Talent management in China and India: A comparison of management perceptions and human resource practices Fang Lee Cooke a,b, *, Debi S. Saini c,1 , Jue Wang d a School of International Business, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, PR China b Department of Management, Monash University, 26 Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield East, Melbourne, VIC 3145, Australia c Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, Haryana 122001, India d School of International Business, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, 555 Liu Tai Da Dao, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 610030, PR China 1. Introduction Talent-management (TM) studies have largely been conducted in the context of developed economies (e.g. Cappelli, 2008, 2009; Jones, Whitaker, Seet, & Parkin, 2012; McDonnell, Hickey, & Gunnigle, 2011; Collings, Scullion, & Vaiman, 2011). While this emerging body of literature has made a significant contribution in advancing our knowledge on TM, both conceptually and empiri- cally, it is very much from a western lens of what has been going on and/or what should be done strategically if firms were to remain competitive in the global economy (e.g. Schuler, Jackson, & Tarique, 2011). Although a small, albeit growing, number of studies have also emerged that investigate TM practices and challenges in different societal contexts (e.g. Bhatnagar, 2007; Iles, Chuai, & Preece, 2010; Wang-Cowham, 2011), few, if any, comparative studies have been conducted systematically to understand how managers in China and India conceptualize the notion of talent and operationalize talent management; and the extent to which these perceptions and practices may be similar or different from those found in western contexts. This is an important research gap for three main reasons. First, China and India together make up over one-third of the world’s population, both with a large, young workforce that is increasingly well educated and eager to succeed. Second, China and India are two of the largest economies in the world, ranked second and tenth respectively in 2012, and are projected to ascend further (CNN Money, undated). They are not only popular destinations for inward foreign investment, but are also becoming major investing countries in other less-developed countries in Asia and Africa, as well as being emerging investors in developed countries. The capability of TM of Chinese and Indian firms has strong implications for the effective management of human resources to a large proportion of the global workforce and economies. Third, HRM practices in general, and TM more specifically, are heavily influenced by institutional and cultural factors specific to each society. As Paauwe (2004) argues, it is the way standard practices (as defined by legislation and institutional norms) are implemented and the use of additional distinctive practices that give rise to competitive advantage to firms. Whilst China and India have often been mentioned as two major emerging economies that shared many similar (cultural) features, distinctive characteristics between the two nations are often overlooked that underpin the differences in their approaches to TM. Although many of the HR challenges faced by firms in different parts of the world are similar, the (effective) solution to these problems may require context-sensitive interventions. A systematic study of how Journal of World Business 49 (2014) 225–235 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Available online 11 December 2013 Keywords: China India Talent management Rewards Culture Strategic HRM A B S T R A C T This study investigates how the concept of talent is understood, what talent management practices are in place, and what talent-management challenges may be confronting firms in China and India through the perspectives of 178 non-HR managers. The study reveals the centrality of materialistic values in the evolving, contemporary employment relationships in the two countries. The findings shed light on the different needs of capacity-building for the HR institutions in each of the two countries, as well as the need to adopt a more particularistic (vs. a universalist) approach to conceptualizing and operationalizing talent management in the international context. ß 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Department of Management, Monash University, 26 Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield East, Melbourne, VIC 3145, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 99034666. E-mail addresses: fang.cooke@monash.edu (F.L. Cooke), debisaini@mdi.ac.in (D.S. Saini), juewang8236@swufe.edu.cn (J. Wang). 1 Tel.: +91 124 456 0305. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of World Business jo u r nal h o mep age: w ww.els evier .co m/lo c ate/jwb 1090-9516/$ – see front matter ß 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2013.11.006