The article combines consideration of the range of contextual factors that impact on management strategy and HR in the post‐merger period (such as corporate structures and cultures, pressures from shareholders and regulatory and legal environments at national and international level) with an examination of the interests and power of various groups of actors within the firm. Specifically, we apply a framework which integrates the insights of market‐based, institutionalist and micro‐political approaches. We locate our analysis within the relevant international HRM literature, most notably recent debates concerning multinational corporation (MNC) merger dynamics. International mergers and acquisitions provide particularly useful scenarios through which to explore the interdependence between choice and constraint, illustrated here by processes of negotiation, compromise and balance across a range of issues in several case study organisations. The key areas highlighted concern: (1) the integration of HR strategies, and (2) processes of post‐merger rationalisation.
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