The Mechanistic and Political Frames of Talent Management Processes

Paper in proceeding, 2012

Agreement on the definition of talent management is not yet achieved. Reasons for this are overlapping human resources fields and the lack of conceptual boundaries to determine what should be under the concept of talent management and what not. However, the concept is getting stronger among academics and practioners, and talent is identified as a critical source of sustainable competitive advantage. This paper examines the progress of the definition of talent management in the literature and investigates if both mechanistic and political frames are taken into consideration when implementing talent management systems. Results of this study showed that systems can offer a complete panorama of talent management activities. However, its effectiveness is reduced by power relationships and political behavior. Awareness of this behavior when designing and dealing with information system can help to overcome, to certain extent, these obstacles.