Which of the following represents a major operational and strategic risk directly caused by ineffective or nonexistent succession planning within an organization?

Succession planning is the process of identifying, developing, and retaining high-potential talent to seamlessly fill critical leadership roles when vacancies arise due to departures, retirements, or unforeseen events. Impact of Poor Succession Planning: When an organization fails to maintain a robust talent pipeline, sudden leadership departures leave key roles unfilled or forced into reactive external hires who may lack enterprise context. This leads to severe operational disruptions, loss of strategic direction, low investor confidence, and fragmented leadership continuity.