Succession Management Process at Dow Chemical CompanyStep 1: High-level review of the talent pipeline by the CEO and his direct reports (yearly).Step 2: Review of each business function and strategic area focusing on what new capabilities will be needed to deliver this strategy and any new corporate-critical roles that will be needed.Step 3: Review of top 200 leaders using the “Nine-Box" performance/ potential grid (see Figure 2).Step 4: Development and discussion of succession plans for high- and medium-risk corporatecritical roles that exist now and are anticipated in the future.Step 5: Developmental planning for this population.Features of the Dow succession management process:Dow philosophy: Replacement plans and successor lists are useful tools, but the real value of these processes is to focus the organization on developing its employees to better prepare them for other jobs at Dow.Dow reaches deep into its pipeline from entry-level professionals to the director level.Approximately 5 percent of the professional/managerial employee population is identified as corporate high-potentials and targeted for accelerated development at the Herbert Henry Dow Academy (followed by fivemonth action-learning projects), external executive education courses or a custom MBA course.