Talent management has grown considerably in the last decade as organisations have made it a top priority issue around the world. A shortage of talent has emerged as one of the critical challenges that face organisations worldwide as they seek successful operations on a global scale. This has resulted in anxiety among organisations and thus created pressure on human resource management to maintain the competencies needed to achieve organisational goals. Thus, this challenge is motivating organisations to accurately identify and manage talents effectively to include them in the organisational talent pool. In order to address what influences the likelihood of an individual being labelled as ‘talent’, this research seeks to investigate the decision-making processes involved in the identification of talent. This study makes an important contribution to the conceptual and empirical understanding of the nature of decision-making within talent management, which has suffered from a dearth of research. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine and examine the contextual and cultural factors that influence and shape the perceptions and the experience of managerial decision-making and its effect on the fairness of talent decisions. To date, there are a number of factors that have largely been examined separately in the literature. This study is the first to attempt to investigate these factors collectively to develop a comprehensive model to address the nature of talent decision-making. Furthermore, this study is one of a handful of studies that responds to the well-established call to emphasise the importance of decision-making in talent management literature. A quantitative approach was deemed best suited to test the proposed model. A cross-sectional survey was conducted for primary data from diverse managerial levels. Data were collected from private organisations in the oil and banking sectors in Saudi Arabia. Because data collection is seriously challenging in Saudi Arabia, convenience and snowball sampling were believed to be the most appropriate in terms of satisfactory responses. Using an online and paper-based survey strategy, a total of 1960 questionnaires were distributed, 486 were returned, and 470 completed responses were used for final analysis. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were employed to validate the reliability and dimensionality of the integrated scales of the talent identification process. The results of a structural equation analysis supported the hypotheses. The findings of the empirical research identified three categorical variables that influence decision-making in talent identification processes; i.e., cultural, organisational, and societal factors. Further, decision-making style has a significant relationship with the fairness of talent decisions. The key theoretical contribution of this research is the development of a robust, multi-dimensional model that explains the promising phenomenon of the talent identification process, and demonstrates the factors that have a definite impact on talent decision-making. Unlike previous studies, this study measures the multi-dimensional model of the talent decision-making process, at the aggregate level which is considered as a methodological contribution in the area of talent management research. Pragmatically, the proposed model offers decision-makers a new perspective for adjusting and dealing with talent identification processes in order to ensure equity in talent decisions. This study extends the notion of talent decision-making in the talent identification process and creates avenues for further research.

Talent management has been viewed both as a relatively new phenomenon that can deliver competitive advantage and as the latest management fad that is nothing more than a sub-section of human resources. Much has been written on the subject, albeit predominantly by consultants, so there is little academic rigour on the subject. Moreover, the majority of the literature focused on highlighting the diminishing supply of talent and providing advice to practitioners around recruiting, retaining, developing and rewarding talent. This thesis reviewed the existing literature to provide a holistic view on talent management in order to add value both at the academic and practitioner level. It focussed on what conditions an organisation is advised to put in place in order to leverage the performance of talent and whether talent can have a significant impact on organisational performance. The secondary research suggested that talent could act as a lever for organisational performance. This was tested through primary research, from the organisational and individual perspective, and resulted in the identification of four conditions that impacted on the performance of talent. These conditions were grouped into a model, which was tested both by the case study organisations and by organisations that had not been involved in the research. The findings were used to adapt the model and this is offered for subsequent researchers to further develop in order to explore generalisability for all organisations.

This research stems from the need by organisations to retain their key talent in the context of the change in the psychological contract manifesting in the emergence of boundaryless careers. Employees have ceased to be loyal to one organisation and this has marginalised employers as they still need to retain their key talent as a source of competitive advantage. Most organisations have segmented their workforce to develop talent pools of high potential employees to meet the organisation’s current and future critical skills needs. Hence, this study investigates the impact of inclusion in the talent pool on the psychological contract. Various instruments in the literature study were used to measure the psychological contract of employees in the talent pools in comparison to those not in talent pools. These include the transactional and relational psychological contract instrument by Millward and Hopkins (1998), organisational citizenship behaviour by Coyle-Shapiro (2002), trust by Robinson and Rousseau (1994) and turnover intention by Blomme et al. (2010). The study presents findings from 195 employees from three different organisations, about 50% of whom were in talent pools. The study shows that both groups of employees in and outside talent pools consider their psychological contract with their employers as less transactional. Although being part of the talent pool has a positive impact on the relational psychological contract and organisational commitment, it does not necessarily translate into trust and the intention to stay with organisations. Employees in talent pools are not different to those not in talent pools with regard to trust and the turnover intention. The report offers insights aimed at managers to understand the psychological contracts of their employees within the talent pools to avoid unnecessary violations and to explore new value propositions that are aligned to those contracts. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Background: Talent management and sustainable innovation are two popular topics for research aswell as two common focus areas for companies. Both can be seen as cost drivers or as somethingthat is crucial for the success and survival of the company. Objectives: Investigating potential synergies connected to integrating sustainable development intalent management programs and answering the question how companies present in the Swedishmarket use sustainable innovation in their talent management strategies. Methodology: Semi-structured interviews with employees at both large and medium sizedcompanies. Interviews are recorded, transcribed, and then analyzed with the help of the softwareNVivo. Results: The findings from this study answers to the question of how the most attractive mediumand large firms that operates in Sweden use sustainable innovation in their talent managementstrategies. They both use it as a theme in nano- and e-learnings and as one of the parts that defines atalented employee. Apart from this all interviewees also mention that sustainability is integrated ineverything they do, and therefore also indirectly included in talent management. Conclusions: The findings have theoretical as well as practical implications. The most attractivecompanies have to some extent included sustainable innovation in their work with talentmanagement and competence development. It is also interesting that the interviewees mentionsustainable innovation as an absolute must and that sustainability is integrated in their DNA. The interviewees also see their (talented) employees as a key factor for being able to achievesustainability and a sustainable business. Recommendations for future research: An in-depth study of one of the talent managementprograms at one of the companies that express that they also focus a lot of attention on sustainableinnovation to further investigate integration and/or explicit inclusion of sustainable innovation intalent management programs. Keywords: Talent management, Sustainable innovation

Faktumet att den föregående generationens arbetskraft pensioneras och blir substituerad av den nya millennials-generationen har lett till att företag upplever en förlust av ackumulerad kunskap och expertis. Denna förändring av arbetskraft är särskilt oroande för Professional Service Firms, eftersom deras främsta tillgång är deras medarbetare och expertisen kopplade till dem. Problematiken har gett upphov till The War for Talent. The War for Talent vill belysa den rådande problematiken som Professional Service Firms möter med att hitta medarbetare med adekvat och marknadsrelevant kunskap. Därför har behovet av strategier om hur man attraherar, rekryterar och behåller talanger lett till uppkomsten av forskningsområdet Talent Management. Trots områdets popularitet inom näringslivet finns det brister i vetenskapliga förankrade teorier och definitioner. Uppsatsen har därför som syfte att bidra till forskningsområdet genom att undersöka hur definitionen av talang konstrueras av svenska Professional Service Firms. Detta genomförs genom att analysera kopplingarna som finns mellan konstruktionen av millennialsgenerationen och begreppet talang. Metodologin inspireras av den kritiska diskursanalysens principer. Det empiriska materialet som har använts är hämtat från Deloittes, EY, KPMG och PwC webbplatser. Resultatet visar att det råder olika konstruktioner och diskursordningar av millennials, vilket även påverkar konstruktionen av begreppet talang. Dessa skillnader kan leda till spänningar mellan företag och potentiella arbetstagare. Uppsatsen argumenterar därför för att diskursordningarna som råder kan påverka Talent Management-strategin och bör därför has i åtanke vid utvecklingen av denna. / The fact that the previous generation's workforce is retiring and is being replaced by the new generation of Millennials has led to companies experiencing a loss of accumulated knowledge and expertise. This change of workforce is particularly worrying for Professional Service Firms as their main asset is their employees and the expertise associated with them. This problem has given rise to The War for Talent. The War for Talent wants to highlight the prevailing problems that Professional Service Firms face in finding employees with adequate and market-relevant knowledge. Therefore, the need for strategies on how to attract, recruit and retain talents has led to the emergence of the Talent Management research area. Despite the area's popularity among professionals, there are flaws in scientifically grounded theories and definitions. The essay therefore aims to contribute to the research area by examining how the definition of talent is constructed by Swedish Professional Service Firms. This is accomplished by analyzing the connections that exist with the construction of the Millennials generation. The methodology is inspired by the principles of the critical discourse analysis. The empirical material that has been used is taken from Deloitte's, EY, KPMG and PwC websites. The result shows that there are different constructions and discourse schemes of Millennials, which also affects the construction of the concept of talent. These differences can lead to tensions between companies and potential employees. The thesis therefore argues that the discourse schemes can influence the Talent Management strategy and should therefore be kept in mind when developing it.

Studies have concluded that youth sports programs have a bias selection process in identifying player talent. Athletes that are identified as talented are more likely to be born in the first three months after the eligibility cut-off for a program's particular age group. This is referred to as the relative age effect (RAE) and has been identified in many youth sports. However, it is not known if the RAE carries over into elite, adult competition. The purpose of this study was to determine if the RAE exists in Olympic competition and to compare the RAE between genders, team vs individual sports, weight class vs non-weight class sports, and medalists vs non-medalists. Data on Olympians competing in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics were gathered from publicly available databases. Lorenz curves were constructed and Gini coefficients calculated to detect unexpected distributions of birth months. In addition, linear regression was used to determine a directional distribution. A negative Gini coefficient and a statistically significant negative slope of the birth month distribution suggested the existence of a RAE. The results showed that there was a RAE in Olympic competition. For all athletes, the Gini coefficient was -0.0324 and the slope of -0.0014 fraction of athletes born per month. Within specific sports, the RAE varies considerably with some showing a positive RAE. Further, the RAE in Olympic athletes does not seem to be influenced by gender, type of team or success of the athlete. / Master of Science

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Syftet med denna studie är att kontrastera en utvald organisations strategier för att attrahera, behålla, utveckla och avveckla de viktigaste resurserna mot Talent Management och dess komponenter. Studien ämnar således mot att göra en kontrastering mellan traditionellt kompetensförsörjningsarbete mot det mer moderna konceptet Talent Management. Författarna har valt att undersöka detta genom att samla empiri från intervjuer med sex medarbetare kombinerat med analys av interna dokument. Resultatet visar att delar av myndighetens arbete med kompetensförsörjning kan likställas med Talent Management men att vissa komponenter är uteblivna. Baserat på resultatet framhålls i resultatdiskussionen att myndigheten möter stora utmaningar gällande enhetligt arbete med kompetensutveckling, kompetensförsörjning och ledarskap på grund utav det delegerade ansvaret från central nivå. I slutskedet av avsnittet för resultatdiskussion redovisas även en sammanfattande slutsats som grundar sig i ett framgångsrikt arbete inom blocken attrahera och avsluta samtidigt som arbete inom blocket behålla och utveckla varierar inom organisationen, dels på grund av delegerat ansvar. Slutligen presenteras förbättringsförslag inom organisationen och vidare forskning inom ämnet. / The purpose of this bachelor level thesis is to compare a Swedish public authority’s practical work with competence supply towards the components of Talent Management. The study is aiming to contrast traditional competence supply operations with the more modern concept of Talent Management. The writers have chosen to collect empirical data through interviews with six employees combined with analysis of internal documents. The result shows that parts of the public authority’s work with competence supply have similarities to Talent Management, but some of the components are left out. Based on the results, the discussions shows that this public authority is struggling with united approaches towards competence development, competence supply and leadership because of delegated responsibilities from a central level. In the end the writers are presenting an overall conclusion that is based on the organizations successful work within the blocks of attract and terminate while the work within the block of retain and develop varies within the organization, partly because of delegated responsibility. Finally suggestions for improvement within the organization and further research are presented.

From 1997 to 1999 and 2003 to the present, Major League Baseball has had a luxury tax on high payroll teams. This paper analyzes the impact of the tax as a budget constraint on teams’ ability to reward and retain high performing players. In contrast to other papers, we use wins above replacement (WAR), a popular sabermetrics statistic, to measure performance. Using this metric, we quantify the number of top performers, how this performance is rewarded with salary, and how salary impacts players’ mobility decisions. We conclude that when using WAR, the distribution of performance is not heavy tailed and rather follows an exponential distribution. Our results suggest that there are fewer top performers in periods with a luxury tax/budget constraint. We use efficiency wage theory to understand this decrease in top performers as the result of a decrease in motivators. We understand two different mechanisms of motivating performance: (1) under a stochastic budget constraint, managers did not choose to extend the contracts of top players; and (2) under a fixed budget constraint, managers decreased the monetary reward for an increase in performance. Both these mechanisms decrease the motivation for top talent to perform highly.

Sammanfattning:              Att Upprätthålla en Relation   Datum:                               2016-05-27.   Nivå:                                  Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 HP.   Institution:                        Akademin för Ekonomi, Samhälle och Teknik, EST, Mälardalens Högskola.   Författare:                        Alexander Olsson, Andreas Johanssen-Hagen, Niklas Hjorth                                             931125                      881108                                     870516                           Titel:                                  Att Upprätthålla en Relation - En studie om hur organisationer i konsultbranschen arbetar med Talent Management för att behålla sina talanger   Handledare:                      Kerstin Nilsson   Nyckelord:                        Talanghantering, talanghanteringssystem, talanghanteringsstrategi, talang, utbildning och utveckling, talangrekrytering och behålla talanger.   Syfte:                                  Syftet med studien är att skapa förståelse för hur konsultföretag genomför Talent Management för att hantera personalomsättning.   Frågeställningar:              -Hur arbetar ledare i konsultföretag strategiskt med Talent Management?             -Hur arbetar konsultföretagen för att påverka möjligheterna till att behålla talangerna?   Metod:                               Studien har genomförts med utgångspunkt från Bryman och Bells (2013) syn på kvalitativ forskningsmetodik och har haft en deduktiv forskningsansats. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer som därefter analyserats med stöd av teoretiskt material som sedan lett fram till slutsatserna.   Slutsats:                             Konsultföretagen arbetar strategiskt med Talent Management men de fokuserar till störst del på rekryteringsfunktionen och det finns en brist i resterande funktioner. Konsultföretagen arbetar med individualiserade mål, utveckling och utbildningsplaner för att öka möjligheterna till att behålla talangerna i företagen. Ledarskap och en uppmärksammande kultur är faktorer som företagen ser vara väsentliga för att talangerna ska stanna kvar i konsultföretagen.