talent management: a systematic review and future prospects
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86 European J. International Management, Vol. 11, No. 1, 2017
Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Talent management: a systematic review and future prospects
Anthony McDonnell* Queen’s Management School, Queen’s University Belfast, 185 Stranmillis Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK Email: a.mcdonnell@qub.ac.uk *Corresponding author
David G. Collings Dublin City University Business School, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland Email: david.collings@dcu.ie
Kamel Mellahi Warwick Business School, The University of Warwick, Coventry, UK Email: Kamel.Mellahi@wbs.ac.uk
Randall Schuler School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA Email: schuler@smlr.rutgers.edu
Abstract: This paper employs a systematic and comprehensive review to trace the evolution of talent management scholarship and propose a research agenda to move the field forward. Two primary streams of literature dominate: the management of high performers and high potentials, and the identification of strategic positions and talent management systems. The topic of global talent management has received significant attention; however, much of this literature tends to incorporate the two streams heretofore identified but on a global scale. The review also demonstrates that there has been limited attention placed on individual talents as the unit of analysis. Early criticisms of the disjointed nature of the field remain and we call for greater clarity around the conceptual boundaries of talent management. Our analysis highlights that most papers draw, to some extent, on primary research. There is however considerable need and scope for more comprehensive and nuanced methodological approaches.
Talent management 87
Keywords: talent management; literature review; high potential; global; HRM; stars.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: McDonnell, A., Collings, D.G., Mellahi, K. and Schuler, R. (2017) ‘Talent management: a systematic review and future prospects’, European J. International Management, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp.86–128.
Biographical notes: Anthony McDonnell is Reader in Management at Queen’s Management School, Queen’s University Belfast, and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of South Australia. He is (Joint) Editor-in-Chief of Human Resource Management Journal. His primary research interest is on the HRM and employment relations practices of multinational companies across different host contexts, and talent management.
David G. Collings is Professor of Human Resource Management at Dublin City University. He is also a Visiting Professor of HRM at King’s College London. He is the Editor (joint) of the Human Resource Management Journal and permanent Chair of the EIASM workshop on talent management. His research focuses on the management of human resources with a particular focus on talent management and global mobility issues.
Kamel Mellahi is Professor of Strategic Management at Warwick Business School. His current primary research interests lie in the areas of corporate political strategy, strategic talent management, and business strategies in emerging markets. He has published over 70 scholarly articles on these, and other, topics in leading journals including Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal, and many others.
Randall Schuler is Distinguished Professor of Strategic International Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management Strategy and Past Director of the Masters in HRM Program. He is also a Visiting Fellow at Lancaster University Management School. He has authored or edited over 50 books and published over 150 articles in professional journals and academic proceedings.
1 Introduction
Almost two decades have elapsed since studies specifically focused on talent management (TM) first appeared in management literature. During this time, TM has become a topic of considerable debate in the academic literature and a central element of managerial discourse and organisational practice (Boudreau and Ramstad, 2007; Collings and Mellahi, 2009; Groysberg, 2010; Lewis and Heckman, 2006; McDonnell, 2011). Special issues have been commissioned by a range of journals on European (Collings et al., 2011), Asia-Pacific (McDonnell et al., 2012) and Global Talent Management (GTM) (Scullion et al., 2010) topics. Its growing significance appears premised on the assumption that superior TM is a key source of competitive advantage. This coupled with changes in worldwide demographics that have reportedly led to talent supply issues, have been key driving forces of interest in TM (Tarique and Schuler, 2010).
88 A. McDonnell et al.
In view of the escalating interest in the topic, a comprehensive and systematic critical review of scholarship is timely and appropriate in order to allow us to analyse the state of the field. A systematic review retrieves, appraises and summarises all the available evidence on a specific topic of enquiry. If a review is not systematic there is an increased danger of bias whereby the author(s) have greater scope to select papers that are more supportive of his/her viewpoint. While there have been reviews that have significantly assisted researchers, these have been strongly focused on practitioner-oriented journals (Lewis and Heckman, 2006) or on a specific segment of the literature (e.g. Tarique and Schuler’s [2010] GTM review). These papers were, however, neither systematic nor comprehensive in reviewing the wider field. While finalising this paper, we became aware of a welcome and useful piece by Thunnissen et al. (2013). This appears to be the most encompassing review thus far but the paper excluded at least one significant area in that they ‘limited the number of publications on global talent management’ (p.1746). We did not seek to delimit or pre-empt the potential scope of what could emerge in the review so as to allow us discern the current state of scholarship in more acute detail than previously undertaken. In other words, our endeavour allows us to grasp more comprehensively the state of the field. Of particular interest is exploring how far this field has developed and whether suggestions of it being overly US-based and non-empirically derived stand tall post a systematic analysis (Collings et al., 2011).
The objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of peer refereed, published research investigating TM issues. In so doing, the paper captures the breadth of research that has been published on the topic of TM, identifies the key themes and debates in this literature, and highlights impediments to progress in the field. Furthermore, we identify some of the most critical directions for future research enquiry. The paper provides insights into those approaches that have been used to date in exploring TM and further those theories and methods that present the best opportunities for building the theoretical and empirical foundations of the field. Consequently, this paper represents a valuable addition in synthesising this important, and quickly expanding, literature base and providing a more coordinated, coherent roadmap for researchers in developing TM research agendas.
Drawing from high quality, refereed journals the review provided for a total of 88 papers all of which were published between 1998 (the year in which the ‘war for talent’ term was coined) and May 2013 (the search date). This incorporates a larger range of published works than other reviews although it is important to note that different search criteria were used. For example, Thunnissen et al.’s (2013) review drew on 62 papers, of which 43 were refereed journal articles with 19 conference papers, dissertations, books or book chapters. Therefore, our review doubled the number of refereed articles. Our analysis was initially focused on obtaining an understanding of the range of publications in terms of where research is published, the focus or themes of papers, the methods used (empirical or conceptual), the contexts that have been covered and the key findings that emanated. After summarising the literature, we move to discussing some key gaps that we feel are significant and seek to kick-start research-informed discussion and debate in these areas. The papers encompassed in our review are marked by an asterisk in the references list and a summary of the aims, literature, underlying theories methodology and key findings of the papers are provided in Tables 2–4. A detailed exposition of the methodological procedures adopted in the systematic review can be found in the Appendix.
Talent management 89
2 The growing importance of talent management
The emergence of TM is a relatively well-trodden discussion in the literature with many ascribing its rise to the McKinsey Group tabling the war for talent agenda (Chambers et al., 1998). McKinsey expressed great concern about the supply of human talent, the most valuable corporate resource, with pressing issues faced by organisations in the attraction and retention of key staff. Since then, there has been a wave of consultancy reports that talk up talent shortages and which place strong emphasis on the role of talent management in organisational success. For example, a survey of 418 international executives found that eight in ten viewed an effective talent management strategy as key to competitive success, with more than half of these reporting that it would become more strategically important in future years (KPMG, 2012).
The supply concerns are strongly premised around the changing nature of demographics which includes an ageing workforce and falling birth rates in many developed economies. These reasons coupled with the continued onset of globalisation and rise of the ‘knowledge worker’ (Guthridge et al., 2008) are all central factors in the emergence of talent management. The increasing internationalisation of small to medium-sized enterprises further increases the competition for talent, particularly for individuals with global business acumen (Tarique and Schuler, 2010). With global mobility seemingly at levels not previously witnessed the working populations tend to be increasingly diverse which raises many opportunities, alongside challenges in being able to effectively attract, manage and retain individuals. When this is combined with the range of generations that now exist in the workforce, doubts are very much evident around whether traditional people management approaches will prove effective in the long run.
In summary, there are a range of macro- and micro-factors that have led to the emergence of, and which are likely to remain for some time, TM as an area of interest and importance to both practitioners and the academic community. We now turn to the findings of the systematic review performed.
3 Findings
3.1 A publication explosion
Figure 1 vividly illustrates how TM scholarship has exploded over the past six years. Our analysis clearly demonstrates that 82 papers (93%) were published post 2008. In other words, there were a mere six refereed journal articles on the topic of TM between 1998 and 2008. This impressive growth trajectory does not appear to be slowing down as there were 14 papers published on the topic in the first five months of 2013. The field is therefore best characterised as one of recent vintage. In time we will learn if this is a sustainable level of scholarship. It is likely that a time will come as the field becomes more advanced that a plateau will be reached in terms of the development of new insights.
The overwhelming majority of papers were multiple authored pieces with the mean being 2.38 authors. Overall, 69 papers had more than one author meaning that 22% were sole-authored. The mean value for the number of authors in 2008 was 1.86, increasing to 2.8 in 2010 but then fell to 1.59 in 2011 before rising to 2.61 in 2012.
90 A. McDonnell et al.
Figure 1 Number of published articles per year (see online version for colours)
Note: N = 87.
2013 figure to the end of May 2013.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management (15 papers), Journal of World Business (nine papers) and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (eight papers) were the three most popular publishing outlets. The prevalence of journal special issues is noteworthy. In the review period, there have been special issues of the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources (McDonnell et al., 2012), International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (D’Annunzio-Green et al., 2008), International Journal of Human Resource Management (Vaiman and Collings, 2013), and the Journal of World Business (Scullion et al., 2010). We are also aware, at the time of writing this paper, of three additional special journal issue call for papers in circulation or which have just been published. The use of special issues can therefore be argued as having a disproportionate impact on TM scholarship in that if the special issues are removed, the quantity of papers is significantly reduced. Specifically, we found that 31 out of the 88 papers (35%) were accounted for by the four special issues identified earlier. These papers are highly cited with eight of the nine papers in the Journal of World Business 2010 special issue in the top 25 most cited papers of that journal (based on Scopus data since 2009). In some of these issues, the guest editors authored more than one paper. The impact of special issues in the long run may be something worthy of consideration and debate among scholars in the field.
The review illustrated that a wide array of academic outlets have been used for dissemination. 41 (or 47%) of the papers were published in what can be described as HRM-focused journals. International business (primarily the Journal of World Business) appears as an especially important area in terms of publication outputs in the area (see Table 1). The variety of journals that have published articles demonstrates the widespread interest and applicability of the concept and points towards the evolution of the field of TM at the intersection of HRM, strategy, international business and other related fields.
Talent management 91
Table 1 List of journals with number of published talent management papers
Journal Name Number of TM papers
The International Journal of Human Resource Management 15
Journal of World Business 9
International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 8
Harvard Business Review 6
Human Resource Development International 6
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 5
Human Resource Management 4
MIT Sloan Management Review 4
Advances in Developing Human Resources 3
Personnel Review 3
Journals published two TM papers: Human Resource Management Review, Journal of Business Strategy, Journal of Knowledge Management, Organizational Dynamics
Journals published one TM paper: Business Ethics: A European Review, Business Strategy Review, Employee Relations, European Management Journal, Health Care Management Review, Human Resource Management Journal, International Business Review, International Journal of Logistics: Research and Applications, Journal of Business and Psychology, Journal of International Management, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Journal of Service Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Public Money and Management, Scandinavian Journal of Management, Thunderbird International Business Review
3.2 Empirically light or heavy?
The majority of papers draw on some form of empirical evidence. In other words, it is not conceptual/theoretical/review type papers which are the most prevalent. This finding is noteworthy because it is in contrast to suggestions made by scholars that empirical enquiry on TM is particularly uncommon (e.g. Collings and Mellahi, 2009; Lewis and Heckman, 2006). Such conclusions may relate to the fact that most of the papers have been published since 2007/2008 meaning they were published after earlier conclusions had been drawn on the level of empirical work. However, the recent review article by Thunnissen et al. (2013, p.1748) also suggested that empirical papers were in the minority: ‘one-third of the articles in our literature study presents the results of empirical research’. The finding that close on six in every ten papers possess some empirical component may demonstrate the benefit and need for systematic and comprehensive reviews to more accurately depict the state of fields of research.
The percentage of works classified as empirical would have been higher if we had included many of the Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review papers which tend to draw on examples from industry but fail to provide any details on the methodology behind the paper (e.g. Cappelli, 2000; Cappelli, 2008; Erickson and Gratton, 2007). Consequently, papers were excluded that pointed to practise or some level of data but which did not provide some information on the methods used.
Methodologically, approximately 20% of empirical papers were found to utilise a mixed methods approach, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Moreover, 42% of empirical papers drew solely on quantitative data and if we combine
92 A. McDonnell et al.
the mixed method papers that had a quantitative element we find that 56% of all empirically based papers drew upon quantitative data. There was, therefore, a slightly higher proportional use of quantitative data. Given the recent nature of the field, it may be somewhat surprising that there wasn’t a greater use of qualitative data. The reported response rates in the quantitative papers ranged from 5.6% to 100%, while 11 papers did not report a response rate. Thus, there is a significant variation in response rates and the number of papers that fail to report this figure could be viewed as disappointing and concerning. There was significant use of case study investigations which tended to be based on single cases (nine papers). There also appeared to be papers where TM is used as a framing exercise post data collection rather than being a study set up to specifically explore particular aspects of TM. This is particularly the case where papers adopt a perspective that TM is a collection of typical HRM practices.
The evidence supports the conclusion of Thunnissen et al. (2013) that TM scholarship is overly unitarist and managerialist in orientation. Study participants are most commonly from the management (typically senior HR personnel or the top management team) viewpoint. There are few studies which have incorporated the actual ‘talents’, i.e. those individuals whom are classified by the organisation as talent or the ‘untalented’.
The increasing influence of the Asian context was apparent as it was the region most commonly focused in current empirical efforts. Of the 50 empirical papers, 14 are based on Asian countries, with a particular focus on China and India. Perhaps surprisingly, only six were based on the US context although there were papers that focused on US multinational corporations (MNCs) but which were not necessarily based on the home context. In some of these cases it was difficult to determine a very accurate picture of where the research was undertaken. Our analysis on the context in which primary research was undertaken stands in contrast to the posited dominance of North American scholarship in the evolution of TM. Yes, there is a strong body of US affiliated scholars publishing in the field but again they do not appear in the majority as there appears to be a strong network of scholars operating, in particular, across a range of European countries.1 It is also very evident that the overwhelming focus has been on larger, private sector organisations with MNCs being a central focus. Little consideration has been given to the small to medium-sized enterprise sector, while the public sector is almost non-existent in the reviewed papers.
Overall, our review of the methods used and the empirical papers suggest that the empirical settings and data collection methods and analysis are in need of significant improvement. While not seeking to downplay the value of the rich and informative research undertaken, it is quite apparent that small scale studies based on convenience sampling dominate. Thus, there is considerable scope for more comprehensive research designs to be adopted.
4 Themes and intellectual origins of talent management
A particularly disconcerting observation emerging from the review was the high number of papers that lack a clearly specified theoretical foundation to frame their empirical efforts. Less than 30% of papers used, most of them superficially, a theoretical framework to tackle their research question. In addition to lack of sound theoretical underpinnings, it is also clear that the field of TM is highly fragmented. Theoretical framing of TM ranged from Resource-Based View (RBV) (five papers), social exchange
Talent management 93
and dependency theory (two papers), institutional theory (three papers), learning theory (two papers), and brand equity and signalling theory (one paper). Like other business and management concepts/practices that have evolved along a similar path, TM continues to search for sound theoretical underpinnings. The lack of theoretical cohesion in the TM literature makes it extremely difficult to discern an overarching grand theory to guide research in the area. It is very apparent that there is considerable scope for greater theorisation and conceptualisation in the field. A key constraint on the development of such a grand theory appears to be a lack of conceptual boundaries as to what TM actually encompasses (and does not). The lack of a unifying theoretical paradigm is therefore understandable given the different fundamental questions examined by scholars. For instance, papers that examine the association between TM and competitive advantage tend to draw on RBV, while papers that look at recruitment and retention of talented individuals draw on social exchange and dependency theory.
In line with Thunnissen et al. (2013) and Lewis and Heckman (2006) we find that one of the most dominant themes of publications is around how TM is defined. This has been the subject of review articles and conceptual papers, and some empirical work (e.g. Jones et al., 2012). Although there was strong evidence to suggest that the field is hampered by the lack of an agreed definition of TM, owing to a lack of space we do not engage in a case-by-case analysis of each definition that has been proposed by researchers. Rather, we focus more on the classification of the literature approaches. It remains apparent almost a decade on from the pioneering paper of Lewis and Heckman (2006) that the TM literature can be broadly classified into two categories: management of talent focusing on how organisations attract, recruit, retain and reward high performers, and the talented individuals focusing on what constitutes talent and behaviour of talented individuals. In the following section we discuss the papers that are subsumed under these two categories. We also separate articles that encompass GTM (see Table 4) which overwhelmingly focuses on how MNCs attract, recruit, retain and reward high performing and high potential employees. Thus, there is very much a crossover with the aforementioned themes but given that there appears to be a distinct body of scholars working under the umbrella of GTM we felt it was appropriate to separate these papers. While the focus was typically on the management of talent from the managerial perspective there have been a select few, more recent, papers that consider the individual talents within the MNC context (e.g. Bjorkman et al., 2013).
Before we proceed to this discussion in detail it is important to note that a small, yet growing number of papers, or part therein, challenge the distinctiveness of the concept of TM from earlier conceptualisations of HRM. This body of literature views TM as essentially the same as HRM. Thus, TM amounts to little more than rebranding. The repackaging view argues that TM engages in the same activities as HRM – recruitment, selection, development, retention and ensuring the supply and demand for people is managed effectively – and it does not embody any novel ideas for HRM scholars (see Iles et al. [2010a] and Preece et al. [2011] for a discussion). This line of argument often draws on Abrahamson’s (1996) thesis of fads and fashions to explain why and how TM has caught on in recent years. Iles et al. (2010b) based on a small number of case studies of MNCs in China found examples of TM being essentially similar to HRM with key similarities being that both involved the same functional areas of people management, both emphasised integration with corporate strategy and the recognition of how important role allocation was. The differences were essentially that HRM had a somewhat broader scope and that HRM promoted egalitarianism, whereas TM emphasised segmentation
94 A. McDonnell et al.
because of its focus on a specific, i.e. talented, pool of the workforce. Similarly, Macfarlane et al.’s (2012) study of a public sector organisation equated TM to ‘leadership’. Jones et al. (2012), drawing on a convenience sample representing a range of sectors, found different spectrums of thought on TM varying from where it was little more than traditional HRM to where there was a more strategic, systems-level approach. Even where seemingly more strategic, TM in practice, they argued, tended to be ‘ad hoc, unstructured and fragmented’ (Jones et al., 2012, p.399).
Several papers have discussed the gaps between rhetoric and practice of TM (e.g. Cappelli, 2008). The idea of TM being merely rhetorical can be linked to the initial perspective highlighted by Lewis and Heckman (2006) in that there may be lots of discussion about TM but it is not necessarily something particularly different. Iles et al. (2010b) found that rhetorical obfuscation was a vital strategy in hiding the limited legitimacy of TM, in addition to institutionalising it within organisations. The key ingredients of this obfuscation were using credible language to selectively set out the company’s agenda so as to gain the right sort of commitment and behaviour from key stakeholders. We now turn to the main categories of TM scholarship which emerged from the review.
5 Management of talent
The majority of the reviewed scholarship focuses on the management of talent and its implication for the identification, management, development and retention of talented individuals and organisational outcomes. In line with earlier work we classify this literature as considering three distinct approaches.
5.1 Managing high performers and high potentials
The first approach focuses on the management of high performing staff regardless of their position in the organisation. This view promotes the classification of individuals by their performance and advocates, sometimes implicitly, that all roles should be filled with ‘A performers/players’ and that ‘C players’, or consistently poor performers, should be managed out of the organisation (Michaels et al., 2001). This perspective views talent as an unqualified positive resource that should be managed according to performance levels, hence the emphasis on forced performance distribution. This approach was premised on differentiating performance among employees and was popularised by Jack Welch at GE (Michaels et al., 2001). This approach prioritises the recruitment, retention and differential compensation of top performers regardless of the particular role or on occasion specific organisational requirements (Lewis and Heckman, 2006). Schuler et al. (2011, p.507) surmise that the major focus of this work was on ‘corporations obtaining and managing a sufficient number of highly talented individuals (… including high level executives, those with high managerial potential, and those with rare technical skills) to deal with the challenge of the global talent shortage’. A key focus of this literature is on defining and effectively measuring high performance.
Talent management 95
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/li
tera
ture
fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Bar
nett
and
D
avis
(20
08)
C
onsi
ders
how
suc
cess
ion
plan
ning
ca
n be
mad
e m
ore
succ
essf
ul in
as
sist
ing
orga
nisa
tion
s in
crea
se
perf
orm
ance
out
com
es
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Pro
pose
s a
five
-ste
p pr
oces
s to
fac
ilit
ate
impr
oved
suc
cess
ion
plan
ning
con
sist
ing
of
prel
imin
ary
plan
ning
, pre
pari
ng f
or s
ucce
ssio
n pl
anni
ng &
tale
nt r
evie
w, t
he ta
lent
rev
iew
m
eeti
ng, p
rovi
ding
fee
dbac
k &
fac
ilita
ting
de
velo
pmen
tal a
ctio
n pl
anni
ng, &
mea
suri
ng
effe
ctiv
enes
s
Bar
ron
(200
8)
Exa
min
es h
ow b
est t
o at
trac
t & r
etai
n ta
lent
ed p
eopl
e in
hos
pita
lity
educ
atio
n &
hos
pita
lity
indu
stry
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Arg
ues
that
edu
cati
on p
rovi
ders
nee
d to
be
m
ore
cogn
isan
t of
redu
cing
the
prac
tical
&
voca
tion
al e
lem
ents
of
hosp
ital
ity
prog
ram
s.
The
indu
stry
nee
ds to
look
at i
mpr
ovin
g it
s im
age
as v
iew
ed b
y th
e po
tent
ial j
ob s
eeke
r
Bau
m (
2008
)
Dis
cuss
es th
e ke
y fe
atur
es &
de
velo
pmen
ts o
f to
uris
m &
hos
pita
lity
la
bour
mar
kets
& th
eir
impa
ct o
n T
M
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Pro
pose
s th
ree
scen
ario
s fo
r T
M w
hich
are
in
clus
ive,
dev
elop
men
tal &
ali
gned
wit
h
a fi
rm’s
ext
erna
l env
iron
men
t: (1
) bl
ue
envi
ronm
ent:
str
ongl
y al
igne
d w
ith
exec
utiv
e ta
lent
, whe
re te
chni
cal &
lead
ersh
ip ta
lent
are
re
adil
y id
enti
fiab
le; (
2) g
reen
env
iron
men
t: re
late
d to
the
wel
fare
sta
te w
here
the
firm
see
ks
to m
eet i
ndiv
idua
l nee
ds; a
nd (
3) o
rang
e en
viro
nmen
t: a
pt to
hos
pita
lity
& to
uris
m
whe
re T
M is
incl
usiv
e w
ith
staf
f en
gage
d at
al
l lev
els
& f
unct
ions
Bha
tnag
ar (
2007
) In
vest
igat
es h
ow T
M is
rel
ated
to
empl
oyee
eng
agem
ent
Res
ourc
e-ba
sed
view
27
2 em
ploy
ee q
uest
ionn
aire
s fr
om f
our
busi
ness
pro
cess
out
sour
cing
fir
ms
in
Indi
a (7
8% r
espo
nse
rate
), a
long
with
fo
cus
grou
ps o
f 30
mal
e te
am m
anag
ers,
pr
ojec
t hea
ds, t
echn
ical
hea
ds f
ollo
wed
up
wit
h 72
exi
t int
ervi
ews
wit
hin
one
of
the
four
org
anis
atio
ns
Low
eng
agem
ent f
ound
at t
he b
egin
ning
of
an
em
ploy
ee’s
car
eer
& a
fter
16
mon
ths
w
ith
the
orga
nisa
tion
whi
ch w
ere
linke
d to
hi
gh a
ttri
tion.
Hig
h en
gage
men
t fou
nd a
t in
term
edia
te e
mpl
oym
ent l
evel
s w
hich
re
flec
ted
in h
ighe
r lo
yalt
y fo
r a
limit
ed ti
me.
D
issa
tisf
acti
on w
ith
care
er p
aths
& in
cent
ive
sche
mes
wer
e lin
ked
to
hig
her
attr
itio
n
96 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/l
iter
atur
e fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
fin
ding
s
Bha
ttac
hary
a
et a
l. (2
008)
D
iscu
sses
the
role
of
corp
orat
e so
cial
re
spon
sibi
lity
(C
SR
) in
eff
ecti
ve T
M
– In
-dep
th in
terv
iew
s &
eig
ht f
ocus
gro
ups
(fiv
e to
eig
ht p
eopl
e) w
ith
staf
f of
a
maj
or c
onsu
mer
goo
ds f
irm
. The
foc
us
grou
ps in
volv
ed p
arti
cipa
nts
at th
e U
S
HQ
, man
ufac
turi
ng o
pera
tion
, sal
es
offi
ce &
a n
on-U
S o
pera
tion
. Tw
p on
line
su
rvey
s ga
inin
g 48
1 em
ploy
ee r
espo
nses
fr
om te
n m
anuf
actu
ring
, ret
ail &
ser
vice
se
ctor
org
anis
atio
ns a
lso
took
pla
ce (
no
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed)
CS
R c
an b
e a
usef
ul in
tern
al m
arke
ting
leve
l
for
TM
but
CS
R s
trat
egie
s ne
ed to
be
set o
n a
clea
rly
arti
cula
ted
& c
onti
ngen
t inp
ut–o
utpu
t pe
rspe
ctiv
e. T
hese
str
ateg
ies
need
to b
e co
-cr
eate
d &
idea
lly
enac
ted
by e
mpl
oyee
s, in
ad
diti
on to
mee
ting
em
ploy
ee n
eeds
Bir
d et
al.
(201
0)
Exp
lain
s ho
w f
irm
s ca
n ta
ke
imm
edia
te s
teps
to b
uild
the
righ
t te
ams
& c
an la
y th
e fo
unda
tion
s fo
r a
long
-ter
m e
ffec
tive
TM
app
roac
h
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Org
anis
atio
ns n
eed
to q
uant
ify
thei
r le
ader
ship
ga
p, d
eplo
y th
eir
exis
ting
tal
ent
mor
e ef
fect
ivel
y &
red
uce
thei
r ta
lent
dem
and
as th
e fi
rst t
hree
st
eps
to b
uild
ing
a ta
lent
-ric
h fi
rm
Cap
pell
i (20
00)
Arg
ues
that
fir
ms
need
to f
ocus
on
a m
ore
mar
ket-
orie
nted
app
roac
h to
ta
lent
ret
enti
on
– D
raw
s on
exa
mpl
es f
rom
com
pani
es b
ut
ther
e w
ere
no d
etai
ls p
rovi
ded
on th
e m
etho
dolo
gy
Tra
diti
onal
ret
enti
on s
trat
egie
s ar
e no
long
er
suit
able
. Ret
enti
on p
ract
ices
sho
uld
be
cust
omis
ed a
ccor
ding
to h
ow im
port
ant i
t is
to
reta
in p
arti
cula
r em
ploy
ees.
App
roac
hes
to
com
pens
atio
n, jo
b de
sign
, job
cus
tom
isat
ion,
so
cial
ties
, loc
atio
n an
d hi
ring
pra
ctic
es a
ll n
eed
to b
e co
nsid
ered
wit
h a
diff
eren
t em
phas
is
depe
ndin
g on
sup
ply
and
dem
and
Cap
pell
i (20
08)
Dis
cuss
es T
M in
the
cont
ext o
f be
ing
effe
ctiv
e in
the
21s
t cen
tury
–
Dra
ws
on e
xam
ples
fro
m c
ompa
nies
but
th
ere
wer
e no
det
ails
pro
vide
d on
the
met
hodo
logy
Arg
ues
that
fir
ms
can
borr
ow le
sson
s fr
om
oper
atio
ns a
nd s
uppl
y ch
ain
man
agem
ent
rese
arch
to d
evel
op a
mor
e ef
fect
ive
TM
mod
el
Cha
baul
t et a
l. (2
012)
Id
enti
fies
goo
d T
M p
ract
ices
that
are
be
ing
used
in F
renc
h cl
uste
rs &
hi
ghli
ght t
he b
enef
its
of in
ter-
orga
nisa
tion
TM
as
wel
l as
the
chal
leng
es in
doi
ng s
o
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Arg
ues
that
man
agem
ent
of ta
lent
bet
wee
n or
gani
sati
ons
is f
unda
men
tal f
or s
ucce
ssfu
l cl
uste
rs. H
owev
er, a
s co
mpe
titi
on in
crea
ses
wit
hin
thes
e cl
uste
rs ta
lent
rem
ain
a re
sour
ce to
be
fou
ght
over
. Sug
gest
s th
at f
irm
s in
the
cl
uste
rs n
eed
to c
hang
e th
eir
cult
ure
to f
ocus
m
ore
on th
e re
tent
ion
of k
now
ledg
e ra
ther
th
an r
eten
tion
of
indi
vidu
al t
alen
ts
Cha
dee
and
Ram
an (
2012
) In
vest
igat
es t
he r
ole
of T
M o
n th
e pe
rfor
man
ce o
f kn
owle
dge-
inte
nsiv
e or
gani
sati
ons
– 68
onl
ine
ques
tion
nair
es (
8% r
espo
nse
rate
) fr
om e
xecu
tive
s in
Ind
ian-
base
d of
fsho
re I
T s
ervi
ce p
rovi
ders
(O
SP
s)
Ext
erna
l kno
wle
dge
& T
M h
ave
posi
tive
im
pact
s on
per
form
ance
of
OS
Ps.
TM
med
iate
s th
e ef
fect
s of
kno
wle
dge
on p
erfo
rman
ce b
y ac
ting
as
a m
echa
nism
thro
ugh
whi
ch k
now
ledg
e is
tran
sfor
med
into
per
form
ance
Talent management 97
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
foc
us
The
oret
ical
/lit
erat
ure
fram
ing
Met
hods
K
ey f
indi
ngs
Col
ling
s an
d M
ella
hi (
2009
) S
eeks
to
defi
ne T
M a
nd d
evel
op a
co
ncep
tual
mod
el o
f st
rate
gic
TM
A
MO
fra
mew
ork,
HR
ar
chit
ectu
re l
iter
atur
e N
o em
piri
cal
data
D
evel
ops
a co
ncep
tual
mod
el o
f st
rate
gic
T
M i
ncor
pora
ting
the
ide
ntif
icat
ion
of
pivo
tal
posi
tion
s, d
evel
opin
g ta
lent
poo
ls
& d
iffe
rent
iate
d H
R a
rchi
tect
ures
for
the
ta
lent
poo
ls
Dee
ry (
2008
) E
xam
ines
the
lit
erat
ure
on r
etai
ning
ta
lent
and
the
rol
e w
ork–
life
bal
ance
ha
s on
tur
nove
r in
tent
ions
and
the
impl
icat
ions
for
TM
– N
o em
piri
cal
data
T
he h
ospi
tali
ty m
anag
emen
t li
tera
ture
is
stro
ngly
foc
used
on
the
role
of
job
atti
tude
s (e
.g. j
ob s
atis
fact
ion
&co
mpa
ny c
omm
itm
ent)
, pe
rson
al a
ttri
bute
s su
ch a
s po
siti
ve a
nd
nega
tive
aff
ecti
vity
, and
the
rol
e of
wor
k–li
fe
bala
nce
in a
llev
iati
ng h
igh
turn
over
D’A
nnun
zio-
Gre
en (
2008
) E
xam
ines
man
ager
ial
view
s on
wha
t T
M i
s, h
ow i
t’s
oper
atio
nali
sed
& h
ow
it c
ontr
ibut
es t
o bu
sine
ss s
ucce
ss
– In
terv
iew
s w
ith
seni
or m
anag
ers
in t
he
tour
ism
& h
ospi
tali
ty i
ndus
try
Gre
at e
nthu
sias
m f
or T
M &
per
cept
ions
of
ho
w i
t’s
impo
rtan
t to
the
bus
ines
s. T
here
is
a co
mm
itm
ent
to T
M w
ith
part
icul
ar c
once
rn
expr
esse
d ov
er d
evel
opm
ent
& r
eten
tion
of
tale
nt r
athe
r th
an a
ttra
ctio
n
De
Vos
and
Dri
es
(201
3)
Exa
min
es h
ow t
he c
ompo
siti
on o
f th
e w
orkf
orce
in
term
s of
the
ir s
trat
egic
va
lue
& u
niqu
enes
s af
fect
how
car
eer
man
agem
ent
poli
cies
are
des
igne
d &
im
plem
ente
d
HR
arc
hite
ctur
e li
tera
ture
Q
uest
ionn
aire
s of
306
org
anis
atio
ns i
n B
elgi
um u
sing
a c
onve
nien
ce s
ampl
e
wit
h th
e m
ajor
ity
of r
espo
nden
ts b
eing
H
R m
anag
ers/
dire
ctor
s. N
o re
spon
se r
ate
prov
ided
Thr
eats
of
tale
nt s
hort
ages
wit
h re
spec
t to
va
lue
& u
niqu
enes
s w
ere
key
dete
rmin
ants
of
the
im
port
ance
org
anis
atio
ns p
lace
on
ca
reer
man
agem
ent
Dow
ns a
nd
Sw
aile
s (2
013)
P
ropo
ses
that
a m
ore
radi
cal
appr
oach
to
TM
is
requ
ired
tha
t in
corp
orat
es
key
soci
al a
nd e
thic
al d
imen
sion
s
Dut
y et
hics
, uti
lita
rian
et
hics
, dis
trib
ute
just
ice,
age
ncy
theo
ry,
virt
ue e
thic
s,
capa
bili
ty a
ppro
ach
No
empi
rica
l da
ta
Pro
pose
fiv
e pr
inci
ples
tha
t th
e au
thor
s
cont
end
add
soci
al &
eth
ical
con
side
rati
ons
to
the
conc
ept o
f T
M. I
t is
arg
ued
that
cu
rren
t vi
ews
repr
esen
t a
‘dar
k si
de’
of T
M
pote
ntia
lly
wil
l be
to
both
ind
ivid
uals
&
orga
nisa
tion
s
Eri
ckso
n an
d G
ratt
on (
2007
) C
onsi
ders
the
fac
tors
sep
arat
ing
the
good
com
pani
es t
o w
ork
for
and
the
not
so g
ood
– D
raw
s on
exa
mpl
es f
rom
co
mpa
nies
but
th
ere
wer
e no
det
ails
pro
vide
d on
the
met
hodo
logy
Org
anis
atio
ns s
houl
d no
t at
tem
pt to
be
all
thin
gs to
all
sta
ff. T
hey
shou
ld l
ook
to
com
mun
icat
e th
e fi
rm’s
dis
tinc
tive
pra
ctic
e
that
bes
t co
nvey
s w
hat
it i
s re
ally
lik
e to
wor
k th
ere
and
wha
t m
akes
the
com
pany
dif
fere
nt
to o
ther
s
Fes
ting
et
al.
(201
3)
Exa
min
es h
ow G
erm
an s
mal
l-m
ediu
m
firm
s ar
e ad
dres
sing
cha
ngin
g de
mog
raph
ics
& t
alen
t sh
orta
ges
thro
ugh
TM
– T
elep
hone
int
ervi
ews
usin
g se
lf-r
epor
t su
rvey
s w
ith
700
chie
f ex
ecut
ive
offi
cers
an
d ow
ners
/fou
nder
s of
Ger
man
sm
all-
med
ium
fir
ms.
No
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed
Ger
man
sm
all-
med
ium
fir
ms
wer
e fo
und
to
pref
er a
n in
clus
ive
TM
app
roac
h w
here
by a
ll
empl
oyee
s ar
e ta
rget
ed t
o th
e el
itis
t or
ex
clus
ive
appr
oach
98 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/li
tera
ture
fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Gro
ves
(201
1)
Exa
min
es h
ow n
atio
nwid
e he
alth
care
sy
stem
s ad
dres
s th
e ch
alle
nges
of
man
agin
g ta
lent
due
to d
iffi
cult
econ
omic
con
ditio
ns &
cha
ngin
g w
orkf
orce
tren
ds
– Q
uali
tati
ve c
ase
stud
ies
of 1
5 na
tionw
ide
heal
thca
re s
yste
ms
in th
e U
SA
wit
h se
mi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s co
mpl
eted
wit
h 30
ex
ecut
ives
as
wel
l as
docu
men
t ana
lysi
s of
T
M m
ater
ials
fro
m e
ach
orga
nisa
tion
Pro
pose
s a
mod
el o
f T
M b
est p
ract
ices
bas
ed
on r
esul
ts s
ugge
stin
g ex
empl
ary
heal
thca
re
orga
nisa
tion
s op
erat
e a
mul
ti-p
hase
d T
M
syst
em th
at h
as s
ix s
eque
ntia
l pha
ses
alon
g w
ith
asso
ciat
ed s
ucce
ss f
acto
rs th
at a
ssis
t im
plem
enta
tion
Gue
rci a
nd
Sol
ari (
2012
) In
vest
igat
es th
e T
M s
yste
m
impl
emen
ted
in f
our
Ital
ian
com
pani
es–
Four
cas
e st
udie
s of
Ita
lian
com
pani
es
whe
re th
ere
was
one
sem
i-st
ruct
ured
in
terv
iew
hel
d w
ith
the
pers
on r
espo
nsib
le
for
TM
in e
ach
Sug
gest
s th
e T
M a
ppro
ach
was
con
sist
ent
wit
h th
e li
tera
ture
in th
at a
n ex
clus
ive
focu
s w
as a
dopt
ed w
here
by T
M w
as c
once
rned
w
ith
indi
vidu
als
wit
h th
e ab
ilit
y to
mak
e si
gnif
ican
t con
trib
utio
ns to
the
orga
nisa
tion
. A
dif
fere
ntia
ted
appr
oach
to tr
aini
ng w
as
prov
ided
for
thos
e id
entif
ied
as ‘
tale
nt’
Har
ris
et a
l. (2
011)
D
iscu
sses
the
role
of
hum
an c
apita
l an
alyt
ics
in im
prov
ing
the
role
of
the
HR
fun
ctio
n in
org
anis
atio
ns
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
A m
ore
anal
ytic
al H
R f
unct
ion
can
brin
g im
prov
ed b
usin
ess
outc
omes
. Thi
s re
quir
es
inte
grat
ing
data
, ana
lyse
s an
d pr
oces
ses
thro
ugho
ut th
e en
tire
org
anis
atio
n ra
ther
than
it
bei
ng lo
cali
sed
to a
par
ticu
lar
part
Hil
trop
19
99)
Exp
lore
s ho
w o
rgan
isat
ions
att
ract
and
re
tain
tale
nt, w
hich
pra
ctic
es a
re m
ost
effe
ctiv
e &
wha
t els
e co
uld
be d
one
– Q
uest
ionn
aire
of
HR
man
ager
s &
pe
rson
nel o
ffic
ers
from
115
MN
C a
nd 2
04
dom
esti
c co
mpa
nies
in W
este
rn E
urop
e.
No
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed
The
res
ults
don
’t p
rovi
de r
esou
ndin
g ev
iden
ce
of th
e li
nk b
etw
een
HR
pra
ctic
es &
abi
lity
to
att
ract
& r
etai
n ta
lent
. Org
anis
atio
ns n
eed
to
und
erst
and
wha
t the
y ar
e ai
min
g fo
r in
at
trac
ting
tale
nt a
nd th
en ta
ilor
thei
r re
crui
tmen
t pro
cess
& H
R p
ract
ices
ac
cord
ingl
y to
mee
t the
nee
ds &
exp
ecta
tion
s of
that
gro
up
Hög
lund
(2
012)
A
naly
ses
the
dire
ct &
indi
rect
link
s be
twee
n H
RM
pra
ctic
es &
hum
an
capi
tal t
hrou
gh a
TM
fra
mew
ork
Res
ourc
e-ba
sed
view
, hu
man
cap
ital
theo
ry
17 in
terv
iew
s w
ith
the
head
of
HR
in
17 N
ordi
c M
NC
s al
ong
wit
h a
web
su
rvey
of
126
empl
oyee
s in
thes
e fi
rms
(5.6
% r
espo
nse
rate
)
Ski
ll-e
nhan
cing
HR
M p
ract
ices
are
pos
itiv
ely
rela
ted
to h
uman
cap
ital
. Tal
ent i
nduc
emen
ts
med
iate
the
skil
l-en
hanc
ing
HR
M &
hum
an
capi
tal r
elat
ions
hip.
Par
tial
sup
port
was
fo
und
that
em
ploy
ee o
blig
atio
ns to
dev
elop
sk
ills
med
iate
the
tale
nt in
duce
men
t–hu
man
ca
pita
l rel
atio
nshi
p
Talent management 99
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/li
tera
ture
fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Hug
hes
and
R
og (
2008
) In
vest
igat
es th
e m
eani
ng o
f T
M &
w
hy it
’s im
port
ant f
or h
ospi
talit
y or
gani
satio
ns
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
TM
is v
iew
ed a
s a
mul
tifa
cete
d st
rate
gic
man
agem
ent a
ctiv
ity
cham
pion
ed b
y H
R
whi
ch if
eff
ecti
vely
don
e m
ay a
ssis
t in
de
alin
g w
ith th
e la
bour
mar
ket c
hall
enge
s
face
d by
the
indu
stry
Iles
et a
l.
(201
0b)
Con
side
rs w
heth
er T
M c
an b
e ar
gued
as
dis
play
ing
feat
ures
of
a m
anag
emen
t fas
hion
Inst
itutio
nal t
heor
y &
m
anag
emen
t fas
hion
B
iblio
met
ric
coun
t T
he li
tera
ture
sug
gest
s th
at T
M h
as m
any
feat
ures
that
are
aki
n to
man
agem
ent
fash
ion
whi
ch a
llow
s op
port
unit
ies
to e
xten
d th
e po
pula
rity
& d
iffu
sion
of
the
conc
ept
desp
ite a
mbi
guity
ove
r it
s m
eani
ng &
sco
pe
Jone
s et
al.
(2
012)
In
vest
igat
es th
e m
eani
ng a
scri
bed
to
‘tal
ent’
& T
M &
whe
ther
this
is m
ore
akin
to a
n in
divi
dual
ist ‘
star
’ ap
proa
ch
or a
sys
tem
s-le
vel s
trat
egic
app
roac
h
– 22
sem
i-st
ruct
ured
inte
rvie
ws,
usi
ng a
co
nven
ienc
e sa
mpl
e, w
ith
seni
or H
R
prac
titio
ners
& e
xecu
tive
s fr
om a
var
iety
of
indu
stri
es in
Aus
tral
ia
TM
was
typi
call
y de
fine
d as
the
iden
tifi
catio
n,
attr
acti
on, d
evel
opm
ent &
ret
enti
on o
f a
segm
ent o
f th
e w
orkf
orce
but
ther
e w
as c
lear
di
ffic
ulty
in a
rtic
ulat
ing
wha
t ‘ta
lent
’ m
eant
. E
xecu
tion
of T
M te
nded
to b
e un
stru
ctur
ed, a
d ho
c &
not
in li
ne w
ith
a st
rate
gic
pers
pect
ive
Law
ler
and
Wor
ley
(201
2)
Dis
cuss
es th
e ro
le o
f T
M in
de
velo
ping
sus
tain
able
, eff
ecti
ve
orga
nisa
tions
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Arg
ues
that
eff
ecti
ve T
M is
cri
tica
l to
sust
aina
ble
man
agem
ent f
irm
s &
that
suc
h or
gani
sati
ons
need
to m
ove
beyo
nd tr
adit
iona
l T
M p
ract
ices
. In
such
org
anis
atio
ns, y
ou m
ay
not w
ant i
ndiv
idua
ls to
sta
y fo
r lo
ng p
erio
ds o
f ti
me,
you
wan
t tho
se th
at h
ave
the
righ
t ski
lls
and
capa
bilit
ies
at th
at p
arti
cula
r tim
e
Leh
man
n
(200
9)
Exa
min
es th
e co
nten
t & d
irec
tion
of
the
tale
nt d
evel
opm
ent p
roce
ss &
the
impa
ct o
f so
cial
, org
anis
atio
nal &
m
anag
eria
l pra
ctic
es o
n th
is
Hum
an c
apita
l, so
cial
ca
pita
l 15
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h in
divi
dual
s fr
om e
ight
fi
rms
in T
haila
nd &
11
inte
rvie
ws
from
se
ven
firm
s in
Mal
aysi
a re
pres
entin
g an
ar
ray
of in
dust
ries
New
HR
M p
ract
ices
hav
e be
en in
itia
ted
to
impr
ove
attr
acti
on, d
evel
opm
ent &
ret
enti
on
of ta
lent
s pa
rtic
ular
ly in
the
area
of
perf
orm
ance
man
agem
ent a
nd I
T s
yste
ms.
T
here
nee
ds to
be
grea
ter
adap
tatio
n of
soc
ial
and
firm
str
uctu
res
to f
it w
ith
the
new
HR
M
prac
tice
s th
at h
ave
been
impl
emen
ted
Lew
is a
nd
Hec
kman
(20
06)
Rev
iew
s th
e T
M p
ract
ition
er-o
rien
ted
lite
ratu
re to
est
ablis
h ho
w T
M is
de
fine
d, o
pera
tion
alis
ed &
sup
port
ed
Res
ourc
e-ba
sed
vi
ew &
HC
Bri
dge
Fra
mew
ork
No
empi
rica
l dat
a A
rgue
s th
at th
ere
is n
o cl
ear
mea
ning
to T
M
wit
h th
ree
appr
oach
es c
omm
on, r
angi
ng f
rom
a
rebr
andi
ng o
f H
R to
a m
ore
disc
rete
, st
rate
gic
man
ager
ial a
ctiv
ity.
The
y su
gges
t the
fi
eld
can
be d
evel
oped
thro
ugh
grea
ter
inte
grat
ion
wit
h st
rate
gic
HR
M
100 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/li
tera
ture
fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Mac
farl
ane
et a
l. (2
012)
In
vest
igat
es h
ow T
M p
roce
sses
hav
e ev
olve
d in
the
UK
Nat
iona
l Hea
lth
Ser
vice
(N
HS
)
Har
d &
sof
t HR
M
Sin
gle
case
stu
dy o
f th
e U
K’s
NH
S u
sing
a
docu
men
tati
on r
evie
w
The
re a
ppea
rs to
be
a m
ove
tow
ards
a
‘har
der’
mod
el o
f T
M in
the
last
fiv
e ye
ars.
T
M is
str
ongl
y fo
cuse
d on
‘le
ader
ship
’ an
d en
com
pass
es a
hig
hly
rati
onal
isti
c,
bure
aucr
atic
& c
entr
alis
ed p
roce
ss
Mar
tin
et a
l. (2
011)
D
iscu
sses
the
role
of
empl
oyer
br
andi
ng o
n in
nova
tion
, cor
pora
te
gove
rnan
ce &
rep
utat
ion
& H
R
prac
tice
Inte
llec
tual
cap
ital
, V
RIO
fra
mew
ork,
in
stit
utio
nal t
heor
y
No
empi
rica
l dat
a P
ropo
ses
a co
ncep
tual
mod
el o
f em
ploy
er
bran
ding
& h
ow it
may
art
icul
ate
wit
h co
rpor
ate
gove
rnan
ce, i
nnov
atio
n &
or
gani
sati
onal
rep
utat
ions
& h
ow th
is m
ay
cont
ribu
te to
HR
str
ateg
y in
act
ion
Max
wel
l and
M
acL
ean
(200
8)
Exp
lore
s th
e op
erat
iona
l im
plic
atio
ns
& s
trat
egic
act
ions
invo
lved
in T
M
– O
ne f
ocus
gro
up in
corp
orat
ing
boar
d m
embe
rs o
f th
e S
cott
ish
Tou
rism
For
um
TM
is p
erce
ived
as
offe
ring
sub
stan
tial
po
tent
ial t
o im
prov
e th
e em
ploy
men
t im
age
of
car
eers
in th
e ho
spit
alit
y &
tour
ism
indu
stry
McD
onne
ll (2
011)
Id
enti
fies
the
mai
n is
sues
fac
ed b
y or
gani
sati
onal
pra
ctit
ione
rs in
un
dert
akin
g T
M
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Pro
pose
s a
seri
es o
f re
sear
ch q
uest
ions
that
sh
ould
be
used
to in
form
fut
ure
rese
arch
in
brea
king
dow
n th
e sc
ienc
e ve
rsus
pra
ctic
e
gap
in T
M
Olt
ra a
nd V
ivas
-L
opez
(20
13)
Ana
lyse
s w
heth
er T
M p
ract
ices
link
ed
to te
amw
ork
desi
gn &
dyn
amic
s im
prov
e or
gani
sati
onal
lear
ning
Org
anis
atio
nal
lear
ning
16
7 qu
esti
onna
ires
of
larg
e fi
rms
in S
pain
us
ing
a co
nven
ienc
e sa
mpl
e (1
4% r
espo
nse
rate
)
Tea
m-b
ased
TM
can
pos
itiv
ely
impa
ct
orga
nisa
tion
al le
arni
ng e
spec
iall
y w
hen
te
ams
of ta
lent
ed in
divi
dual
s ar
e gi
ven
the
scop
e/au
tono
my
to b
e cr
eati
ve
Rya
n (2
012)
D
iscu
ssio
n on
bui
ldin
g a
team
of
A
play
ers
in G
ilt G
roup
e –
Pra
ctit
ione
r vi
ewpo
int a
rtic
le
TM
is a
mor
e im
port
ant r
ole
for
the
CE
O
than
any
oth
er a
spec
t of
his/
her
role
bec
ause
it
bri
ngs
the
grea
test
ret
urns
Arg
ues
that
ther
e is
no
scie
nce
in e
ffec
tive
rec
ruit
men
t & th
at
CV
s &
inte
rvie
ws
are
over
-val
ued,
whi
le
refe
renc
e ch
ecki
ng is
und
er-a
ppre
ciat
ed
Sch
olz
(201
2)
Exa
min
es w
heth
er c
ultu
re im
pact
s th
e ta
lent
man
agem
ent p
roce
ss
Nat
iona
l cul
ture
18
0 qu
esti
onna
ires
fro
m v
ideo
gam
es
deve
lopm
ent t
eam
mem
bers
of
the
Inte
rnat
iona
l Gam
e D
evel
oper
Ass
ocia
tion
(1
8% r
espo
nse
rate
). T
he m
ajor
ity
of
resp
onde
nts
wer
e in
the
UK
, USA
, and
C
anad
a, w
hile
job
role
s va
ried
wid
ely
Cul
ture
has
a p
ositi
ve in
flue
nce
acro
ss v
ario
us
role
s in
vid
eo g
ame
deve
lopm
ent t
eam
s. I
t is
reco
mm
ende
d th
at f
irm
s co
nsid
er c
ultu
ral
dive
rsit
y &
thos
e w
ith
the
best
fit
for
rol
es in
th
e in
dust
ry w
hen
attr
acti
ng &
rec
ruit
ing
staf
f
Talent management 101
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/li
tera
ture
fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Sch
wee
r et
al.
(201
2)
Exa
min
es h
ow T
M p
ract
ices
can
im
prov
e co
llab
orat
ion
in f
irm
s &
ho
w e
mpl
oyee
net
wor
ks in
crea
se
indi
vidu
al &
fir
m p
erfo
rman
ce
– O
nlin
e su
rvey
of
76 ta
lent
man
ager
s in
gl
obal
fir
ms
(spe
cifi
c co
ntex
ts n
ot
prov
ided
), in
terv
iew
s w
ith
tale
nt e
xper
ts,
15 in
-dep
th f
ocus
gro
ups
appl
ying
soc
ial
netw
ork
anal
ysis
& s
emi-
stru
ctur
e in
terv
iew
s. N
o re
spon
se r
ate
prov
ided
Fir
ms
look
ing
to le
vera
ge th
eir
tale
nt &
TM
pr
ogra
ms
can
bene
fit s
ubst
anti
ally
thro
ugh
a
coll
abor
ativ
e ne
twor
k ap
proa
ch. I
t is
impo
rtan
t tha
t org
anis
atio
ns lo
ok a
t the
ir h
igh
perf
orm
ers
wit
h re
spec
t to
mak
ing
co
llab
orat
ive
cont
ribu
tions
in a
ddit
ion
to
mor
e tr
adit
iona
l con
trib
utio
ns
Sco
tt a
nd R
evis
(2
008)
R
evie
ws
deve
lopm
ents
in c
aree
r m
anag
emen
t & n
otio
ns o
f ta
lent
fro
m
an o
rgan
isat
iona
l & h
ospi
talit
y gr
adua
te p
ersp
ecti
ve
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Iden
tifi
es th
ree
them
es in
the
lite
ratu
re: (
1) th
e gr
adua
te a
s ta
lent
; (2)
man
agin
g &
dev
elop
ing
tale
nt f
or th
e ho
spit
alit
y in
dust
ry; (
3) h
ospi
talit
y gr
adua
te c
aree
r m
anag
emen
t
Sw
aile
s
(201
3)
Con
side
rs th
e et
hica
l iss
ues
surr
ound
ing
orga
nisa
tion
al
appr
oach
es to
TM
Dut
y et
hics
, vir
tue
ethi
c, d
istr
ibut
ive
just
ice
theo
ry,
stak
ehol
der
theo
ry
No
empi
rica
l dat
a P
ropo
ses
a fr
amew
ork
to in
flue
nce
the
enac
tmen
t of
TM
in o
rgan
isat
ions
that
may
le
ad to
mor
e et
hica
l app
roac
hes
Tat
li e
t al.
(2
012)
D
iscu
sses
whe
ther
the
use
of g
ende
r qu
otas
wou
ld a
ssis
t TM
in th
e A
sia
Pac
ific
Reg
ion
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Man
y A
sian
eco
nom
ies
are
suff
erin
g fr
om
sign
ific
ant t
alen
t sho
rtag
es b
ut d
espi
te th
is a
re
fail
ing
to d
raw
on
an u
nuse
d ta
lent
poo
l – h
igh
pote
ntia
l fem
ales
. Sug
gest
s th
at in
tegr
atin
g T
M
wit
h ge
nder
equ
alit
y m
ay p
rovi
de o
ptio
ns to
or
gani
sati
ons
in th
is r
egio
n to
add
ress
som
e ta
lent
sho
rtag
es
Thu
nnis
sen
et a
l. (2
013)
A
rev
iew
of
the
tale
nt m
anag
emen
t li
tera
ture
–
Str
uctu
red
lite
ratu
re r
evie
w
Arg
ues
that
the
tale
nt m
anag
emen
t lit
erat
ure
is
too
one-
dim
ensi
onal
and
nar
row
and
ove
rly
unit
aris
t and
man
ager
iali
st. S
ugge
sts
that
ther
e is
a n
eed
for
a m
ore
plur
alis
t app
roac
h th
at
wou
ld in
volv
e ad
ditio
nal a
ppro
ach
such
as
stak
ehol
der
theo
ry
102 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s Th
eore
tica
l/lite
ratu
re
fram
ing
Met
hods
K
ey fi
ndin
gs
Val
verd
e et
al.
(201
3)
Exa
min
es T
M in
Spa
nish
sm
all–
med
ium
-siz
ed f
irm
s –
Six
cas
e st
udie
s of
sm
all-
med
ium
fir
ms
in
Spa
in. S
emi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s w
ith
the
owne
r of
the
com
pany
alo
ng w
ith
the
HR
m
anag
er to
ok p
lace
alo
ng w
ith
one
to tw
o em
ploy
ee le
vel i
nter
view
s (t
alen
ts &
non
-ta
lent
s w
here
thes
e w
ere
iden
tifie
d) in
eac
h ca
se
Lit
tle
awar
enes
s of
eit
her
the
term
, TM
, or
th
e rh
etor
ic s
urro
undi
ng th
e co
ncep
t was
fo
und
even
whe
re p
ract
ices
that
are
oft
en
cons
true
d as
TM
wer
e be
ing
used
Wan
g-C
owha
m
(201
1)
Exp
lore
s th
e co
nnec
tion
betw
een
tale
nt d
evel
opm
ent &
kno
wle
dge
shar
ing
mec
hani
sms
Soci
al e
xcha
nge
theo
ry &
kno
wle
dge
shar
ing
Sem
i-st
ruct
ured
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h 20
C
hine
se H
R p
ract
ition
ers
Kno
wle
dge
shar
ing
soci
alis
atio
n m
echa
nism
s in
tegr
ated
wit
h ta
lent
dev
elop
men
t can
fa
cilit
ate
orga
nisa
tion
al k
now
ledg
e sh
arin
g &
su
ppor
t ind
ivid
ual &
org
anis
atio
nal-
led
tale
nt
deve
lopm
ent
Wat
son
(200
8)
Rev
iew
s th
e co
mpo
nent
s of
m
anag
emen
t dev
elop
men
t & f
acto
rs
infl
uenc
ing
it &
how
thes
e fi
t wit
h T
M in
the
hosp
ital
ity
indu
stry
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Pre
sent
s a
fram
ewor
k of
the
man
agem
ent
deve
lopm
ent i
ssue
s af
fect
ing
TM
in th
e ho
spita
lity
indu
stry
. The
se e
ncom
pass
ex
tern
al &
inte
rnal
fac
tors
alo
ng w
ith s
kills
&
com
pete
ncie
s, c
aree
r is
sues
& d
evel
opm
ent
prac
tice
s
Whe
lan
and
Car
cary
(20
11)
Con
side
rs h
ow th
e pr
inci
ples
of
TM
ca
n be
use
d to
enh
ance
kno
wle
dge
man
agem
ent (
KM
) in
itiat
ives
– O
ne f
ocus
gro
up o
f th
ree
KM
pra
ctit
ione
rs
Fiv
e K
M c
once
rns
arou
nd T
M c
an b
e le
vera
ged
to im
prov
e K
M: (
1) id
enti
fyin
g kn
owle
dge
wor
kers
; (2)
kno
wle
dge
crea
tion
; (3
) kn
owle
dge
shar
ing;
(4)
dev
elop
ing
know
ledg
e co
mpe
tenc
ies;
(5)
kno
wle
dge
rete
ntio
n. T
hese
KM
con
cern
s ca
n be
nefi
t fro
m
the
inte
grat
ion
of T
M b
ut th
ey a
re n
ot o
f eq
ual
valu
e/im
port
ance
Whe
lan
et a
l. (2
010)
E
xam
ines
how
ext
erna
l kno
wle
dge
reac
hes
staf
f w
ith th
e ab
ility
to e
xplo
it su
ch k
now
ledg
e fo
r in
nova
tion
pu
rpos
es &
the
spec
ific
tale
nts
thes
e in
divi
dual
s ex
hibi
t
Tec
hnol
ogic
al
gate
keep
er th
eory
S
ingl
e ca
se s
tudy
of
a m
edic
al d
evic
es
R&
D g
roup
in I
rela
nd th
at in
clud
ed s
ocia
l ne
twor
k an
alys
is b
ased
on
a qu
esti
onna
ire,
as
wel
l as
ten
sem
i-st
ruct
ured
inte
rvie
ws
Gat
ekee
ping
rol
es a
re v
ital
to a
n ef
fect
ive
R&
D o
pera
tion
but
it is
rar
e fo
r a
sing
le
indi
vidu
al to
hav
e th
e ta
lent
s re
quir
ed f
or th
e ac
quis
ition
& d
isse
min
atio
n of
ext
erna
l kn
owle
dge
Talent management 103
Table 2 Summary of articles focusing on the management of talent (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s Th
eore
tica
l/lite
ratu
re
fram
ing
Met
hods
K
ey fi
ndin
gs
Wib
len
et a
l. (2
012)
In
vest
igat
es th
e ro
le o
f th
at
tech
nolo
gy p
lays
in id
entif
ying
tale
nt
– S
ingl
e ca
se s
tudy
of
a la
rge
prof
essi
onal
se
rvic
es f
irm
in A
ustr
alia
invo
lvin
g
42 s
emi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s of
m
anag
ers
invo
lved
in ta
lent
iden
tific
atio
n
Dec
isio
ns o
n w
heth
er a
n em
ploy
ee w
as a
‘t
alen
t’ w
ere
com
mon
ly b
ased
on
subj
ecti
ve
eval
uati
ons
alth
ough
, on
occa
sion
, thi
s w
as
com
bine
d w
ith m
ore
obje
ctiv
e, f
orm
al
mea
sure
s fa
cili
tate
d by
IT
van
Roo
ij (
2012
) A
naly
ses
the
trai
ning
lite
ratu
re to
es
tabl
ish
the
incl
usiv
enes
s of
old
er
wor
kers
thro
ugh
the
lens
of
syst
emat
ic
inst
ruct
iona
l des
ign
Inst
ruct
iona
l des
ign
liter
atur
e N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
HR
man
ager
s ne
ed to
app
reci
ate
age-
incl
usiv
e tr
aini
ng d
esig
n &
inte
grat
e th
ese
prin
cipl
es
into
the
firm
’s T
M s
trat
egy
Yan
ador
i and
K
ang
(201
1)
Ana
lyse
s co
mpe
nsat
ion
syst
ems
for
R&
D s
taff
and
adm
inis
trat
ive
empl
oyee
s in
US
hig
h-te
chno
logy
or
gani
sati
ons
HR
arc
hite
ctur
e lit
erat
ure
Indi
vidu
al e
mpl
oyee
com
pens
atio
n ra
tes
from
100
US
high
tech
nolo
gy p
ublic
and
pr
ivat
e fi
rms
gath
ered
thro
ugh
an a
nnua
l co
mpe
nsat
ion
surv
ey c
arri
ed o
ut b
y a
Bos
ton
cons
ultin
g fi
rm f
rom
199
2 to
200
2.
Com
pens
atio
n fo
r 98
8, 2
23 e
mpl
oyee
s –
of
whi
ch r
ough
ly o
ne-f
ourt
h w
ere
adm
inis
trat
ive
staf
f. N
o re
spon
se r
ate
prov
ided
If f
irm
s de
viat
e fr
om m
arke
t rat
es to
o m
uch
then
this
may
hav
e a
nega
tive
infl
uenc
e on
th
e at
trac
tion
& r
eten
tion
of
tale
nt b
y un
derp
ayin
g st
aff
or in
crea
sing
rew
ards
. T
he f
indi
ngs
endo
rse
crit
icis
ms
from
TM
on
unn
eces
sary
mai
nten
ance
of
a m
onol
ithi
c ap
proa
ch to
HR
M a
cros
s em
ploy
ee g
roup
s al
thou
gh o
ther
lite
ratu
res
note
the
dang
ers
of
pay
dif
fere
ntia
tion
too
Yar
nall
(2
011)
R
evie
ws
the
case
stu
dy li
tera
ture
for
th
e po
tent
ial i
mpl
icat
ions
of
sele
ctin
g &
dev
elop
ing
spec
ific
tale
nt p
ools
w
ithin
fir
ms
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Sev
en f
acto
rs e
mer
ged
as im
port
ant i
n ef
fect
ivel
y us
ing
tale
nt p
ools
. The
fir
st tw
o re
fer
to e
stab
lish
ing
an e
ffec
tive
app
roac
h ar
ound
seg
men
tatio
n &
the
nom
inat
ion
proc
ess.
The
rem
aini
ng a
re c
ateg
oris
ed a
s m
aint
enan
ce w
hich
incl
ude
bein
g co
gnis
ant o
f ch
angi
ng b
usin
ess
need
s, c
hang
ing
indi
vidu
al
circ
umst
ance
s, p
rovi
ding
dev
elop
men
tal
oppo
rtun
ities
, sen
ior
leve
l com
mit
men
t &
succ
ess
mea
sure
s
Yoo
n an
d L
im
(201
0)
Dis
cuss
es v
irtu
al le
arni
ng &
te
chno
logi
es &
how
sys
tem
isat
ion
can
occu
r th
roug
h m
anag
ing
firm
co
mpe
tenc
y &
tale
nts
Ble
nded
lear
ning
N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Man
agin
g fi
rm c
ompe
tenc
y as
sist
s in
pr
iori
tisi
ng le
arni
ng &
tech
nolo
gies
, whi
le
TM
hel
ps d
evel
op a
sys
tem
to d
evel
op &
re
tain
tale
nts.
TM
sho
uld
be p
art o
f H
RD
pr
acti
ces
104 A. McDonnell et al.
The review reveals that scholars of the management of talented individuals are more interested in understanding the broader concerns facing organisations rather than individual TM practices such as succession, recruitment or compensation issues. As a result there is a serious gap in our knowledge regarding how talented individuals are managed, especially regarding the processes organisations use to recruit, motivate and reward talent. Talent retention, however, is an exception. For example, Cappelli (2000) suggests that
organisations need to adopt a more market-oriented approach in retaining talent. He argued that the idea of adopting a long-term strategy, across the enterprise, craving employee loyalty as being neither desirable nor achievable. This perspective challenges organisations to reconsider the perspective that employee turnover is always negative with a more nuanced understanding by focusing on who is leaving and where they are taking up new roles. Consequently, he argues that there needs to be tailored retention programs for different talent which should tie in with the level of demand for them on the external labour market.
Tymon et al. (2010) using large scale survey evidence from India found that employee perceptions of the company as being socially responsible were related to organisational pride, which directly impacted satisfaction with the organisation; this satisfaction was associated with reduced intention to leave and improved perceptions of career success. A later paper from the same data set (Doh et al., 2011) found that responsible leadership was another critical factor in retention.
Other papers have sought to be more holistic in covering recruitment and retention together. For example, Hiltrop (1999) analyses some of the strategies and practices that firms utilise in attracting and retaining talent. A key conclusion is the need for tailored strategies and practices to meet the expectations and needs of particular target groups in attracting them to the organisation and subsequently motivating and retaining them. Zheng et al. (2008) found that manufacturing firms in Asia had to be particularly aggressive in attracting and retaining highly skilled managerial and professional staff with organisations in the Tiger economies of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand. Remaining in the emerging markets, Ready et al. (2008) proposed a set of principles for attracting and retaining talent, built around the organisation’s purpose, culture, brand and opportunities provided to individuals. These authors urge caution to organisations that view their domestic talent strategies being effective in emerging markets with the development of a core of local talent vital to business success in these countries.
5.2 Identifying strategic positions and talent management systems
The second approach to the management of talent focuses on strategic positions and TM systems in organisations. A growing body of research emphasises the identification of strategic or pivotal positions which have the potential to differentially impact the competitive advantage of the organisation (e.g. Boudreau and Ramstad, 2005; Collings and Mellahi, 2009). The point of departure is the identification of key positions rather than talented individuals per se. Thus, the point is made that not every position in the organisation needs to be filled with the highest performers. Collings and Mellahi (2009) argue that the starting point for any TM system should be the systematic identification of the key positions which differentially contribute to an organisation’s sustainable competitive advantage. This approach reflects the evolution of the strategic HRM literature which increasingly recognises that there should be a greater degree of differentiation of roles within organisations, with more emphasis on strategic over non-strategic jobs (Becker and Huselid, 2006), or between those organisational roles which
Talent management 105
promise only marginal impact vis-à-vis those which can provide above-average impact (Boudreau and Ramstad, 2007). This is in contrast to the situation in many organisations where overinvestment in non-strategic roles is commonplace (Boudreau and Ramstad, 2007; Huselid et al., 2005). This approach diverges from the traditional focus of strategic HRM research, which adopted a bottom-up focus in theory development, emphasising the idea that employees can contribute to the firm’s strategic objective simply because of their value and uniqueness (Becker and Huselid, 2006). In contrast, this perspective advocates a top-down approach and recognises that ‘… not all strategic processes will be highly dependent on human capital’ and hence not all roles require ‘A players’. Thus, the differentiating factor in explaining strategic value becomes the job not the individual. These ‘A positions’ are distinguished by their ‘disproportionate importance to a company’s ability to execute some parts of its strategy and second … the wide variability in the quality of the work displayed among the employees in these positions’. Human capital is of little economic value unless it is deployed in the implementation of the organisation’s strategic intent, or in the pivotal roles within the organisation (Boxall and Purcell, 2011).
Our review suggests that more recently there has been an evolution of thought with an increasing realisation that ‘great systems are often more important than great people’ (Beechler and Woodward, 2009, p.277). Reflecting this argument Collings and Mellahi (2009) draw upon the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework to highlight that performance is more complex than simply employing great talent. The AMO framework proposes that employee performance (P) is a function of the employee’s ability (A), motivation (M) and opportunity (O) to perform. Thus, assuming that ability is taken as a given, seeing as an organisation’s key talent are the focus of the system, it is important that the organisation has systems which ensure these individuals have the opportunity to perform (through supporting development opportunities and ensuring they are deployed effectively) and are highly motivated (through appropriate HR policies and supports) to maximise performance.
In the vein of systems, several papers explored the use of information technology (IT) in the identification and management of talent. This theme reflects the increasing search for more evidence-based decisions around talent (see Vaiman et al., 2013). For example, the issue of analytics is considered by Harris et al. (2011) who discuss how analytical methods can be used to better argue that investing in human capital leads to a return on financial capital. To be effective, data (bedrock of effective analytical approaches), analyses and processes throughout the organisation need to be integrated. Inherent in this is the need to move away from static reporting of convenience data to using more outcome-focused predictive measures. However, Wiblen et al.’s (2012) study challenges the extent to which the data from systems actually inform talent decisions. Drawing on the social construction of technology literature, the authors found that the role of IT was contested and marginalised by decision-makers as they preferred to make both individual and collective sense of their environment. Decisions on whether an individual was a talent or not were typically based on subjective interpretations. It was clear that there were significant variations in understanding of what constituted talent and how to identify it with the authors suggesting that the potential of IT to facilitate better talent identifications decisions was very much under-realised. The paper points to the limited use of analytics even where they exist.
Given that the common focus appears to be on a small and exclusive group of employees, attention has been drawn to the ethical implications of TM and focusing on particular individuals with high potential. Swailes (2013) argues that while a
106 A. McDonnell et al.
differentiated, exclusive approach may make intuitive sense, there are ethical issues and challenges. Swailes (2013, p.41) develops a useful evaluation framework encompassing four stages that organisations can consider in determining the ethical standing of their approach to talent management. The first imagines talent where views are free of bias and exemplify virtue. Key questions that are raised include, is an elitist TM program needed and how can it be effectively communicated to the workforce? Further, to what extent is the program free of bias (e.g. gender) and does it effectively differentiate between talent and popularity? Second, in identifying talent there are ethical issues if not all individuals are provided with just opportunity to be considered. Consequently, central considerations are whether all staff receive a fair opportunity to be considered as a talent and what efforts have been made to remove bias from the identification stage. The third element of the framework is developing talent. This raises the issue of how ‘non-talents’ will feel about being excluded from an exclusive TM program and what resources are made available to these vis-à-vis those classified as talent. The final stage is that on evaluating the program and considering how it benefits those excluded from it. A key point put forward is that duty and virtue ethics promote the idea that TM should be ethical, and drawing on the distribute justice literature, stakeholder theory and utilitarianism argues that excluded individuals still benefit in some form. Similarly, Downs and Swailes (2013) argue that current focus on talented individuals and high performers represent a ‘dark side’ of TM which is likely to be detrimental to both individuals and organisations. The topic of ethics and TM is something that we feel warrants greater attention and as a result, we return to this later in the paper.
6 Individual talent perspectives
While our review identifies a strand of research focusing strongly on the individual talents, this theme has received considerably less attention. One illustrative exception is Bjorkman et al.’s (2013) study. Their research found significant differences between individuals who were identified as ‘talent’ and those who were not and those who did not know. Specifically, individuals who perceived they had been identified as talent compared to those who were not had lower turnover intent were more committed to increasing their performance levels, more actively supportive of their employer’s strategic objectives, identified to a greater degree with the focal organisation and were more committed to developing competencies of value to the firm. Broadly similar findings emerged for those who perceived they had been identified as talent compared to those who did not know if they were regarded as talented or not. Consequently, there appears to be a motivational impact on informing individuals of their talent status. Dries et al. (2012a) considered whether the traditional view of careers still had resonance in the case of high potentials and average performing staff. Their findings indicated that high potentials reported higher levels of job security and salary increases than average performers. It appeared that attitudes and inducements associated with traditional careers were clearer in the case of high potentials. The findings led the researchers to conclude that the traditional organisational career remains relevant among the highest performing individuals. Related to the articles around ethical issues (e.g. Swailes, 2013), Bjorkman et al. recommend that organisations should ensure that they ‘consider the potential long term implications of identifying talent, and to counterbalance the focus on top talent’ with approaches that encompass diversity and are more inclusive than very elitist systems (2013, p.210).
Talent management 107
Table 3 Summary of articles focusing on talent/talented individuals
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s Th
eore
tica
l/lit
erat
ure
fram
ing
Met
hods
K
ey fi
ndin
gs
Bjo
rkm
an e
t al.
(201
3)
Exa
min
es w
hat e
ffec
t tal
ent
iden
tifi
cati
on h
as o
n em
ploy
ee
atti
tude
s
Soc
ial e
xcha
nge
theo
ry
Onl
ine
surv
ey o
f 93
0 m
anag
ers
&
prof
essi
onal
s in
106
sub
sidi
arie
s of
11
Nor
dic
MN
Cs
(76%
res
pons
e ra
te)
The
res
ults
indi
cate
that
info
rmin
g
tale
nted
sta
ff o
f th
eir
stat
us w
ill h
ave
a m
otiv
atio
nal e
ffec
t tha
t mat
ches
the
pred
icti
ons
of s
ocia
l exc
hang
e th
eory
and
su
ppor
ts th
e lo
gic
of T
M
Dri
es a
nd
Pep
perm
ans
(201
2)
Ana
lyse
s th
e li
tera
ture
to a
rriv
e at
a
mod
el o
f ho
w to
mor
e ef
fect
ivel
y id
enti
fy le
ader
ship
tale
nt
– A
lite
ratu
re r
evie
w le
d to
the
deve
lopm
ent
of 7
7 cr
iter
ia o
f le
ader
ship
pot
entia
l. T
hese
cr
iter
ia w
ere
sent
to 3
2 su
bjec
t exp
erts
(s
tude
nts
of a
Mas
ters
of
Indu
stri
al &
O
rgan
isat
iona
l Psy
chol
ogy
& s
enio
r H
R
prof
essi
onal
s) in
Bel
gium
who
wer
e as
ked
to p
ut th
em in
to s
truc
ture
d pi
les
acco
rdin
g to
m
eani
ng &
rel
evan
ce &
labe
l the
m
Ana
lyti
cal s
kill
s (i
ncor
pora
ting
inte
llec
tual
cu
rios
ity,
str
ateg
ic in
sigh
t, de
cisi
on-m
akin
g
& p
robl
em-s
olvi
ng);
lear
ning
agi
lity
(w
illi
ngne
ss to
lear
n, e
mot
iona
l int
elli
genc
e
& a
dapt
abil
ity)
; dri
ve (
resu
lts
orie
ntat
ion,
pe
rsev
eran
ce &
ded
icat
ion)
; & e
mer
gent
le
ader
ship
(m
otiv
atio
n to
lead
, sel
f-pr
omot
ion
& s
take
hold
er s
ensi
tivi
ty)
repr
esen
t a f
our-
quad
rant
mod
el o
f id
entif
ying
lead
ersh
ip
pote
ntia
l
Dri
es e
t al.
(201
2a)
Exa
min
es w
heth
er th
e ca
reer
s li
tera
ture
th
at a
rgue
s th
at th
e tr
aditi
onal
or
gani
sati
onal
car
eer
is d
ead
is c
lose
r to
the
trut
h th
an th
e T
M li
tera
ture
that
su
gges
ts th
ey r
emai
n si
gnif
ican
t pa
rtic
ular
ly a
mon
g th
e be
st p
eopl
e
Bou
ndar
yles
s ca
reer
, jo
b se
curi
ty,
orga
nisa
tion
al s
uppo
rt,
care
er o
rien
tati
on,
loya
lty
pref
eren
ce,
orga
nisa
tion
al
com
mit
men
t, ca
reer
sa
tisf
acti
on li
tera
ture
s
Onl
ine
surv
ey o
f 94
1 hi
gh p
oten
tials
&
aver
age
perf
orm
ers
(con
trol
gro
up)
from
12
Bel
gian
, int
erna
tiona
lly
acti
ve f
irm
s op
erat
ing
in th
e ba
nkin
g, in
sura
nce,
bus
ines
s co
nsul
ting,
IC
T, e
nerg
y &
aut
omot
ive
sect
ors
(49%
res
pons
e ra
te)
Hig
h po
tent
ials
& th
ose
iden
tifi
ed a
s ke
y ex
pert
s re
port
ed h
ighe
r jo
b se
curi
ty &
sa
lary
incr
ease
s si
nce
join
ing
the
orga
nisa
tion
th
an a
vera
ge p
erfo
rmer
s. H
igh
pote
ntia
ls
also
rep
orte
d m
ore
orga
nisa
tion
al s
uppo
rt,
mor
e pr
omot
ions
& h
ighe
r or
gani
sati
onal
co
mm
itm
ent.
Indu
cem
ents
& a
ttit
udes
as
soci
ated
wit
h tr
adit
iona
l car
eers
wer
e ty
pica
lly
mor
e ob
viou
s in
the
case
of
high
po
tent
ials
Dri
es e
t al.
(201
2b)
Exa
min
es h
ow le
arni
ng a
gili
ty is
abl
e to
pre
dict
whe
ther
an
indi
vidu
al is
id
enti
fied
as
high
pot
enti
al
Lea
rnin
g ag
ilit
y A
sur
vey
was
con
duct
ed o
f hi
gh p
oten
tial
s an
d no
n-hi
gh p
oten
tial
sta
ff (
n =
63)
in
seve
n T
M b
est p
ract
ice
firm
s (a
s id
enti
fied
by
a c
onsu
ltan
cy f
irm
) st
emm
ing
from
fou
r in
dust
ries
(fi
nanc
ial c
onsu
ltin
g, d
istr
ibut
ion,
IC
T, t
elec
om).
No
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed
Lea
rnin
g ag
ilit
y w
as a
bet
ter
pred
icto
r of
an
indi
vidu
al b
eing
iden
tifi
ed a
s a
high
po
tent
ial t
han
job
perf
orm
ance
. Car
eer
va
riet
y is
pos
itiv
ely
asso
ciat
ed w
ith
one’
s le
arni
ng a
gili
ty. F
irm
s sh
ould
con
side
r in
corp
orat
ing
lear
ning
agi
lity
into
thei
r ta
lent
id
enti
fica
tion
sys
tem
s an
d co
nsid
er h
ow th
ey
may
enh
ance
the
vari
ety
of h
igh
pote
ntia
ls’
care
ers
108 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 3 Summary of articles focusing on talent/talented individuals (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/l
iter
atur
e fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Gro
ysbe
rg e
t al
. (2
008)
C
onsi
ders
whe
ther
a s
tar
in o
ne jo
b &
or
gani
sati
on r
emai
ns a
sta
r w
hen
they
m
ove
else
whe
re
– A
com
pari
son
of th
e pe
rfor
man
ce o
f st
ar,
US
, Nat
iona
l Foo
tbal
l Lea
gue
(NF
L)
wid
e re
ceiv
ers
& p
unte
rs w
ho s
wit
ched
tea
ms
wit
h th
eir
coun
terp
arts
who
did
not
mov
e
Hir
ing
star
indi
vidu
als
can
be r
isky
in
that
they
may
not
ach
ieve
thei
r pr
evio
us
leve
ls o
f pe
rfor
man
ce &
that
it m
ay i
mpa
ct
the
perf
orm
ance
& m
oral
e of
exi
stin
g st
aff.
M
anag
ers
wou
ld b
e ad
vise
d to
try
to m
inim
ise
the
port
abil
ity
of th
ose
in p
arti
cula
r st
ar
posi
tion
s so
as
to r
etai
n th
ose
indi
vidu
als
whi
ch p
rovi
de c
ompe
titi
ve a
dvan
tage
Hau
skne
cht
et a
l. (2
009)
E
xam
ines
why
hig
h pe
rfor
mer
s st
ay
wit
h th
eir
empl
oyer
T
heor
y of
or
gani
sati
onal
eq
uili
briu
m
Ann
ual (
2003
) em
ploy
ee o
pini
on s
urve
y of
em
ploy
ees
in a
larg
e ho
spit
alit
y/le
isur
e co
mpa
ny in
the
US
A. A
res
pons
e ra
te o
f 87
.7%
was
ach
ieve
d eq
uati
ng to
30,
556
indi
vidu
als.
The
pap
er d
raw
s on
ope
n-en
ded
ques
tion
res
pons
es f
rom
24,
829
Hig
h pe
rfor
mer
s &
non
-hou
rly
staf
f ci
te
adva
ncem
ent o
ppor
tuni
ties
& o
rgan
isat
iona
l pr
esti
ge a
s th
e m
ost
impo
rtan
t rea
sons
for
st
ayin
g w
ith
the
firm
. Hou
rly
and
low
pe
rfor
min
g st
aff
wer
e m
ore
like
ly to
cit
e ex
trin
sic
rew
ards
as
why
they
sta
y. T
he
find
ings
em
phas
ise
the
need
for
fir
ms
to
diff
eren
tiat
e th
eir
rete
ntio
n pr
acti
ces
Kim
et a
l. (
2012
) A
naly
ses
the
effe
cts
of i
ndiv
idua
l va
lues
on
appl
ican
t at
trac
tion
am
ong
Vie
tnam
ese
stud
ents
tow
ards
wor
king
in
Jap
anes
e co
mpa
nies
Per
son–
orga
nisa
tion
fi
t the
ory
& a
ttra
ctio
n–se
lect
ion–
attr
itio
n fr
amew
ork
Sur
vey
of u
nder
grad
uate
uni
vers
ity
stud
ents
in
thre
e pr
esti
giou
s V
ietn
ames
e un
iver
siti
es
cons
isti
ng o
f 32
6 re
spon
ses
(82%
res
pons
e ra
te)
Rec
ruit
ing
tale
nts
in V
ietn
am r
equi
res
clos
e un
ders
tand
ing
of in
divi
dual
dis
posi
tion
al
fact
ors
beca
use
the
rese
arch
sho
ws
that
wor
k-ce
ntri
c, m
oney
-ori
ente
d &
col
lect
ivis
tic
jo
b-se
eker
s w
ere
mor
e at
trac
ted
to J
apan
ese
MN
Cs.
Mor
eove
r, in
divi
dual
val
ues
m
oder
ate
the
rela
tion
ship
bet
wee
n fi
rm
char
acte
rist
ics
& a
ppli
cant
att
ract
ion
Tan
sley
and
T
ietz
e (2
013)
E
xam
ine
how
TM
is e
xper
ienc
ed a
nd
resp
onde
d to
by
indi
vidu
al ta
lent
s at
di
ffer
ent j
unct
ures
& c
onsi
der
how
id
enti
ty w
ork
impa
cts
the
tran
siti
onal
pr
oces
s of
indi
vidu
als
as th
ey a
dvan
ce
thro
ugh
a T
M p
rogr
am
Rit
es o
f pa
ssag
e C
ase
stud
y of
a m
ajor
acc
ount
ancy
co
nsul
tanc
y in
the
UK
inco
rpor
atin
g si
x se
mi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s w
ith
staf
f re
spon
sibl
e fo
r m
anag
emen
t tal
ent,
alon
g w
ith
two
focu
s gr
oups
of
staf
f at
dif
fere
nt
care
er s
tage
s &
whi
ch w
ere
rega
rded
as
tale
nt
Tec
hnic
al a
bili
ty is
im
port
ant b
ut n
ot
suff
icie
nt o
n it
s ow
n to
suc
cess
full
y
prog
ress
thro
ugh
the
tale
nt a
dvan
cem
ent
proc
ess.
Ide
ntit
y w
ork,
wit
h re
spec
t to
de
velo
ping
spe
cifi
c w
ork
orie
ntat
ions
&
disp
osit
ions
to a
ssis
t ind
ivid
uals
cop
e w
ith
incr
easi
ng a
mbi
guit
y &
cha
nge,
is
cent
ral
to
adva
ncem
ent
Wal
lace
et a
l. (2
012)
E
xam
ines
the
bra
nd a
ttri
bute
s th
at
grad
uate
s pl
ace
mos
t em
phas
is o
n &
co
nsid
ers
how
org
anis
atio
ns w
ith
a w
eak
bran
d ca
n en
gage
in
TM
Bra
nd e
quit
y &
si
gnal
ling
theo
ry
352
surv
eys
of f
inal
yea
r en
gine
erin
g st
uden
ts f
rom
fiv
e un
iver
siti
es &
a
tech
nica
l/fu
rthe
r ed
ucat
ion
coll
ege
in f
ive
Aus
tral
ian
stat
es (
86%
res
pons
e ra
te)
Gra
duat
es f
aile
d to
vie
w r
ail a
s ha
ving
a
bran
d po
siti
on. W
eake
r pr
ofil
e in
dust
ries
sh
ould
con
side
r th
e at
trib
utes
that
thei
r ta
rget
la
bour
poo
l fee
l are
im
port
ant
to th
em in
bu
ildi
ng a
n at
trac
tive
bra
nd
Talent management 109
How talent is defined is a question that is widely identified as needing greater attention by researchers. Linked to the issue is the ability to effectively define and identify high potential – a term often used interchangeably with talent. Dries and colleagues have produced some of the most noteworthy research here. Dries and Peppermans (2012) utilise a range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies in considering how to identify leadership potential. They developed a four quadrant model of analytical skills, learning agility, drive and emergent leadership which received significant consensus (albeit from a limited sample) and addressed some of the issues that often impede the assessment of leadership potential (e.g. the performance versus potential conundrum). Dries et al. (2012b) evaluate, from the perspective of the rater, the ability of learning agility to predict whether an individual employee will be identified as high potential. They found that learning agility was a more effective predictor of an employee being labelled as a talent than job performance and that career variety had a positive association with an individual’s learning agility.
7 Global talent management
About one-third of the reviewed papers focused on the management of talent within MNCs, labelled as GTM. The review reveals that GTM suffers from similar issues to that of the overarching literature in that there is limited consensus on its meaning from a theoretical and conceptual perspective. Broadly defined, GTM refers to the activities of attracting, selecting, developing and retaining those best employees in the most strategy roles (those roles necessary to achieve organisational strategic priorities) on a global scale. It takes into account the differences in both organisations’ global strategic priorities as well as the differences across national contexts of how talent should be managed in the countries in which they operate (Scullion et al., 2010). Stahl et al. (2012) reiterates some of the issues already discussed around defining and assessing performance and potential but when one considers the global nature of MNCs the challenges are accentuated.
Tarique and Schuler (2010) identify a range of exogenous and endogenous GTM challenges, as well as discussing the major international HR activities that should be incorporated within GTM systems. Schuler et al. (2011) further consider several global talent challenges and the opportunities that these can present for MNCs. They develop nine propositions that integrate external forces and shapers, global talent challenges, practices and expected results. Kim and McLean (2012) consider why GTM is necessary and the key challenges in developing global talent in which they focus strongly on three main challenges, namely concerns about global mobility, the use of an ethnocentric strategy, and barriers between the headquarters and subsidiaries. They propose four Human Resource Development (HRD) roles for GTM which are balancing centralised and decentralised strategies, developing global competencies, creating structured global talent development, and global team building. McDonnell et al. (2010) provided large scale survey evidence on the use of different mechanisms by MNCs in Ireland encompassing some of the roles raised by Kim and McLean (2012). They further note they found contextual factors as important predictors of GTM with the larger MNCs and the provision of standardised products and services between subsidiaries particularly significant.
110 A. McDonnell et al.
Minbaeva and Collings (2013) reiterate a point long-made in the international HRM literature about the additional challenges that management on a global rather than domestic scale inevitably involves. They consider seven myths which, though more focused on the MNC context, could also be proposed for TM itself. We outline these here and integrate other research where they resonate with the myth. The first myth proposed is that TM is not an HR responsibility. They note that while the top management team are critical in effective TM, the corporate HR function must keep a central role in how GTM is operationalised across subsidiaries. The key issue is the HR function’s capacity to demonstrate and convince senior management that they have the capabilities to manage the MNC’s global talent pool. The role of the corporate HR function in MNCs has received some attention by way of proposing different roles that the function plays in GTM (Farndale et al., 2010; Sparrow et al., 2013). Specifically, the four roles proposed that facilitate GTM effectiveness are being guardians of culture, champion of processes, managing receptivity, and network leadership and intelligence. Based on two cases, Sparrow et al. (2013) found support for the four roles and the interdependencies between them. It was also shown that external factors, like the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), impacted on the role played. Garavan (2012) similarly noted GTM was viewed as strategically important by stakeholders of pharmaceutical MNCs and that the GFC perpetuated greater control over talent coupled with increased involvement of the corporate and regional headquarters in subsidiary level talent decisions.
The second myth is that TM is all about people and this is counterpoised with the notion that it is pivotal positions which are the bedrock of any effective system. The third myth is that all positions require A players instead suggesting that the focus should be on improving the positioning and retention of A players in the MNCs’ pivotal positions. The portability of talent is the source of myth number four. The fifth myth debunks the idea of employee turnover as always negative. Calling for a more nuanced approach and drawing on the work of Somaya et al. (2008) they suggest that investing in the maintenance of relationships with departing staff may be a beneficial strategy in the long run. The penultimate myth is that there is a clear line of sight between GTM and MNC performance. Demonstrating cause and effect between HR and firm performance is notoriously difficult to establish with the MNC context adding to this challenge. A more holistic return on investment measure is suggested that incorporates multiple stakeholders and quantitative and qualitative measures. Finally, they suggest that TM decisions are not necessarily fair due to the limitations of standardised evaluation instruments in culturally distant contexts. This was something centred on by Mäkelä et al. (2010) in examining the factors that influence the likelihood of being classified as talent within MNCs. They propose that the higher the cultural and institutional distance between where individuals are located and where the primary decision-makers are based, the less likelihood she/he is viewed as talent. The greater the degree of similarity between candidate and decision-maker will increase the likelihood. Finally, the more central an individual is within the MNC’s internal network, the more likely she/he will be included in a talent pool. Zander et al. (2010) also consider such issues using intersectionality theory as a new means of considering how social interaction impacts the interplay between an MNCs’ talent identification and individuals’ identification processes. Further, Mellahi and Collings (2010) in a conceptual piece suggest that subsidiary management may attempt to circumvent their most talented staff being identified as talent in the MNC because the subsidiary may be perceived to gain little from doing so. They also point to the challenge of completely understanding talent resources in the MNC and suggest that it may go beyond the capability of managers at the corporate HQ.
Talent management 111
Table 4 Summary of articles focusing on global talent management
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/
lite
ratu
re fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Bur
bach
and
R
oyle
(20
10)
Exp
lore
s ho
w ta
lent
is m
anag
ed in
M
NC
s, th
e ro
le o
f H
R I
T s
yste
ms
&
the
fact
ors
whi
ch m
edia
te th
e T
M
proc
ess
– S
ingl
e ca
se s
tudy
of
Iris
h &
Ger
man
su
bsid
iari
es o
f a
US
, med
ical
dev
ices
M
NC
TM
pra
ctic
e di
ffus
ion
was
con
ting
ent o
n st
akeh
olde
r in
volv
emen
t, to
p le
vel s
uppo
rt,
mic
ro-p
olit
ical
exc
hang
es a
nd in
tegr
atio
n w
ith
a gl
obal
HR
IT
sys
tem
Doh
et a
l.
(201
1)
Exa
min
es th
e pe
rcep
tion
s of
pr
ofes
sion
al ta
lent
tow
ards
thei
r fi
rm’s
T
M e
ffor
ts
– S
trat
ifie
d ra
ndom
sam
ple
of e
mpl
oyee
s w
as ta
ken
wit
h 48
91 p
arti
cipa
ting
in a
n on
line
sur
vey
(54%
res
pons
e ra
te).
28
com
pani
es in
Ind
ia e
ncom
pass
ing
32
oper
atin
g si
tes
cons
isti
ng o
f fo
reig
n M
NC
s, I
ndia
n M
NC
s an
d In
dian
dom
esti
c fi
rms
wer
e in
clud
ed
Com
pani
es p
rovi
ding
mea
ning
ful &
re
spon
sive
app
roac
hes
to d
evel
opin
g an
d m
anag
ing
tale
nt w
ill b
e in
a s
tron
ger
po
sitio
n in
ret
aini
ng th
eir
prof
essi
onal
s.
The
em
ploy
ee v
alue
pro
posi
tion
off
ered
to
prof
essi
onal
sta
ff is
impo
rtan
t as
it c
an g
ive
the
com
pany
an
edge
ove
r it
s co
mpe
tito
rs in
at
trac
ting
& r
etai
ning
tale
nt
Far
ndal
e et
al.
(201
0)
Exa
min
es th
e ro
le o
f th
e co
rpor
ate
HR
fu
ncti
on in
GT
M
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Sug
gest
s th
at th
ere
are
four
key
rol
es th
at
the
corp
orat
e H
R f
unct
ion
can
play
in G
TM
, na
mel
y ch
ampi
on o
f pr
oces
ses,
gua
rdia
n of
cu
ltur
e, n
etw
ork
lead
ersh
ip &
inte
llig
ence
&
man
ager
s of
inte
rnal
, rec
epti
vity
Gar
avan
(20
12)
Inve
stig
ates
how
act
ors
view
a f
irm
’s
stra
tegi
c pr
iori
ties
dur
ing
the
GF
C &
ho
w th
ese
alig
n w
ith
GT
M
Res
ourc
e-ba
sed
view
, be
st-f
it (
cont
inge
ncy)
&
res
ourc
e de
pend
ency
theo
ries
Non
e ca
se s
tudi
es o
f ph
arm
aceu
tica
l M
NC
s in
Ire
land
inco
rpor
atin
g 12
0 se
mi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s w
ith
info
rman
ts f
rom
di
ffer
ent l
evel
s of
the
orga
nisa
tion
hi
erar
chy
GT
M w
as a
key
str
ateg
ic a
ctiv
ity
duri
ng
the
GF
C th
roug
h as
sist
ing
man
agem
ent i
n do
wns
izin
g, e
xpan
sion
& r
e-al
igni
ng
stru
ctur
es. G
TM
was
vie
wed
as
an e
nabl
er
to f
utur
e gr
owth
Har
tman
n et
al.
(201
0)
Exa
min
es T
M in
wes
tern
MN
Cs
in
Chi
na a
nd th
e in
flue
nce
of in
stit
utio
nal
& c
ultu
ral f
acto
rs in
dif
fusi
ng p
ract
ices
fr
om th
e H
Q to
sub
sidi
arie
s
– S
even
cas
e st
udie
s of
US
& E
urop
ean
MN
Cs
in C
hina
(m
anuf
actu
ring
& s
ervi
ces
indu
stry
) co
nsis
ting
of
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h (s
enio
r/m
iddl
e le
vel H
R m
anag
ers
and
‘tal
ents
’)
The
TM
sys
tem
is tr
ansf
erre
d fr
om H
Q
wit
hout
muc
h ch
ange
& is
foc
used
on
deve
lopi
ng ‘
tale
nts’
& b
uild
ing
an
orga
nisa
tion
al c
ultu
re. I
nteg
rate
d, s
trat
egic
T
M w
as n
ot p
arti
cula
rly
evid
ent
Har
vey
et a
l. (2
011)
P
ropo
ses
a se
ries
of
hypo
thes
es a
roun
d th
e ro
le o
f tr
ust i
n im
prov
ing
glob
al
rela
tion
ship
s in
clud
ing
the
impa
ct o
n G
TM
Ref
eren
ce p
oint
th
eory
N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
The
dev
elop
men
t of
trus
t bet
wee
n in
patr
iate
s an
d he
adqu
arte
rs s
taff
wil
l fac
ilit
ate
glob
al
mob
ilit
y w
hich
wil
l pos
itiv
ely
impa
ct o
n th
e ab
ilit
y to
dev
elop
glo
bal t
alen
t
Hua
ng a
nd
Tan
sley
(20
12)
Inve
stig
ates
how
an
MN
C u
sed
rhet
oric
al u
nder
pinn
ings
in
impl
emen
ting
TM
Rhe
tori
c th
eory
S
ingl
e U
S M
NC
cas
e st
udy
enco
mpa
ssin
g 62
inte
rvie
ws
from
six
reg
ions
incl
udin
g H
Q c
onsi
stin
g of
exe
cuti
ves
& m
anag
ers
from
acr
oss
func
tion
s. T
hree
foc
us g
roup
s w
ere
also
hel
d fr
om n
on-m
anag
eria
l, op
erat
iona
l sta
ff
Man
agem
ent r
heto
rica
lly
emot
iona
lise
thei
r st
aff
abou
t the
re b
eing
a ‘
tale
nt w
ar’
outs
ide
the
fact
ory
to a
ccom
mod
ate
chan
ging
ag
enda
s &
cir
cum
stan
ces.
Thi
s as
sist
ed th
e M
NC
to c
over
up
inco
nsis
tent
pra
ctic
es &
le
giti
mis
e T
M
112 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 4 Summary of articles focusing on global talent management (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
foc
us
The
oret
ical
/ li
tera
ture
fra
min
g M
etho
ds
Key
fin
ding
s
Iles
et
al.
(201
0a)
Ana
lyse
s ho
w M
NC
s in
Chi
na d
efin
e T
M &
whe
ther
it
is v
iew
ed a
s di
scre
te
man
agem
ent
acti
vity
dif
fere
nt t
o H
RM
– S
even
cas
e st
udie
s of
US
& E
urop
ean
MN
Cs
(IT
, edu
cati
on, h
ealt
hcar
e,
cons
ulta
ncy
sect
ors)
in
Chi
na in
volv
ing
22
sem
i-st
ruct
ured
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h in
divi
dual
s at
dif
fere
nt o
rgan
isat
iona
l le
vels
& w
ithi
n di
ffer
ent
func
tion
s
TM
was
not
vie
wed
as
esse
ntia
lly
diff
eren
t
to H
RM
thou
gh H
RM
is
view
ed a
s ha
ving
br
oade
r sc
ope.
TM
pro
mot
es s
egm
enta
tion
, w
here
as H
RM
pro
mot
es e
gali
tari
anis
m
Kim
and
McL
ean
(201
2)
Iden
tifi
es t
he n
eces
sity
& c
hall
enge
s
of T
M i
n a
glob
al c
onte
xt &
pro
pose
s ro
les
for
HR
D
– N
o em
piri
cal
data
P
ropo
ses
a fr
amew
ork
of t
he n
eces
sity
, ch
alle
nges
& H
RD
rol
es f
or G
TM
Li
and
Scu
llio
n (2
010)
D
evel
ops
a co
ncep
tual
fra
mew
ork
for
deve
lopi
ng e
xpat
riat
e m
anag
ers’
loc
al
com
pete
nce
in t
he e
mer
ging
mar
kets
Soc
iali
sati
on,
Ext
erna
lisa
tion
, C
ombi
nati
on,
Inte
rnal
isat
ion
(SE
CI)
th
eory
of
know
ledg
e ac
quis
itio
n
No
empi
rica
l da
ta
The
dev
elop
ed f
ram
ewor
k ar
gues
tha
t tr
adit
iona
l st
rate
gies
for
dev
elop
ing
loca
l co
mpe
tenc
e m
ay b
e in
effe
ctiv
e in
dev
elop
ing
glob
al m
anag
ers
to w
ork
in t
he e
mer
ging
m
arke
ts
Mäk
elä
et a
l.
(201
0)
Con
side
rs th
e fa
ctor
s th
at i
nflu
ence
the
li
keli
hood
of
an i
ndiv
idua
l bei
ng
clas
sifi
ed a
s ‘t
alen
t’ w
ithi
n M
NC
s
Str
ateg
ic s
earc
h &
ch
oice
S
ingl
e ca
se s
tudy
of
a F
inni
sh, p
roce
ss
man
ufac
turi
ng M
NC
inv
olvi
ng s
emi-
stru
ctur
ed in
terv
iew
s w
ith
45 k
ey
info
rman
ts, a
long
wit
h do
cum
ent a
naly
sis
Dev
elop
s a
theo
reti
cal
fram
ewor
k of
the
de
term
inan
ts o
f ta
lent
ide
ntif
icat
ion
inco
rpor
atin
g cu
ltur
al &
inst
itut
iona
l di
stan
ce
betw
een
loca
tion
s of
pot
enti
al ta
lent
poo
l m
embe
rs &
the
dec
isio
n-m
aker
s, h
omop
hily
be
twee
n de
cisi
on-m
aker
s &
the
ind
ivid
ual,
&
the
netw
ork
posi
tion
of
the
indi
vidu
al
McD
onne
ll e
t al
. (2
010)
E
xplo
res
the
exte
nt to
whi
ch M
NC
s en
gage
in
GT
M a
nd t
he f
acto
rs
pred
icti
ng th
e us
e of
GT
M p
ract
ices
HR
arc
hite
ctur
e R
epre
sent
ativ
e su
rvey
of
the
mos
t se
nior
H
R r
epre
sent
ativ
e in
260
for
eign
and
do
mes
tic
owne
d M
NC
s in
Ire
land
(63
%
resp
onse
rat
e)
Sig
nifi
cant
num
bers
of
MN
Cs
do n
ot
appe
ar t
o be
eng
agin
g in
GT
M. G
loba
l H
R
func
tion
str
uctu
res,
the
larg
est
MN
Cs
and
whe
re M
NC
s se
rvic
e gl
obal
mar
kets
si
gnif
ican
tly
pred
ict
GT
M e
ngag
emen
t
Mel
lahi
and
C
olli
ngs
(201
0)
Exa
min
es t
he b
arri
ers
tale
nts
face
to
corp
orat
e ad
vanc
emen
ts i
n su
bsid
iari
es
Age
ncy
& b
ound
ed
rati
onal
ity
theo
ries
N
o em
piri
cal
data
S
elf-
serv
ing
inte
rest
s of
sub
sidi
ary
man
ager
s &
the
ina
bili
ty o
f H
Q m
anag
ers
to p
roce
ss
the
com
plex
nat
ure
of u
nder
stan
ding
the
ir
orga
nisa
tion
’s t
alen
t re
sour
ces
may
ne
gati
vely
im
pact
the
ide
ntif
icat
ion
of
tale
nted
indi
vidu
als
Mel
lahi
and
C
olli
ngs
(201
0)
Exa
min
es t
he b
arri
ers
tale
nts
face
to
corp
orat
e ad
vanc
emen
ts i
n su
bsid
iari
es
Age
ncy
& b
ound
ed
rati
onal
ity
theo
ries
N
o em
piri
cal
data
S
elf-
serv
ing
inte
rest
s of
sub
sidi
ary
man
ager
s &
the
ina
bili
ty o
f H
Q m
anag
ers
to p
roce
ss
the
com
plex
nat
ure
of u
nder
stan
ding
the
ir
orga
nisa
tion
’s t
alen
t re
sour
ces
may
ne
gati
vely
im
pact
the
ide
ntif
icat
ion
of
tale
nted
indi
vidu
als
Talent management 113
Table 4 Summary of articles focusing on global talent management (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
foc
us
The
oret
ical
/ li
tera
ture
fra
min
g M
etho
ds
Key
fin
ding
s
Min
baev
a an
d C
olli
ngs
(201
3)
Unp
acks
som
e of
the
key
myt
hs t
hat
surr
ound
glo
bal
TM
–
No
empi
rica
l da
ta
Pro
pose
s se
ven
myt
hs t
hat
if m
inim
ised
sh
ould
ass
ist
the
deve
lopm
ent
of T
M
prac
tice
. The
myt
hs i
dent
ifie
d ar
e: (
1) T
M
is n
ot a
n H
R r
espo
nsib
ilit
y; (
2) T
M i
s al
l ab
out p
eopl
e; (
3) a
ll p
osit
ions
sho
uld
be
fill
ed w
ith
A p
laye
rs;
(4)
tale
nt i
s po
rtab
le;
(5)
tale
nt tu
rnov
er i
s al
way
s ba
d fo
r th
e
firm
; (6
) th
ere’
s a
clea
r li
ne o
f si
ght
betw
een
GT
M a
nd f
irm
per
form
ance
; (7
) ta
lent
de
cisi
ons
are
‘fai
r’
Pre
ece
et a
l.
(201
1)
An
anal
ysis
of
whe
ther
tal
ent
man
agem
ent
can
be c
onsi
dere
d ak
in t
o a
new
man
agem
ent
fash
ion
Inst
itut
iona
l th
eory
&
man
agem
ent
fash
ion
Sev
en c
ase
stud
ies
(fiv
e U
S, o
ne U
K, o
ne
Can
adia
n) o
f M
NC
s in
Chi
na in
volv
ing
22
sem
i-st
ruct
ured
int
ervi
ews
wit
h H
R
spec
iali
sts,
sen
ior
& f
unct
iona
l m
anag
er &
no
n-m
anag
eria
l em
ploy
ees
TM
did
exe
mpl
ify
char
acte
rist
ics
of
man
agem
ent
fash
ion
but
this
the
ory
was
un
able
to e
ntir
ely
inte
rpre
t T
M. T
here
was
ev
iden
ce o
f co
mpa
nies
eng
agin
g in
TM
as
a m
eans
of
addr
essi
ng c
hall
enge
s of
tal
ent
attr
acti
on, m
otiv
atio
n &
ret
enti
on
Pre
ece
et a
l.
(201
3)
Iden
tifi
es t
he T
M i
ssue
s w
ith
esta
blis
hing
reg
iona
l MN
C s
truc
ture
s in
the
Asi
a P
acif
ic
– S
ingl
e ca
se s
tudy
of
a Ja
pane
se M
NC
fo
cuse
d on
est
abli
shin
g a
regi
onal
he
adqu
arte
r in
Asi
a. F
ive
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h se
nior
man
ager
s at
the
reg
iona
l le
vel
foll
owed
by
thre
e in
terv
iew
s w
ith
seni
or
man
ager
s at
a s
econ
d vi
sit
wit
h on
e be
ing
a fo
llow
-up
inte
rvie
w
Fou
nd a
reg
ioce
ntri
c st
affi
ng a
ppro
ach
to b
e in
pla
ce. T
he s
mal
l po
ol o
f ex
peri
ence
d le
ader
s in
the
reg
ion
caus
es s
igni
fica
nt
chal
leng
es f
or t
he M
NC
. A k
ey i
ssue
is
deve
lopi
ng s
ubsi
diar
y le
vel
indi
vidu
als
to
take
on
mor
e co
mpl
ex r
egio
nal
HQ
rol
es.
Get
ting
sub
sidi
arie
s to
tak
e T
M s
erio
usly
w
as a
sig
nifi
cant
cha
llen
ge
Rea
dy a
nd
Con
ger
(200
7)
Exa
min
es h
ow P
roct
er &
Gam
ble
&
HS
BC
are
pri
me
exam
ples
of
tale
nt
fact
orie
s al
low
ing
them
to
deve
lop
and
reta
in k
ey e
mpl
oyee
s an
d fi
ll p
osit
ions
in
lin
e w
ith
the
evol
ving
bus
ines
s re
quir
emen
ts
– D
raw
s on
exa
mpl
es f
rom
tw
o le
adin
g M
NC
s bu
t the
re w
ere
no d
etai
ls p
rovi
ded
on th
e m
etho
dolo
gy
Com
pani
es s
triv
ing
for
busi
ness
gro
wth
hav
e li
ttle
hop
e w
itho
ut b
eing
abl
e to
put
the
righ
t pe
ople
in th
e ri
ght j
obs
whe
n th
e ti
me
arri
ves.
T
o do
so,
fir
ms
need
to
coor
dina
te
func
tion
alit
y, c
ompr
ehen
sive
TM
pra
ctic
es
that
sup
port
str
ateg
ic o
bjec
tive
s, w
ith
vita
lity
co
nsis
ting
of
a st
rong
man
ager
ial
com
mit
men
t to
TM
Rea
dy e
t al
. (2
008)
T
o id
enti
fy h
ow c
ompa
nies
can
be
succ
essf
ul i
n at
trac
ting
and
ret
aini
ng
tale
nt i
n th
e em
ergi
ng m
arke
ts
– D
raw
s on
exa
mpl
es f
rom
lar
ge M
NC
s in
th
e em
ergi
ng m
arke
ts b
ut t
here
wer
e no
de
tail
s pr
ovid
ed o
n th
e m
etho
dolo
gy
Fir
ms
need
to
be c
auti
ous
on t
rans
ferr
ing
dom
esti
c ta
lent
str
ateg
ies
to t
he e
mer
ging
m
arke
ts. I
t is
cri
tica
l to
dev
elop
a c
ore
of
loca
l ta
lent
to g
uide
the
fir
m i
n th
ese
mar
kets
&
rel
ying
on
Eng
lish
as
the
offi
cial
bus
ines
s la
ngua
ge m
ay b
e de
trim
enta
l to
ide
ntif
ying
ta
lent
114 A. McDonnell et al.
Table 4 Summary of articles focusing on global talent management (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/
lite
ratu
re fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Sch
uler
et a
l. (2
011)
H
ighl
ight
s th
e gl
obal
tale
nt c
hall
enge
s fa
ced
by o
rgan
isat
ions
and
the
oppo
rtun
ities
that
thes
e pr
esen
t
– N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Dev
elop
s a
fram
ewor
k of
glo
bal t
alen
t ch
alle
nges
& G
TM
init
iati
ves
alon
g w
ith
prop
osin
g ni
ne p
ropo
sitio
ns r
elat
ed to
this
Shi
and
Han
dfie
ld
(201
2)
Exa
min
es th
e ca
uses
und
erly
ing
the
chal
leng
es o
f H
R m
anag
ers
in
recr
uiti
ng a
nd r
etai
ning
Chi
nese
em
ploy
ees
– In
terv
iew
s w
ith
thre
e gr
oups
: (1)
11
Wes
tern
logi
stic
MN
C r
epre
sent
ativ
es w
ith
oper
atio
ns in
Chi
na; (
2) p
rofe
ssor
s &
ad
min
istr
ator
s fr
om f
ive
Chi
nese
un
iver
siti
es w
ith
logi
stic
s/su
pply
cha
in
prog
ram
s; (
3) 1
1 hi
ghly
qua
lifi
ed C
hine
se
man
ager
s w
orki
ng f
or M
NC
s in
Chi
na.
Als
o pa
rtic
ipan
t obs
erva
tion
in o
ne M
NC
The
re is
a m
ajor
gap
bet
wee
n C
hine
se
empl
oyee
exp
ecta
tion
s &
the
perc
eive
d re
alit
y of
for
eign
man
ager
s ar
ound
exp
ecte
d te
rms
& c
ondi
tions
. MN
C lo
gist
ic r
oles
are
no
t vie
wed
par
ticu
larl
y at
trac
tive
by
Chi
nese
jo
b ca
ndid
ates
Sku
za e
t al.
(201
3)
Exp
lora
tory
stu
dy o
f th
e ta
lent
ch
alle
nges
fac
ed b
y fo
reig
n M
NC
s an
d P
olis
h ow
ned
com
pani
es
– S
ix f
ocus
gro
ups
invo
lvin
g a
tota
l of
58
low
er, m
iddl
e an
d up
per
man
ager
ial l
evel
pa
rtic
ipan
ts f
rom
28
fore
ign
and
30
dom
esti
c fi
rms
in P
olan
d fo
llow
ed u
p w
ith
a te
leph
one
surv
ey o
f ea
ch (
100%
res
pons
e ra
te)
Lit
tle
to n
o ev
iden
ce o
f si
mil
arit
y be
twee
n P
olis
h fi
rm &
‘W
este
rn’
prac
tice
. The
re w
ere
grea
ter
TM
cha
llen
ges
perc
eive
d by
Pol
ish
firm
s. T
M is
like
ly to
cha
llen
ge th
e tr
adit
iona
l pra
ctic
es a
s P
olan
d be
com
es a
m
ore
open
, mar
ket e
cono
my
Spa
rrow
et a
l. (2
013)
E
xplo
res
the
corp
orat
e H
R f
unct
ion
role
in G
TM
–
One
UK
(in
tern
atio
nal b
anki
ng &
fin
anci
al
serv
ices
) &
one
US
MN
C (
prof
essi
onal
se
rvic
es)
whi
ch h
ave
cent
rali
sed
&
dece
ntra
lise
d ap
proa
ches
to g
loba
l TM
re
spec
tive
ly. 2
6 in
terv
iew
s to
ok p
lace
ac
ross
the
case
stu
dies
invo
lvin
g m
ulti
ple
HR
per
sonn
el f
rom
the
MN
C
Evi
denc
e w
as f
ound
of
the
corp
orat
e H
R
func
tion
hav
ing
a ch
ampi
on o
f pr
oces
s,
guar
dian
of
cultu
re, m
anag
er o
f in
tern
al
rece
ptiv
ity
and
netw
ork
lead
ersh
ip &
in
tell
igen
ce r
ole
alth
ough
thes
e di
ffer
ed
som
ewha
t bet
wee
n w
heth
er it
was
the
cent
rali
sed
or d
ecen
tral
ised
GT
M a
ppro
ach
Sta
hl e
t al.
(201
2)
Inve
stig
ates
how
MN
Cs
deve
lop
and
sust
ain
thei
r ta
lent
pip
elin
es
– 20
cas
e st
udie
s in
corp
orat
ing
312
inte
rvie
ws
wit
h pr
ofes
sion
als
at th
e co
rpor
ate,
reg
iona
l & c
ount
ry le
vel
foll
owed
by
a w
eb s
urve
y of
263
HR
pr
ofes
sion
als
fro
m th
e A
mer
icas
, Asi
a-P
acif
ic, E
urop
ean,
Mid
dle
Eas
t & A
fric
an
regi
ons.
No
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed
Com
peti
tive
adv
anta
ge r
esul
ts f
rom
eff
ecti
ve
inte
rnal
ali
gnm
ent o
f th
e pr
acti
ces
whi
ch
enco
mpa
ss th
e M
NC
’s G
TM
sys
tem
, alo
ng
wit
h be
ing
embe
dded
in th
e co
rpor
ate
valu
es
syst
em a
nd li
nked
to b
usin
ess
stra
tegy
. It i
s no
t abo
ut d
esig
ning
& im
plem
enti
ng ‘
best
pr
acti
ces’
Tar
ique
and
S
chul
er (
2010
) R
evie
ws
acad
emic
wor
k on
GT
M a
nd
prop
oses
an
inte
grat
ive
fram
ewor
k fo
r ad
vanc
ing
rese
arch
Inst
itut
iona
l the
ory
No
empi
rica
l dat
a D
evel
ops
an in
tegr
ativ
e fr
amew
ork
of th
e ex
ogen
ous
& e
ndog
enou
s dr
iver
s of
GT
M
whi
ch im
pact
upo
n th
e G
TM
sys
tem
and
that
di
rect
ly a
ffec
t GT
M e
ffec
tive
ness
/out
com
es
Talent management 115
Table 4 Summary of articles focusing on global talent management (continued)
Aut
hors
P
aper
aim
/TM
focu
s T
heor
etic
al/
lite
ratu
re fr
amin
g M
etho
ds
Key
find
ings
Tym
on e
t al.
(201
0)
Ana
lyse
s th
e ro
le o
f in
trin
sic
rew
ards
an
d re
tent
ion,
car
eer
succ
ess
and
orga
nisa
tion
al s
atis
fact
ion
– S
trat
ifie
d ra
ndom
sam
ple
of 4
811
indi
vidu
als
from
28
com
pani
es, s
ome
of
whi
ch w
ere
MN
Cs,
in I
ndia
(54
% r
espo
nse
rate
)
Em
ploy
ee p
erce
ptio
ns o
f th
e fi
rm a
s so
cial
ly
resp
onsi
ble
are
stro
ngly
ass
ocia
ted
wit
h
prid
e in
the
firm
whi
ch d
irec
tly
impa
cts
sati
sfac
tion
wit
h th
e fi
rm &
red
uces
inte
ntio
n to
leav
e. I
t als
o en
hanc
es p
erce
ptio
ns o
f ca
reer
suc
cess
Van
ce e
t al.
(201
3)
Exa
min
es p
erce
ptio
ns o
f tr
aini
ng f
it in
C
hina
am
ong
Kor
ean
expa
tria
tes
and
loca
l sta
ff a
nd d
iscu
sses
the
impl
icat
ions
for
GT
M
Con
verg
ence
, di
verg
ence
, cr
ossv
erge
nce
&
trai
ning
lite
ratu
re
A s
urve
y, u
sing
a c
onve
nien
ce s
ampl
e, o
f 67
Kor
ean
expa
tria
tes
in M
NC
s op
erat
ing
in C
hina
alo
ng w
ith
202
non-
man
ager
ial
loca
l Chi
nese
sta
ff f
rom
Chi
nese
and
US
MN
Cs
in a
ran
ge o
f ci
ties
in C
hina
. All
re
spon
dent
s w
ere
wor
king
in
man
ufac
turi
ng c
ompa
nies
. No
resp
onse
ra
te p
rovi
ded
Kor
ean
MN
Cs
tend
to tr
ansf
er th
eir
head
quar
ters
trai
ning
app
roac
h in
thei
r K
orea
n su
bsid
iari
es. T
here
is m
uch
sim
ilar
ity
betw
een
trai
ners
& le
arne
rs in
res
pect
to
care
er d
evel
opm
ent &
trai
nee
owne
rshi
p in
th
e de
velo
pmen
t pro
cess
sug
gest
ing
GT
M a
s a
mea
ns to
dev
elop
ing
futu
re le
ader
s is
fir
mly
em
bedd
ed in
trai
ning
exp
ecta
tion
s in
the
Chi
nese
labo
ur f
orce
Zan
der
et a
l. (2
010)
E
xam
ines
car
eer
patt
erns
& ta
lent
id
enti
fica
tion
wit
hin
MN
Cs
thro
ugh
an
inno
vati
ve th
eore
tica
l len
s
Inte
rsec
tion
alit
y th
eory
N
o em
piri
cal d
ata
Arg
ues
that
the
inte
rsec
tion
alit
y ap
proa
ch
may
be
a us
eful
mea
ns o
f ex
plor
ing
who
m
akes
it to
the
top
in M
NC
s &
can
ass
ist i
n bu
ildin
g gr
eate
r aw
aren
ess
of h
ow d
iffe
rent
so
cial
ly a
nd c
ultu
rall
y co
nstr
ucte
d ca
tego
ries
in
tera
ct a
cros
s th
e di
ffer
ent l
evel
s w
ithi
n M
NC
s
Zhe
ng
(200
9)
Exa
min
es h
ow H
R p
ract
ices
& ta
lent
im
pact
s se
rvic
e de
live
ry &
or
gani
sati
on g
row
th
– S
urve
y of
281
ser
vice
sec
tor
MN
Cs
in
Indo
nesi
a, M
alay
sia,
Phi
lipp
ines
, S
inga
pore
, Tai
wan
& S
inga
pore
. R
espo
nden
ts w
ere
CE
Os,
fin
anci
al
cont
roll
ers
& H
R m
anag
ers.
No
resp
onse
ra
te p
rovi
ded
Sig
nifi
cant
link
ages
wer
e fo
und
betw
een
HR
pr
acti
ces,
tale
nt r
eten
tion
& s
ervi
ce d
eliv
ery.
S
kill
s tr
aini
ng &
dev
elop
men
t pro
gram
s ar
e vi
ewed
as
sign
ific
ant i
mpa
cts
on c
apac
ity
to
deli
ver
high
qua
lity
ser
vice
and
incr
ease
co
mpa
ny g
row
th
Zhe
ng e
t al.
(200
8)
Exa
min
es th
e is
sues
MN
Cs
in s
ix
Asi
an c
ount
ries
fac
e in
rec
ruiti
ng
high
ly s
kill
ed m
anag
eria
l &
prof
essi
onal
sta
ff
– S
urve
y of
529
MN
Cs
in tw
o D
rago
n (S
inga
pore
, Tai
wan
) &
fou
r T
iger
(I
ndon
esia
, Mal
aysi
a, P
hili
ppin
es,
Tha
ilan
d) e
cono
mie
s. R
espo
nden
ts w
ere
CE
Os,
fin
anci
al c
ontr
olle
rs &
HR
m
anag
ers.
No
resp
onse
rat
e pr
ovid
ed
MN
Cs
oper
atin
g in
the
Tig
er e
cono
mie
s ar
e m
ore
aggr
essi
ve in
bat
tlin
g fo
r ta
lent
. M
anuf
actu
ring
MN
Cs
are
find
ing
it
part
icul
arly
cha
llen
ging
to a
ttra
ct th
e ri
ght
mix
of
tale
nt &
nee
d to
bec
ome
mor
e st
rate
gic
in th
eir
recr
uitm
ent &
sel
ecti
on
appr
oach
116 A. McDonnell et al.
8 Looking to the future – progressing the field
A number of papers have drawn attention to key challenges that ensue in the TM literature (e.g. guest editorials of special issues). We utilise and build upon some of this discourse, while also drawing on the findings of this systematic review and bring our own recommendations to play in proposing some especially pertinent research trajectories for the field. Our discussion is not meant as all-encompassing but rather we point to what we, as researchers in the field, consider especially important themes and questions that empirical research and enhanced conceptualisation have the greatest potential to advance the field of TM from adolescence to maturity.
8.1 Boundaries of TM
A consistent finding for reviews of the field is that a multitude of meanings and definitions (where provided) exist. While we contend that a single definition of TM is neither desirable nor required, there needs to be greater consensus on the boundaries of the field. We argue, as do others (e.g. Lewis and Heckman, 2006; Collings and Mellahi, 2009; McDonnell, 2011), that without the development of some parameters development of a mature field will prove challenging. Moreover, the lack of basic boundaries was reflected in the exclusion of articles from our review despite our initial inspection suggesting inclusion. In practice, on reading some papers it became obvious that there was no engagement with the TM literature despite the term being used in the title (e.g. Levenson, 2012; van den Brink et al., 2013). Despite the strong focus of extant published works on exploring the meaning of TM and the different perspectives taken by organisations in various business contexts it remains apparent that more thorough empirical research is required on the area. It is evident that some doubt exists as to whether TM really equates to a new and discrete strategic management activity that moves beyond HRM or HRD. Until there are much more comprehensive research studies undertaken and enhanced theorisation then question marks over the extent to which this is a discrete concept will continue. As field scholars and gatekeepers, we need to be clear in articulating how TM is defined in published work.
We argue that TM is a discrete field that stands in contrast to mainstream HR in a number of important ways. In particular, we propose that TM should be concerned with understanding where value is added in organisations by human capital, how talented individuals influence organisational performance, and also how talent practice can maximise the contributions of those individuals. We see the ultimate goal of TM as contributing to sustainable organisational performance. The basic premise underlying TM is that effective management of talented individuals requires alternative practices that are qualitatively different than the baseline HR practices within the organisation. However, as yet we do not have a clear understanding of what those TM practices are and the contexts in which they are not (in)effective. While arguing that TM is a discrete field, it is also very evident that there are potentially key links with a range of areas such as supply chain management, strategy and employer branding. There are aspects within each of these areas that have potential utility in the context of talent management.
Talent management 117
Indeed, our review shows that a central focus has been on the systems and processes of TM and management of star employees (e.g. Groysberg et al., 2008). As Schuler et al. (2011, p.2) surmise, the major focus of much of this work was on ‘corporations obtaining and managing a sufficient number of highly talented individuals (… including high level executives, those with high managerial potential, and those with rare technical skills) to deal with the challenge of the global talent shortage’. A key gap in our understanding of TM is what determines high performance? Most studies ignore this question and jump straight into considering how such talents should be managed, implicitly presuming a straightforward linear association between talent and outstanding performance. We argue that this is a key limitation in our understanding of how best to manage top talent. In other words there is a significant degree of ambiguity about the interaction of factors that result in high performance. Without knowing the precise antecedents of high performance it is difficult to understand how best to deliver it. Thus, a key objective of future research efforts should be to consider the antecedents of high performance of the so-called talent. The lack of understanding of the association between talent and high performance will otherwise preclude a clear understanding of how talent contributes to organisational performance.
Moreover, there is the issue of how talent is identified by organisations. In particular, what do organisations look for in individuals when determining whether they are key talent or not? It is likely that achieving a high level of performance will be important but does this equate to talent or are there additional factors/characteristics that one needs to display. Similarly, commitment is likely to be a key ingredient to any ‘talent recipe’ but is unlikely to be the main, or certainly not the only, component. The review demonstrated much use of the term ‘high potential’ but we are typically left wondering when it comes to understanding what is viewed as potential. Clarity over how talent is identified in practice is of key importance because there is danger that if decisions taken are not viewed as relatively objective and transparent that employee dissatisfaction (particularly amongst those not classified) may become an issue (Bjorkman et al., 2013). Consequently, it is clear that scholars perhaps need to take a step backwards in focusing on the key foundation of effective TM – how is talent defined and how is it identified in practice?
These questions give rise to the issue of needing to consider TM in contexts beyond the large, private sector firm. The public sector has been subject to much more intense scrutiny in the developed world during and post GFC. There have been attempts in countries such as Britain, Ireland and Australia to introduce key reforms but reports are beginning to now emerge that raise concerns about the potential for these to succeed as a result of major TM concerns skills gaps are a particular worry (e.g. Hay Group, 2011). There must be some concern, for example, as to what extent the public sector has thought strategically about their talent needs and whether they are equipped to deliver on reforms and future strategy in the context of less resources and greater expectations for improved service delivery and transparency.
8.2 Equity, ethics, and justice
One of the more controversial aspects of TM is that considering high performing talents as a sui generis group has the potential to polarise individuals in organisations. Despite the ubiquity and the potential consequences of the norms of equity (Adams, 1965), fairness (Festinger, 1954) and justice (Blau, 1964), they have largely been overlooked
118 A. McDonnell et al.
(bar some notable exceptions as discussed earlier; Downs and Swailes, 2013; Swailes, 2013). This is a key oversight given fairness, justice and equity are considered cornerstones of healthy organisations (Bloom and Michel, 2002). Indeed, Cosier and Dalton (1983, p.311) argue: ‘it is something of an understatement to suggest that concepts such as justice, fairness, and equity are of fundamental importance in the workplace. The consequences of the organization’s mishandling of these concepts can be dramatic’.
The issues of equity and fairness are of significant importance here given that many TM systems place considerable onus on A performers and/or talented individuals performing in A positions, thereby creating an employment structure characterised by extreme wage dispersion, and differentiated treatment of employees within the organisation. Groysberg (2010, p.3) argues that one of the roots of inequitable distribution of rent is the fact that in knowledge companies ‘where it is virtually an article of faith that settling for ‘B’ players is a recipe for mediocrity, managers work hard to attract the best and the brightest’. When firms find such talent they essentially offer what it takes to attract and retain them. However, the performance of star performers is contingent on the input of a large number of supporting individuals many of whom may be B or even C players. This could create psychological tensions within the organisation and potentially exacerbate perceived inequalities and perceptions of unfairness. The fact that our review demonstrates limited attention on the perspectives of individuals classified as talent is an issue surrounding this.
A large body of research shows that perceptions of equity and discrepancy are two of the strongest determinants of employees’ satisfaction or lack thereof in organisations (c.f. Bloom and Michel, 2002). This is because individuals often compare their compensation to that of referent others (Nosanchuk and Erickson, 1985). The relativity of rewards compared to those who employees consider comparators is often more significant than the absolute level of rewards in evaluations of equity (Bloom and Michel, 2002). Perceptions of relative underpayment have negative repercussions. Zenger (1992) found that the emphasis on rewarding best performers resulted in moderately high performers leaving the organisation because of feelings of inequity. Similarly, studies on the impact of wage dispersion (c.f. Siegel and Hambrick, 2005) demonstrated that it diminishes cooperation (Pfeffer and Langton, 1993), increases managerial turnover (Bloom and Michel, 2002), lowers group cohesion (Bloom, 1999) and negatively impacts firm performance (Siegel and Hambrick, 2005). Bloom and Michel (2002) noted that while extreme pay dispersion enabled firms to retain key star performers, it resulted in a high level of turnover among managers.
Additionally, the issues of equity, fairness and justice may unfold differently across cultural contexts. There is general acceptance of the view that the effectiveness of compensation practices varies across societies (Gomez-Mejia and Werner, 2008). In particular, cultural values and norms, such as how people relate to one another as a group, influence cultural preferences for different compensation systems. For instance, individuals in collectivist cultures, where individuals are tightly bound together, prefer group-based compensation practices to maintain and strengthen in-group harmony (Hui et al., 1991). Therefore, the individualised reward structures inherent in many talent systems may disrupt in-group harmony and as a result may be resisted as illustrated by the Japanese maxim ‘the nail that sticks out will be hammered down – Deru kugi wa utareru’.
Talent management 119
In brief, the issues of equity, justice and ethics are acutely felt in organisations embracing TM. Managers are pulled in opposite directions. TM’s simultaneous advocacy for retaining and rewarding star performers on the one hand, and team work, organisational citizenship and motivation on the other may seem contradictory. If these contradictions are not effectively resolved, TM may impede, rather than facilitate, sustainable high performance. Research exploring the ethics of different aspects of talent management across a variety of contexts would greatly add to knowledge and potentially bring fairer, more equitable approaches and enhanced outcomes.
8.3 TM as a contributor to individual, group and organisational outcomes
Establishing the contribution of TM to individual, group and organisational level outcomes is central to the evolution of the field. While some practitioner reports (e.g. Ernst and Young, 2010, p.4) point to a positive correlation between superior TM and ‘enhanced business performance’, academically rigorous studies have yet to engage with this. There has been a strong corpus of research that has focused on high performance work systems and how they can lead to positive organisational outcomes (e.g. MacDuffie, 1995). If TM is a truly discrete activity then we need to gain evidence on how different approaches impact performance. Here we caution an approach which becomes overly focused on outcomes such as stock-market performance, which although clearly important may mask the longer-term impact of talent practices owing to the short-term focus of stock-market trends. For example, one of the most prominent exemplars of TM in the original McKinsey study was Enron, a company which clearly was performing very well on the stock market at the time. However, this masked underlying issues with the talent systems underpinning the organisation’s performance. Thus, we call for more innovative organisation performance outcomes which look at performance in a broader sense than simply stock-market returns, and which include the perceptions of a wider range of stakeholders.
Davenport et al. (2010) provided a cautionary note around the common mistakes organisations make in utilising talent analytics. These include using analytics as an excuse to treat employees like interchangeable widgets; over relying on a small number of metrics to evaluate performance, risking employees learning to play the system; using inappropriate metrics or keeping metrics live without ongoing business requirements; failing to adopt metrics and analysis to changes in organisational priorities; and using metrics for lower level employees only and focusing on aspects of performance which are easier to quantify. Similarly, Pfeffer (2001) cautions the dangers of fighting the talent war. In particular, he notes the danger of the inevitable individualisation which TM systems assume which diminish the importance of teamwork and can prevent learning in an organisation. Hence, it is a mistake to assume that high levels of individual performance automatically aggregate to organisational performance (see Pfeffer, 2001). So individual performance outcomes need to be contextualised within the teams and organisations in which it unfolds. All in all this calls for a more nuanced approach to measuring the impact of TM on performance outcomes.
This concern around the relationship between TM and individuals and teams is taken up by Tarique and Schuler (2010), albeit in a different context, when talking about how MNCs coordinate their subsidiaries worldwide. They argue that as a result of the pressures or desire to coordinate activities that the importance and reliance on global teams as opposed to individuals is likely to increase. They consider the impact in a cross-
120 A. McDonnell et al.
cultural sense that such developments may have on HRM and raise the question, ‘Does GTM shift from an individual-based IHRM issue to a team-based IHRM issue?’ (Tarique and Schuler, 2010, p.131). This leads to key research questions including: do organisations focuses solely on individual performance and potential? Do organisations incorporate the impact of others on an individual’s performance and if so, how? Research that focuses on these questions and, more generally, how organisations integrate the team and wider organisational context into TM systems, is needed.
Boudreau (2010) calls for a retooling of HR to utilise adaptations of the same consistent logical frameworks that other organisational leaders use (e.g. net present value, market segmentation) to analyse where to invest, maintain or cut resources in talent. Significant research efforts are required to bridge the knowledge divide between the analytics that are quite commonly used and the analytics that could make a substantial improvement on decision-making around talent. Viewing TM as a decision science offers potential for moving organisational practice beyond the three-by-three performance-versus-potential matrices which appear common in TM processes. As Davenport et al. (2010, p.54) argue ‘if you want better performance from your top employees – who are perhaps your greatest asset and your largest expense – you’ll do well to favour analytics over your gut instincts’. The deployment of these tools should enhance communication between HR leaders and other stakeholders by reframing HR issues in language and frameworks that these other stakeholders are comfortable with (Boudreau, 2010).
9 Conclusion
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the state of the art in TM scholarship through employing a systematic review. In addition, we have engaged with, as interested scholars, how we feel that the field might usefully develop over the coming years. While there have been reviews on this topic undertaken in previous years we have illustrated that the approach adopted here has surfaced a range of caveats not previously highlighted (e.g. greater quantity of papers, higher proportion of empirical papers). We adopt a view that the field is moving towards adolescence and it has a long, windy road to travel before it reaches maturity (Scott, 1987). The trajectory so far can be viewed as overwhelmingly positive, in terms of advancing our knowledge of TM and how organisations are dealing with the inherent challenges. However, there is a need for caution because it is a term that appears to be used on many occasions in very a loose way that may have negative repercussions for conceptual and theoretical advancement which is the bedrock of establishing a critical research field. In addition, scholars need to push the intellectual boundaries and focus on making this a sustainable field of research that adds not only to academic understanding and theorisation but which also helps bridge the often-highlighted practice gap (McDonnell, 2011). If the field is to advance to maturity there is an acute need for the rather fragmented nature of the literature to be brought closer together towards a more common paradigm and it is this to which we urge scholars to pay most attention.
To do so most effectively will likely require greater levels of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research which are much talked about in academic circles but appear to be relatively uncommon. There are literature bases that in our view have clear resonance with TM but which don’t tend to ‘talk to one another’. For example, there is a
Talent management 121
considerable body of research on ‘stars’ in the psychology journals (e.g. Aguinis and O’Boyle, 2014). We contend that there is potentially greater benefit in greater alignment between scholars in both fields. A limitation of our search methodology is that these potentially significant areas of research which are relevant to TM are not incorporated in the paper.
We contend that not only is there a need to improve from a conceptual and theoretical perspective, but also there needs to be significantly increased empirical investigations that can greatly assist in addressing the aforementioned fragmentation. While our review contradicted previous suggestions that this was a field dominated by conceptual work, there is no room for complacency about the quality and quantity of primary research. We retain the call for increased empirical research but we wish to especially emphasise the need to make significant inroads in terms of the quality, depth and breadth of the methodologies employed. The use of single case studies has been, and can continue to be, useful in enhancing the depth of understanding. However, it is clear that the level to which some of these case studies delve could be deepened. There needs to be a greater inclusion of different stakeholders which pushes forward the idea of multi-level designs. For example, in addition to HR managers and the top management team, we need to hear the voices of middle and line managers, consultants, recruitment agencies, employees and their representatives. Further, there is a need to move towards conducting more generalisable studies. There is much scope for quantitative work in this area; however, a key challenge is the lack of boundaries that exist in the literature. Without the development of constructs it will be very difficult to undertake research with high levels of reliability and validity.
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Note
1 It must be acknowledged that making interpretations on affiliations of authors is problematic given global mobility of academics.
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Appendix – Systematic review methodology
In order to identify relevant peer reviewed articles we utilised the two most comprehensive databases in management and organisation studies, namely ProQuest and Scopus. The term ‘talent management’ was used as the search criterion. The objective was to identify all theoretical and empirical journal articles addressing talent management from 1998 until May 2013. The year 1998 was selected as the starting point on the basis that it is commonly cited as the year in which talent management became popularised due to the McKinsey report coining the phrase the ‘war for talent’ (Chambers et al., 1998). Peer reviewed, English language scholarly journals were used as key filters in our search. Hence, conference papers, editorials, monographs, books, book chapters and unpublished works were excluded in our review due to lack of a consistent quality assurance mechanism. In other words, it was too difficult to determine if there had been any peer review process undertaken in these mediums.
The initial Scopus search returned 209 papers, while the ProQuest search returned 265 articles. As a means of focusing on high-quality publications, journals were only included if they were ranked as a two or higher in the Association of Business Schools (ABS) (UK) academic journal quality guide (2009, version 3) and/or a A*, A or B in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) academic journal rankings (2010). This provided a baseline quality threshold beyond a paper just having to be peer reviewed. For example, in the ABS 3* outlets publish ‘original and well executed research papers and are highly regarded’. It is important to acknowledge that these journal ranking lists are not adopted universally and that other journal ranking lists also exist; however, there is a strong degree of overlap among the different sources. We also considered other quality benchmarks but felt that these rankings were most suitable and more inclusive because of the relatively recent development of talent management scholarship. For example, the use of citation records, sometimes used in systematic reviews, did not make sense because of how recent research appears to have emerged. Consequently, while the objective criteria utilised here are not without potential criticism we argue that our approach is more comprehensive than many review pieces in the field of management which tend to focus strongly on a very small number of leading, typically US, journals.
After the initial scanning and exclusion of articles took place (i.e. those that did not meet the criteria set out thus far), we read through each remaining article to more effectively determine whether there was a strong focus on talent management as opposed to the paper merely paying a fleeting reference to the topic. For example, the use of the talent management terminology in the title or keywords but the paper paying absolutely no attention to the topic was not uncommon. On completion of this task, we were left with a total of 88 papers.
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