Final global leadership development program (GLDP) design: Where do we go from here? Global evidence from Europe, the US, and Brazil

Abstract

The development of high potentials within global companies remains a challenge in leadership development in the face of increasingly dynamic environments. Despite this, we know surprisingly little about the practices business schools and corporations follow when it comes to Global Leadership Development Programs (GLDP). In this article, we derive critical success factors of the components of a GLDP leveraging evidence of 90 conducted panel interviews with global human resources experts and qualitative analysis of 33 GLDPs, 20 high‐level executive storytelling about competences and practical key elements leading successful and results‐driven change in their global companies, and 12 interviews with executive education directors. We examine within a grounded theory approach two overall under‐explored questions. What is a successful GLDP? Moreover, how to design it? What are the critical success factors in designing a GLDP? We derive a checklist to help implement future GLDPs within their global organizations. Our findings and discussion outline future research recommendations and provide advice for GLDP designers within Executive Education or HR Development contexts.

A Qualitative Exploration of Effective Leadership Development Programs and Leadership Process on Succession Planning and Organizational Performance

“…The common assumption is that the investment in leadership development activities of an organization will translate to improved leadership capacity of individuals, participating groups, and the organization. Developing high-potential leaders for succession planning within organizations and across industries remains a recognized challenge in developing leaders (Hruby et al, 2022). Leadership development is a continuous activity (Holt et al, 2018).…”

“…Based on the findings of Hruby et al (2022), the advancement of high-potential employees and new leaders in global corporations is a challenge in leadership development. The multinational organization in the northwest of the United States (MNUS), which is the subject of this case study, is a global organization.…”

“…Developing high-potential leaders for succession planning within organizations and across industries on a local or global spectrum is a recognized challenge in leadership development (Hruby et al, 2022). The importance of leadership in organizational development and the interconnectedness of organizations in today"s world increases the impetus for effective leadership and demands a strategy of business continuity that supports the retention of organizational intelligence (McKee & Froelich, 2016).…”