Why some corporate CEO successions are smoother than others

Rida Elias, assistant professor at the Olayan School of Business, explains what she has discovered by researching top leadership succession in corporations. Too often CEOs, whose work is 75% with people and institutions outside the firm, refuse to leave power. This leads to messy successions, which is why she recommends 4-6-month-long transition periods for CEO changes. COOs, on the other hand, mostly deal with internal issues, where the succession is less complex.