Publications

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

11 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Non-competes Push Talent Away

couldn't treat employees like resources. I had to work to keep them excited to stay around." Marx is the coauthor of a yet-to-be-published paper that investigates whether states that allow non-compete agreements are driving high-tech View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

20 Mar 2013
News

Leveraging Female Talent

March 2000 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Microsoft: Competing on Talent (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

Describes the evolution of Microsoft's human-resource philosophies, policies, and practices and how they used as a core of the company's competitive advantage. In particular, the focus is on how Microsoft tried to retain its ability to recruit, develop, motivate, and... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Retention; Recruitment; Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; Business Startups; Talent and 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

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

28 Dec 2012
News

Commitment to talent

01 May 2014
News

Talent Show

Article

Navigating Talent Hot Spots

By: William R. Kerr

Innovation clusters like San Francisco and Boston have long had an outsize impact on the global economy, and their influence keeps growing. In 2017, for instance, America’s ten largest tech hubs accounted for 58% of U.S. patents. Globally, cities such as Tokyo, Paris,... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Innovation and Invention; Urban Scope; Industry Clusters; Innovation and Management

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January 2025
Case

Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan

By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan

The Teach For Taiwan (TFT) case follows founder Anting Liu as she considers how to scale the nonprofit’s talent strategy after a decade of impact in rural education. TFT recruits high-potential young professionals into a 2-year teaching fellowship, aiming to address... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; Taiwan

February 2020
Technical Note

Talent Management and the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr and Gorick Ng

The nature of work is changing—and it is changing rapidly. Few days go by without industry giants such as Amazon and AT&T announcing plans to invest billions of dollars towards retraining nearly half of their respective workforces for jobs of the future. What changes... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; Human Capital Development; Human Resource Practices; Talent; Talent Acquisition; Talent Development; Talent Development And Retention; Talent Management; Talent Retention; Labor Flows; Labor Management; Labor Market; Strategy Development; Strategy Management; Strategy Execution; Strategy And Execution; Strategic Change; Transformations; Organization; Organization Alignment; Organization Design; Organizational Adaptation; Organizational Effectiveness; Management Challenges; Management Of Business And Political Risk; Change Leadership; Future Of Work; Future; Skills Gap; Skills Development; Skills; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Investment; Capital Allocation; Work; Work Culture; Work Force Management; Work/life Balance; Work/family Balance; Work-family Boundary Management; Workers; Worker Productivity; Worker Performance; Work Engagement; Work Environment; Work Environments; Productivity; Organization Culture; Soft Skills; Technology Management; Technological Change; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Technology Diffusion; Disruptive Technology; Global Business; Global; Workplace; Workplace Context; Workplace Culture; Workplace Wellness; Collaboration; Competencies; Productivity Gains; Digital; Digital Transition; Competitive Dynamics; Competitiveness; Competitive Strategy; Data Analytics; Data; Data Management; Data Strategy; Data Protection; Aging Society; Diversity; Diversity Management; Millennials; Communication Complexity; Communication Technologies; International Business; Work Sharing; Global Competitiveness; Global Corporate Cultures; Intellectual Property; Intellectual Property Management; Intellectual Property Protection; Intellectual Capital And Property Issues; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Inequality; Recruiting; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Training; Job Cuts And Outsourcing; Job Performance; Job Search; Job Design; Job Satisfaction; Jobs; Employee Engagement; Employee Attitude; Employee Benefits; Employee Compensation; Employee Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Employee Retention; Employee Selection; Employee Motivation; Employee Feedback; Employee Coordination; Employee Performance Management; Employee Socialization; Process Improvement; Application Performance Management; Stigma; Institutional Change; Candidates; Digital Enterprise; Cultural Adaptation; Cultural Change; Cultural Diversity; Cultural Context; Cultural Strategies; Cultural Psychology; Cultural Reform; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Management; Performance Evaluation; Performance Appraisal; Performance Feedback; Performance Measurement; Performance Metrics; Performance Measures; Performance Efficiency; Efficiency; Performance Analysis; Performance Appraisals; Performance Improvement; Automation; Artificial Intelligence; Technology Companies; Managerial Processes; Skilled Migration; Assessment; Human Resources; Management; Human Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Retention; Demographics; Labor; Strategy; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Disruption; Economy; Competition; Globalization; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation

May 2025
Background Note

Skills-First Talent Management: The Importance of Managers

By: Boris Groysberg, Nicole Zelazko, Tom Quinn, Robin Abrahams, Izzy Yeoh and Colleen Ammerman

This note supplements a 2025 series on skills-first talent management in organizations, comprising “Skills-First Talent Management: Hiring” (HBS No. 425-019), “Skills-First Talent Management: Onboarding, Development, and Performance Management” (HBS No. 425-020), and... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Job Design and Levels; Employment; Human Capital; Management Practices and Processes; United States

30 Sep 2015
News

The Problem of Too Much Talent

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

January 2021
Case

Andela: Africa's AWS for Talent

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim

Five years after the company’s founding, Andela, a company that built and trained remote engineering teams, became arguably Africa’s greatest technology unicorn. By January 2019, Andela raised $100 million in Series D funding. As Andela looked to scale in an... View Details

Keywords: Education In Africa; Entrepreneur; Remote Work; Software Engineering; Edtech; Entrepreneurship; Education; Applications and Software; Engineering; Growth and Development Strategy; Africa

January 2011 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Executive Compensation at Talent Partners

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Talent Partners' CEO was very successful at growing the business and establishing its leadership position. He was compensated with a mix of salary and options and he did not own any equity in the company. The options were set so that if Talent Partners achieved its... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Stock Options; Compensation and Benefits