Talent Conceptualisations, Talent Management Bundles and Their Drivers in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Polycontextual Perspective

While research shows that talent management (TM) can be a catalyst of effectiveness for large organisations, few studies explore TM in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Most of these focus on single sectors or utilise large samples that do not fully capture how phenomena vary across industries. Additionally, there is limited focus on TM bundles in SMEs, despite research in the human resource management (HRM) literature accentuating their significance. To advance understanding of how and why talent conceptualisations and TM bundles vary, we utilise matching theory and new institutionalism and draw insights from 12 Greek SMEs spanning three key industries: hospitality and tourism (HT), health, and information, communication and technology (ICT). Results reveal an industry-specific talent nucleus highlighting similar talent characteristics linked to institutional forces, but also differences, in line with matching theory. Further, we identify five different TM bundles, labelled as directionless, cost minimiser, extrinsic motivator, talent maker, and commitment maximiser, which vary across industries. SMEs converged to commitment-maximising TM bundles in the ICT industry and diverged in the HT and health industries, reflecting alignment or tensions among institutional and organisational factors. We argue that theory-based empirical research across industries enables a more systematic understanding of TM in SMEs.