The currency of talent management - a reply to "talent management and the relevance of context: towards a pluralistic approach"

In this paper we provide a commentary on the article in this special issue by Thunnissen, Boselie, and Fruytier on the relevance of context to the field of talent management. We agree that further research is needed to explore the link between macro, meso and micro-level considerations. The authors pose a question in relation to the contribution of talent management to the social and moral development of society; which, for us, raises issues as to the extent to which individual agency in ethical issues is possible in environments designed to regulate and control talent. We concur that a more critical, pluralist approach to talent management scholarship is needed and that talent management should go beyond a mere economic exchange. We suggest, as Yet unexplored, notions of strategic exchange, and individual identity provide a richer picture of the employment relationship. Thus this paper raises a number of possible directions for future TM research

Filling the "discursive void" in the construction of talent management policy knowledge: a Slovak case study [forthcoming]

HRM practices have fared well across national borders due to globalization. The field of international HRM has learnt us a great deal by exploring different effects on HRM implementation in different countries. Our symposium is rooted in two main streams of the literature, HRM effectiveness and HRM challenges of Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) in different regions of the world. Overall, it is acknowledged that HRM philosophy and practices are context specific and shaped by specific organizational dynamics as well as socio-cultural, economic and political contexts. Therefore, one must expect HRM policies and practices to differ in content and emphasis across national borders. Along with a long list of HRM-related issues, the literature does not pay attention yet enough to the involvement of line managers in HRM implementation in international context. In case of MNCs structures, HRM philosophies and policies are usually designed at the headquarters and communicated through towards subsidiaries, but it may be line subsidiaries-based managers who, in the end, take final responsibilities to implement centrally designed HRM systems. In case of indigenous organizations, the main logic remains: line managers stay responsible for the execution of HR practices

Surfing or drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

The ability to use the Internet is an essential skill for nursing students, both to support their studies, especially as nursing students spend a lot of their time in placements away from the university campus, and to support their development of skills in using what is becoming an increasingly essential tool for professionals. A study at Bournemouth University, England, found that new student nurses had poor Internet skills and were not frequent users prior to starting the course. No link was found between the students’ ages and their Internet use or skills. A clear link was however found between ability and frequency of use, except in relationship to the students’ ability to conduct an effective search. Almost half of the respondents said that they find far too much irrelevant information when searching for information on the Internet. Given the importance of Information and Technology skills to nurses, both as lifelong learners and as competent practitioners and to nursing students throughout their pre-registration education, the inclusion of a programme to ensure that they develop these skills during their pre-registration education is essential

Surfing or drowning? Student nurses’ Internet skills

The ability to use the Internet is an essential skill for nursing students, both to support their studies, especially as nursing students spend a lot of their time in placements away from the university campus, and to support their development of skills in using what is becoming an increasingly essential tool for professionals. A study at Bournemouth University, England, found that new student nurses had poor Internet skills and were not frequent users prior to starting the course. No link was found between the students’ ages and their Internet use or skills. A clear link was however found between ability and frequency of use, except in relationship to the students’ ability to conduct an effective search. Almost half of the respondents said that they find far too much irrelevant information when searching for information on the Internet. Given the importance of Information and Technology skills to nurses, both as lifelong learners and as competent practitioners and to nursing students throughout their pre-registration education, the inclusion of a programme to ensure that they develop these skills during their pre-registration education is essential

Talent management: the good, the bad, and the possible

In this essay we offer a critical investigation of talent management practices (TMP), which is an increasingly influential concept in contemporary organisations. We try to show how these organisational practices could have both a negative and a positive ethical impact on those identified as ‘talent’ within organisations. A critical analysis of how talent is defined, and how this impacts on individuals’ capacities for ethical reflection, allows us to highlight the ethical ambiguity inherent in talent management. We then highlight examples of some ‘bad’ consequences of TM, and explore some ‘good’ counter-examples. To highlight what may be ‘possible’ in talent management, we propose a more constructive relationship between talent management and ethics based on two dimensions: 1) the acceptance of ambiguity and personal struggle and 2) the development of more qualitative approaches to performance that could enable a better understanding of and sensitivity towards the broader context within which organisations function

Functional responses of plants to elevated atmospheric CO 2 – do photosynthetic and productivity data from FACE experiments support early predictions?

Summary  1 I.   Introduction  2 II.   Early assessments of [CO 2 ] responses in natural ecosystems   2 III.   Global network of FACE sites   4 IV.   Assimilation and leaf N-content   5 V.   Primary productivity  13 VI.   Response of plant functional types  20 VII.  Conclusions   23 Acknowledgements  24 References   24 Summary Results from 16 free-air CO 2 enrichment (FACE) sites representing four different global vegetation types indicate that only some early predictions of the effects of increasing CO 2 concentration (elevated [CO 2 ]) on plant and ecosystem processes are well supported. Predictions for leaf CO 2 assimilation (A net ) generally fit our understanding of limitations to photosynthesis, and the FACE experiments indicate concurrent enhancement of photosynthesis and of partial downregulation. In addition, most herbaceous species had reduced leaf nitrogen (N)-content under elevated [CO 2 ] and thus only a modest enhancement of A net , whereas most woody species had little change in leaf N with elevated [CO 2 ] but a larger enhancement of A net . Early predictions for primary production are more mixed. Predictions that enhancement of productivity would be greater in drier ecosystems or in drier years has only limited support. Furthermore, differences in productivity enhancements among six plant functional types were not significant. By contrast, increases in productivity enhancements with increased N availability are well supported by the FACE results. Thus, neither a resource-based conceptual model nor a plant functional type conceptual model is exclusively supported by FACE results, but rather both species identity and resource availability are important factors influencing the response of ecosystems to elevated [CO 2 ]. © New Phytologist (2004) doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01033.xPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66140/1/j.1469-8137.2004.01033.x.pd

Mie-resonances, infrared emission and band gap of InN

Mie resonances due to scattering/absorption of light in InN containing clusters of metallic In may have been erroneously interpreted as the infrared band gap absorption in tens of papers. Here we show by direct thermally detected optical absorption measurements that the true band gap of InN is markedly wider than currently accepted 0.7 eV. Micro-cathodoluminescence studies complemented by imaging of metallic In have shown that bright infrared emission at 0.7-0.8 eV arises from In aggregates, and is likely associated with surface states at the metal/InN interfaces.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Nitrogen-rich indium nitride

Elastic recoil detection analysis, using an incident beam of 200 MeV Au ions, has been used to measureindium nitride films grown by radio-frequency sputtering. It is shown that the films have nitrogen-rich stoichiometry. Nitrogen vacancies are therefore unlikely to be responsible for the commonly observed high background carrier concentration. Ultraviolet Raman and secondary ion mass spectroscopymeasurements are used to probe the state of the excess nitrogen. The nitrogen on indium anti-site defect is implicated, though other possibilities for the site of the excess nitrogen, such as molecular nitrogen, or di-nitrogen interstitials cannot be excluded. It is further shown that a shift in the (0002) x-ray diffraction peak correlates with the excess nitrogen, but not with the oxygen observed in some samples.K.S.A.B. would like to acknowledge the support of an Australian Research Council Fellowship. We would also like to acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council through a Large grant and a Discovery grant; the support of a Macquarie University Research Development Grant, and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering for SIMS access