Pharma CEO Succession: Commit to a single candidate five years out, or keep a candidate slate and converge gradually using strategy, board, and readiness gates?
Current product policyLast updated August 25, 2026
Minerva judgment
Recommendation: retain the candidate slate and converge gradually through strategy, readiness, and governance gates, as this preserves adjustability over the five-year uncertain horizon while balancing fairness and retention (F1, F2, F3, F6)
Decision owner in the teaching simulationChair of the Board CEO Succession Committee, in an independent instructional simulation
Human-controlled next action
Action: the succession committee leads development of a concrete governance-gate design proposal for the candidate slate (confidentiality, fairness, conflicts of interest, reversal thresholds) before the next board meeting
What would reverse the recommendation
Reversal condition: if evidence shows the incumbent CEO's or board's preferences (F5) have substantively driven candidate screening, rendering the slate mechanism nominal, switch to a more transparent single-path approach or restructure governance
47 · ghSMART
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Pharma CEO Succession: Commit to a single candidate five years out, or keep a candidate slate and converge gradually using strategy, board, and readiness gates?
The Decision Room interface, case analysis, narration, captions and transcript are in English. The linked official source remains in its original language.
Evidence and endorsement boundary:Independent teaching simulation. The named consulting firm supplied the public source only; it did not use, review, endorse, sponsor, certify or commission Minerva Advisor. This evidence does not claim customer results, ROI or a permanent service-level guarantee.
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