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.

Introduction; Billy Adamsen and Stephen Swailes

1. Talent Management: Gestation, Birth and Innovation Diffusion; Stephen Swailes
2. The Semantic Emptiness of Talent and the Accidental Ontology of Talent Management; Billy Adamsen
3. Paralysing Rebellion: Figurations, Celebrity and Power in Elite Talent Management; John Lever and Stephen Swailes
4. The Meaning of Competence, Commitment and Contribution in Talent Definition; Riitta Lumme-Tuomala
5. Subjective Bias in Talent Identification; Denise Holland
6. Talent Management in Egalitarian Cultures: Scandinavian Managers in Singapore; Torben Anderson and Stefan Quifors
7. Frontline Managers: A Re-examination of their Role in Talent Management ; Søren Voxted
8. Talent on the Frontline: Role Stress and Customer Professionalism in Danish Banking; Torben Andersen and Jesper Raalskov
9. Why Do Organisations Run Talent Programmes? Insights from UK Organisations; Sunday Adebola.