scholarly journals Fading away at work: “I could have left without saying anything” – performing talent management in a multinational organization

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanna Gillberg ◽  
Ewa Wikström

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.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Deflorin ◽  
Maike Scherrer ◽  
Katrin Schillo

PurposeThe coordination of a manufacturing network is a challenging task and may be contingent upon the manufacturing environment. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and manufacturing network coordination relate.Design/methodology/approachBased on a single case study, the paper at hand provides insights on IIoT enablers and the relationship to manufacturing coordination mechanism. The data sample is based on 15 group interviews with overall eight employees from headquarters and business units.FindingsThe derived results show that the IIoT enablers (digital technologies, connectivity, data, capabilities and management) are highly related to the manufacturing network coordination mechanism. The results indicate that IIoT initiatives and manufacturing network coordination should be designed to support each other.Originality/valueThe implementation if IIoT initiatives is often analysed in isolation without considering the manufacturing network and more specifically the manufacturing network coordination mechanism. The results highlight how the implementation of IIoT initiatives may act as trigger to adapt formal manufacturing network coordination mechanism.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linyan Liu ◽  
Yilei Wang

Purpose This paper aims to take International SPOrt (ISPO) as a typical case to study how exhibition organizers can reshape their relationship with users through business model innovation to answer the question that how enterprises can help the exhibition industry to upgrade and develop through business model innovation in the internet environment. Design/methodology/approach Faced with the development of internet technology, the impact of online platforms, the relationship between exhibition organizers and their customers are facing unprecedented challenges. On the basis of the literature review, this study analyzed the innovation of exhibitors’ business model from three modules: value proposition, revenue logic and cost base and how to reshape their interaction with users through innovation. This study systematically analyzed the innovation of the ISPO business model and the process of reshaping its relationship with users and dynamic interaction with a single case study method. Findings The main conclusions are as follows: the starting point of reshaping the relationship between exhibition organizer and users in the internet era is to re-understand the needs of customers, the key point of reshaping the relationship is to further cultivate the industrial value and the sustainability of the relationship lies in the customer life cycle management. Originality/value From the perspective of exhibition organizers filling the gap of case study in the field of the exhibition. In the area of the exhibition, previous studies rarely started from the perspective of exhibition organizers, but, this paper discusses the interaction between exhibition organizers, exhibitors and visitors from this perspective in this study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Ferramosca ◽  
Alessandro Ghio

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how organization’s resources and community aspects shape intellectual capital (IC) performance in developing countries. In fact, it is still unclear to what level organizational aggregation can influence forms of IC performance in the simultaneous presence of strong traditional legacy and eagerness for development. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a project of aggregation of artists in Kenya. It uses a mixed methods approach. Findings The analysis first documents that multiple capital resources, i.e., human, social, and organizational contribute to improve IC performance. Social and organizational resources have the largest positive effects. This study then supports the importance of community aspects in fostering IC performance. In this light, it appears to facilitate knowledge interaction and interrelationship networks rather than accentuate possible pre-existing groups’ rivalry. Research limitations/implications The results are inferred from a single case study, and so the reader is given the caveat that the results cannot be easily generalized. The evidence gathered can represent a useful ground on which to build future studies comparing different legal, social, cultural, and economic contexts. Practical implications This study gathers insights on how organization’s resources can lead to IC performance in developing countries and in a setting characterized by a high degree of institutional complexity. It also addresses the call for more research on programs implemented at local level to leverage IC and to valorize traditional knowledge in a sustainable and concrete way. Originality/value Evidence on IC in developing countries is still scant, besides their potential for growth. This study attempts to address this gap. Moreover, it pays attention to the context by analyzing the community aspects. Finally, the use of mixed methods further validates previous evidence on the relationship between organization’s resources and IC performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1937-1955 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Liu ◽  
Beverley Sparks ◽  
Alexandra Coghlan

Purpose This paper aims to use a concurrent mixed method approach to explore the key variables that can influence customer experience at a food and wine event. Design/methodology/approach A concurrent mixed methods approach, using a participant-generated image (PGI) method, together with a recall survey, provided images with associated narratives, descriptive statistics, correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analysis to explore how attendees appraise their experiences based on their goals and the link between experience appraisals and overall evaluations. Findings Through the PGI method (N = 25), the authors determined that customer experience at the event could be viewed as a hierarchical model, comprising a fundamental sensory experience together with three higher-order customer experience components (fun, discovery and inspiration). A separate concurrent recall study (N = 598) demonstrated the relationship between the same four customer experience components and overall satisfaction as well as recommendation and repeat visitation. Practical implications The results suggest that to promote positive customer experiences, along with the product of the event itself, event managers should focus on activity programs that are fun, inspirational and novel, as well as sensory. Originality/value This study focuses on a single case study of an event to examine and extend our understanding of customer experience. The use of a concurrent mixed methods approach provides us with different types of data from two separate samples of participants. By integrating data from each study the authors are able to build a conceptual model of the salient dimensions of customer experience and then quantitatively analyze how these salient dimensions are related to outcome variables.


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Burbach ◽  
Tony Royle

PurposeAs the interest in talent management (TM) gathers momentum, this paper aims to unravel how talent is managed in multinational corporations, what factors mediate the talent management process and what computerised systems may contribute to the management of talent.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a single case study but multiple units of analysis approach to elucidate the factors pertaining to the transmission and use of talent management practices across the German and Irish subsidiaries of a US multinational corporation. Primary data for this study derive from a series of in‐depth interviews with key decision makers, which include managers at various levels in Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands.FindingsThe findings suggest that the diffusion of, and success of, talent management practices is contingent on a combination of factors, including stakeholder involvement and top level support, micro‐political exchanges, and the integration of talent management with a global human resource information system. Furthermore, the discussion illuminates the utility and limitations of Cappelli's “talent on demand” framework.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this research is the adoption of a single case study method. As a result, the findings may not be applicable to a wider population of organisations and subsidiaries. Additional research will be required to substantiate the relevance of these findings in the context of other subsidiaries of the same and other corporations.Practical implicationsThis paper accentuates a number of practical implications. Inter alia, it highlights the complex nature of institutional factors affecting the talent management process and the potential efficacy of a human resource information system in managing talent globally.Originality/valueThe paper extends the body of knowledge on the transfer of talent management practices in the subsidiaries of multinational corporations. The discussion presented herein may engender further academic debate on the talent management process in the academic and practitioner communities. The link between talent management and the use of human resource information systems established by this research may be of particular interest to human resource practitioners.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 726-733
Author(s):  
Thommie Burström

Purpose – It is common that junior researchers struggle in finding their own way of doing research. The purpose of this paper is therefore to use the theory of “Muddling through” in order to theorize about the junior vs senior researcher collaboration process. Design/methodology/approach – The theory of “Muddling through” is used in order to reflect on the qualities of shared collaboration between a junior and senior research colleague. Findings – The research process share the characteristics of policy making where goals many times are fuzzy, and the relationship between means to end is far from self-evident. The research process therefore demands from the senior colleague to act firm, fair and friendly in order to support and inspire junior research colleagues. Research limitations/implications – It is a personalized single case study; still it provides advice for both junior and senior research colleagues that are in the process of research collaboration. Practical implications – Junior colleagues need to have the courage of actively suggesting research topics to senior colleagues; they also need to actively reflect on the quality of their shared research collaboration process. Originality/value – The study provides the research community with a sensemaking example of coaching, inspiration and mentoring in the research collaboration process.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daragh O’Reilly ◽  
Kathy Doherty ◽  
Elizabeth Carnegie ◽  
Gretchen Larsen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how music consumption communities remember their past. Specifically, the paper reports on the role of heritage in constructing the cultural memory of a consumption community and on the implications for its identity and membership. Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon insights from theories of cultural memory, heritage, and collective consumption, this interpretive inquiry makes use of interview, documentary, and artefactual analysis, as well as visual and observational data, to analyse an exhibition of the community’s popular music heritage entitled One Family – One Tribe: The Art & Artefacts of New Model Army. Findings The analysis shows how the community creates a sense of its own past and reflects this in memories, imagination, and the creative work of the band. Research limitations/implications This is a single case study, but one whose exploratory character provides fruitful insights into the relationship between cultural memory, imagination, heritage, and consumption communities. Practical implications The paper shows how consumption communities can do the work of social remembering and re-imagining of their own past, thus strengthening their identity through time. Social implications The study shows clearly how a consumption community can engage, through memory and imagination, with its own past, and indeed the past in general, and can draw upon material and other resources to heritagise its own particular sense of community and help to strengthen its identity and membership. Originality/value The paper offers a theoretical framework for the process by which music consumption communities construct their own past, and shows how theories of cultural memory and heritage can help to understand this important process. It also illustrates the importance of imagination, as well as memory, in this process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1611-1633
Author(s):  
Daniel Tyskbo

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of how talent management (TM) unfolds in practice in a public organization.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory single case study was conducted of a Swedish public hospital, based on interviews, observations and documents.FindingsThe findings illustrate that despite a highly egalitarian and collectivist context, the hospital adopted an exclusive approach to TM, and a talent was not considered or identified through formal performance appraisals, but through informal criteria. The rationale behind this approach is influenced by the surrounding context, including the implementation of an innovative and strategically important practice, and the highly professionalized context.Research limitations/implicationsThe study offered a rich view of how TM unfolds in practice, which may not always be possible using large sample, survey studies; however, it limited the generalizability.Practical implicationsThe study points to important issues when designing TM.Originality/valueThe paper addresses two main shortcomings in the TM literature: the under-researched context of public organizations and the lack of contextual awareness. The empirically driven analysis constitutes an important step for further theory development regarding exclusive/inclusive approaches in TM.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 470-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel F. Volland

Purpose While much empirical research has examined how routines are unlearned, little is known about the intentional forgetting of rules in organizations. This paper aims to combine the literature on organizational rules and that on intentional forgetting with the aim of studying the relationship between power types of rule imposition and the process of intentional forgetting. Design/methodology/approach This study is a single-case analysis carried out in a multinational automotive company that introduced an agile project into the development department. The case was chosen because the introduction of agility was grounded on a dominantly created set of rules. Access to unique data was provided to study processes of intentional forgetting when actors have to apply new rules. In all, 33 interviews and further observations were conducted in a two-year study. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) was used for data analysis. Findings This case study demonstrates the importance of two forms of power, domination and self-organization, when it comes to forgetting rules intentionally. A rule will be intentionally forgotten if it is created by domination, does not originate from conventional working practices and does not determine an organizational unit (development team). Furthermore, the findings point to the importance of self-organization when it comes to intentional forgetting. Research limitations/implications This research relies on a single-case study and presents first results on intentionally forgetting rules. Practical implications Organizations implementing new forms of working such as agile working in their existing structures should be aware that processes of intentional forgetting can occur. Managers should consider why organizational members stop following dominantly created rules. Ignoring such a phenomenon could be a threat to the organization’s success. Originality/value While many studies examined the process of unlearning routines, little is known about the intentional forgetting of rules in organizations. Rules are different from routines because they are imposed and encompass a normative component. The imposition of a rule is based on power. Two forms of power are presented in this article: domination and self-organization. In addition, the QCA was carried out at a micro-level.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanxing Meng ◽  
Xiaomei Wang ◽  
Huajiao Chen ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of organizational culture (OC) on talent management (TM) by a case study of a real estate company. Design/methodology/approach The method of case study is adopted in the present study. Findings The authors present four propositions. The first is OC has an effect on TM. The second is a new conceptual model of TM. The third is a 4-P pattern to identify and develop the talent. The fourth is to adopt both the spiritual and material satisfactions that retain the talent. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation of this study is embedded in the case study method, which is not sufficient to represent the totality. The other limitation is that the issue of cohesion and team efficacy of talents is not considered. This study argues the relationship between OC and TM and expands the existing TM and OC theory. The effect of professional idealism is emphasized on in the process of TM. Talent can be retained firmly within the organization through the methods of rebuilding and strengthening OC. Originality/value A conceptual model of TM, 4-P pattern of evaluation and the operational mean to retain the talent is introduced.


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