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Economic theory posits that production factors that are both difficult to imitate and capable of creating organizational efficiencies can generate economic rents and sustain long-term competitive advantage. Using survey data for 106 firms, we measure four dimensions of strategic human capital and find that the market values strategic human capital that has the capability to create efficiencies in the organization and is also difficult for competitors to imitate. We discuss implications for the reporting of human capital in intellectual capital reports and offer suggestions for future research.

Research in strategic human resource management (SHRM) has evolved over the past 30 years to become more theory based and to exhibit greater empirical rigor. However, much has changed in the external environment that makes the existing theories, approaches, and methodologies inappropriate for addressing the questions that organizations face in managing their human resources today. In this chapter we discuss a number of environmental changes impacting organizations and identify tensions that researchers have faced in exploring how firms seek to manage their people as a source of competitive advantage. We argue that past research has focused on only one side of the tension at a time, thus limiting the usefulness of the answers that research provides. We advocate for research that simultaneously addresses both sides of the tensions in a way that can revolutionize research in SHRM.

Firm-specific human capital (FSHC) has been an integral part of the vocabulary in the strategy field. Many scholars argue that FSHC inhibits employee mobility and drives employee retention at a discount, value appropriation, and firms' competitive advantage. FSHC also plays a central role in the resource-based view of the firm. In recent years, however, a significant debate has emerged on the validity and usefulness of the construct. The purpose of the chapter is to revisit this debate and discuss both challenges and opportunities related to FSHC. In a form of conversation, we take aim at FSHC from different angles and discuss its role as a mobility friction, in value appropriation of established firms, in the context of transitions between paid employment and entrepreneurship, and in the views of practitioners. While we agree that our understanding of the concept of FSHC must evolve, we continue to see its value in our theoretical toolbox.

Much like “Yeti,” the Abominable Snowman whose footprints are everywhere but itself nowhere to be seen, unfounded assertions of human capital as valuable contributors to strategic success continue to proliferate. Many of these treatments are nonbinding, nonmeasureable, idiosyncratic, tautological, and therefore nearly impossible to use for any comparative market valuation. In this chapter, we selectively review the interdisciplinary literature on exemplars of human-derived capital. We systematically examine specific epistemological strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in recognized theories, measures, and practices. In particular, a multidisciplinary, multilevel, connectionist point of view is suggested. We present the case for an evidence-based classification system of human-derived capital at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. Our framework goes beyond static stock models by emphasizing dynamic human-derived capital flows, as well as their within-level and cross-level linkages, all within the context of a modern society that increasingly is networked, fluent with technology, and prodigious with social media.

The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.

It is widely accepted that global competitive advantage frequently requires managing such complex situations where traditional organization and job structures are simply insufficient. Increasingly, in order to create a flexible and integrated set of decisions that balance local flexibility with global efficiency, organizations must rely on more social, informal and matrix-based shared visions among managers and employees. Research on global strategic advantage, global organizational structures and even shared mindsets has suggested that dimensions of culture, product and function provide a valuable organizing framework. However, typical decisions about organization structure, HRM practices and talent often remain framed at such a high level as to preclude their solution. We maintain that there is often no logical answer to such questions as, “Should the sales force be local or global?” or “Should product authority rest with the countries or the corporate center?” However, we propose that embedding business processes or value chains within a Culture and Product matrix provides the necessary analytic detail to reveal otherwise elusive solutions. Moreover, by linking this global process matrix to a model that bridges strategy and talent, it is possible to identify global “pivotal talent pools,” and to target organizational and human resource investments toward those talent areas that have the greatest impact on strategic advantage. We demonstrate the Value-Chain, Culture and Product (VCCP) matrix using several examples, and discuss future research and practical implications, particularly for leadership and leadership development.

Talent management and its associated issues are a perennial concern for human resource management (HRM) practitioners and HR professional bodies. The disruption of the gig economy has exacerbated these concerns in multiple ways. This chapter seeks to interrogate this arena, its drivers and in particular the onward impacts on HRM practice and direction at the wider organisational level. The conceptual lens of Critical HRM has been selected for this analysis to examine how a variant of neoliberalism, that of human capital theory, has exuberated and legitimised a shift from an inclusive human relations approach to talent management to an exclusive individualised one with onward impacts on the talent development opportunities for individuals inside and outside of the organisation. This chapter also considers the reemphasis on the role of ‘strategic planning’ and the rise of supply chain management discourses in the context of managing atomised talent. It is argued that in the absence of mutuality in the gig economy espoused talent management strategies can create a conflict between the agendas of giggers, platforms and agencies and wider stakeholders in organisations. These issues are examined through an in-depth case study of gig-based contracts in the higher education and their impact on talent management and associated goals of innovation and creativity.

The success of mergers and acquisitions are contingent upon organizational operations, legal structures, and fiscal responsibilities. Each of these areas requires a proper mix of human capital – people – assigned to carry out the objectives and goals of the emerging entity. Within the general knowledge of Mergers and acquisitions (M&As), research focusing upon these aspects of human capital have been lacking. This chapter adds to the current knowledge of M&A human resources by establishing a framework that can direct future research.

Raffiee, Ganco, and Campbell's intriguing study of the likelihood of success of law firm “spinouts” suggests some important inferences for our understanding of the effects of strategic human capital. The types of human capital that are most relevant to a firm may depend greatly on the type of work that the firm performs. Moreover, the processes that drive firm performance should be distinguished from those that influence firm survival. This study also touches on some broader, as yet unresolved issues about how to empirically operationalize strategic human capital arguments, particularly the central paradox that the human capital with the most potential for strategically differentiating a firm is likely to be quite hard to measure across a population of firms.