Abstract
Interest in international human resource management (IHRM) has seen a rapid growth especially in the last five years. This interest has emerged from a wide range of perspectives, some of which reflect a piecemeal approach to improving certain aspects of the subject while neglecting to pay sufficient attention to the underlying purpose of international assignments. For example, the dominant socio-psychological theme is likely to give the misleading impression that IHRM is all about looking after the welfare and social needs of expatriates. This paper argues that the theory and practice of IHRM can be improved by bringing together the existing wide range of activities and perspectives within a framework of knowledge and learning.