Global Talent Management and Performance in Multinational Enterprises: A Multilevel Perspective

Abstract

The link between global talent management (GTM) and multinational enterprises' (MNEs) performance has not been theorised or empirically tested. We develop a theoretical framework for how GTM links to performance at the headquarters (HQ), subsidiary, and individual employee levels. Using the resource-based view as a frame, we highlight the routines of pivotal positions, global talent pools, and a differentiated HR architecture as central to GTM. We show that at the HQ level, an MNE's adoption of a global, multidomestic, or transnational strategy determines the objectives of the GTM system and significantly influences the performance of the enterprise. At the subsidiary level, the alignment between HQ intentions and subsidiary implementation of GTM routines is a key variable in our analysis. We consider the effects of these higher-level factors on individual performance through the lens of human-capital resources, focusing on how individual human capital can translate or amplify to a unit-level human-capital resource. We argue that, through the vertical fit of these higher-level factors with GTM routines at a given level, an MNE can develop an effective GTM system and expect that to translate into sustainable performance aligned with objectives set at headquarters. The paper concludes with an agenda for future research.

Multiculturalism within individuals: A review, critique, and agenda for future research

“…Similar to work on global talent management (Collings, Mellahi, & Cascio, 2018), we see potential for the field of IB to move research on individual-level multiculturalism beyond this focus, towards a research agenda that attends more to cross-level phenomena. As foreshadowed in the conclusion of our thematic review, we provide an overarching framework for future research on multiculturalism, where theoretical relationships are bounded within the IB context (Figure 1).…”

Competing institutional logics in talent management: talent identification at the HQ and a subsidiary

“…Grant, 1999;Khilji & Wang, 2006;Legge, 1995;Nishii & Wright, 2008). In the contemporary TM literature, however, little conceptual and empirical attention is paid to the differences between intended and actual TM practices, and to the underlying causes (see, for example, Collings et al, 2018;Meyers, van Woerkom, & Dries, 2013;Skuza, Scullion, & McDonnell, 2013;Sonnenberg, van Zijderveld, & Brinks, 2014;Thunnissen, 2016;for exceptions). In a recent conceptual paper, for example, Collings et al (2018) developed a theoretical framework describing how global talent management (GTM) links to organizational performance.…”

“…Jones, Whitaker, Seet, & Parkin, 2012;M€ akel€ a, Bj€ orkman, & Ehrnrooth, 2010;McDonnell et al, 2011;Silzer & Church, 2010;Wiblen, Dery, & Grant, 2012) often support arguments claiming that ad hoc, biasing effects, self-interest, a lack of skills and training are all common and serve as explaining factors as regards how talent identification work unfolds (Dries, 2013;Gallardo-Gallardo et al, 2013;Jones et al, 2012;McDonnell et al, 2011;Swailes, 2013). However, and connected to the above-mentioned limitations, these studies often rely on formal descriptions, thus being too simplistic to describe how talent identification works in practice (Collings et al, 2018;Delbridge & Keenoy, 2010;Van den Brink et al, 2013;Watson, 2004).…”

“…First, although arguments about the contextual relevance of TM have been made (e.g. Collings, Mellahi, & Cascio, 2018;Thunnissen et al, 2013), and how research has been conducted in various countries, and has thus considered the national context, there is often a lack of contextual sensitivity, local contextual factors in particular (Dries, 2013;Iles, Chuai, & Preece, 2010;Sidani & Al Ariss, 2014). We thus know little about how organizational configurations and institutional contexts impact TM (Al Ariss, Cascio, & Paauwe, 2014;Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016;Van den Brink, Fruytier, & Thunnissen, 2013).…”

Introduction: International talent management research – a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach

“…Part II centres on the connection between talent management and international business, especially multinational enterprises (MNEs). Although the existing body of knowledge on talent management has examined various Yipeng Liu -9781786437105 Downloaded from Elgar Online at 07/04/2020 02:06:49PM via free access aspects of talent management in the domain of international business and MNEs (Collings, Mellahi & Cascio, 2018), our collection contains several distinctive characteristics, both theoretically and geographically. As acknowledged, talent management is a crucial challenge for emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) venturing abroad (Liu & Meyer, 2018), and expatriates have been identified as an important talent pool (Meyer & Xin, 2018).…”