Global work arrangements and talent management in the born-virtual organization: The case of Automattic

Global work arrangements tend to be particularly problematic for the Virtual Organization, to the extent that there is a vast literature emphasising the challenges that these companies need to face in identifying, attracting, developing and retaining talent on a global scale. What is particularly striking is that both the vast literature on global work arrangements and on global talent management is exclusively based on the experience of companies that have started assuming the physiognomy of Virtual Organizations more or less recently but were not actually born that way from their outset such as Born Virtual Organizations. By contrast, drawing on the experience of Automattic, a Born Virtual Organization, the chapter outlines how the company has successfully addressed such challenges by implementing Global Talent Management in a very peculiar way. From the findings, it emerges that stemming from their experience there are some exemplary and valuable lessons for all Virtual Organizations regardless of their evolution on how to embrace Global Talent Management in a more creative way and the great benefits in terms of efficiency and effectiveness that can flow from doing so.