From May 28 to 30, Francisco Morales, researcher at the Human Development Lab, participated in the Strategy Science Conference 2026 at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he presented the paper “A Unique Blend: How Immigrant Talent Combinations Affect Organizational Performance.” The study was co-authored with Britta Glennon and Exequiel Hernandez (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Seth Carnahan (Washington University in St. Louis).
The research examines how immigrant talent shapes organizational performance. While previous studies have focused on workforce diversity, the authors argue that an important but often overlooked factor is how distinctive an organization’s talent composition is relative to its competitors.
Two organizations may employ equally diverse workforces, yet one may stand out because its mix of talent is uncommon within its competitive environment. In this sense, what matters is not only how many foreign-born professionals an organization hires, but also how different that composition is from those of competing organizations.
To investigate this question, the researchers use data from European professional football between 1990 and 2019, a setting where both workforce composition and organizational performance can be observed in detail. The dataset includes professionals from 138 countries and allows the authors to examine how different talent compositions are associated with competitive success.
The findings show that organizations with more distinctive immigrant talent compositions achieve better performance. The results remain consistent even when using a measure of distinctiveness that organizations themselves do not control, based on the profiles competitors have recently faced. This approach helps isolate the effect of uniqueness from other organizational decisions.
According to the authors, the advantage arises because distinctive talent compositions are more difficult for competitors to anticipate. When organizations prepare by interacting with competitors that share similar profiles, they are less effective when facing an organization whose workforce composition differs from what they have encountered before.
“The strategic question is not only how much immigrant talent organizations should hire, but also what type of talent they should hire relative to their competitors. Organizations may benefit from developing talent compositions that are difficult to anticipate and replicate,” said Morales.
Beyond its contribution to the literature on migration and workforce diversity, the research highlights the importance of considering talent composition as a strategic decision. The findings suggest that organizations can benefit not only from diversity itself, but also from developing distinctive combinations of skills and backgrounds that differentiate them from competitors.
In addition to presenting his research, Morales served on the Scientific Committee of the conference, contributing to the evaluation and selection of papers included in the academic program. The conference brought together scholars from around the world working on strategy, organizations, and management research, providing a forum to discuss new evidence and emerging ideas in the field.
