Why Do They Come Back? Returnees’ Presence, Talent Management and Firms’ Innovative Capabilities

Abstract

Investigation of returnees from developed countries and their effects for firms from emerging markets receives much attention in international business field. In particular, due to obtained international human and social capital, returnees contribute to economic and non-economic performance, internationalization, corporate social responsibility activities, innovativeness, and competitive advantage of companies in emerging markets where those returnees work. Returnees’ effect on innovative capabilities, i.e. antecedents of innovativeness, is dependent on the extent to which these individuals can share their knowledge and experience. As highly-skilled returnees may be considered talents, talent management (TM) system may facilitate knowledge sharing and eliminate possible issues in cross-cultural adaptation and integration. Using a sample of 80 Russian companies with returnee employees at different management levels, we show that TM practices aimed at attraction, development, and retention of returnees are positively associated with innovative capabilities and innovativeness of companies. Moreover, TM for returnees moderate positively the relationship between innovative capabilities and innovativeness in firms with returnee employees.