The announcement gives the company time to plan a successor for Iger who took over as chief executive in 2005 from Michael Eisner after a bruising fight for control of the board between Eisner and Roy Disney.

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Which raises another executive imperative: Plan for a successor .

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The end result could be seen in the twin pictures of Clinton impertinently announcing his peace plan after his successor had already been elected, and Madeleine Albright chasing after Arafat outside the US Embassy in Paris in a vain attempt to get him to return to the negotiating table he had just overturned.

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You need to have a plan in place to guide your successor and set them up for success, or else the whole thing is futile.

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During Arab League meetings in recent months, al-Sharaa was mentioned as a successor to al-Assad under a transition plan similar to the one in Yemen, where the president left office and the vice president took over.

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With the support of then-president Alan Garcia and his successor, Alberto Fujimori, the ILD created a plan for Peru's poor to get title to land and businesses more quickly and efficiently.

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The company, majority owned by Italy's Fiat SpA, had considered a successor to the Dakota as part of its 2009 business plan, but has yet to authorize development.

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But Kit Malthouse, Mr Johnson's successor as chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said the plan would bring police closer to communities.

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Mr Franco has never forgiven President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, his successor, for getting most of the credit for the inflation-busting real plan.

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Mr. Bloomberg's successor, who takes over New Year's Day, will inherit the spending plan.

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