Abstract
This doctoral thesis examines the experiences of frontier workers in Luxembourg and the issues and implications of frontier working in Luxembourg, viewed from a Talent Management perspective. Adopting an interview research strategy, the study involved key informants from the three bordering countries, Germany, France and Belgium. Although Talent Management, as a theme in business and management, has recently received growing attention, academic activities dealing with the experiences of the participating stakeholders do not reflect its importance. To date, there is scarce evidence or research on frontier working, and what little data that exist is mainly numerical. This study aims to address this gap. The research topic appears in the frameworks of International Human Resources Management and Global Talent Management, and is based on an underlying practical issue originating from the necessity of employing talented frontier workers to fill the gap in talent supply in Luxembourg. Looking at Talent Management as an HR practice, a qualitative, inductive research approach was adopted, using semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with two groups of key informants, frontier workers and HR managers. The interviews were conducted in the participan mother tongue either German, French or Luxembourgish hence exploring Talent Management in languages other than English, which, up until now, has been dominant in research. Furthermore, the study offers a novel approach to the so far US- and UK-focused research, as it explores Talent Management in Luxembourg, where almost fifty percent of the workforce iscomposed of frontier workers. In order to answer the research question, the data collected were analysed through thematic analysis to identify significant patterns and themes in each of the 35 interviews. In response to the research question, the findings reveal that frontier working in Luxembourg can be categorized as a dominant and relevant phenomenon. It can be concluded that frontier working does have a significant impact on the Talent Management practices as applied by organizations. Overall, this research provides insights into the increasing importance of frontier working and develops an understanding of the issues in order to inform practice. The study therefore helps to close the gap in the research about the phenomenon of frontier working and its implications for HR practice in relation to Talent Management. This work responds to Collings and Mellahi´s (2009) call for more empirical research on the experiences of talented employees and suggests that TM in Luxembourg is an as yet under-researched topic. The conclusions of this study inform empirical research, theory about frontier working and related concepts. Hence it contributes to a better understanding of frontier working as a thus-far under-explored phenomenon. This study has implications for business and management, as it is relevant for practitioners as well as academic research in International Human Resource Management and Global Talent Management. The study concludes with implications for both existing or future frontier workers and HR departments in organizations in Luxembourg that employ frontier workers and outlines the conclusions for future research.