Abstract:
Talent’ has become a popular term amongst academicians and practitioners during the last
two decades. A general problem, despite this increased interest on “Talent”, is that the
construct of Talent and Talent Management lack theoretical vigor and standardized definition.
The aim of this paper is to make a contribution to the literature on “Talent” and “Talent
Management” by a critical review of the construct of “Talent”. The evolution of the definition
of the term “Talent” was traced through different time periods starting from the Biblical Times
when talent was used for a very large sum of money to the present times when it is considered
as a cognitive ability. A philological perspective was also taken to identify the roots of different
approaches towards “Talent” in speakers of different languages and terms, that are
interchangeably used in lieu of Talent were also explored. Different definitions of the term
“Talent Management” were analyzed to understand the different approaches taken by the
authors. The dominant approach used in the definitions of Talent Management was found to
be exclusive. The study concluded that it is important to develop a uniform definition of Talent
and Talent Management for a shared understanding for both academic work on the topic and
its practical implication for the corporate world.
