Book excerpt: Executives everywhere acknowledge that finding, retaining, and growing talent counts among their toughest business challenges. Yet to address this concern, many are turning to talent management practices that no longer work--because the environment they were tailored to no longer exists. In today's uncertain world, managers can't forecast their business needs accurately, never mind their talent needs. An open labor market means inevitable leaks in your talent pipeline. And intensifying competition demands a maniacal focus on costs. Traditional investments in talent management wind up being hugely expensive, especially when employees you've carefully cultivated leave your firm for a rival. In Talent on Demand, Peter Cappelli examines the talent management problem through a radical new lens. Drawing from state-of-the-art supply chain management and numerous company examples, he presents four new principles for ensuring that your organization has the skills it needs--when it needs them. In this book, you'll discover how to: � Balance developing talent in-house with buying it on the open market � Improve the accuracy of your talent-need forecasts � Maximize returns on your talent investments � Replicate external job market dynamics by creating an in-house market that links available talent to jobs Practical and provocative, Talent on Demand gives you the ideas and tools you'll need to match the supply of talent to your demand for it--today and tomorrow.