Abstract:
Multinational companies (MNCs) have become the most significant players in world trade, with the world’s 100
largest MNCs now controlling approximately 20 per cent of global foreign assets. However, MNCs as they grow
out of their national borders into foreign countries face a problem managing people because they often find
themselves in a dilemma as to how to find equilibrium with regard to parent company’s HRM policies and
practices and local environmental factors in the location of the subsidiary. In the face of the complexities and the
problems associated with the dilemma, MNCs attempt to build synergy between the two extremes for an option
beneficial to both subsidiary and parent company. The purpose of this paper is to assess how the central HRM
problem is managed along the path to synergy building. The paper uses the dilemma theory as the main tool and
predominantly popular and academic literature on MNCs HRM transfers for the assessment. Major contributions
are the development of cycle of cross-border HRM dilemma; cross-border HRM transfer framework; and path to
cross-border HRM synergy building. A key finding is that parent company has greater influence in the trade-off
thereby advancing, to a greater extent, the global integration option of the dilemma
