| dc.description.abstract | The Seventh-day Adventist Church operates an educational system, which
caters learners from basic schooling to tertiary levels. But shortage of qualified
candidates to run these institutions seems to continue to be a growing challenge in
Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions. People often leave the institutions
before educational reformalization has been institutionalized. Subsequently, people
often hold leadership positions without adequate leadership preparation. Because of
this, education institutions are facing great challenges in terms of leadership and
leadership continuity. For the successful continued growth and development of
educational institutions, there needs to be a system for the development of leaders and
written succession plans in place. It has been noted that Seventh-day Adventist
educational institutions seem to have overlooked this important factor.The purpose of this study was to seek to understand and provide an in-depth
look at the current state of leadership development and succession planning among
Adventist educational institutions in Zambia, as well as their perception towards
leadership development and succession planning. Quantitative and qualitative case
study was conducted, and a self-completion questionnaire was utilized. The
population included administrators and a stratified random sample was carried out for
the staff level management. Documents related to leadership development and
succession planning where analyzed. Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance
were used to analyze data from respondents. Correlation and t-test was used to
determine the difference in perception between administrators and staff management
in regards to leadership development and succession planning.
Based on the findings, Seventh-day Adventist educational institutions have
issues with proper leadership development and proper succession planning that
prepare future leaders for continuity. As a result, institutions are facing great
challenges in terms of leadership continuity and knowledge capital for the future,
which threaten organizational stability. Despite this, all participants in all educational
institutions strongly stated that having leadership development and succession
planning is very important. The findings also revealed that current staff level
management have no opportunities for leadership development and training available
for them. It is clear from the findings that the traditional replacement approach
method used to fill vacant senior positions is viewed as being reactive rather than
proactive.
For the successful continued growth and development of an Adventist
educational institution, there is need to have a system for the development of leaders
and a succession plan. All Adventist educational institutions should work diligently todevelop, groom and identify competent, motivated persons who will be equipped to
guarantee meaningful benefits. This will ensure long-term sustainability for the
educational institutions. | en_US |
