1. When a company’s succession plan names an interim CEO, it buys time to decide on a permanent replacement. What are some of the risks a company might face during this process?
2. When an organization is faced with unexpected change, what can managers do to help insure that they make the right choices?
3. During Jim Cantalupo’s brief tenure as CEO, McDonald’s stock shot up 49 percent. When the company announced his replacement within a day of losing him, the share price rose again. With Cantalupo gone, why would stock go up again so soon?

The “hit by a bus scenario” is something that any company’s board of directors must consider carefully. The idea is that a successor must be agreed upon; someone well equipped to take the reigns of the company, should a CEO die suddenly. Most companies plan for an interim successor, a substitute CEO who can occupy the spot until a permanent appointee is chosen. It is understandable that a company might not have a permanent replacement in the wings, as the “hit by a bus” scenario is possible, but certainly seems improbable. The likelihood of losing the newly appointed CEO shortly thereafter seems downright unthinkable. How many companies would have a second succession candidate in mind?