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

Many HR apologists have long shown concern about the status and legitimacy of theoccupation in the eyes of executives and other actors, and, arguably, this has not beenunconnected 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 aboutthese 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, althoughdifferences exist over its definition and rationale. The contribution examines TM insimilar terms. Drawing upon the management fashion literature and an empirical studyof seven companies in Beijing, it analyses the role of fashion setters and followers inthe fashion-setting process. Given TM’s recent emergence and the paucity of empiricalmaterial, 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 ofmanagement fashion, it could not be adequately explained by management fashiontheory alone. The companies embraced TM because they thought it could address theirneed to attract, retain and motivate ‘talented’ people in an intensifying talent war