Demystifying Talent Management: A Critical Approach to the Realities of Talent

by Billy Adamsen

Overview

Demystifying Talent Management questions the explanation of talent, that anyone who has 'more' has a talent, and demonstrates how the term 'talent' has become an empty signifier. The book asks if talent exists at all, and reflects on what the consequences for talent management within business and sports would be if this were the case.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137508652
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	01/14/2014
Edition description:	1st ed. 2016
Pages:	149
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Billy Adamsen is Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Denmark, Denmark. He has published several books and papers on a variety of subjects including Sport management, talent management, Management, Cognition and Media, Politics and Media, Psychology of language and the effect of new media. In addition to his academic experience, he has worked as a manager, director, advisor and scout for different national and international companies within business, politics and sports.

Table of Contents

Introduction: How To Read This Book
1. The Gospel Of Mathew – He Who Has More Has A Talent 
2. Stories About Individuals From The Darkness 
3. The Need For Talent: The Origins Of Talent Management In Business And Sports 
4. The Language Of Talent 
5. It's Not About Talent Itself - But About Detecting, Identifying And Selecting Talents 
6. The Etymology Of The Term 'Talent' 
7. Talent And Talent Management As Accidental Designators Or Empty Signifiers 
8. The Accidental Term Talent From An Anthropological Semiotic Perspective 
9. The Denotation And Connotation Of 'Talent' 
10. Final Thoughts - The Gospel Of Matthew In Contemporary Talent Management
11. IQC Management – The Future Term For Talent Management
Epilogue – Niels Bohr In Talent Management
Notes
Literature
Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Demystifying Talent Management offers an entertaining tour through the worlds of science, sports, and business to show us how we are maddeningly unclear about what we mean by ability or 'talent' in contemporary organizations as well as how little we actually know about how it relates to success."

- Peter Cappelli, George W. Taylor Professor of Management and Director, Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia

'This is an authoritative and timely analysis of the idea of 'talent'. Drawing on a range of managerial, sociological and philosophical concepts, the author builds a profound critique of the role of 'talent' in modern management thinking, and exposes its shortcomings, as well as providing a way forward for organisations to successfully acquire the key skills and abilities that they need. Dr. Adamsen's text should be on the desk of every chief executive and every HR manager.'

- Paul Griseri, Managing Editor "Philosophy of Management' and Director of MBA Programmes, Middlesex University, UK

“Adamsen’s book is a very well written and important piece of work. Its theoretical discussion of the talent term is appreciated seen in the perspective of an unreflective use of this term in many contexts of talent management and development.”

-Inge Kryger Pedersen, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Editorial Reviews

Billy Adamsen’s book, Demystifying Talent Management is an important contribution to critical debates and reflections of the role of talent in modern management thinking, for example in sport and business. … Adamsen’s book is a very well written and important piece of work. Its theoretical discussions of the talent term is appreciated seen in the perspective of an unreflective use of this term in many contexts of talent management and development.” (Inge Kryger Pedersen, idrottsforum.org, June, 2016)

From the Publisher