Global Talent Management: Reality or Utopia? A Special Glance Through a Portuguese Multinational Organization

PurposeThis study was undertaken in order to show how talent management (TM) was performed in practice in a multinational organization as well as how the TM practices affected both different groups of workers and the perception of talent within the organization.Design/methodology/approachPerforming talent management was reassessed in the relationship between TM practices, view and identification of talent, attributed positioning and self-positioning of older and younger workers; retrieved from an exploratory single case study in a multinational organization, based on interviews.FindingsThe findings illustrate that despite the struggling to fill key positions with skilled workers, the studied organization adopted approaches to TM that excluded older workers' talent. First, central to performing TM was how talent was viewed and identified, and second, two types of positioning acts were important: the organizations (re)producing of talent management through attributive positioning acts on older/younger workers and older workers' self-positioning of their own talent. The two sides of performing talent management were complex and intertwined resulting in an age-based devaluation of talent at work.Practical implicationsThe study points to important issues in designing and performing TM that may be useful to HR and managers as a point of departure in the development of more inclusive approaches to TM.Originality/valueThe concept “performing talent management” was developed as an intertwined relationship between on-going positioning acts and (re)production of status, talent and age at work; recognizing preferences of what was viewed and identified as valued talent as main drivers made it possible to develop an understanding of exclusion and inclusion mechanisms in performing TM.

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Borrow or Grow: An Overview of Talent Development/Management Practices in Indian IT Organizations

Advances in Developing Human Resources ◽

10.1177/1523422318803345 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 460-478 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sanghamitra Chaudhuri ◽

Malar Hirudayaraj ◽

Alexandre Ardichvili

Keyword(s):

Human Resources ◽

Management Practices ◽

Talent Development ◽

Talent Management ◽

Western World ◽

Business Organizations ◽

It Industry ◽

Multinational Organization ◽

Institutional Conditions ◽

Management And Development

The Problem In recent years, as India started to emerge as the IT (information technology) super power and the supplier for human capital trained in IT to the Western world, a plethora of talent management and development issues have started coming to the surface. Given the vastness of India’s young and diverse human resources, the concerns center less around availability of talent and more around managing and developing the available talent to suit local needs. Furthermore, concerns are raised over excessive reliance on Western models of TD/TM (talent development/talent management) in Indian organizations and their implementation without significant adaptation to local cultural and institutional conditions. The Solution This study explores TD/TM strategies in three different business organizations using the case study method. The three organizations are a multinational corporation headquartered in India, a foreign multinational organization with subsidiaries in India, and a smaller local business organization. The article discusses (a) the commonalities and differences in the TD/TM strategies followed by three different types of organizations, (b) the use of home-grown strategies and strategies borrowed from the West, (c) the trends and challenges of TM/TD practices facing the IT industry. The Stakeholders Chief learning officers, directors of human resources, HRD scholars

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The talent paradox: talent management as a mixed blessing

Journal of Organizational Ethnography ◽

10.1108/joe-01-2017-0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 74-86 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dagmar Daubner-Siva ◽

Sierk Ybema ◽

Claartje J. Vinkenburg ◽

Nic Beech

Keyword(s):

Design Methodology ◽

Talent Management ◽

Multinational Organization ◽

Content Type ◽

High Potentials ◽

Mixed Blessing ◽

Inside Out

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an inside-out perspective on the practices and effects of talent management (TM) in a multinational organization. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts an autoethnographic approach focusing on the experiences of the first author during her employment in a multinational organization. This approach contributes to the literature by providing an insider talent perspective that thus far has not been presented in TM research. Findings Applying autoethnography as a means to address the inside-out perspective in TM reveals a tension. The authors label this phenomenon the “talent paradox,” defined as the mix of simultaneously occurring opportunities and risks for individuals identified and celebrated as a talent. Originality/value The paper may be of value to TM scholars and practitioners, as well as to employees who have been identified as high potentials or talents in their organizations. In contrast with the TM literature’s optimism, the findings illuminate that being identified as a talent may paradoxically produce both empowerment and powerlessness. Attending to personal aspects of TM processes is relevant for organizations as well as for individuals as it enables reflection and sensemaking.

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