Publications

February 2025
Module Note

Managing Work Arrangements: Technology and Talent Access

By: Christopher Stanton

May 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Background Note

Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

In the face of a rapidly-changing economy, organizations that wish to compete in the future of work must develop strategies for acquiring, retaining, and developing talent for their organizations. This primer reviews the major trends shaping jobs, workplaces, and... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Demographics; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Supply Chain

13 May 2021
Blog Post

HBS Got Talent

In January 2020, I (Lori Ossip, MBA 2021) alongside MBA 2020 grads Russell Citron, Melanie Sperling, and Billy Tabrizi were working on a new charity event: HBS Got Talent, a massive talent show with live... View Details

30 Nov 2010
News

Chasing star talent

Research Summary

Talent and Ownership on Corporate Boards

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

This research, with co-author Emilie Feldman, examines the performance of firms whose boards include directors with sizeable ownership stakes and relatively low levels of business experience. In contrast to theories that predict a strong... View Details

11 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Non-competes Push Talent Away

disturbed that nobody had mentioned the non-compete before he accepted the job, Marx signed willingly, assuming such documents were commonplace. “It's clear that that inventors are leaving states that enforce non-competes for states that don't." Fast-forward a few... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

September 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Zurich Insurance: Talent Pipeline

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly

Zurich Insurance was undergoing organizational change after implementing five new people practices focused on manager development, diversity and inclusion, job model and data analytics, recruitment, and talent pipeline. The case “Zurich Insurance: Fostering Key People... View Details

Keywords: Managing Change; Leadership; Organizational Behavior; Succession; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Human Capital; Human Resources; Insurance; Management Succession; Insurance Industry

Awards

Axiom Business Book Award Gold Medal in the Operations Management category

By: Boris Groysberg

Won the 2011 Axiom Business Book Award Gold Medal in the Operations Management category for Chasing Stars: The Myth of Talent and the Portability of Performance (Princeton University Press, 2010). View Details

31 Aug 2021
News

How the Pandemic Changed Talent Management

August 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Braintrust: The Blockchain-Powered Talent Network

By: Christopher Stanton, Joseph B. Fuller and George Gonzalez

A San Francisco startup seeks to disrupt the freelancing industry through its user-owned talent network powered by the cryptocurrency, BTRST. View Details

Keywords: Freelancers; Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Social and Collaborative Networks; Talent and Talent Management; Consulting Industry; Technology Industry; United States

October 2019
Article

Returns to Talent and the Finance Wage Premium

By: Boris Vallée and Claire Célérier

To study the role of talent in finance workers' pay, we exploit a special feature of the French higher education system. Wage returns to talent have been significantly higher and have risen faster in finance since the 1980s than in other sectors. Both wage returns to... View Details

Keywords: Compensation; Finance; Compensation and Benefits; Wages; Banking Industry

Find at Harvard

Read Now

21 Aug 2018
News

Navigating Talent Hot Spots

The Gift of Global Talent

The global race for talent is on, with countries and businesses competing for the best and brightest. Foreign talent has transformed U.S. science and engineering, reshaped the economy, and influenced society at large. But America is bogged down in thorny debates on... View Details

24 May 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Digital Labor Markets and Global Talent Flows

Keywords: by John Horton, William R. Kerr, and Christopher Stanton

24 Apr 2014
News

Exploring how companies manage talent and career development

Harvard Business School Professor Boris Groysberg (DBA 2002) describes his research into how companies manage hiring and talent development. (Published April 2014) View Details

13 Oct 2020
News

The Post-Pandemic Rules of Talent Management

April 2025
Technical Note

Skills-First Talent Management: Engagement and Retention

By: Boris Groysberg, Nicole Zelazko, Robin Abrahams and Katherine Connolly Baden

The third in a series, this note describes the significance of employee engagement and retention, explores the relationship between these two pillars and skills-first talent management, and covers the major drivers of engagement and retention. The other two notes are:... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; United States

2022
White Paper

The Emerging Degree Reset: How the Shift to Skills-Based Hiring Holds the Keys to Growing the U.S. Workforce at a Time of Talent Shortage

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Christina Langer, Julia Nitschke, Layla O'Kane, Matthew Sigelman and Bledi Taska

Employers are resetting degree requirements in a wide range of roles, dropping the requirement for a bachelor’s degree in many middle-skill and even some higher-skill roles. This reverses a trend toward degree inflation in job postings going back to the Great... View Details

Keywords: Skills; Workforce; Talent; Human Resource Management; Selection and Staffing; Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources

April 2020
Teaching Note

Executive Compensation at Talent Partners

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce G. Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 211-073. Talent Partners, a payroll service firm focused on actors in commercials, hired Paul Muratore to be its CEO in 2002. His compensation package included a fixed salary and a bundle of Stock Appreciation Rights (SAR) that would... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Stock Options; Compensation and Benefits