Talent management and management fashion in Chinese enterprises: exploring case studies in Beijing

Abstract

Many HR apologists have long shown concern about the status and legitimacy of the occupation in the eyes of executives and other actors, and, arguably, this has not been unconnected to the range of titles it has been given over the years. For some time, commentators debated whether there was an element of management fashion about these title changes, or whether they reflected some real change at the level of practice. Talent management (TM) has recently emerged as a focus of interest in HRM, although differences exist over its definition and rationale. The contribution examines TM in similar terms. Drawing upon the management fashion literature and an empirical study of seven companies in Beijing, it analyses the role of fashion setters and followers in the fashion-setting process. Given TM's recent emergence and the paucity of empirical material, it is too early to be definitive, but on the basis of our analysis we argue that, whilst in some of these organisations TM did exemplify certain characteristics of management fashion, it could not be adequately explained by management fashion theory alone. The companies embraced TM because they thought it could address their need to attract, retain and motivate ‘talented’ people in an intensifying talent war.