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The purpose of this paper is to provide a conclusion to the theme issue question “Is talent management a strategic priority in the hospitality sector?”

The issues and debates relevant to the strategic question are summarised. Significant themes that have arisen across a number of papers are presented. This provides a clear indication of current issues in strategic talent management which are of relevance to hospitality practitioners and academics.

Five recurring themes are identified as being particularly relevant to hospitality organisations when considering a strategic approach to talent management. These are: the role of line mangers in employee development and well-being, talent management being used as a lever for culture change, the importance of contextualising approaches to talent management, the need for new and innovative ways of working to achieve a strategic approach to talent management and barriers for the development of a strategic approach caused by economic and day-to-day operational pressures.

The paper suggests a number of practical actions which could be taken to develop a more strategic approach to talent management.

The paper illustrates that hospitality operators understand the importance of a strategic approach to talent management and are using a range of talent management processes to drive business success but that new solutions to long-standing challenges are required.

This paper aims to argue that traditional talent management practices cannot lead to organizational excellence.

On the basis of their extensive HR-experience, the authors analyze common talent management practices and demonstrate the need for a different approach.

Strategic talent management should align and mutually reinforce business development and personal development to enhance strategic success.

Increasing dynamics and agility in business require HR-professionals to really master strategic thinking and practices and develop themselves as true participants in strategy development.

Talent managers should start thinking in terms of strategic capabilities for the organization.

Strategic talent management starts with the where and what of the work that has to be done and only then looks at who.

The paper introduces the new concept of A-positions where top talents and strategic organizational capabilities can reinforce each other.

Talent is a critical factor for organizational success. Multinational corporations (MNCs) face the challenge of fierce competition for talent worldwide by increasing their efforts in global talent management (GTM). To improve the strategic alignment of GTM, organizations increasingly incorporate information and communication technology (ICT) applications to support their GTM system. However, not every organization is successful at applying these new opportunities (e-GTM) and aligning them successfully with their organizational strategy. This chapter aims at conceptualizing the relationship between strategic GTM and strategic ICT in an aligned effort. It presents a conceptual framework that identifies four types of MNC approaches to e-GTM.

By means of a review of, both the GTM literature as well as the ICT literature, we connect the two concepts, GTM and ICT into e-GTM, into a framework along two axes: the extent to which MNCs apply GTM (ad hoc vs. strategic) and the scope of ICT in MNCs (operational vs. strategic).

Although the framework identifies four approaches to e-GTM in MNCs, the framework is less black and white than as presented. Companies can display e-GTM characteristics which place them in the gray areas in between each of the profiles. Additionally, we assume that achieving the alignment of strategic GTM and strategic ICT is an iterative process.

Since strategic alignment is not static but continuously changing, it requires companies to reevaluate their current GTM practices and ICT applications constantly while scanning the external market for new developments in the field of GTM and ICT to ensure the innovative state of their system. Furthermore, we assume that MNCs from high-tech sectors are more successful in supporting their strategic GTM applications with suitable ICT applications than MNCs from low-tech sectors. The study presents a first step toward researching the relationship between strategic GTM and strategic ICT in MNCs. The proposed framework might be used as a foundation for further research studies.

The framework presented in this chapter can help MNCs to address the issue of connecting GTM and ICT.

The relationship between GTM and ICT have not been conceptualized before. Furthermore, the typology presented in this chapter, with four approaches to ICT-enabled GTM, is a new way of looking at the GTM–ICT relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the perceptions of strategic actors in multinational organisations and to contribute to our understanding of how multinational companies articulate and define talent management and how – or what – they perceive its value to be.

The paper is based on an empirical research study in which data were collected through 50 in-depth interviews across five multinational companies, conducted at a regional level across ten countries. Participants in the study were strategic actors representing two groups of managers/leaders (HR and talent management system designers and business leaders who are directly involved in the implementation of talent management).

The absence of a formal talent management definition led to the emergence of different views and interpretations of what it is. It was viewed as a bundle, or set, of management ideologies manifested in all HR-related practices across four key areas: hiring the right talent, performance management, succession planning and development and retention. Performance management acted as the cornerstone. Talent management strategies displayed little participation for both system designers and implementers and distinct patterns of mystification, technologization and concretisation. The language of value was uncommonly used but provoked different ways of thinking about the role and meaning of talent management.

The strategic actors in the talent system continue to see talent management in narrow functional and HR process terms. However, by bundling these HR functions and processes together, it is evident that they can be encouraged to recast their activity in a broader strategic narrative. Borrowing the notions and theories of value and value creation, and investigating talent management through this lens, should help to surface interesting insights into how talent management might be defined in practice, and how the language of value may in future be used to understand what talent management really is.

The global study underpinning this paper attempts to deconstruct the understanding that strategic actors have about talent management from an empirical base. It contributes to the conceptual development of the talent management discourse by revealing the logics being pursued and address the definitional problem currently evidenced in the literature. It also provides direction for future research.

This article aims to explain the why and what of strategic talent development. It shows how top talents in value-creating top positions can make a strategic difference for organizations.

Having established the differences between generic and strategic talent management, this article argues that talent management needs to be aligned with the organizational strategy. The next step is to ensure that the talents and skills of people who fulfill strategic, “difference-making” roles are best developed. You cannot standardize your talent development to achieve greatness.

Strategic talent development is a valuable and priceless investment in the future of the entire organization.

Strategic talent development is an innovative addition to existing talent management practices – not a replacement. An addition that makes the link between talent management and strategy (even) more explicit and can help organizations to make a next step in the realization of their ambitions through a targeted deployment and development of their top talents in key positions.

Despite the widely acknowledged relevance of global talent management (GTM) to business strategy, its activity and scope are not well understood. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for GTM and specifies the main components: strategy, practices, experiences and systems. Complementing the framework, a multiple-actors model is introduced identifying actors participant in the talent system. Specification of the GTM system frames future research of components and outcomes, informs management practice and is of particular relevance to management of global mobility (GM) by multiple actors.

This paper introduces a strategic framework for GTM and corresponding multiple-actors model extending the GTM, strategic human resource management (SHRM) and GM literatures. A systems view of GTM is presented, founded on social exchange amongst actors. System components and actor roles are specified.

GTM is articulated as a coherent set of activities within an integrated system. Actors centrally involved in co-creation of the talent system are identified.

Presenting an internal view, the framework excludes external influences such as talent markets. Empirical study is required. An approach is outlined.

The framework and model provide management with a strategic approach to GTM and a tool for management enquiry in their challenge to operationalise GTM.

The framework deepens the understanding of GTM, extends the GM literature debate of managing expatriate talent to a wider system perspective and sheds light on the intended-actual gap noted in SHRM literature. The multiple-actors model re-positions the employee at the centre of talent management.

The purpose of this paper is to review strategic talent management (STM) research with the aim of providing major insights into the under-explored themes, issues, theories and methods.

The method included a systematic review of studies from 2007 to 2019 in five reputable academic databases. In total, 51 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analysed.

STM can be leveraged to achieve several positive employee, organisational and macro-level outcomes. However, the realisation of these positive outcomes can be threatened by several challenges, which need to be addressed through the creation of conditions critical for the success of talent management strategies. Moreover, effective talent management strategy regime does not lie on the shoulders of just one individual but a collective responsibility of multiple stakeholders. The study also highlighted the digitalisation of STM, integration of ethical and responsible management principles into talent management strategies, and strategic management of unconventional of talent pools as key trends. Finally, several major weaknesses in the current STM scholarship from theoretical, content, context and methodological perspectives are discussed.

Although the studies included in the analysis may not include all studies published during the study period, it is assumed that they provide a good representation of such studies.

Since no systematic study was conducted specifically on STM, this study contributes to the talent management literature by identifying several research issues and gaps while defining future directions of the field. It can, therefore, enrich STM debates, practices and policy making.

Navigating a dynamic global landscape, businesses must not only define talent strategy but apply it effectively in practice. By intentionally establishing consistent talent practices, discernible to employees, organisations signal priorities for talent, establishing a psychological “climate for talent” to sustain talent development over time. The strong talent system and talent climate are introduced. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the importance of organisational context to talent management.

A strategic climate for talent and strong talent system are theorised with “strong situation” specifications: distinctiveness, consistency, consensus and context.

A strategic climate for talent is defined. Empirical study is required to develop and validate the talent climate construct.

Employees’ interpretations of talent practices as signals of organisational priorities will influence the effectiveness of talent strategy implementation. This paper highlights the importance of a contextually relevant, consistently implemented talent system which signals the organisation’s invitation to employees to develop their potential in alignment with business strategy, enhancing career outcomes and supporting employees’ perceptions of inclusion and procedural fairness in talent management (TM). It supports management practice in an increasingly dynamic context to implement sufficiently distinct, consistent and contextually relevant talent practices.

The strategic climate for talent, perceivable by individual employees and resulting from a strong talent system, is introduced. This paper extends strategic human resources management, TM and climate literatures introducing a cross-level model of strategic organisational climate which examines proximal employee outcomes of TM practices.

The aim of this chapter is to focus on the role human capital, innovative recruitment practices and cross-cultural staffing policies have on organizational performance. This facilitates a better understanding about how entrepreneurial thinking is encompassed into an organizational context by utilizing global talent management practices.

The chapter discusses the linkage between global talent management and corporate entrepreneurship literature by providing a number of research propositions.

The chapter highlights how it is important for entrepreneurial organizations to focus on global talent management for their global competitiveness.

This conceptual paper is based on corporate entrepreneurship as the underlying theoretical framework for global talent management, which means the results should be interpreted from an entrepreneurial perspective.

Global talent management is becoming increasingly popular as a way to integrate organizations corporate entrepreneurship goals with their strategic objectives.

More organizations are taking a social perspective that encompasses a global mindset for talent management in order to facilitate more entrepreneurial thinking.

This chapter stresses the importance placed on hiring and retaining talented individuals who can contribute to innovative and risk taking outcomes in global organizations.

The lack of career movement of members of ethnic minority groups in work organizations has been widely documented. The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into conditions for the realization of diversity goals in the case of talent development.

In a case study of management development in the Dutch national tax administration, the practice of fostering vertical mobility of ethnic minority personnel through diversity management has been analysed. The authors make use of theories regarding effective diversity management and career advancement of ethnic minority employees. Data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 12 participants in the management development course, and a further 25 functionaries involved in the project.

With regard to diversity management as a means of fostering talent development of ethnic minorities, the authors come to the conclusion that key success factors mentioned in the literature such as top level commitment and strategic integration, are insufficient and overrated conditions. More important are “non‐issues” in the formulation of diversity strategies, organizational alignment of relevant organizational players, strategic coherence and organizational culture.

The case study design used in this research facilitates case‐sensitive analysis, but is limited in estimations of validity and explanatory strength of factors mentioned in the literature, as it is in generalizing across organizations.

Interventions aimed at fostering ethnic diversity in talent development should start with precise analysis of cultural and organizational conditions and processes underpinning standard practices of talent and career development, and not only seek strategic integration and top management commitment but arrange for broad‐based organizational alignment.

While there are many theoretical and normative models tracing diversity outcomes to organizational conditions and diversity management strategies, there is a dearth of empirical studies in this field. The case study explores the merits of these models and adds new insights on an empirical basis.