Rock Stars of Today, Liabilities of Tomorrow - Dynamics and Typologies in the War for Talent between Multinational Corporations

Sammanfattning: Background: Global Talent Management (GTM) has been described as a 'war for talent', in-between multinational corporations (MNCs). Acquiring and retaining talent is considered a managerial challenge of the future, crucial to overcome. However, current research leaves many questions unanswered regarding how MNCs define talent, and its implications for GTM practices. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how MNCs define talent, and how GTM is carried out in a local context of the MNC. Method: An explorative abductive approach was used with a qualitative method. In-depth interviews were conducted in nine MNCs working with international trainee programs as GTM initiative, operating in Sweden within different industries. Conclusion: A common dynamic dimension was observed together with three typologies of talent definition. Each typology seemed to correlate with several influential factors, dimensions and uses of GTM practices. The identified dynamic dimension together with the identified typologies calls for further research. Contribution: This study contributes to existing research by providing empirical evidence for how talent is defined and how GTM is carried out within a MNC's Swedish context. Typologies of talent definition were identified. Organizational theories were integrated to expand the theoretical foundation of GTM research. Human capital theory and Contingency theory proved to be applicable in the field of GTM research.