Talent Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry: Evidence from Iran

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the notion of talent in the tourism and hospitality (TH) industry, proposing a comprehensive talent management (TM) model that is specific to this industry. This study primarily explores the notion of talent, TM, and the importance of these in the industry. A mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative) was used to fulfill the research objectives. Qualitative content analysis was used to address interview responses from a panel of experts and a survey method was applied to collect data from a wider industry population through questionnaires. The data collected were analysed in SPSS and LISREL. Based on the findings, a model is proposed for talent definition in the Iranian TH industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Talent management
• hospitality industry
• competency
• Iran
• human resource management
• commitment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Moslem Bagheri

Moslem Bagheri obtained a PhD in Human Resource Management from Tehran University in 2012. He joined Shiraz University in 2012 as an Assistant Professor in Tourism Management and his main research interests include HRM and tourism management.

Tom Baum

Tom Baum is Professor of Tourism Employment in the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow and Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Tourism and Hospitality in the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abolghasem Ebrahimi

Abolghasem Ebrahimi is Associate Professor in Shiraz University and holds a PhD in Marketing Management from Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran.

Abbas Abbasi

Abbas Abbasi is Associate Professor in Shiraz University and holds a PhD in Organizational Behaviour and HRM from Isfahan University, Isfahan.