DECEMBER 2012 | OPEN UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA (OUM) | PAGE 1 Succession Planning: Should it Focus Only on the Top Level of Management or Should it be Expanded to the Middle Level of Management as Well? Eyad Al-Samman Abstract Purpose – The concept of succession planning is essential for top level of management in non- family and family businesses. Subsequently, the purpose of this paper is to investigate if this concept should also be expanded for all levels of management and generations in different businesses. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the available literature about the succession planning in both non-family and family businesses. It reviews also the areas that succession planning—as a human resource concept—focuses on in modern management. Findings – Several indications in the available literature emphasize that succession planning should be considered in all levels of management including top, middle, lower, and also in different generations administering family businesses. Researchers encourage diverse firms to have early actions and steps regarding their succession plans and to have an equipped pool of talents from all levels of management to fill the required positions wherever these positions are. Incumbents and founders of family businesses should prepare several successors from different categories such as heirs, sons, relatives, or other trusted close partners and develop them well to be ready for immediate assignments in sudden or unexpected cases of vacancy. Research limitations/implications – The focus of this paper is on researchers’ articles that discuss the concept of succession planning in only non-family and family businesses exiting in modern and developed nations. It was difficult to cover all of the present literature about the core concept of this paper and measuring the levels of application in different contexts. In addition, this paper largely neglected the chronology of the succession planning in the available literature. Originality/value – This paper offers informative comparison between the adoptions of succession planning concept in both family and non-family businesses. In addition, it stresses on the importance of applying succession plans in all levels of management in non-family businesses and all generations of family businesses. Keywords – Succession planning, Non-family business, Family business, Levels of management. Paper type – Literature review. Introduction To reply the question mentioned in the title of this paper, we should consider some important and specific points. These points include the nature of the succession planning itself, the nature of the firm or the enterprise, and other dimensions concerned with the succession planning concept. Accordingly, this paper will be divided into two main parts; the first part will discuss the literature related to the succession planning in non-family businesses that include small, medium, and large enterprises, and the second part of this paper will discuss succession planning in family businesses. According to Ip and Jacobs (2006), business succession planning literature usually falls into one of two broad categories; succession within family-owned firms (retaining Eyad Al-Samman is a Master’s degree candidate at the Open University Malaysia (OUM), Malaysia.