This study aims to prove the infl uence of talent management (TM) practices on competitive advantage (CA) in internationalized Russian firms. As a phenomenon, TM is rather new and controversial in the emerging-market context, and despite the amount of research devoted to TM practices, there is little said about how TM influences CA in emerging-market firms. This study explores the peculiarities of TM practices in Russian companies and empirically proves a positive relationship between TM practices and CA in the emerging-market context. The article identifies a number of specific TM practices that influence CA. We argue that succession planning and career development have the greatest impact on CA in Russian firms.