Building Sustainable Competitive Advantage through Talent Management Strategies: A Resource Based Perspective on Chinese Tech SMEs

In the knowledge-based economy, talent is increasingly recognized as a key strategic asset for organizations seeking to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, particularly in technology based small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in China.This study investigates the impact of four core dimensions of talent management strategies, namely talent identification, talent attraction, talent development, and talent retention, on sustainable competitive advantage.Although talent management has attracted growing attention in strategic human resource management research, limited empirical evidence exists on how these distinct strategic dimensions influence competitive outcomes within the SMEs context.This study adopts a quantitative approach by collecting survey data from senior managers working in Chinese technology-based SMEs.The data are analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling to evaluate both the measurement and structural models.The results indicate that all four talent management strategies have a significant and positive influence on sustainable competitive advantage.Among them, talent talent identification and talent attraction show the strongest effects.These findings contribute to the literature by offering a more detailed application of the Resource Based View in understanding talent management strategy and by providing practical guidance for SME leaders aiming to strengthen their long-term competitiveness through strategic talent capital investments.