intentional about creating diverse and inclusive organisations, having reciprocal trust between the Executive Director and the board, and creating informal learning opportunities for potential successors. Future research should focus on the first 12 - 24 months of the incumbent ED, exploring the main challenges faced by the new leader as a black person 2025-03-26T13:28:52Z 2025-03-26T13:28:52Z 2024 2025-03-26T13:17:50Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41254 en eng application/pdf Graduate School of Business (GSB) Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | diversity inclusion leadership non-profit organisation NPO racial transformation succession planning Buchholz, Este Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| title_full | Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| title_fullStr | Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| title_short | Succession planning for leadership transformation for South African non-profit organisations |
| title_sort | succession planning for leadership transformation for south african non profit organisations |
| topic | diversity inclusion leadership non-profit organisation NPO racial transformation succession planning |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41254 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT buchholzeste successionplanningforleadershiptransformationforsouthafricannonprofitorganisations |