Introduction

Talent management arose as a field of interest for researchers and practitioners in the early 1990s when academics and practitioners realised that there was a gap between the supply and the demand of employees who could make considerable positive contributions to the performance of organisations. Despite the fact that talent management issues have been investigated for three decades, research has focused mainly on large companies, so it has limited applicability for talent management in other organisations, including small and medium enterprises. The introduction to this book contains a brief literature review confirming the under-representation of talent management research in SMEs. The aim of the study, the research questions and the methodological approach are then presented. Finally, the book structure and chapter synopses close this chapter.