Globally distributed talent communities: A typology of innovation problems and talent characteristics

As the world moves toward the “New Normal” with borderless innovation and remote work, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) are increasingly involved in tapping talent that is external to organizational boundaries. This study distills learnings from the use of globally distributed external talent that has been facilitated by innovation intermediaries, a development that holds significant managerial implications for the post-COVID industrial era. Moving beyond the conventional and recognized need for global talent management practices, we provide a perspective on talent management outside organizational boundaries, a topic that that has received limited attention so far. Through the lenses of open innovation and talent management, we define a typology of innovation problems on the basis of latent talent needs. We take a step further, and for each problem type, we identify the competencies that are relevant, the reward mechanisms of the intermediaries, and the extent of collaboration required with internal talent. This typology provides a basis for researchers in the talent management community to study talent acquisition and management strategies of MNEs across various contexts and various innovation needs.     

Rural Bangladeshi consumers’ (un)willingness to pay for low-milled rice: Implications for zinc biofortification

Zinc deficiency is a severe public health problem in Bangladesh. We examine the effects of nutritional information on rural consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for two ways to increase zinc intake through rice, the main staple crop–low-milling that gives rice grains a distinctive light brown color (a visible trait) and sets it apart from the culturally preferred high-milled white rice grain and biofortification of rice with increased zinc content (an invisible trait), which is also low-milled to retain maximum zinc content. Results of our economic experiments suggest that with nutritional information, consumers are willing to pay a premium of 4.6% for zinc biofortified rice compared to non-biofortified rice, when milled at the same level. However, results confirm the strong preference for high-milled rice by Bangladeshi consumers who discounted low-milled rice by 8%–10% even after receiving information on the nutritional benefits of biofortified or low-milled rice. We find that consumers’ WTP for the two high-zinc-low-milled rice types (biofortified and non-biofortified) is positively correlated with being a female, more educated, belonging to households engaged in non-farm activities and with children under 5 years of age. Results point to the importance of nutritional awareness campaigns for increasing zinc biofortified and low-milled rice consumption and guiding the targeting strategy for such campaigns. Given the consumer preference for high-milled rice, this study also points to the need for exploring the rice fortification strategy to address the challenge of malnutrition.