Abstract
Purpose – After a thorough literature review on multinational learning, it is apparent organizations
“learn” when they capitalize on expatriate management, a “learning strategy” (international work
teams, employee involvement and other human resource policies), technology transfer and political
environment and cross-cultural adaptation. This suggests learning is possible when control
mechanisms are relaxed or reduced, resulting in an ambiguous relationship between multinational
learning and control. There has been no research on the relationship between learning and control
largely due to this assumption of ambiguity and this paper attempts to overcome this gap by
presenting a holistic approach to multinational learning and control. This paper posits that focusing
on optimizing learning and control through flexible IHRM policies is a globally sustainable approach
to MNE management. The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework designed to
address two major issues in international management: organizational learning and managerial
control.