Talent for services: how gaining access to talent enables successful servitization

Talent management has become a critical component of competitiveness and an important factor in an organisation's global business success. It has been traditionally deemed to be the sum of activities that specifically support a company’s strategic initiatives. However, most of the extant literature on the subject to date has been largely focused on methods for attracting talent and retaining it within an organisation, failing to recognise the importance of ‘accessing’ talent. This is a barrier that can limit the supply of skills and competences demanded in the marketplace, and is a fundamental factor in a firm´s strategic performance. This chapter quantitatively tests a company’s ability to ‘access’ qualified talent and how this affects its strategic orientation. The study focuses on servitisation in manufacturing industries, a process that creates organisational transformation and new roles with very specific skillsets. The study includes 285 servitised MMNEs from seven different industries, located in five different countries. The findings indicate that the ability to ‘access’ talent plays a key role in a firm`s strategic decisions. The evidence also suggests that companies that have ready access to qualified talent for servitisation tend to servitise at higher levels.