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This paper aims to contribute to the literature on global talent management by examining how multinational corporations (MNCs) from developed and emerging economies manage talented employees in other emerging economies. Specifically, it aims to understand why MNCs from developed economies are likely to face lower levels of challenge than MNCs from emerging economies when translating corporate-level talent management strategies to their subsidiaries located in emerging economies and how local contextual factors influence the translation processes.

This paper undertakes a matched-case comparison of two MNCs, one from a developed economy and the other from an emerging economy, that operate in the emerging economy of Thailand. Evidence was obtained from semi-structured interviews field visits and a review of archival documents and Web resources.

Based on the obtained evidence, this paper proposes that MNCs from developed economies tend to face challenges in terms of skill shortages, and these challenges affect their translation of talent management strategies to the subsidiary level. By contrast, MNCs from emerging economies tend to face challenges in terms of both skill shortages and the liability of origin (LOR) (i.e. weak employer branding) in the translation process. Both groups of MNCs are likely to develop talent management practices at the subsidiary level to address the challenge of successfully competing in the context of emerging economies.

One limitation of this research is its methodology. Because this research is based on a matched-case comparison of an MNC from a developed economy and an MNC from an emerging economy, both of which operate in the emerging economy of Thailand, it does not claim generalizability to all MNCs and to other emerging economies. Rather, the results of this research should lead to further discussion of how MNCs from developed and emerging economies translate corporate-level talent management strategies into subsidiary-level practices to survive in other emerging economies. However, one important issue here is that there may be a tension between the use of expatriates and local top managers at MNCs’ subsidiaries located in other emerging economies as drivers for knowledge sourcing in that the importance of expatriates may diminish over time as the subsidiaries located in those economies age (Dahms, 2019). In this regard, future research in the area of global talent management should pay special attention to this issue. The other important issue here is that it is possible that the two case study MNCs are very different from one another because of their organizational development stage, history and current globalization stage. Thus, this issue may also influence the types of talent management strategies and practices that the two case study MNCs have developed in different countries. In particular, MNCs from emerging economies (ICBC) may not have developed their global HR strategies, as they have not yet operated globally as in the case of MNCs from developed economies (Citibank). This can be another important issue for future research. Additionally, both MNCs examined in this research operate in the banking industry. This study, therefore, omits MNCs that operate in other industries such as the automobile industry and the hotel and resort industry. Future researchers can explore how both groups of MNCs in other industries translate their talent management strategies into practices when they operate in other emerging economies. Moreover, this study focuses only on two primary contextual factors, the skill-shortage problem and LOR; future research can explore other local contextual factors, such as the national culture, and their impact on the translation of talent management strategies into practices. Furthermore, quantitative studies that use large sample sizes of both groups of MNCs across industries might be useful in deepening our understanding of talent management. Finally, a comparison of talent management strategies and practices between Japanese MNCs and European MNCs that operate in Thailand would also be interesting.

The HR professionals and managers of MNCs that operate in emerging economies or of companies that aim to internationalize their business to emerging economies must pay attention to local institutional structures, including national skill formation systems, to successfully implement talent management practices in emerging economies. Additionally, in the case of MNCs from emerging economies, HR professionals and managers must understand the concept of LOR and look for ways to alleviate this problem to ensure the success of talent management in both developed economies and other emerging economies.

This paper provides policy implications for the government in Thailand and in other emerging economies where the skill-shortage problem is particularly severe. Specifically, these governments should pay attention to solving the problem of occupation-level skill shortages to alleviate the severe competition for talented candidates among firms in the labor market.

This paper contributes to the prior literature on talent management in several ways. First, this paper is among the first empirical, qualitative papers that aim to extend the literature on global talent management by focusing on how MNCs from different groups of countries (i.e. developed economies and emerging economies) manage talented employees in the emerging economy of Thailand. Second, this paper demonstrates that the institutional structures of emerging economies play an important role in shaping the talent management practices adopted by the subsidiaries of MNCs that operate in these countries. In this regard, comparative institutionalism theory helps explain the importance of recognizing institutional structures in emerging economies for the purpose of developing effective talent management practices. Finally, there is scarce research on talent management in the underresearched country of Thailand. This study should, therefore, assist managers who wish to implement corporate-to-subsidiary translation strategies in Thailand and other emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the role of talent management (TM) in strategic renewal. Furthermore, the authors extend the existing knowledge on the process of TM implementation by underlining particular activities, which are involved in this process during strategic renewal.

The authors report a qualitative study of a TM program in a Finnish–Swedish Multinational corporation undergoing major strategic renewal. The data consist of 46 semi-structured interviews and secondary data.

The role of TM in the context of strategic renewal is to provide the conditions for the self-initiation and identification of potential change agents and for the development of the talented employees to perform in their roles of change agent. In the context of strategic renewal, TM process consists of identification of key projects to address critical business opportunities and challenges, the identification of talented employees to execute them, and the identification and creation of key positions.

The authors encourage scholars to explore the empirical settings characterized by change and unpredictability in more detail, and thus examine the role of talented employees and TM in other specific contexts. Future studies are also encouraged to study other cultural settings and examine to what degree the process of TM implementation may positively influence attitudes and behaviors of talented employees and, consequently, the overall organizational performance.

This study offers practical advice for top management and HR managers. First, the process of TM implementation during strategic renewal should start with the identification of “must-win-battles” that can have a more profound impact on change. Furthermore, top management should allow and enable motivated potential talented employees to volunteer for the job of aiding company-wide changes. Next, top management should provide the talented employees with the space to come up with novel ideas and conceive new business opportunities. Finally, the importance of transparent and spot-on evaluation criteria should be emphasized.

The study contributes to advancing our understanding of TM and strategic management in practice.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of systems adaptability in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions in Uganda.

To achieve the study purpose, the authors used responses from 91 tertiary institutions following a cross-sectional survey design. Partial least structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data and done at an institutional level.

The results reveal that systems adaptability plays a full mediating role in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions as it accounts for 96.68% variance.

Managing talented employees is not a snapshot process, yet the authors used a cross-sectional design. This paper is limited in this regard. Also, talent management in this paper is only explained by emotional intelligence and systems adaptability.

Talent management is explained by emotional intelligence and systems adaptability, which are metaphors of emotional intelligence and complex adaptive system theories. The authors also add to theory by establishing a fully mediating role of systems adaptability between emotional intelligence and talent management.

This paper establishes the mediating role of systems adaptability in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical review of the literature on talent management (TM) and highlight the potential downsides of exclusive TM approaches and workforce differentiation.

A literature review of 32 theoretical and empirical studies published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals in the field of TM was conducted.

The review resulted in four overarching themes that highlight the dysfunctional aspects of exclusive TM approaches and workforce differentiation: (a) organizational justice, (b) ethics, (c) internal competition and (d) workplace diversity. Based on the four themes, the authors present a conceptual model that includes a feedback loop for reevaluating and improving on existing TM processes. Several research questions and propositions are also presented for consideration in future TM research.

This paper highlights the need for more empirical studies and statistically rigorous evidence to demonstrate and justify the effectiveness of TM.

The authors suggest that the locus of TM practices should be shifted from managing individual job competencies to managing organizational capabilities.

This review illuminates the need to reevaluate existing TM approaches and minimize TM's potential downsides for long-term organizational health and competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential impact of organisational talent management practices on perceived employer branding. Talented employees are the lifeline of any organisation who contribute effectively to the organisation’s success. Talented workforce and their organisational attraction to remain productive act as a primary competitive enabler for the organizational performance. Employer branding now becomes a key factor to achieve success in business which engenders cognitive and emotional association along with positive involvement at workplace among organizational members. In the context of economic competitiveness and globalisation, employers are experiencing challenge in attracting and retaining talented workers.

This paper uses quantitative design; questionnaire survey method was used for assessing the organisational talent management and employer branding. Data have been collected through a sample of 232 executives’ class employees from various coal and iron mining industries located in Indian subcontinents. Finally, 197 responses were found to be acceptable for analysis. Hypotheses were tested using a comparison of means, correlations and multiple regression analysis.

Findings of the paper show that organisational talent management is strongly and positively with the perceived employer branding. Regression analysis showed that among the eight dimensions of organisational talent management, the predictors that are most effective in predicting the employer branding are, namely, rewards and remunerates fairly, manages work–life balance and attracts and recruits talent.

This paper was limited by a small sample size and the use of a cross-sectional design is not done. On the ground of analysis, more specific approach is required to apply the findings to the general population.

Much of the work on employer branding is conceptual based on marketing principle and limited to deal with potential employees. This paper provides empirical evidence from the internal/current employees’ perspective, by investigating the relationship between organisational talent management practices and organisational attraction internally, that is, perceived employer branding. Present paper contributes significantly to the implication and understanding of social exchange theory, internal branding theory and social identity theory in organisational setting (Eisenberger et al., 1986; Liden et al., 1997; Masterson et al., 2000; Settoon et al., 1996; Wayne et al., 1997).

The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that demonstrates the mechanisms through which talent management (TM) leads to the various dimensions of employee performance.

A literature-based analysis was employed by combining concepts from TM and employee performance. The syntheses of these two concepts lead to the development of the conceptual framework.

The findings show that, implementation of a TM system leads to employee performance, but a TM output mediates the relationship between TM and employee performance.

This paper has contributed to the conceptualisation of TM and employee performance which will help to improve theory, research and practice in all fields concerned with individual work performance.

Combining insights from the social exchange and signalling theories, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the relationship between talent management (TM) practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance; and, second, to examine the mediating role of job satisfaction and affective commitment on this relationship in the Ghanaian banking context.

Structural equation modelling was used to survey data from 232 employees who are part of a talent pool in the Ghanaian banking sector.

The findings of this paper showed that TM practices increase positive talented employee performance of task, contextual and adaptive, whereas it reduces counterproductive behaviours. Second, talented employee work attitudes of job satisfaction and affective commitment partially mediate the relationship between TM practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance.

This study used cross-sectional data; hence, conclusions regarding causality cannot be made.

Management and organisations implementing and intending to implement TM practices should implement and invest in TM practices that will trigger employee work attitudes to achieve full employee performance.

This paper advances the literature by exploring the relationship between TM practices and four dimensions of talented employees’ performance.

This study aims to examine the role of talent management (TM) in improving organizational sustainability (OS). The study also investigates employees’ sustainable behaviour (SB) in achieving three-dimensional sustainability goals (i.e. economic, social and environmental).

This study focused on medium and large-scale manufacturing firms, whereas the sample size was 196 firms. Data was collected through close-ended questionnaires using the cluster sampling technique. The partial least square-structural equation modelling was used to estimate the modelled relationships.

Results show a significant direct impact of TM on OS. Likewise, the results also show a substantial impact of all three dimensions of TM (acquisition, development and retention) on OS. Results confirm that employees’ SB positively mediates between TM and OS.

The study focuses on the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The study’s findings imply that TM strategies are an indispensable source of sustainability to attract, develop and retain talented employees in the situation of talent shortage. Moreover, sustainable employees’ behaviour is also depicted as a positive role between TM and OS because sustainable success is not only required the expertize of employees, but it also needs the dedication of employees.

This study enhances the understanding of TM’s role in improving the OS. The findings imply that a firm should consider TM as the apex strategy for elevating the performance. Findings also reveal the need to adopt a comprehensive strategy or system to manage the talent of an organization.

Linking the TM with OS and SB is the novelty of the study.

Past research provides mixed evidence of the various elements of talent management. This review consolidates that research evidence to present a comprehensive evidence-based multilevel framework to inform practice and outline future research directions.

A systematic review of 120 empirical studies, focusing on determinants, practices and/or outcomes of talent management practices, was undertaken.

Our multilevel framework suggests that talent management perspectives determine talent management practices which, in turn, impact organizational, group and employee outcomes. Most studies focused on identifying talent management perspectives or practices within organizations, while few studies investigated how these perspectives influence practices. The inclusive vs exclusive perspective has been the main focus of the research. However, findings indicate that a combination of perspectives generates a hybrid approach which leads to a range of talent management practices. The most studied practices involve talent development and the least studied involve talent engagement. In total, 67 studies focusing on outcomes of talent management identified organizational performance as the most conspicuous outcome of talent management.

This review contributes to the existing knowledge of talent management by consolidating the empirical evidence on determinants and outcomes of talent management practices and provides a comprehensive, integrated and multilevel framework to guide practice and future research.

Managing diverse talents has become a necessary part of the human resource management of contemporary organizations. The growing diversity of organizations' workforce makes companies reassess their conventional HRM approaches. State-owned enterprises get the increasing attention of talent management scholars since state firms enthusiastically compete for talents. These companies have some particularities that distinguish them from private firms, and there is a need to analyse the existing research on the HRM in state companies which has the potential to add a missing part to the puzzle of managing diverse talents. We study the major topics in the literature on human resource management and talent management in state-owned enterprises, the key findings researchers provide and the gaps in the literature that need to be covered and the resulting research directions for future studies.