ABSTRACT
The ascent of talent management since academic papers first started appearing in the mid-2000s has been striking. Since these early days, there has been an explosion of papers published across several disciplinary areas. This chapter explores the evolution of talent management over the past two decades with the aim of providing a helicopter view of the state of field. In the chapter we see that the literature remains in a somewhat fragmented state but one that is demonstrating clear signs of moving towards greater coherence and maturity. Recent years have brought greater appreciation of the broad parameters of the field which has helped in reducing works that use the talent management label but which do not engage substantially with the concept. The chapter also identifies the emergence of wider disciplinary perspectives which positively adds to a more critical and pluralist debate. Finally, the chapter identifies that there is much scope for stronger research designs and methodologies along with enhanced theorisation.
