TalentManagement&Strategy

IdentifyingPatternsthroughaMultipleCaseStudy

AnnikaAarnioEllenKimberSupervisor:JonasSöderlund

LinköpingUniversity|DepartmentofManagementandEngineeringMaster’sthesis,30credits|MScBusinessAdministration-StrategyandManagementinInternationalOrganizations

Spring2016|ISRN-number:LIU-IEI-FIL-A--16/02281--SE

LinköpingUniversitySE-58183Linköping,Sweden+46013281000,www.liu.se

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Englishtitle:TalentManagement&Strategy:

IdentifyingPatternsthroughaMultiple-CaseStudy

Authors:AnnikaAarnioandEllenKimber

Advisor:

JonasSöderlund

Publicationtype:Master’sthesisinBusinessAdministration

StrategyandManagementinInternationalOrganizationsAdvancedlevel,30creditsSpringsemester2016

ISRNNumber:LIU-IEI-FIL-A--16/02281--SE

LinköpingUniversityDepartmentofManagementandEngineering(IEI)

www.liu.se

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ABSTRACT

Authors

AnnikaAarnioandEllenKimber

Date

May31st,2016

Background

ExploringtheTalentManagementliteraturetounderstandtheimportanceofTalentManagementtostrategyandtheroletheviewontalentplaysinconsiderationtoTalentManagement.

Purpose

ThepurposeofthisthesisistoincreasetheempiricalresearchonTalentManagementtoenableacreationofaconceptualframework.

Methodology

A multiple case study approach was taken, as 11 companies from diverse industries, sizes,backgrounds etc. was studied in order to gain a broader picture on the research topic.Furthermore,qualitativedatacollectionmethodwasusedandmainsourceofempiricaldatawasinterviewsconductedwithHRprofessionalsofeachcasecompany.

Findings

Theempiricalfindingsindicatedtheretobearelationshipbetweenthestrategyandtheviewontalent.TherewasfurtheranindicationthatthisrelationshiphasaneffectonthefocusoftheTalentManagementactivities.

Keywords

Talent Management, Strategy, Talent, Approaches to Talent Management, Strategic TalentManagement

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Wewishtotaketheopportunitytothankthepeopleinvolvedinthedevelopmentofthisthesis,aswithout the contributions frombelowmentioned, this thesiswouldnothavebeenpossiblewithouttheirinput,neitherreachedthelevelitisintoday.

We would like to thank our supervisor, Jonas Söderlund, who has throughout our researchsparkedusto investigate further intothesubjectanddeliverourbest.Hisencouragementhasbroughtustopushonthetheoreticalboundariesenablingustolearnmoreanddevelopourselvesasresearchers.

Foremost,anenormousthankyoutotheelevencasecompaniesforprovidinguswiththeessentialcontributionofvaluableknowledgeonthesubjectandgivingusthetimetogaininsightontheirTalent Management. This contribution enabled us to embark on this journey to deepen ourknowledgewithinTalentManagementandcontributetothefieldofTalentManagementresearch.

Awarm thank you to our seminar group for participatingwith their enthusiasm and insightsduringseminars,aswellastoallthefellowSMIOstudentsatLinköpingUniversitywhohasmadethisjourneyenjoyableevenoutsidecampus.TheSMIOMaster’sprogrammehasshapedourmindsforever.

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TABLEOFCONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................11.1 ProblemDescription.......................................................................................................................................21.2 Purpose&ResearchQuestion....................................................................................................................31.3 SignificanceoftheResearch........................................................................................................................31.4 Delimitations......................................................................................................................................................41.5 OutlineoftheThesis.......................................................................................................................................5

2 THEORETICALBACKGROUND...........................................................................................................62.1 TalentManagement.........................................................................................................................................62.1.1 TalentManagementPracticesandProcesses................................................................................6

2.2 ViewonTalent...................................................................................................................................................72.3 ApproachestoTalentManagement......................................................................................................102.4 StrategyandTalentManagement..........................................................................................................132.4.1 StrategicTalentManagement............................................................................................................142.4.2 MaturityofTalentManagement.......................................................................................................16

2.5 SummaryandFrameworkfortheMainConcepts..........................................................................17

3 METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................................................193.1 ResearchTopic...............................................................................................................................................193.2 ResearchStrategy.........................................................................................................................................203.3 ResearchDesign.............................................................................................................................................203.4 SampleandDataSelection........................................................................................................................213.5 DataCollection...............................................................................................................................................223.5.1 SecondaryData.........................................................................................................................................223.5.2 PrimaryData..............................................................................................................................................22

3.6 DataAnalysis...................................................................................................................................................253.7 ResearchQuality............................................................................................................................................273.8 EthicalConsiderations................................................................................................................................283.9 Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................29

4 EMPIRICALFINDINGS........................................................................................................................304.1 ViewonTalent................................................................................................................................................304.2 ApproachtoTalentManagement...........................................................................................................324.2.1 TalentManagementProcess...............................................................................................................324.2.2 TheAim,MeasuresandSuccessofTalentManagement.........................................................354.2.3 ChallengesandBenefitsofTalentManagement........................................................................37

4.3 DevelopmentofTalentManagement...................................................................................................414.4 AlignmentofTalentManagementtoStrategy..................................................................................44

5 ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................................................485.1 RelationshipofViewonTalentandTalentManagement............................................................485.2 RelationshipofTalentManagementandStrategy..........................................................................525.3 RelationshipofStrategyandViewonTalent....................................................................................565.4 ApplicationofConceptualFrameworkandtheIdentificationofPatterns..........................58

6 CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................................616.1 ManagerialImplications.............................................................................................................................62

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6.2 SuggestionsforFutureResearch............................................................................................................63

7 REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................................64

APPENDIX1...................................................................................................................................................70

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LISTOFTABLES

Table1.Definitionoftalent...........................................................................................................................................8

Table2.SummaryoftheTalentManagementapproaches...........................................................................13

Table3.MaturitylevelsofTalentManagement.................................................................................................16

Table4.Sampleinformation......................................................................................................................................21

Table5.Interviewinformationanddatacollection.........................................................................................24

Table6.Codingframework.........................................................................................................................................25

Table7.Extendedcodingframework.....................................................................................................................26

Table8.Summaryoftalentdefinition....................................................................................................................32

Table9.SummaryofapproachestoTalentManagement.............................................................................39

Table10.SummaryofTalentManagementinplaceandfromwheretheinitiativecamefrom...43

Table11.SummaryofalignmentofTalentManagementtostrategy......................................................46

Table12.ViewontalentandTalentManagement...........................................................................................48

Table13.TalentManagementandstrategy........................................................................................................52

Table14.LevelofmaturityofTalentManagement.........................................................................................55

Table15.Patternsidentifiedbasedontheconceptualframework..........................................................59

LISTOFFIGURES

Figure1.Outlineofthethesis.......................................................................................................................................5

Figure2.TheTalentManagementrelationshipframework........................................................................17

Figure3.Summaryoftheviewontalent..............................................................................................................50

Figure4.SystematicapproachtoTalentManagement...................................................................................53

Figure5.Approachtostrategy..................................................................................................................................57

Figure6.TalentManagementrelationshipframework..................................................................................58

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1 INTRODUCTION

”Havingthemosttalentedpeopleineachofourbusinessesisthemostimportantthing.Ifwedon’t,welose.”

(JackWelch,chairmanandCEOofGE1981–2001)

Talenthasbeenrecognisedasanimportantstrategicresourcebymanyorganisations(Lawler,2008;Wennberg, 2014) andTalentManagement is considered as one of themost compellingchallengesorganisations facetodayandinthefuture(Deloitte,2013;Dries,2013;Thunnissen,Boselie&Fruytier,2013;Cappelli&Keller,2014).The“WarforTalent”-discussion,initiatedinthe change of the 21st century byMichaels, Handfield-Jones and Axelrod (2001), first raisedattentiontowardstheincreasingcompetitionoftalent.Sincethen,TalentManagementhasgainedgroundasadominantHumanResourcetopic,notonlyamongHRprofessionalsbutalsoamongexecutives(Cascio&Aguinis,2008;BCG,2014;Thunnissenetal.,2013).ThestronginterestofpractitionershasbeenthedrivingforceofTalentManagementbutinrecentyearstheinteresthasbeengrowingquicklyalsoamongtheacademics(Thunnissenetal.2013).

The focusonTalentManagement is increasingbecause thebusinessenvironment is changing,causingtalentshortages,whichinturnincreasethecompetitionoftalentandthushasamajoreffect on organisations (Deloitte, 2013; Thunnissen et al., 2013; ManpowerGroup, 2015).Demographicchanges,suchasagingandincreaseddiversityaswellasincreasedmobilityoftheworkforce due to globalisation are some of the reasons behind the emerging talent shortage(Schuler, Jackson & Tarique 2011; Stone & Deadrick, 2015). Furthermore, transformationalchangesinthebusinessenvironment,suchastheshiftfromproduct-basedtoknowledge-basedeconomiesandtheneedforemployeestohandlemorecomplexwork,affectsthequantity,qualityandcharacteristicsofthetalentrequired(Ashton&Morton,2005;Schuleretal.,2011;Vaiman,Scullion&Collings,2012).

McDonnell (2011) claims Talent Management to be one of the most important factors toorganisationsinachievingsustainablesuccess.Thefailuretohavethetalentrequiredcanaffectnegativelytothecompetitivenessoftheorganisation(ManpowerGroup,2015).Stemmingfromtheresource-basedview, talentcanbeunderstoodassomethingvaluable, rare, inimitableandnon-substitutable,andenablestheimplementationofvaluecreatingstrategiesandachievementofsustainablecompetitiveadvantage(Barney,1991;Sparrow&Makram,2015).Thus,oneofthemost important tasks in organisations is tomake sure to have the right people (PwC, 2015).Cappelli andKeller (2014) clarify thatTalentManagement implieshaving a set of establishedpractices that aimat getting the rightperson in the right jobat the right time.AsTurnerandKalman(2014)claim,ultimately,itistheperformanceofemployeesthatdeliversthestrategyandthe talents inparticulararevital for theorganisation’scontinuoussuccess. “It is thequalityoftalentthroughouttheorganizationthatultimatelyleadstothecreationandeffectiveexecutionofsuccessfulstrategy”(Silzer&Dowell,2010,p.3).Thus,SilzerandDowell(2010)emphasisethestrategicfocusofTalentManagement-itwouldbedifficultforanyorganisationtogainsuccessinthe long-term, without having a close consideration onwhich kind of talent the organisationneeds.AshtonandMorton(2005)furtheremphasisegoodTalentManagementtobestrategicallyimportantasitcandifferentiatetheorganisationfromitscompetitors–talentcanimprovethestrategyexecutionandoperationalexcellenceofanorganisation.

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1.1 ProblemDescription

TalentManagementhasbecomeakeybusinessactivityinorganisationsandacriticallyimportantdecision area formanagers because of the prevalent talent shortages (Garrow&Hirsh, 2008;Collings&Mellahi,2009;Sparrow&Makram,2015).Thisentailsthattalentisunderstoodasascarce, strategic asset and a possible source for competitive advantage and differentiation(Lawler,2008;Deloitte,2013;Thunnissenetal.,2013;Wennberg,2014;ManpowerGroup,2015;Sparrow & Makram, 2015). Talent Management has become more than just one of the HRprograms,andrequiresstrategic focuson itsown,as it isdifficult foranyorganisationtogainsuccess on the long-term without having a close consideration on which kind of talent theorganisationneeds(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011;Corbridge&Omotayo,2013,p.98;Bolander,Asplund&Werr,2014;Turner&Kalman,2014).AsurveybyManpowerGroupin2015recognisedTalentManagementchallengestohavegainedglobalrecognition,andfailuretohavethetalentrequiredcanaffectnegativelytothecompetitivenessoftheorganisation.Furthermore,only a few, if any, organisations can claim to have an adequate supply of talent (McKinsey&Company,2012).Furthermore,astudydonein2012bytheCharteredInstituteofPersonnelandDevelopment(CIPD)alsoidentifiedthatavastminorityoforganisations,only6%,considertheirTalentManagementsystemstobeveryeffective.Hence,AlAriss,CascioandPaauwe(2014)claimthat the importance of Talent Management is easily overlooked and capitalizing on theopportunityforstrategicsuccessisnotrealised,sincesimplyhavingTalentManagementdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatorganisationsaresuccessfulinmanagingtheirinternaltalent.

Thunnissen et al. (2013) state that despite the high interest of practitioners on TalentManagement,thetheoreticalstudieshavenotdevelopedatthesamepace.Bolanderetal.(2014)arguethatthestrategicfocusonTalentManagementinspecificisyettohaveimpactonpracticebecausethelackofempiricalstudiesonthefield.EventhoughCollings,Scullion&Vaiman(2015)considerTalentManagementasaresearchfieldtobemovingtowardsthematurityphase,itisyettogaincredibilityamongacademics.Manyresearchersarguethatdespite theattentiononthetopic of Talent Management, the lack of empirical research has lead to lack of theoreticaldevelopment(Collings&Mellahi,2009;Silzer&Dowell,2010;Thunnissenetal.,2013).Festing,Schäfer andScullion (2013) conclude thatTalentManagement canbeapproached indifferentways by different organisations, which is only a recently developed statement in the TalentManagement literature,which in specific lacks empirical research.Meyers, vanWoerkomandDries (2013) clarify the lack of empirical evidence to stem from the conceptual ambiguitiesaround talent, which need to be resolved in order to enable Talent Management to bemoreeffectiveinpractice.Thunnissenetal.(2013)statethatthereisaneedtomoveawayfromtheassumptionsandhypothesesintounderstandingtherealitiesofTalentManagement.Bolanderetal. (2014)hascontributedtounderstandingTalentManagement inpracticeandclaimthattheviewontalentaffectsthewayTalentManagementisapproached,concludingtheretobethreeapproachestoTalentManagement,namely,Humanistic,CompetitiveandEntrepreneurial,whichchallengesthetraditionalelitistviewontalent.However,theresearchisbasedonaratherlimitedsample.

Therefore, there is a need formore empirical research, as there is an apparent gap betweenpractitionerandacademicinterests(Cappelli&Keller,2014)aswellaslackofempiricalevidenceon the existing conceptual models and ideas on the topic of Talent Management (Lewis &

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Heckman, 2006; Dries, 2013; Bolander et al., 2014). Especially, the alignment of TalentManagementandstrategydoesnothavemuchtheoreticalresearchsurroundingit,eventhoughthe strategic importance of Talent Management is emphasised by many researchers andpractitionersinparticular(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011;Bolanderetal.,2014;Turner&Kalman,2014;ManpowerGroup,2015).

Hence,thisthesisembarksonaddingontotheempiricalresearchonTalentManagementtonotonlybridgethegapbetweenpractitionersandacademicsbutalsotobridgethetheoreticalgapbetweenTalentManagementandstrategy.AstherearedifferencesinhowTalentManagementcanbeapproachedindifferentorganisations(Festingetal.,2013;Meyersetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014)amultiplecasestudyapproachistaken,as11companiesfromdiverseindustries,sizes,backgroundsetc.isstudiedinordertogainabroaderpictureontheresearchtopic.Multiplecasestudyapproachallowsamoreofaholisticandreliableviewofthetopictobederived,asitallowsanalysisofeachcasecompanyindividuallybutalsoallowstheanalysistobedoneacrossthecasecompanies(Baxter&Jack,2008).Identifyingsimilaritiesanddifferencesisthuspossibleand pattern recognition can bring understanding to the differentways TalentManagement isapproachedandalignedtostrategyinorganisations.Multiplecasestudyalsofunctionsasagoodbasis for challenging the existing theoretical frameworks and ideas but even as the basis forcreatingnewtheoreticalframeworks.

1.2 Purpose&ResearchQuestion

ThepurposeofthisthesisistoincreasetheempiricalresearchonTalentManagementtoenablea creation of a conceptual framework, through complementing and challenging the previousframeworksandideasthathavegiveninsightonTalentManagement.Furtherdrawingupontheactual realities of Talent Management, this study is conducted with the ambition to identifypatternsamonga setof companieswithTalentManagement.Through recognisingpatternsofTalentManagement this study can provide empirical findings of the concepts, andpotentiallydrive the theoretical concepts further. Thus, the ultimate aim is to develop further theunderstanding around TalentManagement, specifically the understanding of the alignment ofTalentManagementandstrategy,aswellas theeffectsstrategycanhave to theorganisation’sapproachtoTalentManagementandtheviewontalent.Therefore,theresearchquestionofthisthesisisformulatedasfollows:

WhyaretheredifferencesorsimilaritiesinhoworganisationsalignTalentManagementtofittheorganisation’sstrategy?

Twosubquestionsaresettoclarifythemainresearchquestion:

WhyaretheredifferentapproachestoTalentManagement?

WhatarethedifferencesandsimilaritiesinhoworganisationsalignTalentManagementtofittheorganisation’sstrategy?

1.3 SignificanceoftheResearch

ThecontributionofthisthesisistheadditionalempiricalresearchonTalentManagementandinparticular increasing theunderstandingon thealignmentofTalentManagementand strategy.

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Organisationsarefacingtalentshortagesandastalentcanbeacrucialdifferentiationfactoringainingcompetitiveadvantage,organisationscannotaffordnottounderstandtheimportanceofTalentManagement.Therefore,thetopicofTalentManagementisofinteresttopractitionersasastrategicapproachtoTalentManagementisarguedtohelptoovercomethetalentshortagesandachieve competitive advantage. This thesis can thus contribute to the knowledge of topmanagementandHRprofessionals,whoarethemaindriversofTalentManagementincompaniesand should see it as more than just a management fad. Furthermore, the topic is not onlyambiguousintheworldofpractitionersbutalsointheworldofacademics,wherealsothelackofresearchisapparent.Thus,theinteresttogrowtheempiricalresearchonthefieldisofacademicinterest instrivingtodevelopmorewidelyacknowledgedtheories.FurtherempiricalresearchcanevenaddvaluetoresearchfieldsoutsideofthethefieldofTalentManagementandadvancetheresearchonstrategy,HRandmanagementingeneral.

1.4 Delimitations

Recent research has further identified a need for empirical research on Talent Managementparticularlyinothernationalandculturalcontexts,whichsofarhasbeendominatedbytheUScontext(Festingetal.,2013;Thunnissenetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).Hence,thisthesiswillnarrowthescopeoftheresearchtotheNordiccontext.ThedecisiontochoosetheNordiccontextwasbasedonitsfeasibility.However,moresupportfortheinteresttostudytheNordicareacanbegainedfromtheresearchofBolanderetal.(2014),whichresearchedontheSwedishcontextbutonlyreliesonfairlynarrowempiricsandthussuggestsfurtherresearchonthenationalandculturalcontextanditsimpactonTalentManagementidealsandpractices.Thisdelimitationofthe scope of the thesis allows the development of better understanding of how TalentManagementisdevelopedoutsideoftheUScontextandadditionallygrowthefieldofresearchintheEuropean context,whichCollings, Scullion andVaiman (2011) state to have only recentlystartedtogaingroundintheempiricalresearchofTalentManagement.

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1.5 OutlineoftheThesis

Figure1.Outlineofthethesis.

Chapter1

•Introduction•Problemdescription, purposeandreserachquestion, significanceofresearch,&delimitations.

Chapter2

•TheoreticalBackground•The conceptualframeworkofTalentManagement,ViewonTalentandStrategyisspecificallydevelopedforthisthesis andisusedasthebasisfortheanalysis.

Chapter3

•Methodolgoy•Presentingtheoveralldesign,process andmethodsusedinordertogatherthenecessaryinformation.ThisstudyfollowsaQualitativeMultiple-Casestudy approach.

Chapter4

•EmpiricalFindings•Clarifying andgroupingtheempiricalfindingsofeachofthecasecompaniestogether.

Chapter5

•Analysis•Allthecasecompanieshavebeenanalysedtogethertoidentifypatterns inbetweentherelationshipsofthethreeconcepts.

Chapter6

•Conclusion•Basedonanalysisanddrawnconclusionsthereserachquestionandpurposeareansweredandfulfilled.Managerialimplicationsarediscussedaswellasfuturereserachispresented.

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2 THEORETICALBACKGROUND

Thischapterofthethesispresentstherelevanttheoreticalframeworktoclarifyandsupportthetopicof this thesis. First, the concepts of Talent Management and talent are explained, as there areambiguities around these concepts, previous research and frameworks are presented to give anoverviewoftheconcepts.ThealignmentofTalentManagementandstrategyisfurtherexplained.Theseconceptsarethefoundationforthedevelopmentofaconceptualframeworkpresentedattheendofthischapter.Thisframeworkisspecificallydevelopedforthepurposeofthisthesisandislateronusedasthebasisfortheanalysis.

2.1 TalentManagement

TheconceptofTalentManagementsuffersfromboththeoreticalandpracticallimitations,astheterminologydoesnothavestableandcleartheoreticalsupportintheexistingliterature(e.g.Lewis&Heckman,2006;Dries,2013;Thunnissenetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014;Sparrow,Scullion&Tarique, 2014). Throughout the research of previous literature, the definitions of TalentManagementvary,formostpartthedifferencesareontheunderstandingofhowbroadlyTalentManagement isdefined.LewisandHeckman(2006) identified threestreamsofunderstandingwhat TalentManagement is. The first stream explains TalentManagement as a substitute forHuman Resources, the second through a focus on the development of talent pools, and thirdexplainsTalentManagementasmanagementoftalents,i.e.employeeperformance(ibid.).CollingsandMellahi(2009)adda fourthstreamtothis list,whichemphasisesthe identificationofkeypositions,thusthefocusisonpositionsratherthantalentedindividuals.

AsthereismuchambiguityaroundthedefinitionofTalentManagement,Dries(2013)arguesthisto leave room for “interpretative flexibility”, which can result in inconsistencies between theorganisation’sintentionsandpractice.Furthermore,Bolanderetal.(2014)arguetheretobeanevidentlackofrigorousresearchthatwouldpaymorecloseattentiontotheactualorganizationalpractices to carry out Talent Management activities. Therefore, following the third streamidentifiedbyLewisandHeckman(2006),andoutliningadefinitionofTalentManagementthisthesisfollows,CappelliandKeller(2014)clarifythatTalentManagementimplieshavingasetofestablishedpractices that aimat getting the rightperson in the right jobat the right time.Tosupportthis,manyresearchershaveadoptedasimilarwayofdefiningTalentManagementasatypeofprocessorasetofsystematicactivities(e.g.Ashton&Morton,2005;Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011;Bethke-Langenegger,Mahler&Staffelbach,2011;Dessler,2013,p.130;Meyers&vanWoerkom,2014; Sparrowet al., 2014). For example,Meyers andvanWoerkom (2014)defineTalentManagementas“thesystematicutilizationofHumanResourceManagement(HRM)activitiestoattract,identify,develop,andretainindividualswhoareconsideredtobe‘talented’”(p.192). However, the practices can be outlined in various ways, as can be the definition of‘talented’(Cappelli&Keller,2014;Meyers&vanWoerkom,2014),whichwillbeexplainedmoreindetailinsection2.2ViewonTalent.

2.1.1 TalentManagementPracticesandProcesses

TalentManagement literaturehasbeenknowntoemphasisethebestpracticeapproach,whichentailsexemplifyingcertainpracticesthatareconsideredsuccessfulandthusshouldbefollowed(Stahl,Björkman,Farndale,Morris,Paauwe,Stiles,Trevor&Wright,2012).However,morerecent

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researchshowsthatthereshouldratherbeabestfitapproach,whichdemandsamorecontextspecific approach todesigning theseTalentManagementpractices (Pfeffer,2001;Boudreau&Ramstad,2005;Collings&Mellahi,2009;Sparrow,Hird&Balain,2011;Vaimanetal.,2012;Dries,2013;Festingetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).“Practicesareonly‘best’inthecontextforwhichthey were designed” (Stahl et al., 2012, p.26). Albeit, the most dominant practices in TalentManagement can be identified to be related to identification, recruitment, training anddevelopment, staffing and succession planning and retentionmanagement of talents (Dries &Pepermans,2008;Collings&Mellahi,2009;Armstrong,2011;Stahletal.,2012;Thunnissenetal.,2013; Bolander et al., 2014). However, Sparrow et al. (2014) argue that formulating TalentManagement systems can be challenging since there are many options on how to combinedifferent policies and practices available. As Garrow and Hirsh (2008) emphasise, TalentManagementisamatterofbestfit,i.e.fitwithstrategicobjectives,organizationalculture,otherHRpracticesandpolicies,andorganizationalcapacity.

To gain a better understanding of what type of practices are available regarding TalentManagement,Stahletal.(2012)presentsomeimportantelements,i.e.bestprinciplesasuccessfulTalentManagementprocessshouldinclude.Thus,asuccessfulTalentManagementshouldhaveitsmain focusonelementssuchasrecruitment, staffingandsuccessionplanning, traininganddevelopment,andretentionmanagement(ibid.).AccordingDriesandPepermans(2008),thefourmain aspects of Talent Management are identification, training and development, successionplanning,andretentionmanagement.Hence,combiningthesetwoperspectivestogainabroaderunderstanding, the most dominant practices in Talent Management can be concluded to beidentification, recruitment, training and development, staffing and succession planning andretentionmanagement(Dries&Pepermans,2008;Stahletal.,2012).ThisistoarguethatTalentManagement isasystemorasetofpracticesandactivities thatarecompleteand interrelated(Thunnissenetal.,2013).Thus,theexemplificationofcertainpracticesistobeunderstoodasaguidingprincipleasStahletal.(2012)stated,notonlyassimplydescriptiveofpracticesbasedonpreviously found success stories, as Sparrow et al. (2014) on the contrary emphasise. Bestpracticesapproach,suchasthiswouldentailpracticesthatcanbecopiedandduplicatedandthuscan cause challenges for organizations and steer away from being strategically importantdifferentiationfactorfororganisations(Ashton&Morton,2005;Stahletal.,2012).CappelliandKeller(2014)thusemphasiseTalentManagementtoimplyhavingasetofestablishedpracticesaimingatgettingtherightpersonintherightjobattherighttime.

2.2 ViewonTalent

To be able to fully understand the definition of Talent Management, it is necessary also tounderstandthewaytalentischaracterised(Dries,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).Huselid,BeckerandBeatty (2009,p.7) refer to talentasa strategicasset since it represents something that isvaluable,rare,inimitableandnon-substitutable,andenablestheimplementationofvaluecreatingstrategies and achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. Even though, this definitiongives a basis for understanding how talent can be perceived from the resource-based view,Bolanderetal.(2014)arguethatthenatureoftalentisnotasselfevidentastheaforementionedcharacteristicsentailandvarieswidelyintheTalentManagementliterature.Gallardo-Gallardo,DriesandGonzález-Cruz(2013)claimthatinmanypreviousstudies,talentisonlyrecognisedasanunderlyingconstruct, i.e. takenforgrantedandnotexplicitlydefined.Ulrich(2011) further

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statesthattalentcanmeanwhatevertheacademicresearcherorabusinesspractitionerwantsittomean.Table1belowexemplifies thediscrepancies andvariance in thedefinitionsof talentwithintheacademicliterature.

Table1.Definitionoftalent.

Source DefinitionoftalentLewis&Heckman(2006)

talentcanbeaneuphemismforpeople(p.141)

Silzer&Dowell,2010) “(...)insomecases,‘thetalent’mightrefertotheentireemployeepopulation.”(p.14)“Ingroupstalentcanrefertoapoolofemployeeswhoareexceptionalintheirskillsandabilitieseitherinaspecifictechnicalarea(suchassoftwaregraphicsskills)oracompetency(suchaconsumermarketingtalent),oramoregeneralarea(suchasgeneralmanagersorhigh-potentialtalent).Andinsomecases,“thetalent”mightrefertotheentireemployeepopulation.”(pp.13-14)“Anindividual'sskillsandabilities(talents)andwhatthepersoniscapableofdoingorcontributingtotheorganization.”(p.14)

Bethke-Langeneggeretal.(2011) “explicitlyonthosepersonswhohavethepotentialtoprovidecompetitiveadvantageforacompany“(p.527)

Cheeseetal.(2008) “Essentially,talentmeansthetotalofalltheexperience,knowledge,skills,andbehavioursthatapersonhasandbringstowork.”(p.46)

Stahletal.(2007)“aselectgroupofemployees–thosethatrankatthetopintermsofcapabilityandperformance–ratherthantheentireworkforce”.(p.4)

Capelli&Keller(2014) “talent”asthoseindividualswhocurrentlyorhavethepotentialtodifferentiallycontributetofirmperformancebyoccupyingstrategicjobs”(p.309)

SparrowandMakram(2015) somethingthatisresidedintheuniquesetofknowledge,capabilities,contributions,commitment,skills,competenciesandabilitiesofaperson

Bolanderetal.(2014) thoseemployeeswhoareconsideredimportantfororganizationalperformance.

Tansleyetal.(2007) Talentconsistsofthoseindividualswhocanmakeadifferencetoorganizationalperformance,eitherthroughtheirimmediatecontributionorinthelonger-termbydemonstratingthehighestlevelsofpotential.”(p.8)

Ulrich(2007)“Talentequalscompetence[abletodothejob]timescommitment[willingtodothejob]timescontribution[findingmeaningandpurposeintheirwork]”(p.3)

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From thedifferent discussions regarding talent,Dries (2013) identifies fivemain tensions forunderstanding talent in the current literature. These areobject versus subject, inclusive versusexclusive, innate versusacquired, input versus output and transferable versus contextdependent(ibid.).Thesetensionsareconsideredaschoicesonacontinuum,meaningthattheviewontalentisnotnecessarilyeitherorquestionbetweenthetensions,ascompaniestendtohaveaviewontalent that combines these tensions indifferentways (Sparrowet al., 2011; Stahl et al., 2012;Dries,2013).

Object versus subject perspective refers to the discussion about who is talent (Dries, 2013).Gallardo-Gallardoetal.(2013)havebeenresearchingthistensionmorespecificallyandidentifythesetobethetwomaindimensionsofhowtalentcanbeviewed.Objectperspectivereferstothecharacteristics of people, considering for example theirnatural abilities, commitmentor fit astalent,whereassubjectperspectivereferstotalentaspeople(ibid.).Dries(2013)statesthatthisdistinctioninpracticeisdifficulttomakesincecharacteristicsofapersoncannotbeindependentfromthepersonasawhole.Onthesamenote,Bolanderetal.(2014)foundtheretobeasubjectperspectiveinallofthediscoveredapproachestoTalentManagement.

Gallardo-Gallardoetal.(2013)andThunnissenetal.(2013)clarifythesubjectapproachtofurtherinclude the second tension of Dries (2013), inclusive versus exclusive perspective. The secondtensiononinclusiveversusexclusiveperspectivestemsfromthediscussionofhowprevalenttalentisinthepopulation,forexampletheorganisation(ibid.).Theinclusiveversusexclusivetensionisclaimedtobethemaindebateontheviewontalent(Lewis&Heckman,2006;Tansley,2011).Inclusiveperspectivehasafocusonalltheemployeesastalents,whereastheexclusiveperspectivehasafocusonlyonaselectedgroupofemployees(Thunnissenetal.,2013).LewisandHeckman(2006) exemplify the exclusive approach to be about classifying employees based on theirperformance.MalikandSingh(2014)furtherexplainthatorganisationscanimplementsocalled“highpotential”(HiPo)programstoidentify,developandretainthemosttalentedemployees,i.e.asmallgroupofemployees.Thisisthebasisforworkforcedifferentiationthatdrivestheexclusiveapproach.However,thisapproachiscriticisedfornottakingintoconsiderationthoseemployeeswhoarenotinthegroupofthetalentedemployees.Thus,theinclusiveapproachemphasisesthattheroleoftheHRfunctionshouldbetomanageeveryonetoreachhighperformanceandhencetoberegardedastalents.(Cappelli&Keller,2014;Malik&Singh,2014)AccordingtoSparrowetal.(2011),theexclusiveperspectiveseemstobemoreprominent,althoughStahletal.(2012)arguethe combination of both approaches to be used more in particular in the global TalentManagementcontextbecauseitallowstoconsiderdifferentiationandavoidsissuesofwhethersomeemployeesaremorevaluablethanothers.

Innateversusacquiredperspectiveisthethirdtensionanddebatesonwhethertalentissomethingthat can be learned or taught, embarking on the nature-nurture debate. Innate perspectiveunderstandstalenttobewithinindividualsandthusfocusesontheselectionandidentificationoftalent,whereastheacquiredperspectivefocusesonthedevelopmentoftalentasitisconsideredtobesomethingthatcanbelearnedortaught.(Dries,2013)Meyersetal.(2013)havestudiedthistensionmore in detail and suggest thatwhen deciding on this perspective, there should be aconsiderationonthetypeoftalentthatisneeded,priorexperiences,thelabourmarketsupplyoftalent, labourmarket regulations, aswell as certain strategic considerations should be noted.

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Furthermore, Tansley (2011) found this tension to be culture dependent, as the linguisticcomparisonoftalentshowsdifferencesinhowthetermisperceived.

Thefourthtensionon inputversusoutputperspectivesentailsthequestionofwhethertalent ismoreaboutabilityormotivation(Dries,2013). “Inputperspectiveson talent implya focusoneffort,motivation,ambition,andcareerorientationinassessmentsoftalent.Outputperspectivesontalent,ontheotherhand,implyanassessmentfocusonoutput,performance,achievements,andresults.“(ibid.,p.280)Ability,i.e.theoutput,tendstobethesolefocusinmostorganisations(Church & Rotolo, 2013), and motivation aspect is yet to gain appreciation in the TalentManagementresearchandpractices(Dries,2013).However,motivationshouldbevaluedmoreasachievementsattributedtomotivationarevaluedmore(atleastwithinemployeesthemselves)andmotivationisanimportantpartofavoidingemployeesorevenleaderstobederailedfromtheirhighpotentialtalentstatuses(ibid.).

Last, transferable versus context-dependent perspective on talent refers to the discussionsurroundingtheextenttowhichtalentemergesregardlessofthecontext,i.e.towhatextentcantalentbetransferredwithoutitlosingitsqualityorwhetheritonlyemergesinacertaincontext.This approach is closely linked to the decisions organisationsmake on internal and externalrecruitment. (Dries, 2013) There are not much research yet done on this particular tensionidentifiedbyDries(2013),however,thebestfitapproachdiscussedbymanyresearchersandthecontext-specificstudiesconductedbyBolanderetal.(2014),Festingetal.(2013),Meyersetal.(2013), amongothers, seem to emphasise the importanceof the specific context.Again, thesetensions can be understood as part of a continuum and one extreme over the other is notnecessarilytheultimateviewontalent(Dries,2013).

Dries(2013)stressesthattheseperspectivesandtensionsarenotfullyindependentfromeachother.Bolanderetal.(2014)claimthatpreviousframeworksandtypologiessurroundingTalentManagementoftenhaveanunbalancedemphasisononeaspectovertheother,whichcanresultinobscuringtherealitiesofthediversewaysofviewingtalentinpractice.Furthermore,BoudreauandRamstad(2005)claimthatnosingleperspectiveontalentcanbeobjectivelystatedtobethebest.GarrowandHirsh(2008)stateTalentManagementtobeaboutthebestfit.Tansley(2011)further claims that talent is specific to an organisation, as the definition is influenced by theindustryandthenatureoftheinternalworkdynamic.Thus,Dries(2013),alongsidemajorityofthemorecurrentresearchers,emphasiseyetagainthebestfitapproachandleavetodefinetalentin more detail. Based on the argumentation above, the view on talent in this thesis will bedeterminedonasomewhatgenerallevel,inaccordancewithHuselidetal.(2009,p.7),referringto talent as a strategic asset, representing something valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable, andenables the implementationofvaluecreatingstrategiesandachievementofsustainablecompetitiveadvantage.AmorespecificdefinitionisnotfeasibleforthisthesisbecauseamorenarrowandsimplisticviewontalentwouldconstraintheaspectsofTalentManagementandthusrestrictfurtherdiscussionsandanalysis.

2.3 ApproachestoTalentManagement

Thediscussionintheprevioussectionaboutthedifferentviewsontalentisimportant,asithasimplicationsonhowTalentManagementisapproached(Festingetal.,2013;Meyersetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014)Bolanderetal.(2014)clarifiesthatquiterecently,ithasbeenemphasised

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in the academic research that Talent Management can be approached in different ways bydifferentorganisations.Festingetal.(2013)foundthatthedifferencescanstemfromtheintensityofTalentManagementinitiatives.However,Bolanderetal.(2014)foundtheretobemorereasonswhyTalentManagementlookssodifferentindifferentorganisations.ThesereasonsrelatetotheorientationandfocusoftheTalentManagementactivitiespresent.Therefore,Dries(2013)arguesthattheorganisation'spositioninthecontinuumofthedifferenttensionsmentionedearlierhasimplicationsforthedesignontheTalentManagementpracticesdecidedtobeconductedintherespective organisation. Meyers et al. (2013) further state that this entails variations in theemphasisorganisationshaveon the specificTalentManagementpractices. For instance,Dries(2013)exemplifiesthisbyquestioningwhetherthefocusofTalentManagementishighlyplacedontheidentificationoftalentsorratheronthedevelopmentactivities.Reflectingbackonthebestfitapproach,differentapproachestoTalentManagementcanbeequallyfeasibleandcandifferinmany ways, no one approach is better than the other and each has its own advantages anddisadvantages(ibid.).

However,theambiguityaroundTalentManagementisstillapparentandGallardo-Gallardoetal.(2013)claimtheongoingconfusionaboutthemeaningoftalentinparticulartobeahinderforthe further development of more widely acknowledged Talent Management theories andpractices.Bolanderetal.(2014)embarkedonbringingclarificationtotheviewontalentanditsimpacttotheapproachTalentManagementtakes.Theframeworkfindingsintegratetheoreticalinsights from various stems of research, and can be used as a conceptual framework foridentifying TalentManagement types across organisations. Furthermore, the companieswereSwedish,asopposedtothemanyUS-basedresearchdonebefore,whichenabledthemtogiveabroaderperspectiveon theviewon talent as itwasnot containedby themore individualisticorientedcultureoftheUSbutconsideredinamorecollectivisticculture,bringingnewperspectiveon the viewon talent (ibid.). Asmentionedbefore, this contributes to the understanding thatnatureoftalentcanvarybetweendifferentorganisations(Festingetal.,2013;Meyersetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).Bolanderetal.(2014)developedthreeapproachestoTalentManagement,namelyhumanisticapproach,competitiveapproach andentrepreneurialapproach.TheviewontalentineachoftheseapproachesisbasedonthefivetensionsidentifiedbyDries(2013)andthefindings exemplify how these tensions on the nature of talent affects the construct of TalentManagement(Bolanderetal.,2014).

Humanistic approach considers each employee to have some kind of talent, as a result allemployeesareviewedastalented.Certaintopperformerspossessaparticulartalentbutotheremployees are considered to have some other types of talent. The humanistic approach ischaracterisedbythe ideathattalent isdevelopableratherthaninnate.Ability ispartof talent,however,theinterestsanddesiresoftheindividualaremoreimportant.Forinstance,talent isseenascontext-dependenttotheextentthatwhereapersonisunderperforminginonepartoftheorganisation,thatpersonmightstillberecognizedasatalentinanothersetting.Organisationswithahumanisticapproachprioritizetheeffortof“making”talent,asoutsidetalentrecruitmentcan send a message that current employees are not good enough. Thus, developmentopportunitiesareextendedtoallemployeesregardlessofprofessionalbackground.Inordertoidentifytalent,regulartalentreviewsareconductedwiththepurposetofindtherightplacementforemployeeswithintheorganisation.Throughtalkingtopeople,assessmentsaremadebasedon aholistic viewon talent rather than through someexplicit criteria. These assessments are

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conductedinformallyandareusuallysubjective,careerpathsarelooselydefinedandorganisedaround the interests anddesires of the individual. Once an employee has communicated howhe/she wants to develop, it is then expected that management facilitates the developmentopportunities.(Bolanderetal.,2014)

Competitiveapproachonthecontraryidentifiesthatonlysomeoftheemployeesholdabilitiesthatoutlinethemastalents.Thisidentificationsetsthemapartfromtheircolleaguesandthusisanimportantdifferencetopayattentionto.Thiscanbeconsideredasanexclusiveapproach,as itidentifiesasmallgroupofemployeesas“stars”,whoseexcellentperformanceandhighpotentialsetthemapartfromotheremployees.Thisapproachfurtherconsiderseachemployeetohaveaninborn capacity to reach a certain organisational level. Whereas ability and focus on pastperformanceisseenastalent.Accordingtothesetypesoforganisationsatalentwillbeatalentregardlesswhere placed, and there is a strong sense of competition for talent amongst thoseemployerswhosupportthistypeofview.Thereby,employersfocusmoreon“buying”talentthan“making”talent,inregardsto“buying”talent,itismorecommontohavethelookoutforhiringthe best talent. The principal practice of the competitive approach is the talent identificationprocess,more specifically identifying the talented few and admitting them to talent pools. Allemployeesareplacedandconsideredinagridwithaxesofperformanceandpotential.Theaxeofperformanceevaluatestheprogressofthecurrentroleandpotentialaxereflectsthereadinessfor promotion and likeliness to succeed. Talent development within competitive approach ismainly program-based, by thus employees are nominated to exclusive programs designed tofollowaclearlydefinedcareerpathforleaders,specialistsandprojectleaders.Employeesinthesetypes of programs are expected to advance vertically, implying high investments of time andenergyfromtheorganisation'sside. It isnotablewithinthecompetitiveapproach thattalent istransferable and presumably these organisations seek the same talents as their competitors.(Bolanderetal.,2014)

Entrepreneurialapproachemphasises theambitionandperformanceofemployeesrather thanmereabilitywhendefiningtalent.Therefore,talentedemployeeswhorequireattentionaretheonesthatshowinterestinseekingnewchallenges,andpastperformanceoranyspecificskillisnotconsideredashighly.Thisapproachisdistinguishedbytheopportunitiesprovidedtotalentsinordertoprovethemselves.Itholdsaparticularinclusiveviewontalent,claiminghowever,thatnotallemployeesaretalentsbutstillhavethepotentialtobecometalents.Talentisdevelopedfromwithinby theofferingofawiderangeofmissionsandchallenges.Thisapproachderivesfromtheideathattalentisdevelopedfrompracticalexperienceratherthanprogramsortalentpool activities. Talent identification is rather simple and informal, initiatives for developmentcome from the employee directly, whereas the organisation responds with an opportunityallowingtheemployeetoprovethemselves.(Bolanderetal.,2014)

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Table2.SummaryoftheTalentManagementapproaches(derivedfromBolanderetal.,2014).

Humanistic Competitive EntrepreneurialViewontalent

1.Objectversussubject Subject Subject Subject

2.Inclusiveversusexclusive Inclusive Exclusive Inclusive

3.Innateversusacquired Acquired Innate Acquired

4.Inputversusoutput Inputandoutput Output Input

5.Transferableversuscontext-dependent Context-dependent Transferable Context-dependent

Principalpractice Developingtalent IdentifyingtalentCareermanagementandsuccessionplanning

2.4 StrategyandTalentManagement

The implication of the acclaimedbest fit approach requires organisations to understand theircurrent position in regard to themanagement of talent in order to succeedwith their TalentManagementapproach(Garrow&Hirsh,2008;Silzer&Dowell,2010;Corbridge&Omotayo2012,p.98;Dries,2013)Therefore,Armstrong(2011)clarifiesTalentManagementtohaveastrategicaspecttoitbecausethedevelopmentofTalentManagementactivitiesinvolvestheunderstandingof the organisation’s strategic position, making future-oriented strategic choices and actuallyenablingstrategytobeturnedintoaction.

Ultimately,“strategyisaboutachievingsuccess”,asGrant(2013,p.3)claims.Therefore,strategyismorethanjustmakingplansandsettingobjectives,itisaboutbringingtheplanstoactionandimplementingthestrategyinorderforittobecomeanoperatingreality(Armstrong,2011;King& Glowinkowski, 2014, p.67; Favaro, 2015). King and Glowinkowski (2014, p.68) argue thatstrategyisaboutbestallocatingscarceresourcestoachievesustainablecompetitiveadvantage.Thetheoryoftheresource-basedviewhasprovidedattentiontotheimportanceoftheinternalresources,capabilitiesandcompetencies(Wright,Dunford&Snell,2001).PrahaladandHamel(1990)statethatresourcesandcapabilitiesarethefoundationforanorganisation’sstrategy.Theresource-basedviewisconsideredtobringamorereliablesourceofcompetitiveadvantagethanthefocusontheexternalenvironmentcouldbring,i.e.havingamarket-basedviewonstrategy.Identifyingtheuniquestrengthsofanorganisationprovidesabasisforselectingastrategythatexploits the key resource and capabilities of an organization. (Grant, 2013, p.105) Thus,organisations can outperform and differentiate themselves from competitors and that way

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generatecompetitiveadvantagebylettingthesedifferencesguidetheirstrategicdesigns(Grant,2013,p.12;King&Glowinkowski,2014,p.63).

EventhoughTalentManagementasaconcepthasonlyemergedintheacademicliteraturequiterecently,thetheoryoftheresource-basedview(RBV)haspreviouslyprovidedattentiontothestrategicimportanceoftheinternalresources,capabilitiesandcompetenciesingeneral(Wrightet al., 2001). The literature on Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) has furtherprovidedsupporttothestrategicimportanceandpointedoutthepotentialofhumanresourcestobeasourceofsustainablecompetitiveadvantage(Schuler&Jackson,1987;Becker&Huselid,2006;Lawler&Boudreau,2012;Ulrich&Dulebohn,2015).HRMbecomes strategicwhen theintegratedHRstrategies,policies andpractices are set to guide thehuman resources towardsachievingtheorganisationalobjectives(Armstrong,2011).AsLawlerandBoudreau(2012)argue,settingandimplementingstrategyrequirestoconsidertheinternalhumanresourcesinordertocreate capabilities that support the strategic direction. Ultimately, it is the performance ofemployees that delivers the strategy of an organisation (Turner & Kalman, 2014). Silzer andDowell (2010) argue as far as that “having the right people comes before having the rightstrategies”(p.3).It istheindividualsofanorganisationwhoarerequiredtobeproductiveandaligntheirbehaviouraswellashavetherequiredexpertiseandknowledgetosupportthestrategybecauseorganisationsneedtohavetherightcapabilities(Wrightetal.,2001;Ulrich&Dulebohn,2015).Scarbrough(2003)claimsthatorganisationsthatareabletoeffectivelymanageandexploitthe knowledge and expertise of individuals can create more value and achieve superiorcompetitiveadvantage.

Humanresourcescanbeconsideredtohavebecomeavaluablesourceofcompetitiveadvantage,evenmore so than before, as organisations are identifying challenges with the arising talentshortage (Cheese et al., 2008; Schuler et al., 2011;ManpowerGroup, 2015; Stone& Deadrick,2015).Thus,Cheeseetal.(2008)arguethatthecompetitiveadvantageistiedmorespecificallytothecapabilitiesofthetalentedindividualsoftheorganisation.SparrowandMakram(2015)clarifythattalentresourcesarestrategicassetsthathavethepotentialtocreateandcapturevalueandexecutebusinessstrategies. “Aligntalentwithyourstrategytowin.”(PwC,2015)Cheeseetal.(2008) state that building and nurturing the specific capabilities of talents, can allow theorganisations to tap into the unique contributions of their employees. The focus on talent isparticularly important for organisations that operate in knowledge-intensive industries, i.e.where the knowledge and skills of employees is theprimary sourceof competitive advantage(ibid.).

2.4.1 StrategicTalentManagement

StrategicTalentManagementisderivedfromtheStrategicHumanResourceManagement(SHRM)literature (Collings & Mellahi, 2009) and thus it can be understood as part of strategicmanagementprocesses(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011).SilzerandDowell(2010)claimthat Talent Management has become more than just one of the HR programs, and requiresstrategicfocusonitsown,asitisdifficultforanyorganisationtogainsuccessonthelong-termwithouthavingacloseconsiderationonwhichkindoftalenttheorganisationneeds.AlArissetal.(2014)claimthatsimplyhavingTalentManagementdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatorganisationsaresuccessfulinmanagingtheirinternaltalent.TheimportanceofTalentManagementiseasilyoverlookedandcapitalizingontheopportunityforstrategicsuccessisnotrealised.Theexecutives

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havethekeyroleinbuildingandsustainingtalent,andthemanagementoftalentshouldbedoneinthelightofthestrategicneedsandopportunities.(ibid.)

Armstrong (2011)clarifiesTalentManagement tohavea strategicaspect to it, as it shouldbealignedtothestrategicintentofanorganisation.Furthermore,asthebestfitapproachentails,thereisaneedfororganisationstounderstandtheircurrentpositiontosucceedwiththeirTalentManagement approach (Silzer & Dowell, 2010; Corbridge & Omotayo 2013, p.98). Therefore,talenthastobemanagedintheconsiderationoftheorganisation-specificstrategyandmoresoTalentManagementhastobeapproachedinthelightoftheorganisation’sstrategiccapabilities,whicharelinkedtothestrategy,structure,cultureandexecutionofTalentManagement(AlArissetal.,2014).WhenTalentManagement isalignedwithcorporatestrategy,positive impactsonbusiness outcomes are reported (Becker & Huselid, 2010; Silzer & Dowell, 2010; Bethke-Langenegger et al., 2011). However, generally the connection between the implementation ofTalentManagementpracticesandtheimpactonbusinessresultsisdifficulttoproveduetootherimposingvariablesthatcanaffecttheoutcome(Bethke-Langeneggeretal.,2011;Festingetal.,2013).

Sparrowetal.(2014)statethataTalentManagementstrategyreferstoaspecificconfigurationorarangeofconfigurationsofpoliciesandpracticeswithintheTalentManagementsystem.Stahletal.(2012)arguethesepracticestoprovideasourceofsustainablecompetitiveadvantageonlyiftheyarealignedcloselywithallelementsoftheHRsystem,linktothebusinessstrategy,andare embedded in the leadership philosophy and value system of the organisation. However,Festing et al. (2013) identify the difficulty to measure the payoff from Talent Managementactivities, further to emphasise that TalentManagement activities tend to play out only afterseveral years. Moreover, business needs evolve quickly, which build constraints to TalentManagementsolutionstokeepupwiththechanges,emphasisingtheshort-termfocus.SystematictoolsforTalentManagementcanalsobecostly,difficulttouseaswellastimelytomaintainandimplement(Anders,2010;Oracle,2013).ThiscanderailthestrategicfocusofTalentManagement,especiallyiftheorganisationhasashort-termfocusonperformance,notsupportingthelong-termTalent Management strategy (Corbridge & Omotayo, 2013, p.98). In order to avoid this, forexample, investments and interventions should be followed up on a more central level andrelevantmeasures shouldbe collected and further analysed to interpret the successofTalentManagementinthelightoftheintegratedstrategicframework(Boudreau&Ramstad,2005).

Boudreau and Ramstad (2005) claim that to realise the strategic importance of TalentManagement,itshouldbemadeexplicit.Furthermore,TalentManagementshouldbeconsideredas a positive process,which canmeet theneeds of the organisationbut also theneeds of theindividuals (Garrow & Hirsh, 2008). If Talent Management is explicit and is understood as apositiveprocessthroughouttheorganisation,anorganisation-widetalentmindsetcanbecreated,whichthencanincreasethecommitmentandmotivationofthetalents(Bethke-Langeneggeretal.,2011).TalentManagementcanworkasthefoundationforbuildingculturesandsystemsthatbringoutthebestineveryone,astooindividualisticfocuscanbeadisadvantageastheemployeesoutsideofthetalentpoolcanfeeldisengagedandthefullpotentialoftheemployeesmightnotbereached (Pfeffer, 2001; Corbridge & Omotayo, 2013, p.98). Furthermore, some organisationsconsider the strategic importance of Talent Management to be related to the executivemanagementlevelandthatthosepositionsaresecuredbycontinuoussuccessionplans,whereas

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someorganisationsseethestrategicvalueinalloftheworkforce(Turner&Kalman,2014).ThisremarkthatdifferentorganisationsapproachTalentManagementindifferentwayscanberelatedtotheTalentManagementapproachesidentifiedbyBolanderetal.(2014)presentedinsection2.3ApproachestoTalentManagement.However,theambiguitiesaroundTalentManagementandtalentbringsaboutchallengesifthemanagersandHRprofessionalshavenotclearlydecidedwhatthey are looking for and employees are not fully aware of what they should aspire towards(Anders, 2010; Gallardo-Gallardo et al., 2013), undermining the possible benefits of TalentManagementasavalueaddingSHRMprocess(Garrow&Hirsh,2008).

2.4.2 MaturityofTalentManagement

Festingetal. (2013)argues thatTalentManagement tends toplayoutafter severalyearsandotherauthorssuchasSilzerandDowell(2010)andBethke-Langeneggeretal.(2011)claimthatpositive impactsonbusinessoutcomesare reportedonlywhenTalentManagement isalignedwithcorporatestrategy.CorbridgeandOmotayo(2013,p.98)havecreatedatabletoclarifythelevelofstrategicalignmentofTalentManagementandtodiscussthelevelofmaturityofTalentManagement in organisations (seeTable 3 below). It illustrates the strategic emphasis TalentManagementhasandhowsystematictheactualTalentManagementactivitiesareinrelationtostrategy.Five levelscanbe identified:Level1refers toorganisationswhere there isnoTalentManagement strategies and level 5 comprises of the organisationswhereTalentManagementinformsand is informedbythecorporatestrategy. (ibid.)Table3belowexplains thedifferentlevelsmoreindetail.

Table3.MaturitylevelsofTalentManagement(Corbridge&Omotayo,2013,p.98).

LevelofMaturity Description

Level1

NoTalentManagementstrategies,policiesorformallydevelopedpractices.However,theremaybemanagementoftalentinformallyorincidentally.

Level2 Isolated,tacticalorlocalpocketsofTalentManagementactivitiesbutwithnooverallstrategyorplansforTalentManagement.

Level3 IntegratedandcoordinatedTalentManagementactivitiesforasegmentoftheorganisation.

Level4

TalentManagementstrategydefinedtodelivercorporateandHRmanagementstrategies.FormalTalentManagementinitiativeslinkedhorizontallytoHRmanagementandverticallytocorporatestrategy-makingprocess.

Level5

TalentManagementstrategyinformsandisinformedbycorporatestrategy.Individualpooledtalentisunderstoodandistakenintoconsiderationinthestrategicprocess.Analysingtheorganisationinthiswaywillenableanassessmenttobemadeandastrategydeveloped,whichacknowledgesthestartingpoint.

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2.5 SummaryandFrameworkfortheMainConcepts

In order to make a more explicit connection of the different concepts of the theoreticalbackground,a framework isestablished toclarify theconnectionsand tosummarise themainconceptsofthetheoreticalbackground.ThemainconceptsareconsideredasTalentManagement,view on talent and strategy, which are illustrated in the Figure 2 below. These concepts areinterlinkedandthefullunderstandingoftheconnectionsarecrucialforthetopicofthisstudy.

Figure2.TalentManagementrelationshipframework.

ThetheoreticalbackgroundsectionstartedfirstwithdefiningTalentManagementashavingasetofestablishedpracticesthataimatgettingtherightpersonintherightjobattherighttimeasCappelliandKeller(2014)refertoit.Furthermore,manyresearchersclarifyTalentManagementto consistof a systematic setof activities (e.g.Ashton&Morton,2005; Silzer&Dowell, 2010;Armstrong,2011;Bethke-Langenegger,Mahler&Staffelbach,2011;Dessler,2013,p.130;Meyers&vanWoerkom,2014;Sparrowetal.,2014)Thebestfitapproachsupportedbymostauthorsexplains the set of activities tobe context specific (Pfeffer, 2001;Boudreau&Ramstad, 2005;Collings&Mellahi,2009;Sparrowetal.,2011;Vaimanetal.,2012;Dries,2013;Festingetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014)“Practicesareonly‘best’inthecontextforwhichtheyweredesigned”(Stahletal.,2012,p.26).Therefore,theTalentManagementsectionoftheframeworkpresentedabove(see Figure 2) entails the level of systematism the Talent Management activities have in anorganisationaswellasthevarietyandfocusoftheTalentManagementprocessesandpractices.

AfterthediscussionsonTalentManagement,thetheoreticalbackgroundcontinuedtodiscussthesecondmainconceptofthisthesis,namelytheviewontalent.MeyersandvanWoerkom(2014)define TalentManagement to be about the systematic activities aimed at individualswho areconsideredtobe‘talented’,thus,viewontalenthasimplicationstoTalentManagement,asfurtheridentifiedbyDries(2013),Festingetal.(2013),Meyersetal.(2013)andBolanderetal.(2014).The view on talent can be referred back to the tensions identified by Dries (2013) and theframeworkdevelopedbyBolanderetal.(2014).TheconnectionbetweenTalentManagementandviewontalentcanbeconsideredtobeflowingbothways,asthesetTalentManagementactivities

TalentManagement

StrategyViewontalent

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can have an implication to theway talent is viewed in case talent is not otherwise explicitlydefinedintheorganisation.

Strategy is the third conceptof the framework (seeFigure2)anddiscussed in the theoreticalbackgroundinthelightofTalentManagement.Strategyisaboutbestallocatingscarceresourcestoachievesustainablecompetitiveadvantage(King&Glowinkowski,2014,p.68),andultimatelyitisaboutachievingsuccess(Grant,2013,p.3).ThelinkbetweenTalentManagementandstrategyillustratesthestrategicaspectofTalentManagement,asthedevelopmentofTalentManagementactivities involvestheunderstandingoftheorganisation’sstrategicpositionbutalsoitenablesstrategytobeturnedintoaction(Garrow&Hirsh,2008;Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011).This relationship can also be referred to thematurity levelmodel of Corbridge andOmotayo(2012,p.98),whichcanbeusedasabasisforanalysingandcomparingthelinkbetweenstrategyandTalentManagementinorganisations.Reflectingtheconnectiontobeflowingbothways.

AsTalentManagementisaffectedbytheorganisation’sviewontalent,theremustalsobealinkbetweentalentandstrategy.Inthisframework(seeFigure2above)thelinkisarguedtobedirect,asGrant(2013,p.105)argues identifying theuniquestrengthsofanorganisationtoprovideabasisforselectingastrategythatexploitsthekeyresourcesandcapabilitiesofanorganization,andSilzer andDowell (2010) further emphasise the considerationofwhichkindof talent theorganisationneedstoadvancethelong-termsuccess.Therefore,theconnectionbetweentheviewontalentandstrategycanbeunderstoodtodependonthelevelofconsiderationofthepeopleintheorganisations’strategycreation.

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3 METHODOLOGY

Thischapterofthethesisdescribestheoverallprocessandmethodsusedtogatherthenecessarydata and information to fulfil the purpose of this thesis and answer the research question.Clarificationoftheresearchtopicandstrategyispresentedfirst,whichafterthedesignandprocessofdatacollectionandanalysisisexplainedmoreindetail.Thischapteralsodescribesandassessesthequalityoftheresearchandtheethicalconsiderationsaswellasidentifiespossiblelimitationsoftheresearch.

3.1 ResearchTopic

TheinitialideaforthethesiswastoresearchthefieldofStrategicHumanResourceManagement(SHRM),asourinitialareasofinterestwaswithinstrategyandHumanResources.WebeganwithresearchingdiscussionsrelatedtoSHRMonvariousbusinesssitestogainabetterunderstandingofwhattopicsweremorespecificallyofinteresttopractitionersandinneedofmoreacademicresearch. Tranfield and Starkey (1998 in Bryman & Bell, 2015, p.7) argue that much of themanagementresearchislackingtheconcernsandinterestsofpractitioners.Hence,wechosetofind a topic that is not only interesting from academic perspective but also relevant forpractitioners,asthisissomethingmanagementandbusinessresearchersshouldberesponsivetoinorderfortheresearchtobevaluableandretainitspurpose(ibid.).Inaccordancetothis,theresearchwedidonlineledustochoosethetopicofTalentManagement,whichprovedtobeamuchdiscussedtopicamongpractitionersbutwithlittle,andnottomentionambiguous,previousacademicresearch.Hence,wethoughtthatthetopicofTalentManagementwassomethingwecancontributetoandalsofoundittoberelevanttoourinitialareasofinterest.

We did an extensive research further on the topic of Talent Management to gain generalunderstandingofthetopicandtodecideontheapproachanddirectionofourthesis.Hence,wecanarguethattheexistingtheoriesandpreviousstudiesonTalentManagementwerecriticallyresearchedon.Togainaholisticunderstandingofthetheory,wereadaboutthedevelopmentandoriginofTalentManagementaswellasaboutthemorepracticalsideofittoidentifywherethelackof theoreticalresearch, thatacademicsseemedtostress,actually is. Itbecameclearwhiledoing the research that the field of Talent Management is only reaching its maturity as theempiricalstudiesarestillnotthatextensive.Inparticular,empiricalresearchondifferentcontextisverylimited.(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Thunnissenetal.2013)Differentdatabaseswereusedtomake surewe cover all possible sources. These online databases included LiU library search,GoogleScholarandScopusandvarioussearchwordswereusedrelatedtoTalentManagement,talent,humanresources,strategyandcompetitiveadvantage.

Despitethehighinterestofpractitioners,thetheoreticalstudieshavenotdevelopedatthesamepace, therefore,wedecidedtouse theexisting frameworks,suchas theBolanderetal. (2014)framework, as a theoreticalbasis to furtherdevelop the research fieldofTalentManagement.Moreover,thepurposeofthisthesisistoincreasetheempiricalresearchonTalentManagementto enable a creation of a conceptual framework, through complementing and challenging theprevious frameworks and ideas that have so far given insight on Talent Management.Furthermore, to develop further the understanding of Talent Management, in specific theunderstanding of the alignment of Talent Management and strategy and its effects to the

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organisation’s approach toTalentManagementandviewon talent.Thiswill contribute to thepractitionerknowledgeaswellastheacademicliteratureandtheorybuilding.

3.2 ResearchStrategy

Thetopicofthisthesisislackingcleartheoreticalunderstandingandempiricalsupport,hence,asBrymanandBell(2015,p.25)suggest,thegeneralorientationtoconductingtheresearchshouldbequalitative.Tofurtherback-upthisstatement,whenresearchisdoneonaphenomenonthatisyetnotwellunderstood,aqualitativeresearchmethodispreferred,sincetheresearchrequiresmore detailed and intensive investigation (ibid.). Qualitative research also enhances theopportunitytogenuinelyrevealtheperspectivesoftheinterviewedpeople(ibid.,p.408),whichforthisthesisiscrucialasouraimwastofurthertheempiricalresearchdoneonthefieldofTalentManagement,implyingthatitistheperspectivesandknowledgeofpeopleweinterviewthatisrequiredtoadvancetheunderstandingoftheconnectionofstrategyandTalentManagement.

Furthermore,thisthesisfollowsabductiveresearchmethod,whichBrymanandBell(2015,p.26)statetohavebecomepopular,particularlyamongqualitativeresearchers.AsthetopicofTalentManagement involves a greatdealof ambiguity,deductivemethoddidnot seem to fit for thisthesisbecauseofitsstrictlogicontheory-testingandinductivemethodwasnotplausiblebecauseof the limited amount of case companieswould not give reliable and valid results for purelytheory-building.Hence, abductivemethodwas chosen because the basis of the research is onsomeexistingtheoriesandpaststudiesonthetopic,withthenotionthatthereisnoonetheorythatwecouldrelatebacktoandthereforethestrategyofourresearchwasrelyingonmoreofadialogue tounderstand the linkbetween empirical phenomena and theory. (ibid., p.27)Givón(1989)statesthatabductionstartsbyconsideringfacts,thenmovingtofindingnewfacts,whicharecorrelatedandintegratedintoawidercontext.DuboisandGadde(2002)clarifythisbystatingthat abductive research ends up modifying the original framework, partly because of newempiricalfindingsorbecauseoftheoreticalinsightsgainedduringtheresearchprocess.Brymanand Bell (2015, p.27) claim that this way the researchers can have an openmind to findingsomethingnewfromthecollecteddataratherthanonlyusingtheempiricalfindingstoconfirmwhattheyalreadyknow.Thepurposeofthisthesiswasbasedexactlyonthat–creatingsomethingnewbydevelopingtheexistingtheoriesandframeworks.Therefore, thepurposeof this thesisremained aligned to the research strategy, and new combinations were developed throughcombiningtheoreticalframeworksandnewfindingsthatwerederivedfromtheresearchonthecasecompanies.

3.3 ResearchDesign

A multiple case study design was chosen to conduct the research, as there are identifieddifferencesinorganisations’approachestoTalentManagement(Festingetal.,2013;Meyersetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).Thisentailsthatthereareseveralcompaniesthathavebeenstudiedinordertogainabroaderpictureontheresearchtopicandtocreateamoreholisticandreliablepictureofthephenomenon(Baxter&Jack,2008;Bryman&Bell,2015,p.71).Thisapproachforthe thesis allowed the empirical data to be compared and contrasted in relation to severalmeaningful cases insteadof relyingsolelyonamore indepthsinglecasestudy,asYin (2009)arguesthatcasestudiesprovidelittlebasisforscientificgeneralisation.Themultiple-casestudyapproachalsoencouragestofindpatterns–whatisuniqueandwhatiscommonacrosscasesand

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doesnotonlycollectandanalysethecomparativetraitsofthedata.Thisallowsanalysisofeachcasecompany individuallybutalsoanalysisacross thecasecompanies, identifyingsimilaritiesanddifferencesandcreatingpatternrecognition.(Baxter&Jack,2008)Furthermore,accordingtoYin(2009)“multiplecasedesignhasitadvantageinconstructingaframeworkinwhicheitherliteralreplicationpredictssimilarresultsacrossmultiplecasesoritaimsattheoreticalreplicationwherebydifferentresultsarelikelyfortheoreticalreasons.”(p.93)Inotherwords,multiplecasestudyalsofunctionsasagoodbasisforchallengingtheexistingtheoreticalframeworksandideasbutevenas thebasis for creatingnew theoretical frameworks (Baxter& Jack,2008)and thusimprovestheorybuilding(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.72).Thelevelofanalysis,referstotheprimaryunitofmeasurementandanalysis,whichinthisthesisistheTalentManagementprogram(ibid.,p.75).Furthermore,theperspectiveisfromtheHRdepartment,astheinformantswerepersonnelintheHRdepartmentsofeachorganisation.

3.4 SampleandDataSelection

The sample for this research consists of 11medium to large, global companies in theNordiccountries,operatinginvariousindustries,ofvarioussizes,backgroundsetc.Thisdecisionofthesamplewasmadeinordertoallowvariation.,whichisimportantforthepurposeofthisthesisastheresultsshouldnotbedependentbasedonacertainvariablebutrathertofindamoreholisticreasoningbehindthepatternswasofinterest.Inorderforthecasecompaniestofitassampleforthisstudy,theyneededtohaveTalentManagementactivitiesinplace.Altogether67organisationswithintheNordiccountrieswerecontactedthroughfindingrelevantpeopletointervieweitherfromourpersonalnetworksorsearchingthroughLinkedIn.ThepeoplecontactedwerepersonsinpositionswithinHRandmorespecificallymostofthetargetedpeoplewereworkingspecificallywithTalentManagement.Thesepeoplewerecontactedthroughemailtoasktoparticipateinthestudy, which of 11 companieswere eventually chosen from the ones that were interested toparticipate. The organisations participating in the study were diverse in terms of industry,background,size,degreeofglobalisation,cultureetc.Thiswasaconsciouschoice,asthepurposewastogainunderstandingonabroadersenseofTalentManagementanditsalignmenttostrategy.

Table4belowillustratesamorespecificlistofthecompaniesparticipatinginthestudyandsomecharacteristicsofthemtogivemorespecificinsightonthesample,however,withinthelimitstokeep the guaranteed confidentiality and anonymity of the organisations. Therefore, thebackgroundinformationoftheorganisationsisrestrictedandeachorganisationisdenominatedwithaletter.

Table4.Sampleinformation.

Organisation Industry No.ofemployees No.ofcountrieswhereoperations

A Oil&energy 5000–10000 10-20

B Food 10000–15000 <10

C Buildingmaterials 1000–5000 20-30

D Dairy 1000–5000 <10

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E Oilandenergy 1000–5000 10-20

F Paperandforestproducts 1000–5000 <10

G Telecommunications 20000–25000 10-20

H Consumergoods >40000 >100

I Consultancy 5000–10000 20-30

J ITandServices <1000 <10

K Investments <1000 10-20

3.5 DataCollection

This thesis reliedmainly on primary data, even though according to Fisher (2010) the use ofseveral types of data will give more accurate information. In this case, the main outlet ofinformationwas given to us through interviews, even though some relevant informationwascollected and received as secondary data in order to compensate on the shallowness of theinterviews.Qualitativein-depthinterviewswerethemainmethodofgatheringinformationofthecaseorganisations.Thismethodwasselectedinordertoacquireinformationthroughinterviews,sinceitenabledtoobtainin-depthandfirst-handinformationfromthecasecompanies.(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.214)Furthermore,weconsideredittobealignedtotheabductivemethodandthemost appropriate way to gain information relating the different activities related to TalentManagement,astheseareverymuchinternalknowledgeanddata.

3.5.1 SecondaryData

Someinternalmaterialfromthecasecompaniesweregiventousduringtheinterviews.ThisgaveusmoreinsightontheTalentManagementofthecompaniesandachanceforustoanalysetheactivitiesinabetterperspectiveaswehadmoredetailedunderstandingofTalentManagementinthecompanies.Secondarydatawasfurthercollectedfromthewebsitesofthecasecompaniesinordertosupporttheindividualinterviews.TwoofthecompanieshandedoutinternalTalentManagementmaterialandforallthecompanies,materialsuchasannualreportsandstatementsofmission,visionandstrategywerecollectedonline.

3.5.2 PrimaryData

Themainwayofcollectingdatawasthrough in-depth,semi-structured interviews,soprimarydatawasthemainsource.BrymanandBell(2015,p.213)statethatthesemi-structureddesignoftheinterviewsallowsmoreinformationtobegatheredsincetheanswersoftheinformantsarenot too limited as the informants can answer the questionsmore openly. Alongside the openendedquestions,somequestionswerebasedontheoryandsomewerenot,whichallowedustobeopentonewandunexpectedfindings,followingthepurposeofthechosenresearchstrategyofabduction.Altogetherweconductedoneinterviewineachofthe11companies,hence,overall11

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interviews were conducted. We interviewed organisational informants, representing variouspositions.However,allwerewithintheHRfunctionaswellas inmanagementroles,andwereresponsibleofTalentManagementintheirorganisationatleastinsomelevel.SomeinformantshadatitlealikeHRManagerandsomewereTalentManagersoralike.Theinformantswerefirstcontactedbasedontheirtitles,whichentailedtheirresponsibilitiestoberepresentativeofTalentManagement.However,insomecompaniestheemailwasforwardedtoanotherperson,whowasabetter representativeof theorganisation’sTalentManagement and couldbetter answerourquestions. All informants were explained about the purpose and approach of our thesisbeforehandandtheconfidentialityandanonymityof thisstudywas informedasthe interviewstarted.

Interviews

Weconductedaltogether11interviewsthroughvariousways,i.e.eitherthroughSkype,phone,GoogleHangoutsormeetingface-to-face(SeeTable5).Themethodswerechosenbasedontheavailabilityandfeasibility.Becauseofdistancetomostcompanies,face-to-facemeetingswerenotfeasible,thus,otherformofcontactwaschosenbasedonavailablepossibilitiesandwishesoftheinformants.TheinterviewswereconductedbetweenApril5-April21,2016.Thequestionnaireconsistedofsomeclosedandsomeopen-endedquestions,thusitwassemi-structured.Thiswasdecidedtoensurethatasinterviewerswewouldnotlosethecontroloftheinterview,atthesametime the informantswere free todiscussmore freelyon the topics theyconsidered important(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.213).Thisalsoallowedustofurtherfollowtheabductivereasoning.

Informantsweregiventheinterviewquestionnairebeforehandsotheywouldnotbecaughtoffguardwithanyofthequestionsandastheyhadtimetoreflectonthequestionsbeforehand,theyweresureaboutwantingtoparticipateaswellastogiveusmorein-depthinformation.Questionswere asked in the same order, as Bryman and Bell (2015, p.220) suggest is the best way ofapproachingthiskindofinterviewinordertoavoidtoomuchvariationinreplies.Thepermissiontorecordtheinterviewwasaskedforinthebeginningoftheinterviewaswellastheanonymityoftheinterviewwasmadecleartoenablelessconstrictedanswers.Recordingtheinterviewsgaveus the possibility to afterwards create transcripts of the interviews and avoid any loss ofinformation. Inthetranscriptsthe informantsarereferredtoas“I”(I=Informants)tokeeptheanonymity. The interviewswere done in a fairly informal conversationalmanner so that thebenefit of the semi-structured structure could be realised when the informants feel morecomfortable discussing the questions and we as interviewers could feel comfortable to askquestionsoutsideofthesetquestionnaire.

Thequestionnaireitselfconsistedof24questions(seeAppendix1),dividedunderheadingstogiveaclearerunderstandingofwhatthequestionswererelatedto.Thequestionswerecloselyderivedfromthetheoreticalbackgroundcreatedprevioustotheinterviews.First,questionsofthe informants and the organisationwere asked in order for us to understand the views andsituationoftheorganisationandtoconfirmtheresponsibilitiesoftheinformantswererelatedtoTalentManagement.Thisgaveusagoodreferencepointtounderstandthequestionsinthelatersections. The other partswere divided into topics to ensure that certain areaswere covered.Follow-upquestionswerecustomisedandaskedon thespot.During the interviews itbecameapparent thatdependingon theperson,differentquestions tookverydifferent lengthof time,

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whichweallowedasthisgaveimplicationstousonthelevelofimportanceofthematterstotheorganisation in question. The interviews lasted between 25:02 and 52:13 minutes and werecarriedeitherbyoneoftheauthorsorbyboth.Morespecifically,twointerviewsweredonebyjustoneoftheauthorsandtherestbyboth.Whenbothofuswereintheinterview,oneofuswasleadingtheconversationandtheotheronewasmoreonthebackground,jumpinginonlywhennecessary,suchaswhenaquestionaroseoutsideofthepre-setquestionnaire.

MostoftheinterviewsweredoneinEnglish,apart fromfour interviewsthatweredoneintheinformant'snativelanguageaswewantedtomakesuretheterminologywouldnotbecomeanissueand that the informantscan feel comfortableandable todiscussall the topics set in thequestionnaireandbeyond,iftheysofelt.Morepreciseinformationonwhichinterviewswereinquestiontoensuretheinformantsandcompaniesanonymity.

Table5.Interviewinformationanddatacollection.

Company Dateoftheinterview

Styleoftheinterview

Lengthoftheinterview

Additionaldataacquired

A 8thApril2016 GoogleHangouts 37:55

Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

B 12thApril2016

Skypeforbusiness 46:15

InternalmaterialonTalentManagementaswellasPublicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

C 6thApril2016 Phone 37:47Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

D 6thApril2016 Phone 25:02Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

E 8thApril2016 Phone 28:52Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

F 8thApril2016 Phone 25:36Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

G 7thApril2016 Phone 34:13Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

H 13thApril2016

Face-to-facemeeting 52:13

InternalmaterialonTalentManagementaswellasPublicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

I 6thApril2016 Googlehangouts 36:07

Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

J 11thApril2016 Skype 32:41

Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

K 21stApril2016 Face-to-facemeeting 31:48

Publicmaterials,suchasannualreportsandinformationavailableonstrategy,vision,missionetc.

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3.6 DataAnalysis

Initially,theinterviewswererecordedtoenableustotranscribethedataandmorethoroughlygothrough itandanalyse it in the lightof thetheoretical findings.Theanalysiswasbasedontheframeworkdevelopedattheendofthetheoreticalbackgroundchapterandtheaimwastofindcertainpatterns(apparentdifferencesorsimilarities)fromthecollecteddataregardingthecasecompanies.Tohaveabetter foundation for theanalysisandensurebothauthorswereable tohavethesamedataavailableinalanguagethatiscomprehendibleforboth,thetranscriptsweretranslatedintoEnglish.ThedataanalysiswasbasedontheEnglishversionsofeachtranscriptsothateachofuscouldanalysethedata.However,toavoidpossiblemisunderstandingstheoriginaltranscripts were checked at the end to make sure what is written conforms to the originaltranscript.Thetranscriptswerereadthroughseveraltimesandanalysedonebyoneinthelightoffourtopicsstemmingbacktothetheoreticalbackgroundandmoresotothestructureoftheinterviewquestionnaire:theorganisation’sviewontalent,theapproachtoTalentManagement,the development of Talent Management and the alignment of Talent Management to theorganisation’s strategy. This kind of approachwas taken to the analysis because according toBrymanandBell(2015,p.258),whencodingopenquestions,acodingframeneedstobedesignedto enable the identification of types of answers associatedwith each question. Table 6 belowillustratesthiscodingframeandthespecificinterviewquestionscanbefoundinAppendix1.Thecodingframework(seeTable6)allowedustocodethesectionsofthetranscriptsinasystematicmanner.Eachsectionthusincludestheanswersofeachorganisation.Bothauthorswereinvolvedinthecodingworktoavoidmissingoutonvaluabledata.

Table6.Codingframework.

Topic No.oftheinterviewquestion

Viewontalent 3,4,7,8

ApproachtoTalentManagement 9-16

DevelopmentofTalentManagement 17-20

AlignmentofTalentManagementtotheorganisation’sstrategy 3-6,21-24

Thesequestionswerespecificallycreatedtothepurposeofansweringtheresearchquestionofthisthesis.Theempiricaldataderivedthroughthesequestionswereavitalcontributiontotheanalysis andgaveus the insightweneeded to fulfil thepurposeof this thesis.The theoreticalbackgroundpresentedinChapter2wasthefoundationforcreatingtheinterviewquestionsandenablingustoillustratetheempiricaldatainthecodingframework.

Questions1and2wereaskedtoclarifythebackgroundoftheinformantsandemphasisetheircredibilityasthepersonstobeinterviewed.ThesequestionswerenotusedtoanalysethedatabutsolelytosupporttheirknowledgeonthetopicofTalentManagement.Questions3,4,7and8wereaskedtogetabetterunderstandingoftheviewthecompanieshaveontalent.ThiswasanimportantareaoftheinterviewasitbuildsthebasisfortheanalysisofthefurtheranalysisontheTalentManagementpracticesandprocessesaswellasthefittothecapabilitiesrequiredbythe

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organisation'sstrategy.Furthermore,thisgaveusthebasistostartcontrastingtheanswerstothethe previous research findings, i.e. our theoretical background. The next set of questions,questions from 9 to 16, were directed to gaining information on the aspect of how TalentManagementisapproachedineachofthecasecompanies.Astheprevioussetofquestionsthesefindings were then contrasted to the theoretical framework to identify the similarities andchallengetheframeworkbyrecognisingdiscrepancies.Questionsfrom17to20incorporatedthedevelopmentofTalentManagement,aswewantedtounderstandwhytheTalentManagementlooksthewayitdoesinthecasecompanies,whichalsoentailedalesstheoreticalapproachtothedata collection. The last topic of the coding frameworkwas stated as the alignment of TalentManagementtotheorganisation’sstrategy,incorporatedinquestions3to6and21to24.Theaimwith thesequestionswas tounderstand inwhichways theorganisation’s strategy andTalentManagementarelinkedsothatwecouldbetteranalysetheresearchquestionandcontributewithamorereliableandvalidconclusion.

Aftertheindividualanalysisofthetranscriptsandplacingthefindingsundereachtopicofthecoding framework, the empirical datawas analysed in the light of the conceptual frameworkcreated at the end of the theory chapter. The relationships of each of the concepts in theframeworkwereindividuallyanalysedintheanalysischapter.

Table7.Extendedcodingframework.

Topic No.oftheinterviewquestion

Conceptualframework

RelationshipbetweenviewontalentandTalentManagement

RelationshipbetweenTalentManagementandstrategy

Relationshipbetweenstrategyandtheviewontalent

Viewontalent 3,4,7,8 X X

ApproachtoTalentManagement 9-16 X

DevelopmentofTalentManagement 17-20 X

AlignmentofTalentManagementtotheorganisation’sstrategy

3-6,21-24 X X

TheanalysisfirstclarifiestheviewontalentandthelinktoTalentManagementandshowsthepatternsfoundthere.ThesefindingswerecontrastedtotheBolanderetal.(2014)typology.Next,the relationshipbetween talentandTalentManagementwasassessed through thehelpof thematuritymodelbyCorbridgeandOmotayo(2013,p.98)andclassificationofthecompaniesbythelevelof systematicapproachcouldbe identified in theTalentManagement.Furtheralong, the

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analysiswasdoneontherelationshipbetweenstrategyandtheviewontalent,whichleadustogroupthefindingstothreecategoriescreatedbyusandbasedonthecompanies’approachesondiscussing strategy, namely people-led approach, business-led approach and transformativeapproach.Thepeople-ledapproachwaschosentodescribecompaniesthatveryclearlyhadafocuson people when discussing their strategy, whereas the business-led approach consisted ofcompanies that inouropinionverydistinctlydiscussed their strategy from theperspectiveofwhattheydo,anddidnotconsidertheinternalpeopleinthesamemannerastheformerapproachdid.Weendedupwithsomecompaniesthatwefounditdifficulttoplacethemineitheroftheapproaches,asthesecompanieswereundergoingsomechanges.Thus,wedecidedtohaveathirdgroupasthetransformativeapproachtoillustrateaperspectivethatwassomewhatinbetween.Thisgroupingissubjective,asthiswasdonebasedonourinterpretationoftheinterviewcontent.Last, the frameworkwas analysed as a whole andwe began to search for overall patterns –apparent similarities as well as differences that could be of value. The analysis was thensummarisedintoconcludingremarks,whichexplicitlyansweredtheresearchquestionsetinthebeginningofthethesis.Attheend,wewentbacktothetranscriptstoensurewehadnotmissedanyimportantfactorsandthatourobservationswereinaccordancetotheinterviewtranscripts.

3.7 ResearchQuality

BrymanandBell(2015,p.399)statethatvalidityandreliabilityareusedascriteriatoestablishingand assessing the quality of the research. However, this thesis has a qualitative method toconductingresearch,andaccordingtoGubaandLincoln(1994,p.105)themeaningofvalidityandreliabilityassucharemoreappropriatetoquantitativeresearch.Thus,theterminologyshouldberevised tobetter fit thequalitative researchapproach (Bryman&Bell,2015,p.400).Adaptingvalidity and reliability toqualitative researchmeans that terminologyofexternal and internalvalidityaswellasexternalandinternalreliabilityshouldinsteadbeconsideredarethemeasures(ibid.).

Externalvalidityindicatesthedegreetowhichthefindingscanbegeneralizable(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.400).AccordingtoBrymanandBell(2015,p.400)thisisacommonissueforqualitativeresearch,particularlywhencasestudiesandsmallsamplesizesareused.Tominimisethisissue,wechosetodoamultiple-casestudyinsteadofasinglecasestudyorhaveacross-sectionalorcomparativedesignbecausethisenabledustoincludemorecompaniestohavefindingsthatleadtomoregeneralizableresultsandthusimprovetheexternalvalidityofourresearch.ThepurposeofthisresearchistoincreaseunderstandingwithinthefieldofTalentManagement,particularlytherelationshipbetweenstrategyandTalentManagement,hencewewantedthe focustobeavarietyofcompaniestoallowpatternrecognitionbeyondoneindustryetc.

Internal validity focuses on the match between the observations of the researchers and thetheoretical ideasdevelopedout of thoseobservations (Bryman&Bell, 2015, p.400).Ghauri&Grønhaug(2005,p.65)clarifythatinternalvalidityreferstowhethertheresultsobtainedwithinthestudyareactuallytrue.Toavoidissueswiththeinternalvalidityofthisthesis,theattempttokeepthescopenarrowenough,i.e.withintheNordics,enabledustobemorecertainofthevalidityofourobservations,asmajorculturalorothernationaldifferencesdidnothaveamajordeviatingeffect.Moreover,toimprovetheinternalvalidity,itwasimportanttoselectonlycasecompaniesthat have Talent Management activities in place as well as to interview people with similarprofessionalpositionsandaskrelevantquestionswithout limiting the informantsanswers too

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much so that underlying reasons and other factors affecting their answers could be noticed.However,themostchallengingpartinensuringinternalvalidityistobecertainthatthedatawecollected lead us to the right information and thus to the right analysis and conclusions. Forexample,thepositionsofthepeopleweinterviewedsomewhatvaried.Tovalidatethequalityofthe people we interviewed some background questions were asked about the informants.Therefore,wewereabletoverifythatalltheinformantshadtherequiredknowledgeabouttheTalent Management activities of their respective organisations. Even though everyone wasworkingwithintheHRoperationsanddidhavetheknowledgeofthecurrentTalentManagementactivities,thelengthoftimetheyhadbeenworkinginthecompaniesvariedextensivelyfrom2to30years.Thisaffectedtheirabilitytoanswersomeoftheinterviewquestionsandthusthevalidityofthecollecteddata.

Externalreliabilityentails thedegreetowhichthestudycanbereplicated.This isdifficult inaqualitativeresearchsettingassocialcircumstancesareinconstantfluxandthustheinitialstudyisdifficulttoreplicate.(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.400)BrymanandBell(2015,p.50)statethatinbusinessresearch,replicationisnotcommon,especiallywhenitcomestoqualitativeresearch.Toavoidissuesforfurtherreplicabilityofthisthesis,wehaveensuredtobeasclearaspossiblewiththe way we have conducted this research. However, as the factors of confidentiality andanonymityareamajorpartof thequalitativedata collection,we cannotgive sucha thoroughdescriptionofthecircumstancesaswouldbenecessaryforthefullreplicationofthisresearch.Eventhough,toimprovethereliabilityofthisstudy,themethodologyofthecollectionofdatahasotherwise been described in detail and the use of concepts throughout the study can becharacterizedasclearandexplicit.

Internalreliabilityreferstothecoherenceoftheobservationsoftheresearchteam(Bryman&Bell,2015,p.400),whichshouldberaisedasanimportantfactortoconsiderforthisthesisaswearetwopeopleworkingtogether.Toovercomepossibleproblemswiththeinternalreliability,wemadesuretodiscussmattersthoroughlyandcontributionofbothauthorsisprominentinallpartsof the thesis. Furthermore, the transcripts were translated to English to avoid the possibleconfusioninwhathasbeenfoundandstatedbytheinformantstoensurecorrectanalysisofthedata.

3.8 EthicalConsiderations

Saunders,LewisandThornhill(2012,p.230)discusstheimportanceofcodeofethicsinresearch,andgiveasetofprinciplesthatcanhelptoconsidertheethicalaspectsofresearch.Amongtheprinciplesthatareinparticularrelevantforourthesisisthematteroftheprivacyofthosetakingpart.This concerns thevoluntarynatureofparticipationand theright towithdraw,whichweinformedtheparticipantsaboutalreadyintheinitialcontact.Atthatstage,theparticipantswerealsoinformedwhatitentailstotakepart,sothattheirexpectationsarenotoverriddenlaterbytheresearchers.Furthermore,theconfidentialityofdataandmaintenanceofanonymityofthosetakingpartwasensuredbynotexplicitlystatingnamesofthecompanies,thecountries,industriesandotheridentificationfactorswerekeptvaguetoavoidthepossibilityofthecompaniestoberecognizedbuttogiveacharacterisationofthecasecompaniestoenablebetterunderstandingoftheresearch.Therefore,theresponsibilityinthedataanalysisandreportingoffindingsrelatingto the privacy issues stated before was also ensured. The integrity and objectivity of the

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researcherswas further considered, as thequalityof the research isdependedon the levelofaccuracyandtruthfulness.(ibid.,pp.231-232)

3.9 Limitations

Therearesomeapparentlimitationstothisthesis.Thelimitationoftimeisapparent,asweonlyhadaround3to4monthstoconducttheresearchandfinalisethestudy.Thus,moreextensiveresearchwasnotpossible,forexampleintermsofthenumberofcasecompanies.Furthermore,themethodanddepthofthedatacollectionwaslimited,asonlysomewhatshallowinterviewswereused,astheamountof24questionsdidnotnecessarilycreatethedepthofthestudythatitunderothercircumstancescouldhave,aswellas the fact that itwasnotpossible todoall theinterviewsface-to-face,whichcouldhaveallowedustoincorporatesomelevelofobservationtothequalitativemethod.Furthermore, the interviewswereconductedwithHRpeople, thus theperspectiveofotherorganisationalmembers,suchastheexecutivemanagementandemployees,wasneglectedinthisstudy.Nevertheless,consideringthelimitationsoftimeandresources,weconsiderthechosenmethodstobelegitimateandadequateforthepurposesofthisthesisandstillvaluablecontributiontothefieldofTalentManagement,whereempiricalresearchislagging.

AnotherlimitationcanbethatthecontextofNordiccountriescanbeconsideredsomewhatbroadandnotunanimousinthecharacteristicsofindustry,culture,environmentetc.Moreover,asthefocusofthecontextisinNordiccompanies,themorespecificcontextoftheorganisationshasnotbeentakenintoconsideration,eventhoughthoseotherfactorscouldhaveanimpactontheresultsand improve theunderstandingofpossibledeviationsordiscrepancies found in theempiricalfindings.Ourargumenthereisthatdespitesomedifferences,therearestillmoresimilaritiesandcommondifferencesthanforexampleintheUScontext,asthemainpurposeofthisthesisistoaddontheexistingempiricalresearch.Forexample,thecharacterisationoftheindustrycanbearguedtohaveanimpactontheapproachtoTalentManagement.Eventhoughitcanbearguedthattheresultsofthisresearchindicatethattheindustryaspectdoesnotnecessarilyplayacrucialrolewhenanalysing thestrategyandTalentManagementconnection,as itwas found that thestrategyandTalentManagementareuniquetoacompanyandnotgenerallyindustrydependent.This can thus be emphasised as a valid future research topic. Same applies to the othercharacteristicsofcompaniesthatarenotunanimousinthisstudy.

AsatheoreticallimitationwecanidentifythefactorthattherearemanyambiguitiessurroundingtheTalentManagementconcept.Theanalysishasbeenimpactedbytheperspectiveweasauthorschose from the beginning, choosing certain terminology and previous researches to follow.However,thedecisionsforthisstudyregardingtheconceptsandterminologymoreindetail,havebeen carefully argued and considered as the best alternatives. Therefore, theway companiesdiscussthesedifferentconceptscanhavevariationsbutthroughathoroughanalysisthishasbeenavoidedasmuchaspossibleinordertounderstandthemeaningsbehindwords.

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4 EMPIRICALFINDINGS

Thepurposeofthischapteristoprovidethefindingsfromtheempiricaldatacollection.Moreso,thischapterpresentsthefindingsfromthe11cases,whicharebasedonthecollecteddata.Thischapterisdivided into foursectionsbasedonthesubjectareas included inthe interview,namelyviewontalent, approach to TalentManagement, development of TalentManagement, and alignment ofTalentManagementtostrategy.Thisistoclarifyandgrouptheempiricalfindingsofeachofthecasecompaniestogether.

4.1 ViewonTalent

CompanyA,repliedbystatingtalentisdeterminedthroughtheevaluation,andinthiscasetheyhadfourgatewaysinplaceintheirevaluationprocess.Ifanindividualpassesallfourgateways,thepersoncanbedefinedasatalent.Duetotheseveralaspectstobeconsidered,clearlytheycannot state with one word if an individual is a talent. The gateways concerned four stages:performance(requiringtheindividualtobeexceedperformancetargets),valuestheindividualisrequired to be practicing, leadership competences, and potential an individual has (severalaspects,suchascommitment,learningaspirationsandmobility).

Company B respondedwith a direct yes and answered straight forward stating that talent iswithinall employeesof thecompany, toagreatextentdue to the terminologyused in theHRsysteminplace,whereeachemployeeisreferredtoastalent.Furtherexplainingthattalentisthesameasemployee.However,theterminologyoftalentisdividedinamoreexplanatorywaytoconsistofdifferenttypesoftalent,whichconsiderstalentatdifferentlevelsoftheorganisation,distinguishingexecutivetalentfromemergingtalentetc.Thelowerlevelrolesareconsideredinrespect toemerging talentsandwithinmanagement teamsassessment isonexecutive talents.Theterminologyiscurrentlyunderrevision.

Company C does not have a formal statement of talent. However, there is an underlyingphilosophy that is considered as important for Talent Management. This philosophy entailseverybody tobea talent.Talent reviewprocesswas launchedand first testedonlyona smallsample,toidentifytheuniquetalentofeachparticipantandtherebydetermineifthepersonhasgrowthpotentialornot.Theystrivetoviewpotentialfromaholisticpointofview,meaningthathowwell apersoncan faceunexpectednewsituations, learnnew thingsandapplywhat theyalreadyknowinnewways.Potentialalsoincorporatesthelevelofcommitmentthepersonhas,what their aspirations and ambitions are, what their personal situation is like allowing theorganisationtoassessanddividetheindividualsintotwogroups.Groupsofeitherhavinggrowthpotentialorstablepotential.Itisimportanttocommunicatethateveryonehaspotential,emphasisis rather on the dynamic state of the person and every year the person can be categorizeddifferently.

CompanyDrespondedthattheydonothaveanofficialstatementofwhattalentis.However,theydodiscussitalotandsaythattheyviewtalentasapersonwhohasprovedthroughperformancethattheyareabletoreachandexceedgoals.Akeyfactorofapotentialtalentisthatthispersonhasthedesireandmotivationtolearnanddevelopinadditiontothecompetenciesandskillsthatbenefitsthebusiness.

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CompanyErespondedthattheydonothaveadefinitionfortalentspecifically.However,theydoidentify what key positions are required for today and for future operations. Further, theydistinguishiftheholderofthepositionmatchesthoserequirements.Inaddition,theyconstantlyquestioniftherequirementsareadequate.Whenconsideringhighpotentialsthereisadefinitioninplace:theylookforhighperformerswithhighlearningagilityandresilience.

Company F replied that there is not a definition for talent at themoment. Therewas an olddefinitionofwhattalentisbuttheyarerevisitingtheprocessandtransformingthewaytheyvaluethingsandfromthereshapingnewprocessesanddefinitions.Hence,thedefinitionoftalenthasnotbeencarriedoutbutcurrentlyitisconsideredmoreasanexclusiveapproach,astheydohaveverycleartalentprofiles,whichshowtherequirementsforspecificrolesincludingbothskillsandpersonality. The specific talent profiles vary over the different parts of the organisationcorrespondingthespecificrequirements.

CompanyGdoesnothaveaformaldefinitionofwhattalentis,theyrecentlyagreedtotalkabouttalent in a broad sense considering all the employees as talents, however, not yet pushed ittowardseveryone.Furthermore,theyhaveidentifiedwhattherequiredcompetencesarefortheorganisationandtheyhavetillrecentlycompiledanidentificationofthetoptalents.Talentshavetheresponsibilitythemselvestotakeownershipfortheirdevelopment.

CompanyHrepliedbystatingthatthedefinitionoftalentisnotasingleterminology,itvariesoverthedifferentbusinessunitsandthuscharacteriseddifferently.Overall,itdependsonhowwelltheemployeeperforms,howwelltheemployeeperformedduringpreviousfiscalyearsandhowwellthe employee achieved the core values that the organisation has as well as the functionalexpectations. Furthermore, they consider high potentials in order to prepare for long-termadvancements, where they consider how an employee can develop either in the employee’scurrentpositionoriftheyshouldmove.Theorganisationalsomaintainsfocusonwhattalentsthereareinthecompanyandthepotentialtoptalentsthatshowanoutstandingleveloftalent.Theywouldliketoseeavariationoftalentreadytostepuptoanopenhigherposition,meaningtheypreferredtohaveaninternalandexternalmixofcandidatesforhigherpositions.

CompanyIdefinestalentbasedoneachgeographicalareawheretheyhavebusinessoperationsin.However,quiterecentlytheHRhastakenamoreglobalapproachandiscurrentlytransformingthe processes and systems to become global. To exemplify the approach to talent in thegeographicalareawithintheNordics,allco-workersarevaluedaspotential talents,giventhateveryone has an individual development plan. Every co-worker is included in the process, soidentifyingandfocusingon“toptalents”isnotontheiragenda.Theyhaveafundamentalprocess,whichallco-workersareexpectedtogothrough.

CompanyJdeclaredthatifanindividualmadeitthroughtheirrecruitmentprocesstheindividualwasconsideredatalent.Therecruitmentprocessischaracterisedbythreestages:toensurethatpeoplearesuitedtohaveacareeratthiscompanyandthattheambitionsandvaluesaresharedbetween the organisation and potential employee. They furthermore clearly stated that allemployeesareconsideredasatalent,andespeciallythepeoplenotyet intheorganisationareconsideredtalents.

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CompanyKstatesthatthereisnoformaldefinitionoftalentattheirorganisation,howevertheimplicitviewontalentisassociatedwithallthepeopleoftheorganisation,insteadofacertaingroupofpeople.Theyfurtherclarifythattheyhaveverycleartalentprofilesandwhatisrequiredfor specific roles, for instance based on business areas, both in skills and in personality. Thespecifictalentprofilesvaryoverthedifferentpartsoftheorganisationcorrespondingtospecificrequirements.

Table8.Summaryoftalentdefinitions.

Company TalentDefinition

A Talentisdeterminedthroughtheirfourgatewaysforevaluationprocess

B AllemployeesaretalentsassessedthroughtheHRsysteminplace

C Noformalstatement,howeverfollowsaphilosophywhichentailseverybodytobeatalent.Assessedthroughgrowthpotentialorstablepotential.

D Noofficialstatement,howeveratalentisprovenbyperformance.

E Nodefinition,theyhaveadefinitionforhighpotentials.

F Nodefinition,atthemomentrevisingallTM,howeverhaveanexclusiveapproachwithdefinitionsvaryingovertheorganisation

G Noformaldefinition,recentlyreassessingtalentinabroadersense

H Nosingleterminology,talentvariesacrossthedifferentbusinessunitsandthuscharacteriseddifferently.Thereisahighfocusonperformance.

I Talentisdefinedbasedoneachgeographicalarea,withintheirNordicoperations,allco-workersarevaluedaspotentialtalents.

J Theirrecruitmentprocessreassuresthattheindividualisatalent,thereafterallemployeesareconsideredtalent

K Noformaldefinition,viewsalltheemployeesastalent.

4.2 ApproachtoTalentManagement

ThissectionclarifiestheapproachtoTalentManagementandthuscoverstheactualpracticesandprocesses of Talent Management that are in place in the case companies and the view theorganisationhastothemanagementoftalent.Furthermore,theaimofTalentManagementineachcase company is stated as well as the currentmeasurements in place. The perception of thesuccessaswellaschallengesandbenefitsofTalentManagementareportrayed.

4.2.1 TalentManagementProcess

CompanyAexplainstheirprocesstobeannual.Theystartinthebeginningoftheyearwiththeidentification of talent, when amanagement audit is conducted as well. They assess also the

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currentstateandperformanceof teammembers incurrentroles. Inaddition, theyreviewkeypositions,iftherehavebeenanychangestothepositions,naturallythekeypositionsshouldbeconnectedtothestrategyandpositionsarereviewedandconsideredinsuccessionplanning.Forleadersof the future, theorganisationtakes intoconsiderationactions thatcanbeundertakentodayinordertodevelopthosepeoplesothattheywillbereadytotakeonthatposition.Talentreviewsfocusmoreoveronthedevelopmentandco-developmentofkeypositionstoensurethatkeypositionholdersperforminthefutureaswell.Themostimportantpartisthatthereisawellfunctioningprocessinplaceandthatinformationisutilisedinthebestpossibleway.

CompanyBexplainstheirTalentManagementmainlyconsistsoftalentreview,whichisarathersystematicprocess,doneannually.Itisusedtosecurethestrategyimplementationcapabilitybyensuringthequantityandqualityofmanagerialleadershipandspecialisttalent.Notonlydotheyassesstheleadershipissuesonmanageriallevelbutitisaratherholisticviewtoensurebusinessgrowthandinternationalisation.

CompanyCopenlystatestheyhavenotdefinedTalentManagementandthatitwasonlytwoyearsagowhentheystartedtodevelopthewholeTalentManagementfromanewperspective.Theyarerather hands-on with acting than focusing on definitions as this brings more value to theorganisation.A certainphilosophy creates thebackground, if theyhad tomakeadefinitionofTalentManagementitwouldbeidentifyingtherequiredtalentsrelatedtothebusinessstrategy.Furthermore,identifyingeachperson’sindividualcapabilityandskillsandinwhichwaythesecanbeusedtosupportanddevelopedtoreachtheirfullpotential.TalentManagementisinplacetoensuretheorganisationhastherightpeople,attherighttimeandintherightroles.Theyfurtheremphasisetheimportanceofhavingthebackgroundphilosophysothatthedevelopmentprocessisperceivedasapositiveprocessthatstrivesdevelopmentandimprovespeople'sperformance,andthatitisnotajudgmentalprocessthatcriticisestheindividuals.

CompanyDdescribestheTalentManagementoveralltobeaboutguidingthecapabilitycapital.Moreover,theystrivetoidentifytheskillsandcapabilitiesrequiredbythestrategyandthenfindthematchtohaveenoughtalentsandpotentialpeopleinordertorealisethestrategy.Toclarify,they first distinguish themost important actions and skills through evaluations of the peoplebasedontheirskillsetsratherthanpersonalattributes.AsoftodaytheyarecurrentlybuildingtheirTalentManagement,throughhavingworkshopsbasedondifferentresponsibilityareasisonewayofensuringthatthemost importantactionsandskillsof thestrategyarethere intheorganisation. The ambition of the workshops is to aid in identifying the talents within thecompany followed by making the decision on growth potential and necessary skills. On theexecutiveleveltheyhaveamanagementauditasabasisforconclusionsanddecisionsonfuturesteps. The most important part is to identify the required skills, essentially when these areidentifiedit isthenimportanttoidentifywhohastheskillsandtheabilitytoleadanddevelopthem.Thetalentsandthepeoplewithpotentialneedtobeattractedandretained.

Company E distinguish that their process is well established annual process and continue todescribetheirTalentManagementasquitetraditional,inthesensetheirfocusistohavethekeypositionsoftodayandforthefuturedefined,meanwhilehavingtherightpeopleintherightplaceaswellasinthesuccessionplanning.Therefore,ononesidetheyreviewwhichkeypositions,keyleadershippositions,keyexpertpositions,andcurrentpositionholdersareofimportanceaswellasestablishthesuccessionplanningforthesekeypositions.Thereisnotsolelyoneimportantpart

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of TalentManagement, the whole process is important. The TalentManagement process is avaluedoperation.Onceexpectationsareunderstood the focuscan thenbeonhaving therightpositionswiththerightcompetences.

CompanyFexplainedtheirfocustobeontheirtalentreviewprocess.However,statingthatTalentManagementcanbeeverythingfromdevelopingemployeestolookingfornewemployees.Itisaboutthelargerscoperatherthanthecompensationandbenefitplans.Theprimaryfocusisoncompetence development that drives culture change and in turn theway of the talent reviewprocessisconstructed.TheapproachtotheTalentManagementprocessistomaintainfocusonthe development of the business - where are they headed, what are the challenges, what ishappeninginthemarketandtheirpositioninit,furthermoredeclaringwhatkindofcompetencesareneededinkeypositions.TheyemphasisetohavingabiggerscopetowardsTalentManagementbut it does not include compensation andbenefits.However, they are currently revisiting theprocess.Tofurtherhighlight,theimportanceliesonmakingthewholecompanyunderstandwhythisprocesshasbeenundertakenratherthansimplyjustdoingit.

CompanyGdefinesTalentManagementasthewholewaytheyworkwithpeoplethroughouttheemployee lifecycles and how they strategically work with resource planning through theemployeelifecyclestrategyinordertoachievethestrategyorbusinessvalues.Furthermore,toidentifywhatistheneedfromastructuralpointofviewandwhatkindofresourcesdotheyneedtodeliveronthestrategy.Thereafter,tomakesurethattheyattract,recruitanddeveloppeopleaccordingtothoseneeds.Hence,TalentManagementisunderstoodinaquitebroadmanner.Toclarify,theydetermineitiseverythingfromdeveloping,recognizingandrewardingeveryone.Inaddition, theyconsiderthe importanceofensuringthe internalpipelinetobealignedwiththeworkforceplanningandthedevelopmenttobeconstant.Theyfurtherhighlighttheimportanceoftalents to be acknowledged and celebrated as role models. Talents have the responsibilitythemselvestotakeownershipfortheirdevelopment.

CompanyHdescribedtheimportanceofhavingaprocessaroundTalentManagement,thattheyannuallyproceedandassessthevarioustalentsincooperationwithlinemanagers.Thereisaneedtodiscussthecurrentstatethetalentsarein,takingintoconsiderationtheseparatebusinessunitsandtheirperformance,assessingwhereandwhatthenextstepinthedevelopmentissothattheindividualalwaysdevelopsfortheorganisation.Themostimportantprocessaretheperformancereviewmeetingsthatalltheemployeesundertaketwiceayeartogetherwiththeirmanager.Thereviewfollowstheassessmentoftheirindividualdevelopmentprogramandtheindividualgoals.Thisprocessoccursatalllevelswherethemanagercarriesacrucialroleofhelpingandsupportingtheemployeeand itassesses thecurrentcompilationofall talentwithin theorganisation.Thefuture attributes of the employee are assessed in correlation to career paths and personaldevelopmentgoals.

CompanyIdeclarestheyhaveafundamentalprocessallemployeesundergo,whichisconsistedofdifferentstepsofeducationanddevelopmentopportunitiesprovidedbythecompanytotheiremployees.Notonlytargetedtomanagersbuttoallemployees,itisimportanttoidentifyareaswheredevelopmentcanbeanalternative.TalentManagementisaboutattractingtherightpeopletotheircompany,butitisalsoimportanttokeepanddevelopthepeopleandcompetencestheyalreadyhaveinthecompany.Thisallowsadescriptionintohowtheyapproachtheiroverallworkwith Talent Management, from recruitment and development actions to compensation and

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rewards.Theeducationalfacilityoftheorganisationisaprocesswherethebusinessobjectivesofa certain business area are briefed and discussed together with the respective businessdepartment.Followedbyastepwhereemployeesaretocreatepersonal,delivery,development,andbusinessgoals,whicharethensharedwiththemanagerandanagreementismadebetweenmanagerandemployeewithclearmeasurableexpectationsettings.ThemostimportantpartofTalentManagementistofocusanddoafewthingsreallygood,insteadofdoingseveralthingslessgood.Deriving fromthe factofhighcompetitiveness in themarket,acquiring theright typeofcompetencesiscrucial.

Company J determine Talent Management as all the processes that are linked to attracting,employing, retaining, developing and releasing people. They have an internal professionaldevelopmentprogramwhichislinkedtothedevelopmentprocess,whereeachindividualintheorganisation is connected a mentor. This enables development through evaluation stagesoccurring twice a year. In addition, they strive to establish an ambassador-like environmentwhere the work satisfaction employees have is broadcasted even externally through theirnetworks.ThemostimportantpartofTalentManagementfromaTalentManagementperspectiveisrecruitinganddeveloping,andcontinuouslyimprovingtherecruitmentprocess.Itiscrucialtofind the right people and that the people are given freedom and purpose in a transparentenvironment.Furthermore,theyvaluethecaretakingoftheircolleaguesbyofferingaplatformforpersonal development, given the current high degree of competitiveness offering peoplechallengesandachancetodevelop,whichareconsideredasanambitiontosucceedinacquiringthe“best”people. It isofhighimportanceforthemtoalwaysconsiderrevaluationsonwhat isrequiredtodoandthatemployeesareconstantlyinvolved.

CompanyKexplainedthatTalentManagementcanmeanmanythingsbutforthemitconsistsofthreemainareas.Thefirstareaistalentacquisition,whichmeanshavingtherightprofilesandrecruiting the right people to fit those profiles. This incorporates employer branding aspectthroughforexamplepositioningproactivelyatuniversities.Therecruitsthenareensuredtogothroughonboarding.TalentManagementalsoconsistsofassessmentofthetalentpoolsineverycommitteeof theorganisation,discussingdevelopmentneedsof theprocessofattracting.Thesecondareaofperformancemanagementincludesmonetarycompensation,whichisconsideredtobeconnectedtotheperformanceandtotheobjectivesetting.Thirdarea,isthedevelopmentinspecific regards to individual development of qualifications of skills training or leadershiptraining.

4.2.2 TheAim,MeasuresandSuccessofTalentManagement

CompanyAstatesthatthepurposeofTalentManagementistoidentifywhotheyhavetoday,whoarethepeopletheyhaveintheirkeypositionsandwhowillbeleadingthefuture.Inconcernsofmeasuringtheyapplyfourmeasurements:1.percentageofkeypositionsthathavebeenfilledbyinternal candidates, 2. successor for each key position, 3. voluntary turnover of talents incomparison to other companies, 4. the percentage of development plans among talents. TheyfurtherclaimthattherecentlyreorganisedwayofworkingwithTalentManagementhasstartedtopayoffandthatithasbeensuccessful.Theyexplainthattheyhaveutilisedthedataoftheirpeopleandtalentsandcombinedittodevelopmentopportunitiesfortheemployees.

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Company B clarifies it is the discussion betweenmanagers and the HR about the employees’performancereviewsthatensuresthatthecompanycanhave,andsecure,agrowingpotentialoftalentsandcanproactivelytakecertainactionswhenneeded.Inordertodothistheorganisationmustacknowledgetheresponsibilityofknowingtheirpeople,theneedtodevelopthemorlettingthemdevelop themselves andmaking sure thatnoone is stuckwith their careerdeveloment.Measuresare inplace, forexampleacoupleofKPI’s,butmostly they followtheretentionratebecauseitallowsamorepositivewayofthechangesincertaingroups.

Company C state their focus of the Talent Management process to be the development inconnection to the strategic requirements. SinceTalentManagement is still in the introductionphase there are no measurements in place for the overall success of Talent Management.However, theydomeasuresomeparts, suchashowmanyarecurrently involved in the talentreviewprocessandwhetherspecificdevelopmentactivitiesactuallyhavebroughttheexpectedoutcomes.

ForCompanyDtheaimofTalentManagementistohavethefutureactorsinthecompany.Theymeasuretherecruitmentprocessandmonitorhowtalentsareplacedinavailablepositionsandhowwell theymanage to fulfil the requirementsof thosepositions. It is important that in thetalents’everydaywork,theskills,motivationanddesiretodevelopisrealised.

CompanyEstatesthattheaimistoensuretheirabilitytofulfilanddrivestrategicdecisionsandimplementationinthefutureaswell.NosignificantKPIs’areinplaceotherthantheyfollowhowthesuccessionpipelineisshapedandwhichkeypositionswithkeyleadersandkeyexpertstheyare able to retain. Topmanagement and seniormanagement clearly seeshigh value inTalentManagement,whichenablesathoroughtimeinvestmentforrunningtheprocessandfollowingup on the implementations of planned activities. Furthermore, they consider themselvessuccessfulintheestablishmentofcommunicatingthefocusandimportanceoftheprocesstotheorganisation.SuccessfulTalentManagemententailsthattherearenobiggapsorbigsurprisesinthekeypositions.

CompanyFclarifiestheiraimtoTalentManagementtobeaboutcompetencedevelopment,asitisdrivingculturechangeandsummarisesthetalentreviewprocess.Theaimisnowmainlyonrevisitingtheprocessanddevelopitintosomethingofvaluestartingfromtheexecutiveboard.Hence,nomeasuresareinplaceatthemoment.

CompanyGdescribestheaimoftheirTalentManagementastohaveaclearpictureofemployerbrandingbothinternallyandexternally, inthesenseofwhatarethepersonasandbehaviours,personalitytraitsandcompetenciesthatarerequiredtosucceed.Sincetheprocessisonlybeingstructuredatthemoment,therearenotmanymeasuresinplace,onlysomeKPI’s.TheyconsiderthesuccesswiththisdevelopmentoftheTalentManagementtobegreatasitcanleadtoatalentdriven organisation with a much higher level of engagement and that will also raise theperformancethroughwelldevelopedandidentifiedtalentpools.However,theyarenotthereyet.

CompanyHexplainsthattheprocessestheyhaveinplacehavebeencreatedtogetherwithhighermanagementandthattheoutcomepresentsawellrootedsystemofvaluesandatransparencyofcapabilitiesrequiredineveryfunctionalunit.TheoverallaimoftheirTalentManagementistodevelop all of their employees to reach their full potential. TalentManagement is considered

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successfulinthesensethattheprocessisinplace,theyhaveagreatplan,theyhavethetoolsforimplementing itandfurthermorean ideabehind it thatworks.Therearemeasures inplace inordertobenchmark, forexampleKPI’s thatcanbeusedtomeasurethosewhoaretalents, theturnoveretc.

CompanyIstatestheaimtobe“havingtherightperson,intherightplace,attherighttime,attheright salary”. In terms of measuring their productivity they have collaborations with otherorganisationswhich provide insights of their external brand position as employer. They alsoconduct student competitions,where theymeasure the response in termsof quality and totalapplicants and also number of female applicants. Overall, they determine the progress of thecurrentTalentManagementstrategyassuccessful,theirCEOiscontentandvaluestheprogressthathasoccurredconcerningtheuseoffewresources.

CompanyJclarifiesthattheiraimwithTalentManagementistodevelopthecompany,aspartoftheirstrategyistoensurethattheyfindpeoplethatwillleadtheway.Theyconsiderthatthereisnocorrectanswerofhowtheorganisationshouldevolveorwhatstepsaretobetaken.However,iftheycontinuetorecruitinterestingpeoplewithnewperspectivesthiswillenrichtheirinternalculture. Trusting their employeeswill giveway for the development of the organisation. TheoverallsuccessoftheirTalentManagementisrecognizedbythefactthattheyarestillgrowingrapidly,intermsofnumberofemployees,andthattheiremployerbrandhasaccordinglyastrongpositioning.Theycontinuetomaintainastrongfocusoncommunicationandthinkthattheyareheadedintherightdirection.Theymeasuretheirsuccessfromthreeperspectivesoftheircorevalues creating the fundamental way of assessing an individual’s professional and personaldevelopment.

CompanyKclarifies that theiraim tobeclearlydefined in theorganisationand it is toattractworldclass talent toallof theirworldwideoffices. If theycontinue toattract top talent itwillnurture and drive a high performing organisation and allow their values to be maintained.ConcerningthesuccessofthecurrentTalentManagement,theydeterminethattheirattitudeisthateverythingcanbeimprovedatalltimes.Theyagreethatitdoessoundpainful,butthishadmade them come a long way. They have recruiting targets in place to measure the success,furthermore they measure the performance of the organisation as well as diversity. Themeasurementoffemalediversityhasbeenafocusforsometime.

4.2.3 ChallengesandBenefitsofTalentManagement

CompanyAstatesthatthebenefitsofhavingTalentManagement,andactuallyusingit,istohavetherightpeopleintherightplace.Evenmoreimportantaspectistheconsiderationofthefuturestateofthecompany,meaningthathavingafuturefocusinconsideringwhoarethepeoplewhocangrowinternallyandthusreducerisksthroughensuringthatthebusinesscontinuesalthoughanemployeeleavestheorganisationunexpectedly.Theirchallengesarewithincommunicatingthebenefitstotheiremployees,andshowingemployeesthattheprocessistoofferopportunitiestoemployeesthatleadtogreatdevelopment.

CompanyBdescribesthebenefitoftheirTalentManagementtobethetransparentviewinallofthebusinesses,whichallowsthemtoexchangeinformationalsocrossunit.Furthermore,theyalsoconsiderthefactthatTalentManagementhascontributedtoastrategydiscussionwhereasthey

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nowmoreoftendiscussabouttheirtalentsinamoreprofessionalandholisticway.Onechallengeisthatsomeunitsseeitmoreasatemplatefillingexerciseanddonotunderstandthevalueofit.Even though Talent Management gives the opportunity to discuss about the good people, itsometimesdoesnot furtherreachtheactionsofwhat todowiththedata theyhaveabout thepeople.

CompanyCclaimsthebenefitsaretounderstandthebusinessstrategyandenvironmentandwhatrequirementsrisefromthat, inordertobeabletoturnthoseintocompetencies.Beingabletounderstandtheskillsandperformanceofpeopleandtomirrorthemtothebusinessfromthestartis crucial for thewholeprocedure.Oneof themain challenges is toensure that all employeesunderstandthephilosophybehindTalentManagementinthesensethatitisapositiveprocessandnotjudgmental.

CompanyDdeclaresthebenefitofTalentManagementtobethatgiventhetoolsandwaysforemployeestobeassignedwithnewchallenges,themotivationanddesirewillincrease,whichwilleventually lead to better results and could affect the organisation as awhole. “Talent attractstalent”,meaningthatitisalsoamatterofemployerimage,positioningthecompanyasattractiveandasaplacewhereemployeescanreceivechallengesandthepossibilitytodevelop.Consideringthisfactor,itcanbeawin-winsituationforbothemployeeandemployeratbest.Thechallengesare to findsystematicapproachesandmaintainingcontinuousdevelopment,aswellashavingmutualunderstandingofwhatarethecriteria,referringtoalldifferentareashavingacommonandsystematicwayofdoingthingstoavoidfluctuationsofcriteriain-betweenfunctions.

Company E sees Talent Management as bringing benefits for both the business and theindividuals.Whensuccessful,TalentManagementenablestheimplementationofthestrategyinavery efficient way. On the other side, it also creates the opportunity to further develop thestrategy,sincethepeoplewhohaveambitionandwhohavealotsofpotentialtotakethecompanyforwardhavebeenidentified.Fortheindividual,thebenefitwouldbethatitbringsvisibilitytotheskillsandabilitiesoftheindividualandshowsthemwhattypeofjobopportunitiesoracareerpaththeindividualcanhaveinthecompanyandinthatsensealsostrengthentheemployeevalue.Thechallengeisthatitisnotalwayseasytobeclearabouttheexpectationsonindividualsorthedirectionthecompanyistaking.Soidentifyingpossiblegapsandhavingaplaninplacetofixthemintimecanbechallenge.

Company F emphasises the fact that making the management commit to a selected TalentManagement strategy can be a challenge. Another key challenge is to be able to clearlycommunicatetheprocessesortoolsinplacesothateverybodyunderstandswhatisrequiredandexpectedof them.On the contrary, thebenefits ofTalentManagementwouldbe in general tosecurethefutureofthebusiness.

CompanyGstatesthatwithoutTalentManagement,itislikedrivinginthedark.Thebenefitofitis tobemuchbetterpreparedformeetingthechallenges inthebusiness.Especiallywhenit isbuildontherequirementsofthestrategyframework,thechallengesthatthecompanyisfacedwithareeasiertodealwith.ThemainchallengeisthatforanumberofyearstheyhavenotworkedwithTalentManagement in a structuredmanner, so now tomake sure that this lack is beingcorrectedandmakethestructureworkischallenging.Particularly,toensureitbecomesclearandunderstandable,becausethenthebenefitscanbequicklyrealised.

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Company H clarifies that the benefits stem from the individual development program, whichenablesthecommunicationbetweenemployeeandmanager.However,theydovaluethattheyhave a plan, process and tools in place, but the challenge is to make it happen, to create afunctioningcommunicationbetweenemployeesandmanager,andtoactuallytakeadvantageofthetalentandthatthetalentsknowtheiroptionsandtakeaproactiveapproachthemselves.

CompanyIidentifiesthehighcompetitivenesswithintheNordicmarketsandtheimportanceofbeingcompetitive.Themostchallengingfactorthecompanyfacesistobeabletoacquiretherighttypeofcompetencieswhenthemarketcompetitivenessishigh.Thebenefitsontheotherhand,enables a focus on these types of questions and an identification of the critical importance ofhavingtalent.Italsoaddressesthefactthatthereisacontinuousdevelopmentrequiredforthemanagementoftalent,aswellasconsideringitinalong-termperspective.

Company J explain the benefits of Talent Management, when done correctly, is to allow thecompanytoeliminateoverheadofmanagingpeople,asintheirvaluestheyconsiderpeopletobecapableofmanagingthemselves.However,mostimportantlythebenefitofTalentManagementistogetthebestpeopleintothecompany.Thechallengeisthatcompetitionishighandthusactuallyrecruitingthosebestpeopleisthechallenge.

CompanyKportraysthebenefitsofTalentManagementastheinsurancethattheyhaveahighperformingteam.Theyfacechallengesofrecruitingwomen,thereasonbehindstatedasthattheindustrycompanyKiswithinisnotattractiveenoughforwomenandthattheyalsoarepooratdeveloping them internally. Another challenge is the culture base, in addition to thecharacteristicsoftheindustry,isthatiteasilycanbecomegreedyandsolelyfocusedonmonetarybenefits,whichtheydon’twanttheirTalentManagementtobepushingforward.Thus,workingintensivelywiththevaluesofthecompany.

Table9.SummaryofapproachestoTalentManagement.

CompanyTalentManagement(TM)ProcessandPractices

Aims,measuresandsuccessofTM ChallengesofTM BenefitsofTM

A

Annualidentificationoftalentandassesscurrentstatesofteamperformance,reviewingthedevelopmentofkeypositions,

Identifyingwhotheyhavetoday,whatkeypositionstherecurrentlyis,andfuturepositioning.-4KPImeasurementsinplace.

CommunicatingthebenefitsofTMandpresentingtheopportunitiesfortheemployees

Havingtherightpeopleintherightplacewhilehavingafuturefocus

BSystematicannualprocessconsistingoftalentreview

DiscussionbetweenmanagersandHRthatensuresthattheycanandhavegrowingpotentialswhileactingproactively.-ThereareKPI’s,butfollowretentionratemostly

TheviewofTMasatemplatefillingexerciseasademotivatingfactor.

Thetransparencyenablesinformationsharingacrosstheorganisation.Enablingmorediscussionsofstrategy,andviewingtheirtalentsinamoreprofessionalandholisticway.

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C

NodefinitionofTM,butistheidentificationoftalentrelatedtothebusinessstrategy

Developmentinconnectiontothestrategy.-NoKPIsinplace

Ensuringthatallemployeesunderstandthephilosophybehindit.

Understandingthebusinessstrategyandtheenvironmentrequirements.

D

Guidingthecapabilitycapital,identifyingskillsandcapabilitiesrequiredtothestrategy.Assessingskillsetsoverpersonalattributes.

Tohavefutureactorsintheorganisation.-Measuringtherecruitingandplacementofemployees

Maintaincontinuousdevelopmentandhavingsystematicprocessesinplace.

Toolsandwaysthatenableemployeestheassignmentwithnewchallenges.

E

Wellestablishannualprocess,andquitetraditional.Thewholeprocessisimportant.

Theabilitytofulfilanddrivethestrategicdecisions.-NosignificantKPIshoweverfollowsuccessionpipelineplanning.

Settingclearexpectationsforindividualsandbusinessdirections.

TMenablestheimplementationofstrategy,meanwhileprovidinganopportunitytodevelopthestrategyfurther.

F

Focusontalentreviewprocess,TMconsidersthewholeprocessfromdevelopingtolookingfornewemployees.TMprocesstomaintainabusinessdevelopmentfocus.

Competencedevelopmentasadriverofculturechange.-NoKPIsinplace

MakingthemanagementcommittotheTMandclearcommunicationofprocessesandtools.

Ensuringthefuturesuccessofthecompany.

G

TMhasabroadmanner,everythingfromdeveloping,recognisingandrewardingemployees.Notsostructuredprocessatthemoment.

InternalandExternalemployerbranding,whatpersonalityandcompetencesarerequiredtosucceed.-OnlysomeKPIsatthemoment

WithoutTMitislikedrivinginthedark.

TMcreatespreparationformeetingchallengesinthebusiness.

H

Annuallyassesstalentstogetherwithmanagement,talentperformancereviewsarethemostimportantprocess.Developedtogetherwiththetopmanagementawell-rootedsystemofvaluesandatransparencyofcapabilitiesrequiredforeveryfunction.

Developallemployeestoreachtheirfullpotential.-KPIsinplacetoassessbenchmarkandturnover.

Makingtheplanhappen,creatingafunctioningcommunicationbetweenmanagerandemployee.Andthattheemployeeisawareoftheiroptions.

Individualdevelopmentprogramsenablingthecommunicationbetweenemployeeandmanagement.

I

Fromrecruitmentanddevelopmenttocompensationandrewards,focusingonafewthingsandmakingthemgoodinsteadofdoingmultiplethingspoorly.

“havingtherightperson,intherightplace,attherighttime,attherightsalary”.-Measurementsofexternalpositionasemployerbrand

Acquiringtherighttypeofcompetencesinthelightofthehighcompetitivemarket.

Enablesafocusandanidentificationofhowcriticalitistohavetalent.

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J

Allactivitiesconnectedtoattracting,employing,retaining,developingandreleasingpeople.

Developthecompanybylettingthepeopleleadtheway.-Measuresuccessthroughtheirthreecorevalues.

Competitionishighforrecruitingtalents.

Eliminatesoverheadofmanagingpeople.Foremostgettingthemosttalentedpeopleintothecompany.

K

TMconsistsofthreemainareas:talentacquisition(e.g.employerbranding),performancemanagement(compensation)anddevelopment(individual)

Toattractworldclasstalenttotheirworldwideoffices.Attractingtoptalentwillenabletheirorganisationtobehighperforming.-Measurementsaremadebytheoverallsuccessofthecompanyaswellasdiversitymeasurementsareinplace.

Recruitingwomenandhandlingthecultureoftheiroperatingindustry.

Insurancetheirteamishighperforming.

4.3 DevelopmentofTalentManagement

EstablishingwhenandfromwheretheorganisationinitiatedtheprocessofTalentManagementispresented inthe followingsection,which is furthermotivatedtowhythecompanychosetoworkwiththisinparticularasopposedtootherHRMactivities.Theresponderswerealsoaskedtocontributewiththeirpersonalopinionofwhatimprovements,ifany,weretobeconsideredinregardstotheimplementationofTalentManagement.

CompanyAclaimthepracticesandprocesseshavechangedoverthetimetheyhavebeenthere,however,intheprevioustenyearstheprocesshasbecomemorespecificandfocused.Thechoicetoworkwith TalentManagementwasmotivated by theHR organisation. In the respondent'sopinion,TalentManagementisverymuchaffectedbyotherthingshappeningintheorganisation,sincetheydonothaveaholisticperformanceevaluationthathasadirectindicationoftheirTalentManagement process effects. They further indicate that they can improve their processes andapproachtogrowingtheirtalentsinthelong-run.

CompanyBchoosetoworkwithTalentManagementfouryearsago,andatthattimemanythingswerechanginginparticularthepeopleprocess.Theyrecognizedthefactthattheywerelackingknowledgeoftheirpeople,therewasaneedtoregainanorganisedprocess.Theinitiativecamefrommanagement.TherespondentexplainedtheuseofHRISsystemgoeshand-in-handwiththedevelopmentandallowsthemtohavemoretimeforrewardingdiscussionswithpeople.Currentlytheyarealsoconsidering their competencedevelopmentsystemsandhowtheyare related toTalent Management, in particular they also have expanded looking outside the company fortalents.

CompanyChasanewandmoresystematicapproachfortwoandhalfyearsnow.TheydidnothaveresourcesandcapabilitiestoworkwithTalentManagementinHRpreviously.Theincentive

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topursueTalentManagementcamefromtheboardandexecutiveteam.Theyconstantlydevelopandthecurrentapproachisonagoodpath,theyhaverecentlyinitiatedaglobalHRtoolwheretheycanhaveallpeopleprocessesanddatainoneplace,whichisintendedtoincreasetheclarityofreportingandvisibilityofTalentManagement.

CompanyDstatesthatTalentManagementhasbeeninthecompanyinonewayoranotherforyears,howeverithasnotbeensystematicwhichisnowtheirmainfocus.TheimportanceofTalentManagement has been identified for years but a process in place has been not clearlydistinguished. Top management has been closely involved in the development of TalentManagementandareconsideredas themain initiators.Theyhaverecentlybeenrenewing theprocessandconsider themselvesonagoodpathandthat theyarehalfwaythere,andare inalearning-by-doingphase.

TherespondentofCompanyEexplainsthattheyhaveonlyhadaquiteshortvisibility,butthatithasbeenrunforalmosttenyears.TheinitiativeforpursuingTalentManagementcamefrombothtopmanagementandHR,sincethetwoalreadyworkcloselytogetherthecommitmentfromtopmanagementandseniormanagementtopursueTalentManagementactivelywhilstdevelopingit.There is currently nothing the respondent would want to change in regards to the process,howeverstatingthatcontinuousdevelopmentandimprovementscanalwaysbemaintained.

CompanyFstatesthatasagrouptheystartedusingTalentManagementfiveyearsagobeforethatthedifferentbusinessareashadeachtheirown.TheyinitiatedachangephaseinlastDecember,andrealisedthatTalentManagementfromagrouplevelbringsvaluetothebusinessandhelpsinsecuringit.TheCEOoftheorganisationinitiatedthechange.Therespondentcouldnotchooseanythinginparticulartochange,however,accentuatedthattheyneedtoimplementthisbetterandtokeepitsimplesothatmanagersunderstandthepurposeofpursuingit.

CompanyGexplainsthattheyhavealwaysworkedwithTalentManagement,however,therehasnot been a structured work, they had previously somewhat stopped working with TalentManagement explicitly, to pick it up again recently.Now theyhave started amore systematicapproachtoit.Theinitiativecamefromtheexecutivemanagementandcountrymanagementintheorganisation,thereisaneedforiteverywhereintheorganisation.Consideringchangingtheircurrent implementationtheystatethat there isa lot theywouldwanttochangeandcurrentlydoingso.Theyarestrivingtomakeitanintegratedpartoftheorganisationandasclearaspossibleforthewholelifecycleintheemployerbranding,competencesrequired,rewardandrecognitionsystemsetc.Overall,itisthestructuretofollowthedifferentpartsandthattheygotogether.

CompanyHstatessomecertainpartsoftheirTalentManagementhasalwaysbeenthere,however,theirexplicitvalueswereaddedeight-nineyearsagoandTalentManagementasaconceptwasintroducedduringthelasttenyears.Talentmanagementwaschosentopursueduetoitsbroadconcept,itisanumbrellacoveringseveralcomponentsfromrecruitment,givingemployeesagoodintroductiontothecompanyandhavingagoodprocessduringtheentireemploymentperiodwithclearobjectives.TheinitiativetopursueTalentManagementfromagroupwithintheorganisationspecificallyworkingwithdevelopmentissuesforacentralpurpose.Notsomuchisdesiredtobechanged in regards to the execution, however, theywould like toworkmorewith the digitalcommunicationofcareeropportunities.Inadditiontothis,asactivewithworkingwiththetalents,

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theyhaveidentifiedandcommunicatedcareeradvancementsinasmootherwaytoincreasetheallocationoftalent.

ThreeyearsagoCompany I startedworkingmorestructuredwithTalentManagement.Talentmanagement was pursued because of the fact it is about the people of the organisation thatdevelopthebusiness,inmorespecificitisaboutpeopleandideas.ThisiswhatcompanyIbuildstheirvaluesandbusinesson.TheinitiativetopursueTalentManagementoriginatedfromtheHRorganisation,andaconstantdevelopmentisthepremise.

CompanyJexplainsthatsinceTalentManagement,whichisaboutdevelopingtheirpeople,isoneoftheircoreprocessestheydecidedsevenyearsagothatrecruitingcannolongerbeasupportingactivity,itwasrequiredtobecomeacentralactivity.Todayrecruitmentisacentralcomponentandisdiscusseddailyandnotperformedbyacertainfunction. It istobecarriedoutbyeveryindividualintheorganisationandthateveryoneknowswhatTalentManagementisandhowtheycanimproveit.Closelytotherespondents’dailyactivitiesisTalentManagementbecausesomuchoftheprocessesarelinkedtoprocessesconsideredtoTalentManagementprocesses.Consideringchange, they would probably want to change everything, because everything needs to beimproved. Someprocessesaregood for theorganisationat themoment,however consideringtheirconstantgrowththeyrequiretohaveprocessesinplacethatwouldincreasetheirefficiency.

CompanyKhasforthepastfouryearsexpandedvastly,whichhasrequiredamorestructuredapproachtoTalentManagement,inordertocommunicateinternallyofwhattheydoandwhattheydonotdo,andhowtheydeveloppeople.TalentManagementwaschosenbecauseitisdefinedbytherespondentasaverybroadconceptandismoreorlesstheentireHRsystem.TheinitiativetopursueTalentManagementcamefromtheirCEO.Futurechangeswouldconsiderincreasingdiversity,however,HRworkisneverfinished,itisalwaysinconstantdevelopment.MaintainingthecurrentcultureisachallengeandensuringthatHRdoesnotworkinisolationiscrucial.

Table10.SummaryofTalentManagementinplaceandfromwheretheinitiativecamefrom.

Company YearswithTM WheretheinitiativetopursueTMcamefrom

A 15 HRorganisation

B 4 Management

C 10 Boardandexecutiveteam

D “severalyears” Topmanagement

E 10 TopmanagementandHR

F 5 CEO

G 0,5 Executivemanagementandcountrymanagers

H 8-9 Centralpurposedevelopmentgroup

I 3 HRorganisation

J 7 -

K 4 CEO

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4.4 AlignmentofTalentManagementtoStrategy

Following section strives to conclude empirical findings of the link of Talent Management tostrategy in the companies. An identification of the top management's involvement in TalentManagementworkispresented,followedbytheinformants’judgementoflinkagebetweenTalentManagementandstrategy.FinishingoffwiththeimportanceofTalentManagementinthefuture.

Company A states that top management is involved in Talent Management work. They haveannualtalentreviewsforthetopteamandforeverydivisionmanagementteamalsohavetheirindependenttalentreviewmeetings.Implyingthatthedataofthetalentreviewsareassessedinabroadersenseandaratherstrategicfunction.Talentmanagementisverymuchlinkedtothestrategy.Havingtalentinplaceimpliesthattheorganisationcandeliveronthestrategy,foritisthe capabilities and competences assisting in the implementation. Furthermore, having talentpoolsofvariouscompetencesandcapabilitiesenablescreatingastrongerlinkbetweentalentandactivities,as theexecutionofstrategyrequirestherightpeople.Therespondents indicatethatTalentManagementisveryimportantforthefuture,itisofimportanceinordertogrowpeople.Ifanon-systematicwayofrotatingpeopleisnotinplacetheorganisationriskslosingtherightpeople.

CompanyBagreesandstatesthattopmanagementisinvolvedintheworkofTalentManagement,they are currentlyworkingwith strategicworkforceplanning andvalue the competences andcapabilitiesofpeopletheyneed.Furtherconfirmingthelinkbetweenstrategyandaholisticviewoftheorganisation,theyneedtoconsidertheplanforthechangesinbusinessandfromthereplantheindividuallevelinTalentManagement.Byensuringthattheyhaveclearplansoftherequiredorganisationalcapabilitiestheyneedtoconsidertheworkforce,ifthecompetencesarein-houseoriftheyshouldsearchoutsidethecompany.TalentManagementisanaturalevolvementfortheirorganisationforthefuture,forwithoutthepeopletherewillbenosuccess.

Company C has top management involved in Talent Management, management teams havediscussions regarding thematter dedicated to solely discussing the people, they call this the“peopleday”,whichoccursonceayear.Fourtimesayeartheyfurtherdiscusstheresourcesstatusandconnecttotalentreviews.TalentManagementhasastraightlinktotheorganisationsstrategy,and enables the strategy implementation because the talent reviews stem from the businessstrategy and all the people are mirrored against those requirements. From the reviews theoutcomeisanunderstandingofthepeoplehavetherequiredcompetencestorealisethestrategy.Inthecasetheydonotmeettherequirementsdevelopmentactionscanbedirected.Forexample,the leadership development programs are created by directly linking them to the businessstrategyinordertoensurethattherightpeopleparticipate.CompanyCfurtherimpliesthattheimportancefortalentinthefuturewillonlyincreaseandbecomemoreimportant.Thechallengeis to find different kinds of solutions on how to utilise the concept of TalentManagement inrelationtoeverycountrytheyareactivewithin.

Company D confirm that Talent Management is absolutely linked to the strategy, there is anunderstandingthatwithouttalentsandskillsstrategycannotbemadeintoreality.Inthefuturetheystrive foranapproachwherethestrategydoesnotcomefirst,meaningtheycancreateastrategicevolutionifthecapabilitiestheyhavewoulddrivethestrategyinstead.Inconsiderationto the futureofTalentManagement, therole isseenasverycrucial.Theyclaimthat there isa

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global shortage of talents, therefore they can not take for granted that talent will always beavailable.

Company E state that Talent Management is linked to the overall strategy, and that the topmanagementisveryinvolvedinit.TalentManagementcancontributealot,aswellasthestrategycreationorstrategydevelopment.Theyconsiderstrategicinitiativesasopportunitiesfortalentstodevelopevenmore.Thefuturedirectionshouldconsiderthestrategicambition,andthinkingfromthecapabilitiespointofviewwhichisapartoftheirstrategyrenewal/creationorstrategyprojects.Itisimportanttohaveaframeworkofcapabilitiesandorganisationalresourcestoenablethestrategytotakeplace,haveaprocessandsystems, inadditionthiscreatesthecultureandcompetencesinthewaytheywork.Refiningtheabilitytomatchresourcesandcapabilitiestothestrategyareveryimportant.Declaringfurtherthatthelinktostrategyisverydirect,theyneedtoreassurethattheirresourcesaretheretoimplementandtofurtherdevelopthebusinessandthisiswhyTalentManagementisimportant.

CompanyFagreesthatthetopmanagementisinvolvedintheTalentManagementwork,itgivesinputtothebusinessplans.TheyviewTalentManagementaslinkedtotheoverallstrategy.Theyfurther claim it is how strategy is defined that highlights the implementation of strategy, theorganisationisdecentralisedwithdecentralisedstrategies,however,TalentManagementisvitalintheoverallbusiness.Withtherightpeopletheycansecurethattheycandeliver.ForthefutureofTalentManagement,itisincreasinginimportance,facingseveraldifficultiesofattractingtherightcompetencestheyneed.

CompanyGclaimthattopmanagementareverymuchinvolvedintheTalentManagementwork,theyarecurrentlyworkingwithseveralpartsoftheorganisationinordertoviewthebroadsenseof the organisation and how they canmake people grow. During the time this interviewwasconducted their TalentManagementwas still in development phase. Furthermore, the TalentManagementtheyarestrivingforTalentManagementtobelinkedtothestrategy.Itisonethingto consider behaviours and cultures however, today their strategy has shifted focus from aproduct-basedtofocusmoretocultureandbehaviouralvalueset.Withinthisnewtypeofstrategytalenttakespart,clearlybecauseitisaboutthepeopleandwheretheyarethatstrengthensthestrategy.Forthefutureitisveryclearforthemwhattheywanttoseemoreof,andthatispeoplebehindthesuccess.Thewaytheyactandbehaveintheorganisationisthewaytothesuccessoftheorganisation,andTalentManagementismechanismbehindthat.

CompanyHexplainstheymaptalentsoneveryleveloftheorganisation,inordertoestablishacompilation of all talent in the organisation. They further agree that Talent Management isconnectedtothestrategy,theoverallstrategyneedstobebrokendownforHRandpeoplepercountryandbusinessarea.Topmanagementcanfurtheridentifyareaswheretalentisneeded.Themappingprocesstheorganisationconducts,allowsidentificationofwheretalentisandcanthusbeallocatedincorrectpositions.

Company I agrees that topmanagement takes an active part in TalentManagement,which isderived fromthe topmanagement to thedifferentbusinessareasand then into the individuallevel.Wheneveranewtalentinitiativeistaken,topmanagementisalwaysinvolved.Theirtalentstrategy is linked with the overall strategy, however, Talent Management is supporting thebusiness through the peoplewho are engaged to their organisation and are innovative. They

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recentlybecameaglobalHRorganisation,andarechangingtocombinestrategyandpeopleintoonefunction.The“redthread”isthereforemployeestounderstandclearlywhattheobjectivesareforpersonal,managerandorganisationalsettings.Theviewofimportanceoftalentforthefuture is very critical. Company I also identifies the market competitiveness as a crucialcomponentinattainingtalent.Furthermore,theyaddthatmakingtheentireorganisationengagedinthequestionsconcerningTalentManagementisimportant.

CompanyJstates thatmoreor lessTalentManagement iswhat thetopmanagementdoes, therespondent portrays that about 95%of topmanagement’swork is to focus onhow they canrecruit more fantastic people and how to define new ways of developing them. TalentManagementistheoverallstrategyofthecompany,andisconsideredasanimplementationfactortothestrategy.Consideringfuturerestraints,TalentManagementiswhatlimitsthem,continuousexpansion is only limitedby their ownability to attract and employ the right people, therebycrucialtotheirfuturesuccess.

TopmanagementofCompanyKisinvolvedinTalentManagement,andtheoverallstrategyisnotonlylinkedbutdrivenbyTalentManagement.Incomparisontoacompanywithtangibleassets,companyKisevenmoredrivenbythepeopletheyhave,asmostoftheirassetsareintangible.They state that theymost importantly have their brand and their people. They state that theacquisition of talent will grow in terms of importance for the future. Having talent does notnecessarily mean having the people with the highest university grades, rather having talentimplieshavingthebestpeoplewholivebythevaluesoftheorganisationandworkstogetherasateamwilldriveinnovationandhighperformance.

Table11.SummaryofalignmentofTalentManagementtostrategy.

Company LinkbetweenTMandStrategy FutureofTM

A

TMverymuchlinkedtostrategy,havingtalentimpliesthattheorganisationcandeliveronstrategy.Theexecutionofstrategyrequirestherightpeople.

TMisveryimportantforthefuture,inordertogrowpeople.Ifanon-systematicwayofrotatingpeopleisnotinplacetheorganisationriskslosingtherightpeople.

B

FromaholisticpointofviewtheyneedtoconsidertheplanforchangesinthebusinessandfromthereplantheindividuallevelinTM.

TMisanaturalevolvementfortheirorganisationforthefuture,withoutthepeopletherewillbenosuccess.

C

Enablingthestrategyimplementation,becausethetalentreviewsstemfromthebusinessstrategyandallthepeoplearemirroredtothoserequirements.

TheimportanceofTMwillonlyincrease,thechallengeistofinddifferentsolutionsonhowtoutilisetheconceptofTMinrelationtoeverycountrytheyarewithin.

D Withouttalentsandskillsstrategycannotbemadeintoareality. Globalshortageoftalent.

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ETMlinkedtotheoverallstrategy,strategicinitiativesasopportunitiesfortalentstodevelopevenmore.

Thefuturedirectionshouldconsiderstrategicambition,andthinkingfromthecapabilitiespointofviewwhichisaparttheirstrategyrenewal/creation.

FTMgivesinputtothebusinessplans,withtherightpeopletheycansecuredeliveryofstrategy.

TMisincreasinginimportance,facingseveraldifficultiesofattractingtherightcompetencesneeded.

G TMshouldbelinkedtotheoverallstrategy,talentstrengthensthestrategy.

Theywanttoseethepeoplebehindthesuccess,thewaytheyactandbehaveintheorganisationisthewaytosuccessoftheorganisation.

H

TheoverallstrategyneedstobebrokendowntoHRandpeopleinallbusinessandcountryunits.Theirmappingprocessenablesawaytoassesstalentwithintheorganisation.

Themappingprocessshowswherepeopleareandwheretheycanbeplaced.

I Theirtalentstrategyislinkedtotheoverallstrategy,andTMissupportingthebusiness.

Marketcompetitivenessintheattainmentoftalent.

J TMistheoverallstrategy.

TMiswhatconstrainsthecompany,continuousexpansionisonlylimitedbytheirabilitytoattractandemploytherightpeople.

K TMdrivestheoverallstrategy,thepeopleoftheircompanyiswhatdrivesthem. Acquiringtalent.

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5 ANALYSIS

This chapter incorporates the analysis of the three main concepts identified at the end of thetheoretical background chapter. These concepts are Talent Management, view on talent andstrategy.Theanalysisfollowsthestructureoftheframeworkinordertodiscusstherelationshipsbetweentheconceptsmoreindepth.Ineachsection,allthecompaniesareanalysedtogethertofindpatternsthatareofvalueforeventuallyansweringtheresearchquestion.ThefirstpartpresentsananalysisoftherelationshipbetweenviewontalentandTalentManagement,followedbytheanalysisof the relationship between strategy and Talent Management, and ends with analysing therelationshipoftheviewontalentandstrategy.

5.1 RelationshipofViewonTalentandTalentManagement

Inorder toanalyse theempirical findingson the relationshipbetween theviewon talent andTalentManagement,atablewascreatedwherethefindingsaresummarisedandgroupedbasedclosely on the framework of Bolander et al. (2014). This is to further bring structure to theanswersofthecasecompanies,establishingamorethoroughplatformforfurtheranalysis.

Table12.ViewontalentandTalentManagement(derivedfromBolanderetal.,2014).

CompanySubjectversusObject

InclusiveversusExclusive

AcquiredversusInnate

InputversusOutput

Context-dependentversusTransferrable

Principlepractice

A Subject Exclusive Acquired Output Context IdentificationB Subject Inclusive Acquired Output Context IdentificationC Subject Inclusive Acquired Both Context DevelopmentD Subject Exclusive Acquired Both Context IdentificationE Subject Exclusive Acquired Output Context IdentificationF Subject Exclusive Acquired Both Context DevelopmentG Subject Exclusive Acquired Output Context IdentificationH Subject Exclusive Acquired Both Context DevelopmentI Subject Inclusive Acquired Both Context DevelopmentJ Subject Inclusive Innate Output Transferable RecruitmentK Subject Inclusive Innate Output Transferable Recruitment

BasedontheexemplificationofthedifferenttensionsintroducedbyDries(2013),thereiscleardifferencesintheanswersandviewsorganisationshaveontalent.ThisisfurtherinlinewithclaimbyUlrich(2011)thattalentcanmeanwhateverthebusinesspractitionerwantsittomeanandargumentbyBolanderetal.(2014)thatthecharacterisationoftalentisnotself-evident.Onthesamenote,majorityoforganisationsdidnotstatetohaveaclearstatementofwhattalentactuallyis, even though they do discuss talent in the organisation and the different tensions could beanalysedbasedontheinterviews.Allthecompaniescanbeidentifiedtohaveasubjectapproach.Dries (2013) also states the distinction of talent as an object to be difficult to make since

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characteristicsofapersoncannotbeindependentfromthepersonasawhole,whichseemstobethewaythesecasecompaniesalsoseetobetrue.

Tensionbetweenacquiredversusinnateseemstobeinthecasecompaniesfairlyunanimous.Ascanbe seen fromTable12,most companies leanedonmore towardsunderstanding talent assomethingtobeacquired,andemphasiseddevelopmentactivitiesandidentifyingtheemployeeswhocanbetalent,ratherthanfocusingonrecruitingthepeoplewiththeinnatenatureofbeingatalentascompaniesJandKcharacterisedtheirunderstandingoftalent.ThisismuchtoasDries(2013)characterisesthetension.Therewasasimilaritybetweenthecompaniesthatconsideredtalentasacquiredtofurtherseeitascontext-dependent,whereasascasecompaniesthatseetheirtalents to have an innate nature for talent, consider it to be transferable and thus focus onrecruitmentactivities.TheconnectioncanbeclarifiedasDries(2013)arguesthetensionstobeinterrelated and Bolander et al. (2014) has grouped companies based on these tensions, theapproachesshowingaconnectionbetweenthecontext-dependencyandinnateversusacquiredtension.

Themaindisparitycanbeseenwiththetensiononinclusiveversusexclusiveviewontalentaswell as the tension on output versus input. Exclusive view considers just a part of all theemployeesastalents,whereastheinclusiveviewseeseveryonetobetalentedintheirownway.Tansley(2011)arguedthistobethemaindebatearoundthenatureoftalent,whichisprominentintheoverallanswersofthecasecompanies.Stahletal.(2012)arguedorganisationstousebothapproachesbuttheempiricalfindingsbasedonthecasecompaniesdidnotgiveindicationtothis.CompanieswithexclusiveviewontalenthadsetthefocusoftheirTalentManagementactivitiestotheidentificationofthosewhoareconsideredastoptalentsanddevelopmentactivitieswerefocusedonthoseindividualsonly.Onthecontrary,thosecompanieswithinclusiveviewontalenthad Talent Management activities planned to understand the skills of all the employees andeveryonewouldbeunderstoodasatalent.Someofthecompaniesmadeadistinctiononwhetherthetalentispotentialoralreadythere,astherewasanemphasisbymanyofthecasecompanies,thatbeingatalentisnotastaticstatebutratherdynamicandcanchangequickly.

Thedistinctionfromtheinterviewswasquitedifficulttomakeontheinputversusoutputtension,asseveralcompaniesseemedtobeconcernedofbothviews.Nocompanycouldbeinterpretedtohaveaninputview,meaningthattheywouldsolelyconsideranindividual’smotivationordriveto be the determinant of talent, as Church andRotolo (2013) state the abilities, i.e. output ofemployeestobethesolefocusinmostorganisations.Inaccordancetothisclaim,inmostofthecompanies,assessmentsweremainlydoneontheperformanceoftheemployees,relatingtotheoutputview.However,severalcompaniesconsideredbothinputandoutputoftheindividualtobeadeterminantofthetalent.Thismeansthatdespitethecompanieswouldlookforcertainlevelof performance from those considered as talents, the innermotivation and ambitionwas stillconsideredasanimportantfactor,whichDries(2013)statestobehighlyvaluedandimportantinthecontinuationofindividualtalent.Astalents,thoseindividualsareexpectedtowanttobethetalent,referringbacktothestatementsabouttalentasadynamicconcept,theindividualneedsto make sure they stay being a talent by having the motivation and in that way show theirdeterminationandthenbeabletoperformwell.

DerivingfromtheBolanderetal.(2014)frameworkonapproachestoTalentManagement,theviewsontalentcanbeclassifiedwithinthethreeapproachesandconsideredincontrasttothe

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humanisticapproach,competitiveapproachandentrepreneurialapproachnamedbyBolanderetal.(2014).EventhoughDries(2013)hassummarisedthedifferenttensionsfoundinregardofdefiningtalentwithintheacademicliterature,thereisnocleardefinitionorterminologyfortalent.Thus,wehaveusedtheterminologyfromtheframeworkofBolanderetal.(2014)toclarifythecategorization of the different views on talent, as it gives good reference and terminology todiscusstheviewsontalentfurther.Hence,theapproachesdefinedbyBolanderetal.(2014)aretobenamedashumanisticview,competitiveviewandentrepreneurialviewtoemphasisethatthisclassification is done based on the view on talent section of the framework. Only two of thecompanies,namelyCandIfelldirectlyunderthehumanisticviewontalent.Thiscomestoshowthat organisations have unique approaches to defining talent, or more so to explaining andconsideringtalent,asitcameapparentfromtheinterviewsthatmostorganisationsdonothaveacleardefinitionfortalent.Despitethis,theterminologyofthehumanisticview,competitiveviewandentrepreneurialviewcanbeused,asweclassifythecompaniesbasedontheviewtheyreflectthemost. In addition to C and I, companies B, D, F andHwere also considered to leanmoretowardsthehumanisticview,asthesecompanieshasmostofthetraitsdescribedaspartofthehumanisticview,suchasfocusontalentasacquiredandcontext-dependent.A,E,G,JandKreflectmostcloselythecompetitiveviewontalent,JandKalmostfullyandtheA,EandGhadmosttraitsdescribedwithinthecompetitiveview,suchasfocusontheoutputoftheemployeestodeterminetalent.Noneofthecasecompaniescanbeclassifiedtoreflecttheentrepreneurialview.

Figure3.Summaryoftheviewontalent.

After the discussion on the view on talent, the principal TalentManagement practices of thecompaniescanbeanalysedininreflectiontotheviewontalent.Bolanderetal.(2014)havetheprincipalpracticeaspartoftheirapproachestoTalentManagement.TheideaherewasthatthedistinctionbetweentheviewontalentandTalentManagementwouldbemademoreclear,thusthediscussionaboveledtotheapproachesofBolanderetal.(2014)tobederivedintotheviewsontalent.TofurtheranalysewhethertheidentifiedviewsontalentdoreflectTalentManagementas referred to in the frameworkofBolander et al. (2014), theprinciplepracticesof each casecompanywereidentified.AsCappelliandKeller(2014)emphasiseTalentManagementtoimplyhaving a set of established practices aiming at getting the right person in the right job, thisapproachtotheanalysisischosentoshowwhattheeffectofknowingwhothe“rightperson”iscanhaveonthe“setofestablishedpractices”.

The most dominant practices in Talent Management can be concluded to be identification,recruitment, training and development, staffing and succession planning and retentionmanagement (Dries & Pepermans, 2008; Stahl et al. 2012). The interpretation of principalpractices was done based on this clarification of Talent Management activities. TheexemplificationofcertainpracticesistobeunderstoodasaguidingprincipleasStahletal.(2012)stated,notonlyassimplydescriptiveofpracticesbasedonpreviouslyfoundsuccessstories,as

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Sparrowetal.(2014)onthecontraryemphasise.Thecasecompaniesallhadverydifferentwaysof expressing their Talent Management activities and attention was given in the analysis tounderstand which activities were emphasised the most. Three activities came across as theprincipal practises within the case companies, namely identification, development andrecruitment.

Identificationwasthemostcommonprincipalpractice,butdidnotdirectlyfollowthereasoningbyBolanderetal.(2014)asitbeingtheprincipalpracticeofcompetitiveapproach.Identificationincludesthesystematicpracticeofregularlyreviewingtalent.Fromtheempiricalevidencewithinthis study, it can be concluded that the approach of Talent Management contributes to anoverview ofwhere a company has talentwithin their organisation. For example, some of thecompanies stated to beworkingwith “9-Box-Matrix”,with potential and performance axes toidentifywhoarethepotentialtalentstobe,andthealreadyexistingtalents,otherworkedwithcertainpredeterminedgatewaysthatemployeesneededtopassinordertobequalifiedastalents.Thenextprevalentprincipalpracticewasdevelopment,whichaccordingtoBolanderetal.(2014)istheprincipalpracticeofcompanieswiththehumanisticapproachtoTalentManagement.Astheanalysisonthedifferentviewsontalentshows,thisisnotthecasewiththecasecompaniesinthisstudy.Companiesinthiscategoryarecharacterisedbythefocusofdevelopingtalentwithintheorganisationandthemanagementisexpectedtofacilitatethedevelopmentopportunities.

Recruitmentwasconsideredastheprincipalpracticeofonlytwoofthecompanies,anditisnotdiscussedintheBolanderetal.(2014)frameworkinrelationtothedifferentapproachestoTalentManagement.However, for these two companies itwas theirmain focus. It can be somewhatlinked to the identificationpractice,butonlyas identifying theexternal talents.This seems todescribecompaniesthataremuchinthe“waroftalent”–thinkingandarefightingoverthebesttalents in the market. The common denominator with the companies that consideredidentification as their focus, is the output view,where the level of performance is everything.However, the focus on recruitment takes the focus on performance somewhat further, as thesimilaritybetweenthesetwocompanieswasthattheyalsohaveaninnateviewontalent–itissomethingthatiswithinanindividual(Dries,2013)andthusdevelopmentshouldnotbethefocusbutratherfindingthoseindividualsthataretalentsfromthegetgo.Moreover,therecruitmentfocusedcompaniesconsidertalenttobetransferable,whichiswhythebeliefthatrecruitmentisratherimportant.Thisistheoppositeforidentificationanddevelopment,asthecompanieswiththeseprincipalpracticesregardtalenttobecontext-dependentandthuscanimaginetofindthetalentfromwithinthecompanyordevelopit.

Interestingly, the principal practices seem to be highly correlated to the input versus outputtension,asmostofthosecompaniesthatarefocusingonidentificationandalltheonesfocusedonrecruitment,haveafocusontheoutputandthecompaniesfocusingondevelopmenthaveafocusonbothinputandoutput.Thiscouldrelatetothefactorthatoutputisallaboutperformanceandthus thevalueof talent ispurelybasedon theperformance,asDries (2013)characterises theoutput approach, thus the focus is to identify or recruit the individuals with high level ofperformance. Somewhat on the contrary, when the focus is on development, then also thoseindividualswhoshowmotivationanddrivetosucceedareconsideredtobepotentialtalentsandthusitisseenasimportanttoratherofferdevelopmentopportunitiesforeveryonewhoshowsthe passion to perform better and bring value to the organisation as a talented individual.

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However,theambiguitiesaroundTalentManagementandtalentbringsaboutchallengesifthemanagersandHRprofessionalshavenotclearlydecidedwhattheyarelookingforandemployeesarenotfullyawareofwhattheyshouldaspiretowards(Anders,2010;Gallardo-Gallardoetal.,2013).ThiscanfurtherunderminethepossiblebenefitsofTalentManagementasavalueaddingSHRMprocess(Garrow&Hirsh,2008).

5.2 RelationshipofTalentManagementandStrategy

Table13belowpresentsasummaryoftheempiricalfindingsrelatedtothestrategicalignmentofTalentManagement aswell as other relevant topics from the data collection that allowed theanalysisontherelationshipbetweentheTalentManagementandstrategy.Thisistofurtherbringstructuretotheanswersofthecasecompanies,establishingamorethoroughplatformforfurtheranalysis.Table13leadstotheanalysisofthematurityofTalentManagementinrelationtothestrengthoftheconnectionithastostrategyandthelevelofsystematismTalentManagementcanbeperceivedtohave.

Table13.TalentManagementandstrategy.

Company YearswithTM

TopManagementinvolvedinTM

TMlinkedtoStrategy Comment

A 15 Yes Yes “Talentmanagementmanagestodeliveronstrategy”

B 4 Yes Yes “...enablestoworkmoreholistically”

C 10 Yes Yes -

D “severalyears” Yes Yes

“withoutTalentManagementstrategycannotbemadeareality”

E 10 Yes Yes“TalentManagementcancontributealottostrategycreation”

F 5 Yes Yes -G 0,5 Yes Yes -H 8-9 Yes Yes “enablesatalentoverview”I 3 Yes Yes “supportsthebusinessfunction”J 7 Yes Yes “itistheoverallstrategy”

K 4 Yes Yes “strategyisnotonlylinked,itisdrivenbyTalentManagement”

Overall, the companies are in different phases on the development of Talent Management.CompaniesD,C,F,GandIexpressedtobeinthephaseofeitherrenewingordevelopingfromthestart their Talent Management, whereas companies A, B, E, H, J and K declared to have anestablishedTalentManagementinplace,withtheregardthatTalentManagementisconstantlyevolvingalongsidethebusinessrequirements.However,allcompaniesrepliedyestothequestionthat considers theirTalentManagement tobe linked to theoverall strategy,whichArmstrong(2011)clarifiestogivestrengthforthestrategicroleofTalentManagement.Severalcompanies

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explain thatTalentManagement enables strategy tobe realised and it to be a valued supportactivityinensuringthecompanytohavetherightpeopleintherightplace.Thesefindingsareinline with Armstrong’s (2011) statement this to be one crucial factor for organisations tounderstand,asthedevelopmentofTalentManagementactivitiescanturnthestrategyintoaction.Furthermore,thisgivessupporttotheclaimbySilzerandDowell(2010)thatTalentManagementhasbecomemorethanjustoneoftheHRprogramsandisgiventherequiredstrategicfocus.Thecase companies further claim there to be involvement of top management in the TalentManagement work, even though the initiatives are not necessarily pursued by the topmanagementinallofthecompanies.AsAlArissetal.(2014)claim,theexecutiveshavethekeyrole and simply having TalentManagement does not necessarilymean that organisations aresuccessful inmanaging their internal talent because the importance of TalentManagement iseasilyoverlookedandcapitalizingontheopportunityforstrategicsuccessisnotrealised.

Thebest fit approach entails there to be a need for organisations to understand their currentpositiontosucceedwiththeirTalentManagementapproach(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Stahletal.,2012;Corbridge&Omotayo2013,p.98).Thus,theTalentManagementprocessesandpracticeslookverydifferentineachofthecasecompanies,insomebeingmoresystematicthaninothers.This relates back to the claim that Talent Management can be a strategically importantdifferentiationfactorwhenpracticesandprocessesareuniqueenoughsothatcompetitorscannotbecopyorduplicatethem(Ashton&Morton,2005;Stahletal.,2012).However,asclarifiedbyThunnissenetal.(2013),TalentManagementshouldstillbeasystemorasetofpracticesandactivitiesthatarecompleteandinterrelated.Thus,toanalysethesystemofactivitiesinthecasecompanies,Figure4summarisesthecasecompaniesinrelationtothedegreeofsystematisminthesetofTalentManagementpracticesandprocesses inplace.Whenreferringtoasystematicapproach, the Talent Management practices and processes are fixed, well organised andstructured,whereasanon-systematicapproachincludesprocessesandpracticesthathaveyettobewellestablishedandstructured,insomecasesbecausethecompaniesbelongingtothisclusterarestillinthedevelopmentphase.

Figure4.SystematicapproachtoTalentManagement.

MostofthecasecompanieswereanalysedtohaveasystematicapproachtoTalentManagementbasedon thedescriptionsof theTalentManagementprocessesandpracticesgivenduring thedatacollectionphase.ThesharedattributeofthecasecompaniesA,B,C,E,H,I,JandKisthattheyall have awell structured and fixedmethod in place to attract, develop, and retain people. Inaddition,thesecompanieshavesetannualandmonthlyprocessesofTalentManagementandeventopmanagementandtheexecutiveboardisdevotingtimeonthesematters.Thesecasecompaniesaddthathavingasystematicapproachenablesthemtoconstantlyassesstalentinthecompany

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and evaluate the situation to build and ensure the necessary following steps. This way, thecompanies can build Talent Management to be a more valuable part of the overall strategicmanagementprocessesofthecompany(Silzer&Dowell,2010;Armstrong,2011).

In comparison, those case companieswith a non-systematic approach do not have systematicprocesses in place to the same degree as those companies considered to have a systematicapproach.ThisisnottosaythatthecompaniesD,FandGofnon-systematicapproachdonothaveTalentManagementprocessesandpracticesinplace,rathertheseprocessesandpracticesdonotconformwith the clearly set systemof activities. Based on the empirical data gathered, thesecompanies were considered to have somewhat scattered Talent Management activities orperspectiveonTalentManagementdidnotcomeacrossclearly.Thiscanbeconsideredinthelightofambiguitysurroundingtheterminology(Lewis&Heckman,2006;Dries,2013;Thunnissenetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014;Sparrow,Scullion&Tarique,2014)Theseambiguitiescanbringabout challengesandnot add thevalue it couldwhen fully functional (Garrow&Hirsh,2008;Anders,2010;Gallardo-Gallardoetal.,2013).AlthoughsomeofthecompanieshavehadTalentManagementforseveralyears,suchascompaniesDandF,theTalentManagementcanstillbeundergoingdevelopmenttofullyfitittotheorganisationandseethesystematicapproachofittobe fully functional, as Festing et al (2013) clarifies that it can take time before the TalentManagementactivitiesplayoutandthebenefitscanberealised.CompanyGwasplacedintothenon-systematic approach as they seemed to consider Talent Management as a substituteterminologyforHRM,andthusforthepurposeofthisanalysis,thesystematicapproachtoTalentManagement is deemed low. However, as with case companies D and F, company G is alsoreconstructingtheirTalentManagement,andwereonlyintheinitialstagesofdevelopingamoresystematicapproachtoTalentManagement.

Sparrowetal.(2014)arguethatformulatingTalentManagementsystemscanbechallengingsincetherearemanyoptionsonhowtocombinedifferentpoliciesandpracticesavailable.Therefore,itshould be considered that many systematic tools for Talent Management can also be costly,difficult to use as well as timely to maintain and implement (Anders, 2010; Oracle, 2013).However,findingtheuniqueTalentManagementcandevelopintoadifferentiationfactorifbuildwellandfittothecompany’sstrategicaims.Although,mostofthecasecompaniesstatednotreallymeasuring the success of their Talent Management, despite deemed successful by manycompanies. Boudreau and Ramstad (2005) suggest that to facilitate the success of TalentManagement,itshouldbemadeexplicitandforexample,investmentsandinterventionsshouldbe followeduponamorecentral levelandrelevantmeasuresshouldbecollectedand furtheranalysedto interpret thesuccessofTalentManagement in the lightof the integratedstrategicframework. Insomeof thecompanies, the lackofmeasureswasrelated toearlystagesTalentManagementisstillin.

The discussion about the level ofmaturity of TalentManagement by Corbridge andOmotayo(2013) can give some direction to understanding the different development phases of TalentManagement in the case companies. The identification of the companies’ maturity level ispresentedbelowinTable14.Thisrepresentsourassessmentincomprehendingtherelationshipbetween Talent Management and strategy within the case companies. Concluding a level ofmaturityofTalentManagementenablesananalysisofthecurrentstageofmanagingtalentandillustratesthestrategicemphasisonTalentManagementandhowsystematictheactualTalent

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Management activities are in relation to strategy. To distinguishwhere the companies in thisstudyareplacedintermsofmaturity,thedefinitionandtheoverallaimofTalentManagementareaddedtoTable14inordertoachieveanoverallcomprehension.

Table14.LevelofmaturityofTalentManagement(derivedfromCorbridge&Omotayo,2013,p.98).

LevelofMaturity Company

1 None2 C,D,F3 G4 B,HandK5 A,E,IandJ

None of the companies in this study have a complete lack of Talent Management strategies,policiesorformallydevelopedpractices,asthiswasthemainconditiononthesampleselection.All companies do have a some degree of TalentManagement in place. Therefore, none of thecompanies included in this study are placed in level 1. However,we did identify some of thecompaniestoonlyhaveisolated,tacticalorlocalpocketsofTalentManagementactivitiesbutwithnooverallstrategyorplansforTalentManagement.Thus,companiesC,D,andFareplacedinthelevel2ofthematurityofTalentManagement.TheambiguityofwhatTalentManagementisandconsists of is apparent. Company C further states that theyworkmore hands-on rather thanfocusing on definitions, a philosophy is followed as a foundation and declare that if they haddefinedwhatTalentManagementis,itwouldbeidentifyingfromthebusinessstrategythetalentsthattheyarerequiredtohave.CompanyDrecently initiatedachangeinitiativeoftheirTalentManagementtobecomemoresystematicwiththeirprocess.Striving foraTalentManagementthatcapturesthevalueofitspeopleinconnectiontotheirstrategicobjectives.CompanyFstatesthatduetotheirdecentralisedbusinessunitsTalentManagementcanmeanmanythings,andonlyratherinformalprocessesareinplace,theyfollowtalentreviewsandconsiderthelargerscopeinthesensethatcompetencedevelopmentdrivesculturechange.

CompanyGisplacedatlevel3ofmaturity,thecompanyisinthemiddleofdevelopingtheirTalentManagement.Since,theirTalentManagementisindevelopmentphase,theTalentManagementactivities cannot be stated to yet fully be integrated and coordinated within the wholeorganisation.However, CompanyG is actively striving todevelop theirTalentManagement tobecomeanintegratedpartoftheorganisationinorderforthemtohaveTalentManagementasatool to evaluate where talent is within their organisation and to serve a broader purpose inbenefitingthecompany.

Level4ofmaturitycombinesthestrategiesofHRandcorporateTalentManagementinitiatives,reflectsthecorporateleveltotheHRlevelandcombinesasynergyeffectofthetwocomponents.This level is comprised by well established practices and processes of Talent Management.CompaniesB,HandKcanbecharacterisedtohavetheseattributesasthesecompaniesallowHRtoact asan integratedpartof their corporate strategy.TheTalentManagementpracticesandprocessesareguidedbythestrategyofthecompany,ensuringthattherequiredcompetencesandcapabilities for the business are in place within the employees delivered by the TalentManagement practices and processes. Another step further is level 5, where the Talent

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Management is not only vertically relevant for strategy planning, but further informs and isinformedby corporate strategy.CompaniesA,E, I, and J areplaced in level5, as the commonattributeamongstthesecompaniesisthattalentisunderstoodasacrucialpartofandistakenintoconsiderationinthestrategicprocess.Inaddition,thecompaniesinthiscategoryfocusonconstantlyadaptingtothedynamicsoftheiremployees.Morespecifically,thecompanies,moreor less, aim at exploiting their talents by allowing them to prosper at their individual uniquecapabilitiesandcompetencesanddrivethecompanyforward.

5.3 RelationshipofStrategyandViewonTalent

Eventhoughtheacademicliteratureidentifiestalentasastrategicasset,representingsomethingvaluable,rare,inimitableandnon-substitutable,andevenastheenableroftheimplementationofvaluecreatingstrategiesandachievementofsustainablecompetitiveadvantage(Huselid,etal.2009,p.7;Silzer&Dowell,2010),thenatureoftalentisnotasselfevident(Gallardo-Gallardoetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).ThiswasalsoapparentfromtheempiricaldataandillustratedinTable12insection5.1.Furthermore,thereisnotmuchtheoreticaldiscussionontheconnectionbetween the view on talent and strategy. The resource-based view gives some ground tounderstanding the relationship, as Grant (2013, p.105) argues that identifying the uniquestrengths of an organisation provides a basis for selecting a strategy that exploits the keyresources and capabilities of an organization. Thus, organisations can outperform anddifferentiate themselves from competitors and that way generate competitive advantage bylettingthesedifferencesguidetheirstrategicdesigns(Grant,2013,p.12;King&Glowinkowski,2014,p.63).Thisshouldbegiventherequiredattentionbyorganisationsparticularlyasthetalentshortagesareidentifiedtobeprevalentnotonlytodaybutalsointhefuture(ManpowerGroup,2015).Therefore,therelationshipbetweenstrategyandtheviewontalentisfurtheranalysed,and in order to embark on increasing the understanding of the connection, two clusters areconstructed, based on the nature of the organisation’s approach to the overall strategy. Theclustersareidentifiedbasedonthesimilaritiesbetweenthecasecompanies,andarenamedaspeople-ledapproach,business-ledapproachandtransformativeapproach.

People-ledclusterconsistsofcompaniesthatwereinterpretedtohaveanapproachtostrategy,whichemphasisestheimportanceoftheirinternalcompositionofpeople.Withinthepeople-ledapproachthebasisforanalysisiscenteredonwhetherthewaythecompanieswerediscussingthestrategyintheinterviewswascharacterisedbythepeopleoftheorganisation.Interpretingtheempiricaldata,theemphasisofcompaniesA,E,I,JandKseemedtobestronglyonpeopleandthatthestrategyisdrivenbytheemployeesoftheorganisation.Companiesinthisclustersharestrongmotivationofhavingahightransparencyofobjectivesandexpectations,theirprocessesand practices within their Talent Management have clear levels of each of individual,organisationalandmanagerobjectives.Thisclusterfollowsthepremisethatwithoutthepeoplethecompanycannotexecuteitsstrategyandthusemphasisesthevalueofitspeople.Someofthecompaniesinthisclusterstatedthattheirstrategydependsontheirpeopleandthepeoplecanevenbeconsideredtodeterminethefuturedirectionofstrategyandthusthecompany.Overall,thisapproachishighlydependentonthecharacteristicsoftheemployeesintheorganisationandthepeopleareacentralfocustotherealisationofstrategy.Itismorelikelythatinthecompanieswiththepeople-ledapproach,anorganisation-widetalentmind-setcanbecreated,whichthencanincrease the commitment and motivation of the talents (Bethke-Langenegger et al., 2011),

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bringing out the best in everyone (Pfeffer, 2001) and contributing fully to the success of theorganisation. This segment of companies reflects thepeople-led approach and is placed in theright-endofFigure5.

The companies with business-led approach came through in the interviews as of discussingstrategyinthesensethattherewasahigherfocusonwhatthecompanystrivestowardsandwasorientedaroundwhattheydoratherthanthepeople,whowerenotdiscussedasstronglyasthedriversofthebusinessasinthepeople-ledapproach.ThisclusterconsistedofcompaniesB,D,FandH.Thisisnottosaythatthepeoplewerenotregardedasanimportantresource,however,thedegreeoffocustotheinternalhumanresourceswasinterpretedtobemuchlessthaninthecompaniesclusteredwithinthepeople-ledapproach.Thestrategywassetandthepeopleoftheorganisation were aligned and developed to fit the organisation. Even though, talents wereidentified andTalentManagement strategieswere set, the realisation of the ultimate benefitsTalentManagementcanbringarenotnecessarilyfullyrealisedwiththebusiness-ledapproach,asthedownsideofitmightbethattheemployees,evenifconsideredastalents,arenotregardedasthestrategicassetsandplacedtheimportancethattheymaybewoulddeserve.Thiscanleadthemtofeeldisengagedandthefullpotentialof theemployeesmightnotbereached(Pfeffer,2001;Corbridge&Omotayo,2012).However,asTansleyetal.(2007)pointedout,talentisspecifictoanorganisation,asthedefinitionisinfluencedbytheindustryandthenatureoftheinternalworkdynamic.Reflectingonthefactorthatsomeorganisationsmightbebetteroffhavingthebusiness-led approach as opposed to the people-led approach. Further reflecting the best fit approacharguedforstronglybymanyresearchers(Pfeffer,2001;Boudreau&Ramstad,2005;Collings&Mellahi,2009;Sparrow,Hird&Balain,2011;Vaimanetal.,2012;Dries,2013;Festingetal.,2013;Bolanderetal.,2014).Thebusiness-ledapproachclusterofcompaniesareplacedintheleft-endofFigure5.

Thetransformativeapproachcameacrossascompaniesthatwerenotpossibletoclusterintotheaforementioned clusters of people-led or business-led. Interesting points taken from thesecompaniesaretheinitialstagesofhowTalentManagementisdevelopedwithinacompanyandthehowthereisashiftoffocusfromwhatthecompanydoestowardsthepeopleandtalentinparticular.CompaniesCandGwereplacedinthissectionbecausethesecompaniesarestrivingtowardsthepeople-ledapproachbuthavenotyetreachedthatstate.Currently,thesecompaniesarecreatingTalentManagementandundergoingfundamentaldevelopmentsoftheconcept.Thus,thedevelopmentoftheirTalentManagementisstilltooprematuretoplacethesecompaniesintothefarrightofFigure5,butastheirapproachisguidedbythepeople-ledapproach,itwouldnotbeappropriatetoplacethesecompaniesinthefarleftofFigure5either.

Figure5.Approachtostrategy.

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5.4 ApplicationofConceptualFrameworkandtheIdentificationofPatterns

After analysing the relationships between the concepts separately, the analysis moves tounderstandingtheframeworkasawhole.ViewontalentwasdiscussedtohaveanimpactonhowtheTalentManagementactivitiesareset,however,theviewontalentisnotalwayssoclearcutandtheTalentManagementinthecompanycangiveimplicationsonthenatureoftalentsoughtin the respective organisation. Furthermore, the connection between strategy and TalentManagement,anditsimportance,hasbeenshedlighttoinpreviousacademicresearchandthusthe focus was to understand the depth of it and whether the systematic approach of TalentManagementcanbeofimprovementtotherelationship.Lastwasthediscussionontheconnectionofstrategyandtheviewontalent,whichisnotexplicitlyresearchedintheacademicliteratureyetand can contribute to increasing the empirical research and understanding within TalentManagement.

Figure6.TalentManagementrelationshipframework.

Asitwasstatedinthebeginningofthisthesis,thepurposewastofindsimilaritiesordifferencesbetween the case companies to create a basis for the improvement of current theoreticalframeworks within Talent Management as well as to increase the understanding of therelationshipsbetweenviewontalent,TalentManagementandstrategy.Therefore,inordertofindpatternsordeviations,atablewascreated,summarisingthefindingsfromtheprevioussectionsoftheanalysisandallowingthediscussionofthedevelopedframeworkasawhole.Table15belowillustratesthefoundpatternsbutalsodeviationsthatbecameapparentfromthesummaryoftheempiricalfindings.

TalentManagement

StrategyViewontalent

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Table15.PatternsidentifiedbasedonTalentManagementrelationshipframework.

Clusters Company Strategyapproach

Viewontalent

TalentManagementPrincipalpractice

Systematicapproach

Levelofmaturity

People-ledand

Competitive

A People-led Competitive Identification Systematic 5

E People-led Competitive Identification Systematic 5

J People-led Competitive Recruitment Systematic 5

K People-led Competitive Recruitment Systematic 4

Business-ledand

Humanistic

B Business-led Humanistic Identification Systematic 4

D Business-led Humanistic Identification Non-systematic 2

F Business-led Humanistic Development Non-systematic 2

H Business-led Humanistic Development Systematic 5

Deviantresults

C Transformative Humanistic Development Systematic 2

G Transformative Competitive Identification Non-systematic 3

I People-led Humanistic Development Systematic 5

People-ledandCompetitiveCluster

Companies with a people-led approach, namely A, E, J and K, indicated having a competitiveapproach,implyingthatthecasecompanieshaveafocusonthepeopleoftheorganisationwhenconsideringstrategy.Inaddition,incertaincasecompaniesthepeopleareevenarguedtoenablethefuturedirectionofstrategy.Thereby, it isofoutmostimportancethatthecompanyhasthe“top” talent, explaining the competitive view on talent. Bolander et al. (2014) argue thatcompanieswithcompetitiveviewontalenttendtoseethewarfortalentasanissueandfocusmoreon“buying”talentratherthan“makingtalent”,ashalftheprincipalpracticeofcompanies’JandKisrecruitment.However,identificationastheprincipalpracticeofAandEcanalsobeenseenassuitablerepresentationofthecompetitiveapproach,implyingthatcompaniesconstantlyassesswhereintheorganisationtheyhavetheirtalentswhocandriveforwardtheorganisation.Thus,thecommonattributeofrecruitingandidentificationcanbeinterpretedtobeinthefindingof the “right” talent,whether it is in the company internally or recruited externally. From theinterviewsitwasclarifiedthatrecruitmentincompaniesJandKisnotnecessarilyfocusedonthe“best”inthesenseofhighestgradesfromthebestuniversitiesoralike,butratherensuringthatthepersonthattheyrecruitisthebestfittotheircompanyinspecificandthusinadherencewiththecompany’sculture,valuesetc.IdentificationincompaniesAandEwascharacterisedashighlydepended on performance,which is in linewith the competitive view. In addition to this, thepractices and processes of Talent Management are assessed as systematic in all of the casecompaniesinthiscluster.Thesystematicpracticesandprocessesareinplacetoensurethatthecompanyfindsandrecruitstherighttalents.It isalsoidentifiedinthisclusterthatthelevelof

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maturityoftheTalentManagementishighforallthecasecompanies,whichfurtherexplainstheimportanceofhavingwellestablishedpracticesandprocessesinplacetoensuretherighttalentsarerecruitedoridentified.

Business-ledandHumanisticCluster

Onthecontraryfromthepeople-ledapproach,thecompanieswithbusiness-ledapproach,namelyB,D,FandHwasfoundtohaveahumanisticviewontalent.Thecompanieswithabusiness-ledapproach discuss strategy with a higher focus on what the company strives towards and isorientedaroundwhattheydoratherthanaroundthepeople-thestrategyissetandthepeopleof the company are aligned and developed to match the requirements. From the empiricalfindings, itcanbe interpretedthatthecompanies inthisclusterhavearatherholisticviewontalent,consideringalltheemployeesinordertofullyassesswhereintheorganisationtalentis.Furthermore,thesecompaniesconsidertalenttobeacquired,whichisinlinewiththehumanisticview,asallemployeescanhavethepotentialtolearnortobetaughttobetalents.Theprincipalpracticesofthesecompaniesareidentificationanddevelopment,whichcaninturnexplainthecompanies’ ambition to view the overall composition of employees internally to identify thedifferenttalentsandplacetherightpersontotherightjoborfurtherdevelopthemtofitthejob.Furthermore, companies with the business-led approach strive to develop their employees toincrease the alignment to the strategy. It is noticeable that in this cluster there arebothnon-systematicandsystematicapproachestothepracticesandprocessesofTalentManagement.ThisderivesfromthedifferentlevelofmaturityofTalentManagementthecompanieshave,asitwasearlierclearlyidentifiedthatthelevelofmaturityisrelativetohowsystematictheapproachtoTalentManagementis.

DeviantResultsCluster

CompaniesC,GandIaresomewhatdeviantfromthepreviouslyclusteredfindings.ForcompaniesCandG, thedeviation canbeexplainedbecause these companiesare still in thedevelopmentphaseofTalentManagementorrestructuringTalentManagementtohaveahigherfocusontalentandthemanagementofitwithinthecompany.ThisisalsoreflectedonthefindingsonthelevelofmaturityofTalentManagement,asthesetwocompanieswereanalysedtohaveafairlylowlevelofmaturity.

Company I on the other handdeviates from themainpatterns of the findings, as theyhave ahumanistic view on talent whilst having a people-led approach to strategy. Furthermore, theapproach to Talent Management is systematic and mature, and company I has a focus ondevelopment activities. From the empirical findings it can be interpreted that the people incompanyIareregardedasthedriversof thestrategyandtalent isconsidered inahumanisticview,seeingthepotentialinmany,astalentcanbelearnedortaughtandthemotivationoftheemployees is also emphasised alongside the performance. A possible explanation for thisdeviationfromtheotherfindingscouldbethetypicalandrequiredcharacteristicsofindividualsin the industry company I operates in, which differ from the other companies operating indifferenttypesofindustries.However,theindustryconsiderationisoutofthescopeofthisthesisandthuswillnotbediscussedmoreindepth.

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6 CONCLUSIONS

Thissectionofthethesissummarisestheanalysisandstatestheconclusion.Therefore,basedontheanalysisanddrawnconclusions, theresearchquestionset inthebeginningofthisthesis is finallyanswered and the purpose of this thesis fulfilled. Furthermore, managerial implications andsuggestionsforfutureresearchareindicatedattheend.

ThisthesisembarkedoncontributingtotheempiricalresearchonTalentManagement.Moreso,toclarifythealignmentofTalentManagementandstrategy,andtofurtherenablethecreationofa conceptual framework. Complementing and challenging theprevious ideas and frameworks,muchsotheoneofBolanderetal.(2014),thepurposeofthisthesiswastofurtherdeveloptheconceptual frameworks of Talent Management based on the empirical findings. After thedevelopment of a conceptual framework, derived from the previous research on TalentManagement, and a thorough and reflective analysis, the research question Why are theredifferencesorsimilaritiesinhoworganisationsalignTalentManagementtofittheorganisation’sstrategy?wasabletobeanswered.Thetwosubquestions,WhyaretheredifferentapproachestoTalent Management? and What are the differences and similarities in how organisations alignTalent Management to fit the organisation’s strategy?, were set to clarify the main researchquestion and to guide the analysis, to further enable conclusions to be drawn and ultimatelyanswerthemainresearchquestion.

Aspreviousstudiesindicate,therearedifferencesinhowTalentManagementisconstructed,andthemainfocusofTalentManagementactivitiesvariedbetweenthecasecompanies.Thestrategicimportance of Talent Management became explicit from the empirical findings, however,dependinghighlyonthecurrentphaseofthedevelopmentofTalentManagement,i.e.thematurityofTalentManagement.Thus,TalentManagementwasfoundtobeverymuchcontext-specificandthebestfitapproacharguedinthepreviousliteraturewassupported.CertainpatternswerefoundastohoworganisationsalignTalentManagementtofittheorganisation’sstrategy,astwodistinctclusterswerefound.Theseclusterswerebasedontheempiricalfindings,whichindicatedtheretobearelationshipbetweenthecompany’sfocusonstrategyandtheviewontalent.TherewasfurtheranindicationthatthisrelationshipaffectsthefocusoftheTalentManagementactivities.Thus,itcanbeconcludedthattherearedifferentapproachestoTalentManagementbecausethecompanies had different views on talent and different strategic approaches, guiding how theTalentManagementisset.

Asmentioned, the empirical findings indicated there to be twomain clusterswithin the casecompanies.Thefirstclusterconsistedofcompanieswithpeople-ledapproachandacompetitiveviewontalent,asystematicTalentManagementinplaceandahighlevelofmaturity,i.e.aclearconnectionbetweenTalentManagementandstrategyhasalreadybeenestablished.Thesecondclusterofcompaniesconsistedofcompanieswithabusiness-ledapproachandahumanisticviewon talent. In this cluster, half of the companieswere interpreted to have a systematic TalentManagement in place and the other half of the companies were considered to have a non-systematicTalentManagement.Thisdifferencecanbeexplainedbythelevelofmaturity,astheoneswithnon-systematicTalentManagementalsohavealowerlevelofmaturity,andviceversa.Thedifferencebetweenthetwoclusterscanbearguedtostemfromtheapproachtheyhaveto

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strategy,which is connected theway talent is viewedand further affectsTalentManagement.Therefore,itwasfoundthattheprincipalpracticessomewhatvarieddependingonwhichclusterthecompanieswerein.Thiscanbeexplainedbythefactorthatthecompaniesinthefirstclusteraremorefocusedonidentificationordevelopmentasthoseareinternalactivitiesandthestrategicapproachofthecompanyisemphasisingthatkindofviewontalent.Whereasthesecondclusterisfocusedonidentificationorrecruitmentwhichcanbeunderstoodastryingtofindtheultimatebesttoptalents,whetheritiswithinthecompanyoroutsideofit.

6.1 ManagerialImplications

Talent and TalentManagementwere not explicitly stated inmost of the companies,which isinterestingasitwasstatedinpreviousresearchthattheambiguitiesaroundTalentManagementand talent can bring about challenges in reaping the benefits of Talent Management andundermining the strategic importanceof it.However, these findings illustrate thatdespite thecompaniesarenotnecessarilyexplicitaboutdefiningtalentnorTalentManagement,mostofthecompaniesseemtounderstandwhatthespecificrequirementsforthehumanresourcesarethatstemdirectlyfromthecompany’sstrategy,i.e.whatarethecompetenciesrequiredtorealisethestrategyandwhoarethetalentstostriveforwardthecompanynowandinthefuture.Therefore,mostofthecasecompaniesidentifiedtalenttobeofcrucialimportanceforfuturesuccess.Hence,oneofthemostimportantimplicationstomanagementisthattalentishighlylinkedtostrategyanddevelopingTalentManagementpracticesandprocessesrequirestheunderstandingof theuniquerequirementsthatstemfromthestrategytoguidethecharacterisationoftalent.However,management should considerwhether talent could even be part of determining the directionstrategytakes.

Theviewontalentcanalsoaffectthemanagementstyleandthewayperformancemeasuresaresetandemphasised.Also,ontheindividuallevel,understandingwhattalentisandhowTalentManagementcanbenefittheindividual,issomethingmanagementshouldconsider.Therefore,itcouldbebeneficialforcompaniestoexplicitlystatewhattalentisandwhatitimpliesnotonlyforthesakeofthemanagersandHRprofessionalsbuttoensuretheindividualsareawareofwhatitentails to be a talent. Furthermore, Talent Management should be understood as a positiveprocess,sothattheindividualsaremotivatedtopursuebeingtalents,contributingtocreatingatalentmind-setandaculturethatcanstriveorganisationalsuccess.Thus,thewaytalentisdefinedorunderstood,setsatonetothewholeorganisation.DistinguishingtheterminologycontributesclarificationofwhatthecompanyrequiresfromitshumanresourcestofunctionandcanworkasanimportantfactorinachievingthebenefitsofTalentManagement.Morespecifically,aclarifiedusageofterminologycommunicatestoeveryoneintheorganisationwhattalentis,whereitcomesfromandwhatitentails.

Talentisbynatureadynamic,therebyitcanchangequicklyandoften.Themanagerialimplicationis to consider how to keep Talent Management activities up-to-date and functional whenrequirements for talent are changing.Moreover, it takes time to realise the benefits of TalentManagement,anditistimeconsumingaswellascostlytosettheTalentManagementsystemsinplace.ItcanbestatedthatmeasuringtheactionsofTalentManagementiscomplex,establishingrelativemeasurementsforthesuccessofprocessesandpracticesorthemeasuresofidentifyingthetalentedindividualscanbechallenging,yetimportant.Discrepanciesinstrategy,theviewontalent and Talent Management activities can contribute to demotivation and communication

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issues, leading to difficulties in realising the benefits of Talent Management. Thus, soundleadershipisessentialfortheprocessesandharnessingthepotentialvalueofTalentManagement.Thus, managers need to understand the role they play in the development and execution ofsuccessfulTalentManagement.

6.2 SuggestionsforFutureResearch

This research had some limitations that were discussed in themethodology chapter inmoredetail,givingindicationtofurtherresearchpossibilities.Theempiricaldatacollectionreliedonafairlylimitedamountofcompanies,hence,furtherempiricalresearchwithalargersamplesizewould bring more validity for the findings of this research and the conceptual frameworkdevelopedcouldbetestedmorein-depth.Furthermore,futureresearchcouldexploretheeffectof different organisational characters on the findings of this research, such as size, industry,culture etc. For example, in particular knowledge-intensive industries could bring newperspectivesonTalentManagement.

ThisresearchhadreliedstronglyontheHRperspective,whichcanbeconsideredassomethingthatcanbefurtherchallengedbyconductingresearchbasedonotherperspectives.Forexample,the perspective of employees or topmanagement, or even the talents themselves could be ofinterestandbringnewinsightontheresearchfieldofTalentManagement.

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APPENDIX1

Interview:TalentManagement1.Backgroundoftheinterviewee(s)(6)Whatisyourpositionandwhatareyourresponsibilitiesinthecompany?Howlonghaveyouworkedinthecompany?1.1.BackgroundofthecompanyWhatarethecorecompetenciesofyourcompany?Howwouldyoudescribethecompanyculture?Couldyoupleasedescribetheorganisationalstructureintermsofcentralised/decentralisedandlevelofhierarchy?HowinvolvedisHRinthestrategicdecisionmaking?2.TalentManagement(14)Doesyourorganizationcurrentlyhaveaformaldefinitionoftalentinplace?Hasyourorganizationidentifiedtherequiredkeytalents?CanyoubrieflytellushowyoudefineTalentManagement?WhatwouldyoudescribeastheaimoftheTalentManagementstrategyofyourcompany?CanyoudescribetheTalentManagementprocess?WhatdoyouconsiderasthemostimportantpartofTalentManagement?WhatdoyouconsiderasthebenefitsofTalentManagement?WhatarethemainchallengesyourcompanyfacesregardingTalentManagement?DoyouuseTalentManagementsuccessindicators(e.g.KPI/MOS)?HowwouldyoudescribethesuccessoftheTalentManagementstrategyasitisnow?2.1.DevelopmentofTalentManagementWhendidthecompanystartusingTalentManagementinyourcompany?WhydidthecompanychoosetoworkwithTalentManagementinspecific(asopposedtofocusingonotherHRMactivities)?WhereintheorganisationdidtheinitiativetopursueTalentManagementcomefrom?IsthereanythingyouwouldliketochangeorimproveconcerningtheimplementationofTalentManagementinyourcompany?3.AlignmentofStrategyandTalentManagement(4)IsthetopmanagementinvolvedinTalentManagementwork?DoyouthinkTalentManagementislinkedwith,orpartof,theoverallstrategy?Inyouropinion,whatkindofcontributionscanTalentManagementbringtothecompanystrategyimplementationphase?Whatisyourvisionontheimportanceoftalenttothefutureofthecompany?

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