Managing Talent: Understanding Critical Perspectives

This edited collection offers a critical appreciation of talent management in contrast to the extensive literature adopting mainstream approaches to the topic. The authors explore fundamental questions in the field to better understand why managing talent seems so attractive as a management practice, the meaning of talent, and how talent is recognised in organisations. The mix of conceptual and empirical chapters in the book teases out some critical perspectives that will provoke thought and reflection among practitioners and stimulate ideas for new research topics and approaches. The diverse contributions presented in this book will undoubtedly be of use to academics, practitioners and postgraduate students of human resource management.

Billy Adamsen is Assistant Professor at the Zealand Institute of Business & Technology, Denmark. He has published several books and papers on a variety of subjects including management, sport and talent management, cognition and media, politics and media, the psychology of language, and the effect of new media. In addition to his academic experience, he has worked as a manager and director in both national and international companies within the business and sports industries, as well as having been an advisor for the Danish Prime Minister and Minister for Economics & Business Affairs. Billy's latest book, Demystifying Talent Management: A Critical Approach to the Realities of Talent Management, was published by Palgrave in 2016.

Stephen Swailes is Professor of Human Resource Management at the University of Huddersfield, UK. Following a career in research and technology organisations, he switched to university life and has published numerous articles and book chapters on organisational commitment, vocational training and education, and team performance, prior to his current interests in understanding differential performance at work.