Title: Global talent for competitive advantage: getting to the table sooner

Authors: Keith Reynolds; Stacey Reynolds

Addresses: Middlesex University Dubai, Knowledge Village, P.O. Box 500697, Dubai, UAE ' 10 Eighty Middle East, Level 14, Boulevard Plaza Tower 1, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, Downtown Dubai, P.O. Box 334155, Dubai, UAE

Abstract: The purpose of the research is to examine the issues surrounding current and future global talent shortages. Strategic HR solutions are offered to begin to deal with the research findings and develop global talent management. Conclusions are that organisations are turning to markets abroad to further their growth ambitions and that the strategic management of global talent can lead to sustained competitive advantage. There is limited availability of global talent and this is exacerbated by the ethnocentric approach of many international organisations that seek and develop talent only in their own parochial image. Demand is in excess of supply and many roles are going unfilled with company growth ambitions at best faltering and at worse not meeting shareholder expectations. Organisations that have aligned their talent strategy to their business strategy are reaping the rewards of forward and strategic thinking.

Keywords: global talent; talent shortages; skills shortages; expatriate assignments; career management; strategic HRM; human resource management; talent management; strategic management; ethnocentricity; talent strategy; business strategy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSBA.2014.067144

International Journal of Strategic Business Alliances, 2014 Vol.3 No.4, pp.263 - 281

Received: 24 Jun 2014
Accepted: 27 Sep 2014
Published online: 07 Feb 2015 *

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