How Managers Make Promotion Decisions

Abstract

This paper examines how management promotion decisions are made in a large organisation, drawing upon interview and survey data and the results of a decision‐making simulation completed by managers at three organisational levels. The findings describe the relationship between elements of decision process, such as the number of candidates considered to fill a vacancy, and the types of information available and the decision outcome. Implications of the results are discussed in terms of how individual needs and desires formulated during career planning may be taken into account when making promotion decisions. The paper concludes with recommendations for making promotion decisions.

Citation

London, M. and Stumpf, S.A. (1984), "How Managers Make Promotion Decisions", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 56-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb051555