Available evidence suggests that the adoption of IT-enabled Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) has not produced the widely predicted transformation of Human Resources (HR) to a strategic business partner. We examine the relationship between HRIS and the HR function by applying actor-network theory (ANT) to an HRIS implementation project. The focus on how actor networks are formed and reformed during implementation may be particularly well suited to explaining why the original aims of the HRIS can be displaced or lost in translation. We suggest that the approach afforded by ANT enables us to better understand the ongoing and contingent process of HRIS implementations. DisciplinesBusiness

Through an in-depth, multilevel case study of a professional services firm, this paper illuminates what stakeholders mean when they use the term 'talent'. The paper underlines how various contextual factors including, workforce composition, ownership structures and individual perceptions influence talent meanings within an organisation. Our analysis of talent phenomena at a multiplicity of levels illustrates that it is not only about the words, phrases, and terms employed when talking about talent that requires examination. There is a need to deliberate on the meanings that underpin the talk because while stakeholders may talk the same way they may mean different things. The paper makes a key theoretical contribution through specific recognition of the importance of thoughtful reflection of how stakeholders discursively construct meanings because 'talent' is a concept, which requires translation via talk to become meaningful within the material world and these meanings are influenced by context. Thus, we cannot infer, that talent meanings radiate within organisations, nor across organisational boundaries, industries or countries because discourses arise and materialise within specific contexts and we must acknowledge that talent discourses can not be removed from the context in which they operate.

As talent management evolves from intuitive to evidencebased decision-making, the role of electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM) to gather, distribute, and analyze data becomes more critical. However, surprisingly few academic studies investigate the role of technology in talent management. Drawing on a qualitative case study of talent management in a large professional services firm, this paper critically examines how eHRM information technologies are framed as useful within talent identification discourses. The findings reveal two distinct but interrelated sets of processes employed to identify talent and suggest that the perceived usefulness and centrality of eHRM are influenced by how stakeholders shape their understanding of effective talent management. Copyright © 2016 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Keywords: talent management, electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM), discourse analysis, talent identification, qualitative case study Résumé Au fur et à mesure que la prise de décision informée par les faits remplace la prise de décision basée sur l'intuition en gestion des talents, le rôle que la gestion électronique des ressources humaines (GERH) joue dans l'assemblage, la distribution et l'analyse des données devient de plus en plus crucial. Curieusement, il existe peu de travaux scientifiques consacrés au rôle de la technologie dans la gestion des talents. Dans cet article, nous nous appuyons sur une étude qualitative de cas de la gestion des talents dans une grande firme de services professionnels pour examiner, de façon critique, la manière dont on présente l'utilité des technologies de l'information en GERH dans les discours portant sur le recensement des talents. Les résultats mettent en évi-dence deux ensembles de procédés interconnectés utilisés pour recenser les talents. Ils suggèrent aussi que l'utilité perçue et la centralité de la GERH sont influencées par la manière dont les parties prenantes construisent leur compréhension de la gestion efficace des talents.

This paper applies a social constructivist lens to understand more about the ways in which technology shapes our understanding of talent management, in particular the processes of talent identification. Specifically, it examines similarities and differences in the identification of talent across a range of business units at a large professional services firm. The findings show that while objective evaluations of talent based on data and information were possible using talent-related technology, managers had subjective and widely different understandings of what constituted talent at the organisation and how to go about identifying it. These different understandings, based on organisational context, personal attitudes, behaviours and past experiences, determined the ways in which the technology and the information it yielded was used. We conclude that the full potential of the talent-related technology and the talent identification processes were unrealised. We discuss the implications of these findings for HR and the management of talent more generally. Abstract:The management of talent is one of the most important challenges facing HR professionals and the HR function. Despite the continued arguments regarding the importance of managing talent in organisations, our understanding of the way in which organisations identify, recruit and retain those individuals that they consider as 'talent' is limited. This paper seeks to explore the ways in which one organisation undertakes the identification of talent and the role that technology plays in this process. Our findings show that individuals considered as talent were often identified via subjective evaluations rather than via any objective evaluations based on data and information provided by the available talent-related technology. We examine why such subjective evaluations seemed to dominate and the implications of this for talent management. We suggest that the extent to which organisations are capitalising on the potential of technology in talent identification may be influenced by managerial and HR behaviours.

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