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THE EFFECT OF TALENT MANAGEMENT ON ORGANISATIONAL

PERFORMANCE IN THE 21 ST

Research Proposal · August 2019

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16423.50087

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 RESEARCH PROPOSAL

TOPIC

THE EFFECT OF TALENT MANAGEMENT ON

ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE 21 ST
CENTURY

Surname and name: Molemole Seima

Student Number: 47249641

Written for: College of Economic and Management

Sciences

Degree: BCom Hons in Business Management

Institution: University of South Africa (UNISA)

RESEARCH QUESTION

What is effect of talent management on organizational

performance in the 21st century?
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................2
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSAL ...............................................................................2
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...........................................................................................................3
2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH .......................................................................................................3
2.2 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................4
2.3 THE SYNTHESIS OF KEY ACADEMIC VIEWS DRAWN FROM LITERATURE
RELATED TO THE TOPIC ..........................................................................................................5
3. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PURPOSE ..........................................................................6
3.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM .........................................................................................6
3.2 HYPOTHESIS .........................................................................................................................7
3.3 DEFINITION OF VARIABLES ..............................................................................................8
4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................9
5. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................10
6. SYNOPSIS AT THE END OF THE REVIEW .....................................................................10
6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................10
6.2 Literature review ...................................................................................................................11
6.3 conclusion ..............................................................................................................................11
7. LIST OF REFERENCES .......................................................................................................12

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1. INTRODUCTION
This research proposal examines the effect of talent management (TM) on
organisational performance in the 21st century. Limited attention to this topic given
the dearth of material that clearly illustrate the link between TM and organisational
performance has led to assumptions that previous studies have not done enough to
display how performance of organisations are impacted by TM based on empirical
evidence(Ibidunni et al. 2016:2).

Technology advancement mark a useful indicator of human development hence

understanding the effect of talent management on organisational performance in the
21st century offers a lens to view how talent management enhances organisational
performance as well as competitive advantage and profitability for the organisation
although the effect is known (Ariffin et al. 2017:32&33).

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE PROPOSAL

Mohammed (2015) opined that there is a positive correlation between talent
management and organisational performance. This, it is explained is because
organisational strategy that is aligned with talent management has 73% success
rate, so it is not surprising that 21st century organisations are determined to attract
and retain suitable talents (Mohammed 2015:147). In the long-term the organisations
would enhance their performance and strategic position, hence possibly achieving
improvement in organisational performance.

Mishra and Sareen (2016) expressed that in the 21 st century the term talent
management is controversial but they concluded that talent management leads to a
growth in organisational performance. Hence the need to justify the granting of this
proposal for actual research is deemed important.

The publication of the war for talent generated significant interest among researchers
to ascertain the term talent management because of lack of a globally acceptable
definition: hence talent management is subjective to numerous interpretations across
organisations and individuals on the planet (Naidoo et al. 2017:84).

Going forward the layout of this proposal is given as follows: literature review,
problem and purpose statement, research objective, conclusion and then synopsis at
the end of the review.

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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Devi (2017) opined that a review of literature pointed out that the effect of talent
management is positively correlated to organisational performance while Van Zyl et
al. (2017) in support states that talent management offers tangible benefits to
mitigating recruitment costs and enhances organisational competitive advantage
since less finances are spent on recruiting staff.

The understanding and practice of talent management vary across organisations in

the 21st century (Son et al. 2018:2). This is because both the bright and dark sides of
the effect of talent management on organisational performance in the 21 st century
should be empirically tested.

The proposal concludes that there is a mixed view among authors whose articles
were reviewed in terms of the topic and perhaps the section underneath of previous
research section offers more contexts to the matter in my view.

2.1 PREVIOUS RESEARCH

According to Son et al. (2018) the negative side of talent management is less
explored by previous studies because the said common benefits of talent
management practices on organisational performance is not questionable. There is
suggestion that the uniform notion regarding highlighting the benefits only at the
expense of exposing the other side of TM towards influencing organisations
positively could be very detrimental to organisational performance. One strongly
agrees with this claim because looking at both the dark and bright sides of the effect
of talent management on organisational performance would inform a comprehensive
and through position to be taken by stakeholders and organisations in terms of
improving their competitive advantage.

The link between talent management and organisational performance has been well
captured by many studies due to environmental changes and the information edge
(Yassin et al. 2018:141). As a result further research must look into surfacing a
single definition of talent management so as to align its practice with organisational
goals and objectives (Son et al. 2018:5). This is because talent management is
alleged to be accountable to over 73% of organisational performance (Mohammed
2015:147).

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Majority of authors (Falola et al. 2015) whose articles were reviewed indicated that
there is no a unified understanding of the effect of talent management on
organisational performance in 21st century. However, they opined that talent
management has a positive relationship with organisational performance (Hioo and
Payambarpour 2015). Perhaps the knowledge based economy has made talent
management rampantly fashionable prompting the interest of researchers and
scholars alike to investigate the concept in order to bring clarity to the effects on
organisational performance.

Authors whose articles were reviewed recommended future research on the topic so
as to document and understand the impact of the variables used in the research on
each other and their causality as well (Falola et al. 2015:2). There is a gap in
literature agreed by authors further fuelling the notion that there is paucity of
information on this topic after scouring through previous studies on the topic
particularly referring to the experiences in Africa (Son et al. 2018:5-7).

The literature cited in this proposal is recent and apparently the study views that no
crucial references have been left out because updated publications were used as
well as various views on the topic were examined in order to provide a broader
context. Further context on the topic is provided in the section that follows below.

2.2 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

The context of the proposal is targeting the following countries Nigeria and Malaysia
based on the reasons offered consequently:

According to (Ibidunni et al. 2015) the Nigerian banking sector was examined in
terms of the effect of talent management on organisational performance and it was
pointed out that talent management impacts positively in reducing employee
absenteeism and distracting them from the intention to leave the organisation; hence
increasing organisational growth and success. This implies that talent management
practice shows its potential to increase profitability and growth in Nigeria.

Nigeria, in this instance, was chosen because it has the largest population in Africa
and the research proposes that there is a direct link between that which affects
Nigerian economy being seen to affect the rest of the economies in Africa. And this
link opens up the opportunity to understand the importance of influences that talent

4
in Africa has on organisations therein noting that it has since been reported above of
the scarcity in previous research on this topic in developing economies such as that
of Nigeria (Son et al. 2018:4).

Besides in Africa, in Malaysia, it is reported that about 63% of organisations in

Malaysia had implemented talent management and the results showed positive
correlation between the organisation’s performance and talent management policies
(Lyria 2014:4). This could mean that there is a positive link between talent
management policy implementation and organisational performance although the
said effect on organisational performances has not been adequately researched.
One would suggest that the effect of talent management on organisations in Africa is
poorly indicated due to little focused attention on the topic being found in previous
studies on developing economies (Khan et al. 2018:12).

So, this proposal is motivating for actual research to happen following views already
highlighted above. Comparing developing economies to developed economies one
might sum up the contesting issues by saying that the topic is not well researched
hence there is a need for this proposal to into implementation of the research so as
to enhance the understanding of these matters given the gaps in literature on the
problems highlighted.

2.3 THE SYNTHESIS OF KEY ACADEMIC VIEWS DRAWN FROM LITERATURE

RELATED TO THE TOPIC
Son et al. (2018) suggested that empirical evidence on the effect of talent
management on organisational performance should be technology driven because
technology is one of the driving forces in the 21 st century, hence any framework that
is not innovative and information based might be flawed. This is because technology
has a role in inducing new innovative ways to evaluate the effect of TM on
organisational performance (Obeidat et al. 2018:140). In fact, talent management
within the organisation is felt to be effective when harmonized to fit the context of the
organisation as well as enhancing its strategic competitiveness (Obeidat et al.
2018:148).

Khan et al. (2016) highlighted that little attention has been paid on this topic in the
context of emerging economies although the topic has the potential to turn around in
a positive way the economies of developing countries. One thing of note is that

5
perhaps the little attention mentioned here is in fact a reflection of lack of investment
on research and development by governments in the developing economies; hence
the advancement of knowledge based economy is slow paced in emerging
economies as opposed to developed economies.

In close, the proposal so far has presented arguments portraying the need for
technology driven empirical data on the matter so as to enhance the understanding
of the nuances involved with TM and organisations while in the process adding new
impetus to the body of knowledge on the topic.

3. PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PURPOSE

The problem to be investigated in this research proposal is to explore how
organisations define and apply talent management practices to improve their
competitive advantage (Unisa 2018). This is interesting to find out because authors
have indicated that the practice of TM is different across organisations and hence
they influence organisational performance differently and including affecting the
organisation strategic position according to Son et al. (2018). This proposal brings to
light gaps existing between theory and practice, hence discrepancies on the topic
that would benefit from being addressed by technology driven empirical framework
according to Najam and Manasrah (2017).

3.1 OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM

Although talent management could be defined as human being’s ability ranging from
employee retention, attraction, management and career development and the term is
said to have been studied from multiple angles, no one single definition is welcomed
globally. As a result the application and understanding of TM is subjective and based
on interpretation of institutional framework that is based on several different criteria
according to Obeidat (2018).

The application and definition of TM is further brought to contention because it is

touted to be solved by technology which presumably on the whole it is not and
supported by the existence of empirical data of which none exists at the moment:
hence 21st century organisations still define themselves and practice TM based on
similar principles as organisations in the last two decades (Falola et al. 2015:2).
Thus organisations in 21st century are lacking in terms of defining and applying the

6
practice of TM associated with requirements of the 21 st century to improve their
competitive advantage linking their value chain with societal challenges.

Payambarpour and Hioo (2015) concluded that defining and applying TM practices is
at the centre of sustaining and achieving organisational competitive advantage
because human capital is a vital source to sustain organisational strategic position
as well as differentiating the organisation from its competitors.

However, based on the analysis above, it is clearly known that the application and
definition of TM practices impacts on organisational competitive advantage.

3.2 HYPOTHESIS
Considering this proposal for actual research would help bridge the gaps on the topic
and the hypotheses that are listed and explained below so as to test their veracity in
order to advance body of knowledge on the topic:

1. H1= is there a positive link between TM and organisational performance.

2. H2 = There is relationship between the effect of TM on organisational

performance.

3. H3 = is there a link between how Tm is defined and practice with improving

organisational competitiveness.

4. H4 = is there a link between TM to enhancing organisational performance and

the effect.

These hypotheses are contextualized and conceptualized because they are informed
by reviewed literature and based on suggested framework (Devi 2017:19-20). As a
result the hypotheses are clearly stated, they can be tested because they are
grounded in conceptual framework and they create a clear association between
variables on the topic and the variables are further examined below.

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3.3 DEFINITION OF VARIABLES
Based on the topic and analysis thus far, the following variables could be listed and
explained on the topic as shown below:

1. Effect, is a dependent variable.

2. TM (Talent management) is a dependent variable.

3. Organisational performance is a dependent variable.

4. 21st century is an independent variable.

These variables would help provide context and redirect the research question as
they are informed by the literature reviewed so as to establish their impact and
influence on the topic and on each other according to (Son et al. 2018). Explanation
of the variables is under:

Effect could be described as impact which could be either positive or negative on

something and effect helps to provide context on the topic, especially on
organisational performance since the impact is derived from it (Ibidunni et al.
2016:2). In agreement with this definition what is evident is that the effect is critical
on the topic since it forms basis on which this proposal should be granted for actual
research due to lack of empirical data.

Besides the effect, TM is defined as related activities to retention, development,

recruitment and selection of employees (Devi 2017:18). Authors disagreed on TM
definition although one has submitted this definition so as to help provide context
under which the topic shall be investigated and understood. By so doing, the
variables on the topic are clearly defined and understood by other scholars and
researchers who might be interested in conducting the same research to ensure its
compliance in the scientific research field.

Although TM does not have a unified definition, organisational performance on the

other hand seems viewed by authors in the same light and described as organisation

8
successfully attaining its desired goals by utilizing its available resources to
maximize on its achievements of the desired goals (Son et al. 2018:146).
Organisational success is determined by its growth and profitability while the
organisation is said to have achieved competitive advantage through sustaining and
improving its strategic competitiveness.

On the other hand, 21st century is described as knowledge based economy driven by
information technology and globalisation (Son et al. 2018:140). This is because
human capital has become indispensable and valuable for organisations to achieve
sustained performance as this implies that people are the most valuable resource for
an organisation (Falola et al. 2016:3). The proposal asserts that without people
organisations are valueless because productivity depends on people management.

In summary, one has clearly noted that both TM and organisational performance are
still ambiguous among scholars and researchers in that gaps in literature are evident
requiring to be redressed by empirical data and the starting point is have this
proposal accepted for actual research due to reasons advanced thus far.

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
This section considers the research objectives sent out by Unisia’s management in
2018:

4.1 What constitutes a talent management practices?

TM practices are subjective to individual and organisation interpretation based on

policy framework ranging from employer retention, selection and development and
these practices are defined differently by organisations across the industries both in
the Western countries and in Africa (Son et al. 2018:2). The practices don’t align with
21st century knowledge based economies resulting in lack of comprehending of its
impact on organisational performance caused by lack of investment on research and
development in one’s opinion.
4.2 How is talent management contextualized?

TM is contextualized differently based on authors, organisations and scholar’s

understanding, hence the context in Western countries such as in the United
Kingdom and the United States of America can’t be applied in countries in Africa
such as: Nigeria and Kenya due to differences in the environments and the same

9
notion is applicable across industries globally (Abraham et al. 2016:394). However
the situation is compounded by that most African countries depend on foreign
organisations activities in their economies as well as relying on direct investments
from western countries that directly impacts on the TM context by the insistence of
use of western values in organisations (Abraham et al. 2016:394).

4.3What is the impact of talent management on organisational performance?

The impact of TM on organisational performance is well captured by previous studies

although it seems gaps exists giving an impression of paucity of information in past
studies, in particular where empirical evidence is needed to show the extent of the
TM impact in western countries on organisations in such places as the United
Kingdom and the United States of America while the need also is enormous to find
similar material regarding countries in Africa (Abraham et al. 2016:393-395).
However, the impact of TM on organisational performances so far has surfaced
mixed views based on the articles reviewed and according to Son et al. (2018).

5. CONCLUSION
The contestations in the proposal have so far highlighted the following arguments.
TM presents mixed views among researchers and scholars and it is said to have a
positive correlation with improving organisational performance although not research
based. The synopsis section below would assist in shedding more light on the topic.

6. SYNOPSIS AT THE END OF THE REVIEW

6.1 Introduction
TM recently aroused interest within academia and researchers (Khan et al. 2016:9-
10) due to the search for suitable talent skills that would advance organisation
performance although the search has met with serious challenges ranging from lack
of common definition and double edge phenomenon of positive and negative impacts
of TM effect on organisation success (Son et al. 2018:3-5) is revealed.

10
6.2 Literature review

Previous studies have not found empirical data that clearly linking the effect of TM on
organisational performance in the 21st century, although it appears such data exists
in the western world resulting to posing a challenge in terms of context and growth of
the topic in emerging economies as well as in the world.

6.3 conclusion

One can’t over emphasize the importance of empirical data on this topic and the
starting point is to consider this proposal. However, the effect of TM on
organisational performance appears mixed among authors because TM received
attention within academia and researchers recently as revealed in the book title “The
war for talent”.

11
7. LIST OF REFERENCES

Cui, W., Khan, Z. and Tarba, S.Y., 2018. Strategic talent management in service SMEs of
China. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60(1), pp.9-20.

Erasmus, B., Naidoo, L. and Joubert, P., 2017. Talent Management Implementation at an
Open Distance E-Learning Higher Educational Institution: The Views of Senior Line
Managers. The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 18(3).

Son, J., Park, O., Bae, J. and Ok, C., 2018. Double-edged effect of talent management on
organizational performance: the moderating role of HRM investments. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management, pp.1-29.

Van Zyl, E.S., Mathafena, R.B. and Ras, J., 2017. The development of a talent management
framework for the private sector. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(1),
pp.1-19.

Masa'deh, R.E., Yassin, H., Shatnawi, Y. and Obeidat, B., 2018. Reviewing the Literature of
the Effect of Talent Management on Organizational Effectiveness. Journal of Social
Sciences(COES&RJ-JSS), 7(2), pp.131-148.

Devi S., 2017. IMPACT OF TALENT MANGEMENT ON ORGANISATIONAL

PERFORMANCE: ROLE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT. International Journal of
Management Studies (online) 2231-2528.

Falola, H., Salau, P.O., Adeniji, A., Osibanjo, O. and Ibidunni, S., 2015. Talent Retention
and Organisational Performance: A Competitive Positioning in Nigeria Banking Sector.
Periodica Polytechnica Social and Management Sciences 24(1), pp. 1-13, 2016.

Hioo, C. and Payambarpour, A.S., 2015. The impact of talent management and employee
engagement on organisational performance. International Journal of Management
Practice Vol. 8, No. 4, pp.311–336

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 Mishra, S. and Sareen, P., 2016. A Study of Talent Management and Its Impact on
Performance of Organizations. Journal of Business and ManagemenT
ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 18, Issue 12. PP 66-73.

Abraham, M., Pannusamy, V. and Kaliannan, M., 2016. EFFECTIVE TALENT

MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIAN SMES: A PROPOSED FRAMEWORK. The Journal of
Developing Areas Special Issue on Kuala Lumpur Conference Helding Volume 50 No. 5

Lyria, K.R., 2014. Effect of Talent Management on Organizational Performance in

Companies Listed in Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya.

Uddin, R. and Arifin, A.A., 2016. Talent Management and Organizational Performance:
An Empirical Study in Retail Sector in Sylhet City, Bangladesh. Journal of Business and
Management p-ISSN: 2319-7668. Volume 18, Issue 10. PP 11-18.

Shabudin, A. and Salmah, Y., 2017. Effectiveness of talent management to improving

organisational performance in government owned bank. Journal of Advanced Research
in Business and Management Studies 7, Issue 1 (2017) 32-38.

Mohammad, A., 2015. The Impact of Talent Management on Employee Engagement,

Retention and Value Addition in achieving Organizational Performance. International
Journal Of Core Engineering & Management (IJCEM) Volume 1, Issue 12.

Manasrah, K.A. and Najm, A.N., 2017. The effect of talent management on organizational
performance: applied study in Jordanian banks. Review of Applied Socio- Economic
Research (Volume 13, Issue 1), pp. 36.

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