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Introduction
Digitization, labor shortages, growth through acquisitions, simultaneous downsizing and expansion, workforce demographic changes, and globalization are just a few of the trends that have made talent a top priority ([9] Boudreau and Ramstad, 2004). There is a seismic shift, which began some ten years ago, and which according to [13] Charan (2006), brought about three forces. These were: mobility of talent, mobility of capital, and mobility of knowledge, thanks largely to the internet. Resultant of this shift was that anyone from anywhere with determination could restructure a global industry. Case in point is of Lakshmi N. Mittal who used know-how from his family's steel business in India to build London-based Mittal Steel Co., the world's largest. Similarly Mexico's Cemex is a new world leader blossoming far from traditional business centers like New York and Tokyo (Ram[13] Charan, 2006).
The clustering of talent is just as prevalent in the emerging economies, especially India and China, where economic and technological activity is becoming far more concentrated than in the advanced world. A small number of booming mega-regions like Bangalore, New Delhi, Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou are sucking talent from the countryside, connecting to the world economy, and leaving the rest of their countries behind. Within these regions, too - as within US metros - the economic divide between high-skilled and low-skilled is growing ([16] Florida, 2006). Talent management is fast gaining top priority for organizations across countries. It is not easy to miss the potential of new technologies, the impact of new competition, and the shifting power of customer and suppliers - critical points in time that Grove called strategic inflection points. It is believed that the war for talent is a similar to critical strategic inflection point. It rose quietly from the ashes of the Industrial age in 1980s, jumped into the headlines in 1990s, and will continue to reshape the workplace in the decades ahead ([20] Grove, 1998).
The talent pools (such as jobs, roles or competencies) in organizations, see some improvement in quality but make the biggest difference to organizational success. The "pivotal talent pools" are the vital targets for HR investment and leader attention ([8] Boudreau and Ramstad, 2005) and provide a fierce employer brand equity ([35] Fitz-enz, 1997) in a market...