1. Why do you think companies like Dole need succession planning?
2. Do you see any disadvantage of “automating” succession planning?

With 61,000 workers in more than ninety countries, Dole Food Company has talent all over the world. Only a few hundred of those employees are in top management at the 151-year-old company headquartered in Westlake Village, California. Trouble is, Dole doesn’t have comprehensive knowledge of who these managers are or what they can do. If a key job opens up in North America, the business unit leader wouldn’t know if the perfect candidate worked in another Dole unit in South America. Dole has no way to match its top managerial talent with its executive needs.