| Course | DDBA 8581 Succession Planning: A Survival Tool of the Fittest |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Interim cover memo |
| Length | About 570 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for DDBA 8581 Week 8
Memorandum
To: Vice President of Sales and Marketing
From: HR Director
Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026
Re: Cover for the Gulf regional sales director role, effective May 27
The Situation
The Gulf regional sales director resigned on Tuesday, effective May 27, to join a competitor. The role carries nine distributor relationships and about $84 million in annual sales, and no successor has been designated.
Cover Table
[after]
The decisions come from a log built from the departing director's calendar, approval records and an exit interview on Wednesday.
Table 1
Treatment of Each Recurring Decision
| Decision | Treatment | Who | Reason | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing within standard bands for distributor orders | Assigned | Inside sales lead | Already does this for three distributors | |
| Pricing exceptions above bands | Escalated | Vice President of Sales | Margin risk; needs authority | |
| Distributor rebate approvals at quarter end | Assigned | Sales operations manager | Rule-based; calculation already done there | |
| New distributor agreements | Paused | None until permanent hire | Long commitment; no urgency | |
| Allocation of product during supply shortages | Escalated | Vice President of Sales with plant scheduler | Affects all regions | |
| Quarterly business reviews with top three distributors | Assigned | Vice President of Sales | Relationship risk is highest here | |
| Field visits to remaining six distributors | Assigned | Inside sales lead and Texas regional director, split | Continuity of contact | |
| Hiring for the open territory manager position | Paused | None until permanent director | New director should choose | |
| Forecast submissions to supply chain | Assigned | Sales operations manager | Data already compiled there | |
Communications
The top three distributors hear from the Vice President of Sales by phone on Thursday, before rumors arrive from the competitor. The other six hear from the inside sales lead by Friday. Internal sales staff are told at Friday's meeting.
Sunset
The interim arrangement ends when a permanent director starts or on September 30, whichever comes first. If no director is hired by August 31, the Vice President will decide whether to extend the arrangement or appoint an acting director.
Rationale
The cover table assigns decisions rather than tasks because decisions are what stop when a role empties; tasks can usually be absorbed. Pausing two decisions carries risk: a distributor seeking a new agreement may sign with a competitor, and the open territory manager role leaves one area thinly covered for months. Those risks are accepted because committing the company to long agreements or hires under interim authority would bind the permanent director.
Farquhar (1995) studied short-term leaders and argued that interim leadership is a distinct role with its own dynamics, not merely understudy work, and that interim leaders do best when their mandate and duration are clear. The sunset date and the escalation rules give that clarity. Giambatista et al. (2005) reviewed research on leader succession and concluded that what a change of leader does to results varies a great deal with circumstances, including how the succession is managed, which argues for planning even a short interim period rather than improvising.
Rothwell (2010) recommended that succession plans include emergency replacement provisions for key roles; this memo is what the company should have had in a drawer.
Risks Accepted
The inside sales lead will carry a heavier load for months; the Vice President should review that workload after four weeks.
What the Company Should Learn
The company had no designated cover for an $84 million role. The Week 11 plan should include emergency cover for every top-ranked role.
References
Farquhar, K. W. (1995). Not just understudies: The dynamics of short-term leadership. Human Resource Management, 34(1), 51-70. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.3930340105
Giambatista, R. C., Rowe, W. G., & Riaz, S. (2005). Nothing succeeds like succession: A critical review of leader succession literature since 1994. Leadership Quarterly, 16(6), 963-991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.09.005
Rothwell, W. J. (2010). Effective succession planning: Ensuring leadership continuity and building talent from within (4th ed.). AMACOM.
Reading the DDBA 8581 Week 8 instructions
Week 8 asks for a memo covering a role whose holder leaves with little notice. State the situation and effective date in two sentences. Build a cover table that treats each recurring decision, not each task, by assigning it to a named role, escalating it upward or pausing it deliberately, with a reason for each. Say who is told what and when, starting with those most at risk. Set an end date or ending conditions for the interim arrangement. In a rationale, defend the choices with research on interim leadership, name the risks of each pause and say what the organization should learn. A two-page memo followed by a three- to four-page rationale is typical.
How the DDBA 8581 Week 8 example is put together
The sample's table lists nine decisions, from rebate approvals assigned to sales operations to quarterly reviews with the top distributors taken by the vice president. The log behind it comes from the departing director's calendar, approval records and an exit interview. Communications reach the top three distributors by phone on Thursday and the rest by Friday. The sunset is a permanent start or September 30, with a decision point on August 31. The rationale explains why decisions matter more than tasks, names the risk that a paused distributor signs elsewhere and argues that a clear mandate and duration help interim leaders. A closing line notes the company had no designated cover for an $84 million role.
Reading the DDBA 8581 Week 8 rubric
The cover table carries most of the credit, and its unit of analysis matters: a table assigning tasks to people has missed the decisions, which are what stop when a role empties. Graders check that every recurring decision is accounted for, whether assigned, escalated or paused. The pauses earn their own share when each names its risk. The sunset is read closely, and a memo with no end date or ending condition has created a permanent arrangement by accident. The rationale is credited for applying research on interim leadership to specific choices, not summarizing it. Naming the workload burden on those who absorb decisions, and a date to review it, shows awareness of the interim period's costs. Clear, short treatment of each decision helps the reader act by Friday.
DDBA 8581 Week 8 help from the desk
If you have a decision log for the role, start there; if not, build one quickly from calendars and approvals. For each decision, ask who can take it without new authority, what must go higher and what can safely wait. Write the risk of every pause. Plan communications from the outside in, starting with customers or regulators. Set an end date. Keep the memo to two pages and put the research in the rationale. Use the memo afterward to build standing emergency cover for every top-ranked role.
Get a DDBA 8581 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Forward the Week 8 scenario, the memo prompt and its rubric; a Tuesday resignation with a Friday deadline is the usual setup. Memo and rationale are both drafted in 24 to 48 hours, and a first request is free. If the earlier decision log exists, attach it so the cover table can be built from it.
More DDBA 8581 papers and DBA samples
- DDBA 8581 Week 1: Succession Silence Discussion
- DDBA 8581 Week 2: Decision Log Role Profile
- DDBA 8581 Week 3: Critical Knowledge Inventory
- DDBA 8581 Week 4: Succession Risk Ranking
- DDBA 8581 Week 5: Capability Bench Review
- DDBA 8581 Week 6: Experience-Based Development Route
- DDBA 8581 Week 7: Knowledge Transfer Plan
- DDBA 8581 Week 9: Grow, Hire or Borrow Comparison
- DDBA 8581 Week 10: Succession Board Brief
- DDBA 8581 Week 11: Dated Succession Plan
- DDBA 8582 Week 8: Flexibility Cost Model
- DDBA 8580 Week 8: HR Analytics Note
- DDBA 8562 Week 8: Compliance Effectiveness Memo
- DBAX 8006 Week 8: Noncompete Comparative Case
DDBA 8581 Week 8 questions, answered
Where can I find a free DDBA 8581 Week 8 sample paper?
The interim cover memo and its rationale are reproduced on this page, free.
What vacancy does the DDBA 8581 Week 8 memo cover?
The Gulf regional sales director role, after a resignation with two weeks' notice.
Which decisions are paused?
New distributor agreements and hiring for the open territory manager position.
Who hears first?
The top three distributors, by phone from the vice president.
When does the arrangement end?
When a permanent director starts or on September 30, whichever comes first.