Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • November 2015 (Revised February 2017)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott, Olivia Hull and J. Yo-Jud Cheng
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:38
ShareBar

Abstract

It’s August 2014 and John Chambers is expected to announce his retirement after 17 years as CEO of global technology giant Cisco Systems. Under Chambers’s leadership, Cisco has grown from $2.2 billion in annual revenues and under 4,000 employees to revenues of $46 billion and more than 66,000 employees. With Chambers’s retirement imminent, Cisco’s board of directors must design a detailed succession process that will allow a smooth transfer of power. What type of selection process should the board members use? Which qualities should they look for in potential candidates? Who should the board select for their shortlist of final candidates? In addition to exploring the history of Cisco, its current market position, and profiles of potential candidates, the case provides an overview of different types of succession planning processes.

Keywords

Leadership; Succession Planning; CEO Succession; Managing Change; Person-organization Fit; Management Succession; Transition; Talent and Talent Management; Change Management; Retirement; Innovation Leadership; Recruitment; Corporate Governance; Experience and Expertise; Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; San Jose; California

Citation

Groysberg, Boris, Sarah L. Abbott, Olivia Hull, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng. "Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO." Harvard Business School Case 416-027, November 2015. (Revised February 2017.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Boris Groysberg

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Related Work

    • May 2017 (Revised January 2018)
    • Faculty Research

    CEO Succession at Cisco (A), (B), & (C), and Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO

    By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb
    • December 2017
    • Faculty Research

    CEO Succession at Cisco: Video Supplement

    By: Boris Groysberg and J. Yo-Jud Cheng
    • November 2015 (Revised February 2017)
    • Faculty Research

    Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO

    By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott, Olivia Hull and J. Yo-Jud Cheng
Related Work
  • CEO Succession at Cisco (A), (B), & (C), and Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb
  • CEO Succession at Cisco: Video Supplement By: Boris Groysberg and J. Yo-Jud Cheng
  • Cisco Systems: In Search of the Next CEO By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott, Olivia Hull and J. Yo-Jud Cheng
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College