Effective Strategies for the Establishment of Integration Model for Succession Planning and Career Progression Path of Iranian Azad Universities Administrators

This research was done to provide effective strategies for the establishment of integration model for succession planning, career progression path of Azad Universities administrators from the perspective of higher education administrators and professionals based on the systematic theoretical design of Strauss, and Corbin grounded theory. Accordingly, using a targeted sampling method, semistructured interviews were made with 22 middle and executive managers of universities, authors in the field of succession planning and career progression path, and key scholars on human resource management and higher education, and the data were extracted from the interviews. The approach used in this study is a mix approach and hence, for developing the comprehensive research model, qualitative and quantitative approaches (in combination with one another) were used. For selecting sample volume, snowball method was used and finally, the research model was developed based on the opinions of 22 experts. In the second stage, the presented research model was tested by using SPSS 20, Lisrel8.8 and results indicated that the relationships and components of the proposed model are significant. During a three-step coding process (open, axial and selective), the data analysis revealed seven main categories as the effective strategies for the establishment of integration model for succession planning and career progression path of governmental universities administrators, which included acquaintance, participation of university administrators, organizational learning, trust-making, futurism, academic independence and systemic insight.