Review
Global talent management: Literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research

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Abstract

The environment for most organizations today is global, complex, dynamic, highly competitive, and extremely volatile, and is likely to remain so for years to come. In addition to these external conditions, most organizations are also facing several global challenges including those related to: talent flow; the managing of two generations of employees, viz., older or mature workers and younger workers; and a shortage of needed competencies. One major result of these challenges for organizations is that they have to be global and that they have to be systematic in managing their human capital if they wish to have any hope of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage in the years ahead. Many human resource practitioners and consultants (HR professionals) are now recognizing this, especially those that operate globally, the multinational enterprises. Academics are also showing a strong interest as evidenced by their work in the new area referred to as “global talent management”. In this article we review that academic work and attempt to organize that literature by creating an integrative framework for understanding and advancing further research in global talent management. To guide this research our framework highlights several selected challenges in global talent management, and several drivers of those challenges. It also highlights the potential role of IHRM activities in addressing those selected challenges. A discussion of possible criteria of global talent management effectiveness completes the framework. Hopefully this integrative framework may guide further academic research on global talent management and might also inform the work of HR professionals.

Introduction

Today's global economy has created a more complex and dynamic environment in which most firms must learn to compete effectively to achieve sustainable growth. Workforces around the world have become larger, increasingly diverse, more educated, and more mobile (Briscoe et al., 2009, Friedman, 2005). This global environment has not only changed the way business is conducted, it has also created the need for organizations to manage their workforces in a global context. As a consequence, the notion of a “global workforce” has received extensive discussion recently (Briscoe et al., 2009, Collings et al., 2009, Scullion and Collings, 2006). One of the major topics of this discussion has been around talent management. Most of the research in the area of talent management so far has been premised on the idea of talent shortages, reflecting the robust economic conditions from 2000 to 2008 (Collings & Mellahi, 2009). In the past year or two, however, there have been numerous examples of organizations downsizing operations and reducing their workforces as a result of global economic and financial conditions. Thus for many organizations there now seems to be a talent surplus with unemployment increasing across many countries and too many qualified people chasing too few jobs. Regardless of economic and workforce conditions, however, organizations large and small, public and private, have come to the realization that in order to gain and sustain a global competitive advantage they must manage their workforces effectively. And to do so they must confront the reality of global talent management (GTM) and its many challenges and develop human resource management activities to meet those challenges (Beechler and Woodward, 2009, Collings and Mellahi, 2009).

There is considerable evidence that organizations worldwide face formidable talent challenges. The ability to attract, develop, and retain a needed supply of critical talent is a challenge facing all organizations (e.g., Coy and Ewing, 2007). In a 2008 Deloitte Research Study, Athey (2008, p. 1) noted that

Despite millions of unemployed workers, there is an acute shortage of talent: science educators to teach the next generation of chemists, health care professionals of all stripes, design engineers with deep technical and interpersonal skills, and seasoned marketers who understand the Chinese marketplace. Resumes abound, yet companies still feverishly search for the people who make the difference between 10 percent and 20 percent annual growth, or between profit and loss. Critical talent is scarce…

Similar trends and HR challenges are reported in survey based studies conducted by other consulting and professional research groups, such as the Boston Consulting Group, World Federation of People Management Associations, Manpower Inc, Economist Intelligence Unit, and The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The academic literature (e.g., Boudreau and Ramstad, 2007, Boudreau and Ramstad, 2005, Cappelli, 2008a, Cappelli, 2008b, Collings and Mellahi, 2009, Lewis and Heckman, 2006) also suggests that organizations face greater competition for talent worldwide and face challenging times in attracting, retaining, and developing people they need. So even though there is currently a global economic slowdown, there are major structural conditions in place to ensure that competition for talent worldwide will continue to be a significant challenge. More specifically, organizations are and will continue to be searching for individuals who can effectively manage through the complex, challenging, changing, and often ambiguous global environment. In other words, most companies worldwide, regardless of size, are confronting and/or will soon confront many GTM challenges, if left unmet, will impact their global business strategies, both in the near term and longer term.

Section snippets

GTM challenges in the context of international human resource management

GTM and its many potential challenges can be examined in the context of international human resource management (IHRM), a field that has witnessed tremendous advancements in the research and practice during the last two decades (see Schuler and Tarique, 2007, Sparrow and Brewster, 2006). During this time, several challenges have emerged in IHRM with the introduction of increased world wide economic development, extensive global communication, rapid transfer of new technology, growing trade, and

Literature review – global talent management

The articles selected for inclusion in this review were initially restricted to those published in leading academic journals (between 2000 and 2009) specializing in general management, organization sciences, human resource management, international human resource management, international management, and international business. To identify top academic journals, we reviewed the journals selected by Budhwar et al. (2009) in their recent review, and identified earlier by Caligiuri (1999), which

Exogenous drivers of GTM challenges

In the context of institutional theory, exogenous drivers are based on coercive isomorphism. These refer to forces or drivers external to the firm that are largely beyond management's control but can create challenges that can affect an organization's IHRM system (cf., Schuler et al., 1993). These exogenous drivers can include national culture, economic conditions, political system, legal environment, and workforce characteristics (Schuler et al., 1993). In reviewing and analyzing the recent

Further research, challenges for GTM researchers, and concluding thoughts

Our proposed integrative framework illustrates the influences and interrelations of the factors in a MNEs external and internal environment that may help shape its GTM system. Although the GTM research is in the early stages of development, and is a relatively new multi-disciplinary field of enquiry that draws on a range of academic and applied perspectives, our framework identifies critical environmental contingencies, discusses the linkages between MNEs external and internal environment and

Conclusion

Many of the most pressing global challenges facing global firms today are directly related to human capital challenges. Many human resource practitioners and HR consultants (HR professionals) are now recognizing this, especially those that operate globally, the multinational enterprises. Academics are also showing a strong interest as evidenced by their work in the new area referred to as “global talent management”. In this article, we attempted to review that academic work on GTM and to

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their thanks to the invaluable comments of the reviewers and the helpful guidance and encouragement provided by Hugh Scullion, Dave Collings, Wes Harry, Susan Jackson, Mark Huselid, Dave Lepak, Paul Sparrow, Mark Saxer and Rosalie Tung.

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