We investigate the transfer of talent management knowledge to a Slovak manufacturing setting from a translation perspective. The translator is shown to be the key agent in the cross-national, cross-language knowledge transfer process, who not only provides linguistic translation but also provides cultural and political interpretation of key vocabularies. By drawing on different models of translation we show that (a) discourse and language cannot be separated in knowledge transfer interventions and (b) the translator is a key agent in shaping the transfer process by addressing the ‘discursive void’ that characterizes local experiences with, and knowledge about, talent management.
Al ArissACascioWFPaauweJ (2014) Talent management: current theories and future research directions. Journal of World Business49: 173–9.
2.
AlvessonMKärremanD (2000) Taking the linguistic turn in organizational research. Challenges, responses and consequences. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science36: 136–58.
3.
AndermanGRogersM (eds) (2005) In and Out of English: For Better or for Worse?Clevedon, Buffalo and Toronto: Multilingual Matters.
4.
Barner-RasmussenWAarnioC (2011) Shifting the faultlines of language: a quantitative functional-level exploration of language use in MNC subsidiaries. Journal of World Business46: 288–95.
5.
BrislinRW (1970) Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology1: 185–216.
6.
BurrV (2003) Social Constructionism. London: Routledge.
7.
CerdinJ-LBrewsterC (2014) Talent management and expatriation: bridging two streams of research and practice. Journal of World Business49: 245–52.
8.
ChambersEGFoultonMHandfield-JonesH. (1998) The war for talent. McKinsey Quarterly3: 44–57.
9.
ChouliarakiLFaircloughN (2010) Critical discourse analysis in organizational studies: towards an integrationist methodology. Journal of Management Studies6: 1213–8.
10.
CookeFLSainiDSWangJ (2014) Talent management in China and India: a comparison of management perceptions and human resource practices. Journal of World Business49: 225–35.
11.
CzarniawskaBSev⊙nG (eds) (2005) Global Ideas. How Ideas, Objects and Practices Travel in the Global Economy. Copenhagen: Liber & Copenhagen Business School Press.
12.
DriesN (2013) The psychology of talent management: a review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review23(4): 272–85.
13.
EcoU (2003) Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation. London: Weidenfeldt & Nicolson.
14.
FestingMSchäferL (2014) Generational challenges to talent management: a framework for talent retention based on the psychological-contract perspective. Journal of World Business49: 262–71.
15.
GiddensA (1999) Runaway World: How Globalisation is Reshaping Our Lives. London: Profile Books.
HoldenNKuznetsovaOFinkG (2008) Russia’s long struggle with Western terms of management and the concepts behind them. In: TietzeS (ed.) International Management and Language. London: Routledge, pp. 114–27.
18.
HoldenNVaimanV (2013) Talent management in Russia: not so much war for talent as wariness of talent. Critical Perspectives on International Business9: 129–46.
19.
HollinsheadG (2010) International and Comparative HRM. New York: McGraw-Hill.
20.
HollinsheadGMichailovaS (2001) Blockbusters or bride-builders? The role of Western trainers in developing new entrepreneurialism in Eastern Europe. Management Learning32: 419–36.
21.
IlesPChuaiXPreeceD (2010) Talent management and HRM in Multinational companies in Beijing: definitions, differences and drivers. Journal of World Business45: 179–89.
22.
JanssensMLambertJSteyeaertC (2004) Developing language strategies for international companies: the contribution of translation studies. Journal of World Business39: 414–30.
23.
KosteraM (1995) The modern crusade. The missionaries of management come to Eastern Europe. Management Learning26: 331–62.
24.
KuznetsovAKuznetsovaO (2014) Building professional discourse in emerging markets: language, context and the challenge of sensemaking. Journal of International Business Studies45: 583–99.
McDonnellARyanLGunnigleP. (2010) Developing tomorrow’s leaders – evidence of global talent management in multinational enterprises. Journal of World Business45: 150–60.
27.
MeyersMCvan WoerkomM (2014) The influence of underlying philosophies on talent management: theory, implications for practice, and research agenda. Journal of World Business49: 192–203.
28.
MichaelsEG IIIHandfield-JonesHAxelrodB (2001) The War for Talent. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
29.
MontgomerySL (2013) Does Science Need a Global Language? English and the Future of Research. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
30.
NickersonC (2005) English as a lingua franca in international business contexts. English for Specific Purposes24: 367–80.
31.
PiekkariRWelchDEWelchLS. (2013) Translation behaviour: an exploratory study within a service multinational. International Business Review22: 771–83.
32.
PiekkariRTietzeS (2014) The gift of tongues. Translation work in multilingual organizations. Paper presented at the AOM Annual Meeting, Organisation and Management Theory Division, Philadelphia, USA.
33.
ScullionHCollingsD (2010) Global Staffing. London: Routledge.
34.
SidaniYAl ArissA (2014) Institutional and corporate drivers of global talent management: evidence from the Arab Gulf region. Journal of World Business49: 215–24.
35.
SkuzaAScullionHMcDonnellA (2012) An analysis of the talent management challenges in a post-communist country: the case of Poland. The International Journal of Human Resource Management1: 1–18.
36.
SoulsbyAClarkE (2007) Organization theory and the post-socialist transformation: contributions to organizational knowledge. Human Relations60: 1419–42.
37.
SteyaertCJanssensM (2013) Multilingual scholarship and the paradox of translation and language in management and organization studies. Organization20: 131–42.
38.
Susam-SaraevaSPerez-GonzalesL (2012) Non-professional translating and interpreting. The Translator18: 149–66.
39.
TansleyC (2011) What do we mean by the term ‘talent’ in talent management?Industrial and Commercial Training43(5): 266–74.
40.
TansleyCKirkSTietzeS (2013) The currency of talent management. A reply to “talent management and the relevance of context. Towards a pluralistic approach”. Human Resource Management Review23(4): 337–40.
41.
TariqueISchulerRS (2010) Global talent management: literature review, integrative framework, and suggestions for further research. Journal of World Business45: 122–33.
42.
TietzeS (2004) Spreading the management gospel – in English. Language and Intercultural Communication4: 175–89.
43.
TietzeS (2010) International managers as translators. European Journal of International Management4(2): 184–99.
44.
VaimanVHaslbergerA (eds) (2013) Talent Management of Self-Initiated Expatriates: A Neglected Source of Global Talent. London: Palgrave MacMillan.
45.
VaimanVHoldenN (2011) Talent management in central and eastern Europe: challenges and trends. In: CollingsDScullionH (eds) Smart Talent Management: Building Knowledge Assets for Competitive Advantage. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 1–15.
46.
VenutiL (1995) The Translator’s Invisibility. A History of Translation. London: Routledge.
47.
WatsonTJ (1995) Rhetoric, discourse and argument in organizational sense-making: a reflexive tale. Organization Studies16(5): 805–20.
48.
WelchCPiekkariR (2006) Crossing language boundaries: qualitative interviewing in international business. Management International Review46: 417–37.
49.
XianH (2008) Lost in translation: Language, culture and roles of translators in cross-cultural management research. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management3: 231–45.
