Knowledge and organizational performance in franchised restaurants in Colombia

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to analyze the importance of knowledge in reaching organizational objectives (long-term organizational goals) and in constructing competitive advantage (value-added) and identifying the impact of this knowledge on organizational performance of franchised restaurants in an emerging market.

Design/methodology/approach

Likert-scale surveys were applied to 50 managers representing 80% of the franchised restaurant business in Bogotá, Colombia. Data processing was performed through descriptive statistics, multiple correspondences analysis (MCA) and logit regression (LR).

Findings

Results indicate that 1) of the set of factors that contribute to the achievement of franchise objectives, personnel motivation and continuous environmental scanning are the most important; 2) the primary sources of knowledge for construction of competitive advantage are clients and providers; and 3) the most significant impact of knowledge occurs in human resource and organizational development and in increased earnings.

Practical implications

The study provides evidence of the role and the impact of knowledge in the performance of franchised restaurants and thereby contributes to academic analysis and managerial decision-making.

Originality

This study provides aggregated and disaggregated analysis of empirical data on the role of knowledge in franchised restaurants, a sector with limited extant research in the context of emerging markets.

Citation

Bernal, C.-A., Amaya, N., Gaviria-Peñaranda, A. and Zwerg-Villegas, A.M. (2021), "Knowledge and organizational performance in franchised restaurants in Colombia", International Journal of Emerging Markets, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 517-536. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-04-2019-0322