Talent management (TM), knowledge management (KM), and high-performance work systems (HPWS) are all HR practices, which if used effectively, can help an organization achieve a competitive advantage. To avoid any confusion, you should distinguish between the first two, which are often seen as related concepts. TM practices are those used by an organization to identify, acquire, and generate the talented human capital needed to reach HR and strategic goals. They are aimed at acquiring “talent.” The central idea behind TM is that an organization can achieve a competitive advantage by developing and maintaining a set of unique talents throughout the organization.
TM is related to, yet distinct from, KM practices. KM practices are used to create and share knowledge throughout the organization, which often impacts the organization’s performance. The idea behind KM is to focus on how to leverage an employee’s or a manager’s knowledge (or human capital) to collectively add to the organizational knowledge. Then the organization can achieve a competitive advantage.
HPWS impact the performance of the organization through people. In particular, these systems impact productivity levels, quality, levels of customer service, and, ultimately, financial indicators of performance. Bundled systems of recruitment, selection, training and development, performance management, and incentive pay are all part of what is termed as HPWS. The primary goal of HPWS is to achieve a competitive advantage through the performance of people, by designing work and reward systems that motivate employees to achieve high levels of performance and facilitate employee engagement and skill enhancement.
Many of these HR practices are bundled to effectively provide a competitive advantage through the acquisition or development of people within the organization. The set of practices ultimately must be aligned to the context of the HR and organizational strategies and be bundled in a way to complement one another. In this Discussion, you analyze a few of these HR practices more in depth.
Write a cohesive and scholarly response based on your readings and research this week that addresses the following:

• Can organizations that utilize HR practices that focus on talent management, knowledge management, or high-performance work systems achieve and sustain a competitive advantage over their competition in a global environment? Why or why not? Be specific and provide references/examples from the literature.
• Which HR practice do you believe is the most critical for organizations to focus on to achieve or sustain a competitive advantage over their competition in a global environment and why? Be specific and provide examples.

All work must be original and in APA format. Please include an introduction, a conclusion and use at least 3 reference

Part I Influences on change (3 pages): Briefly describe an organization and a department where you work or have previously worked (I want to choose Starbucks as the company, and you can use anything position experience). Using the basic elements described in Organizational Change (chapters 1, 2, 4), determine the internal and external factors that will/has influence(d) the changing environment of the organization. Be certain to analyze organization/department structure and size, the scope and pace of change and the potential impact of internal and external factors (think PEST). The first half of the paper can be descriptive. The second half should include analysis of the benefits/detriments of organizational structure over time. (SLO 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3)
Part II Consulting report (3 pages): For this task, you assume the role of an external consultant. Your client is the firm that you previously identified. As an external consultant you have carefully studied (through document review and face-to-face interviews with employees) many of the factors and potential consequences of a significant proposed change. Using the first step from Kotter’s 8-step framework, prepare a conceptual paper that discusses how to create a sense of urgency among the employees and recommend some strategies to best communicate the change vision, allowing the change initiative maximum exposure and an opportunity of success. You should present strategies and tactics to maximize success of the proposed change. You must use an external “consultant voice.” (SLO 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 4.1)
APA format using font size 12. Double-space the lines of text. The minimum word count is 800 words and the maximum word count is 1,200 words for each part. add the word count on the final page of text.