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Conversion franchising is a strategy where franchisors recruit existing franchisees from rival systems or by converting independent businesses to franchisees. The present research aims to investigate the attractiveness of conversion offers and the likelihood of such offers being accepted under different conditions of the franchising agreement.

Based on commitment theory and agency theory, it is hypothesised that conversion likelihood will be larger if the conversion offer is more attractive in terms of relational benefits, relational costs, the management of control in the franchise relationship, or perception of brand strength. The study comprises a qualitative phase followed by a scenario experiment held among 415 Australian business format franchisees across six industries.

The qualitative findings reveal a predominantly calculative attitude towards the franchise relationship. The experimental findings support that relational costs and perception of brand strength are unconditional drivers of conversion likelihood; however, the effects of relational benefits and power and control depend on the details of the conversion offer. Effects of relational benefits depend on the level of power and control. More experienced franchisees and service-based franchisees are more likely to convert.

The use of experimental case scenarios limits the external validity but enhances the internal validity by allowing control for factors that are difficult to account for in survey-based approaches. The study includes only franchisees from Australia although from a range of industries. The proposed methodology can be easily modified for other contexts.

The results can help franchisors tailor conversion proposals to suit specific conversion targets based on experience and industry type. Franchisors should generally focus on developing conversion proposals that are attractive in terms of perceived brand strength and relational costs. Relational benefits and management of power and control appear to play a role only in particular circumstances. For example, when no other factors differentiate the competitor, the management of power and control can make a difference in indicating franchise support quality and level of control among franchisees.

The study extends franchising research to the franchisee perspective and to a non-American context. It utilises an experimental approach that hitherto had not been applied in franchising research, allowing rigorous testing of hypotheses about franchise behaviour. Hypotheses are tested for different industry groups.

This article aims to contribute to the study of knowledge creation and management in business format franchising by focusing on the question of how franchisors can convert the tacit knowledge held by franchisees (such as insights, ideas, and hunches) to explicit knowledge.

The article is conceptual and is largely anchored on the assumptions of the knowledge management, theories of organisational learning and organisational knowledge creation theory.

The findings emphasise that the conversion of franchisees' tacit knowledge to new explicit knowledge is one of the key knowledge management practices required for successful business format franchising. Proposes that the concept of ba has much to offer in considering knowledge management in a business format franchise system.

With regard to future research avenues, conceptual and empirical studies are both needed to obtain a clearer understanding of the dynamic process of knowledge creation under business format franchising.

The article sensitises franchisors to think how knowledge is created under business format franchising, and in particular how the tacit knowledge that franchisees provide can be converted into the form of explicit knowledge. Underlines that franchisors can never control and direct dynamic process of knowledge creation among franchisees, but a franchisor can provide certain conditions that lead franchisees and other members of franchise system to create and disseminate knowledge.

The article proposes that both tacit and explicit knowledge under business format franchising are created in formal or informal groups encompassing bas that may span both horizontally and vertically throughout the business format franchise system.

Franchising has long been seen as an avenue into small business. For some, it offers opportunities to build up franchise systems, as franchisors, by cloning small business success in exchange for a royalty. For many others, as franchisees, it offers opportunities for self‐employment, combining elements of the independence normally associated with self‐employment allied with the security derived from association with a tried‐and‐tested business system. However, there is an ongoing debate, the ownership redirection thesis, which suggests that franchise systems will only characteristically seek to involve franchisees in their business growth strategies during the early phases of business development. Thereafter, when finance, human capital and local market intelligence resources are no longer at a premium, the thesis predicts, franchisors will reduce their dependence on franchising with franchisees the prime casualties. Assesses the available evidence on the ownership redirection thesis and offers some fresh data on the issue.

The spread of “second generation” franchise system use from a predominantly US base is examined. The focus is on Australia as one of the major recipient countries. Australia has moved rapidly through a process of adoption and imitation of US companies′ franchise systems in the 1970s and 1980s. Having applied the franchise system in domestic operations, a number of Australian companies have now begun to develop an international thrust, including an interest in the US market.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the current understanding of human resource management (HRM) challenges facing franchise businesses.

A qualitative investigation, including eight in-depth interviews and 66 semi-structured interviews with various franchise stakeholders as well as 42 participant observations, was conducted in North America to answer the research questions.

Six major conclusions emerged from the conceptual and empirical work. The findings, for instance, reveal that human resources in franchise businesses lacks in motivation and skills, and franchisees’ distance from the ideal mix of autonomy and risk-aversion determines psychological and financial distress in the system.

The findings suggest that when firms choose the franchising path as a means of leapfrogging resource constraints, they will experience new and more challenging HRM complications for several reasons. Therefore, decision-makers at both franchisor and franchisee firms need to address these new HRM challenges proactively by recognizing their possibility and emergence and by engaging in cooperative learning with one another.

While HRM practices can “make or break” franchise systems, some important research questions still remain unanswered in this context. In an attempt to narrow this gap, and using a qualitative approach, this work identifies and classifies the key HRM challenges facing the franchise industry. Based on the finding, a conceptual model is proposed and discussed.

This paper aims to extend current understanding of organisational choice theory through examining to what extent firm‐level factors influence the growth of franchisee‐owned mini‐chains within Australian franchise systems. In particular, this study examines how the age of the system, corporatisation of management processes, plurality of distribution, levels of intra‐firm conflict and franchise system complexity influence multiple unit franchising adoption.

A qualitative methodology was adopted to gain a clearer picture of the salient issues influencing multiple unit franchising adoption from the franchisor's perspective.

The research reveals that mature franchise systems in Australia use sequential methods of multiple unit franchising expansion in order to minimise adverse selection costs and leverage learning economies derived from previous experiences in managing intra‐firm channel relationships.

Industry‐specific influences and differences in managerial orientations may limit the predictive application of this study to all franchise systems. However, on balance the reflections offered by the participants provide a rich and valuable source of information about the factors influencing their willingness to encourage this growth strategy.

Franchisors need to consider upfront whether they are ready and able to encourage multiple unit ownership within their systems. Less experienced franchisors may need to corporatise operations, minimise channel conflict and introduce administrative support procedures to ensure the recruitment of suitable franchisee candidates who will assist in realising the franchisor's goals, thus promoting a harmonious franchising relationship.

Whereas, previous research has investigated motivations for encouraging multiple unit franchising, this paper supplements that literature by examining multiple unit franchising within Australia.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the business growth opportunities available from franchising in the UK and abroad.

The paper presents the value of franchising for strategic business development.

The paper finds that franchising is becoming one of the most popular methods for growing a business, particularly where international growth is an objective. It should be seriously considered by any business which operates through a network of outlets.

Just about any business that operates through a branch network could benefit from considering franchising as a development option. In simple terms, the advantages include quicker growth through more highly motivated operators, using someone else's money and effort, to open and run the outlets.

The paper highlights franchising as a development option for businesses that operate through a branch network.

Compares two of the largest and most recent examples of international franchising with Europe. Data collected from UK master franchisee personnel are used to illustrate how Friendly Hotels became the European master franchisee for Choice Hotels International and how Scotts Hotels became a major provider of Marriott International hotels in the UK. Focuses particularly on a comparison of the two relationships and on levels of product‐system transfer. Concludes by drawing out the issues relating to the introduction and marketing of international franchise brands.

In the two decades prior to 2000, the UK franchise industry showed substantial growth. Subsequently, however, this growth appears to have reached a plateau, with growth of less than 1 per cent. Franchisors suggest that the biggest barrier to growth is a lack of suitable franchisees. One possible reason for the dearth of potential franchisees is a lack of public awareness of franchising and the opportunities it affords for both self‐employment and small business development. This paper examines, therefore, public perceptions of franchising in the UK; how well the concept is understood, how it is perceived and the policy implications. The study is based on a sample of 1,257 members of the public surveyed in five city centres in the UK. The results reveal that approximately a fifth of those questioned had no comprehension of the term franchising, while a further third showed limited understanding. Only a tenth demonstrated a clear grasp of the term. The paper concludes that, if franchising is to continue to grow and to achieve its potential for the creation of self‐employment and the growth of small firms, public awareness needs to be raised and the image of the sector improved.

The primary purpose of this research is to investigate franchisees' satisfaction based on franchisors' pre‐opening support, central purchasing, congeniality and ongoing business support.

The sample was drawn from ice cream franchising operations in Seoul, South Korea, and its vicinity. Personal interviews were conducted, followed by a self‐administered questionnaire.

The franchisees learned about their business opportunities through friends and relatives. The brand recognition by the consumer is the major motive for franchisees to engage in franchising. While franchisees are least satisfied with their franchisors' ongoing business support, they are most satisfied with central purchasing support from the franchisor.

The study offers valuable insights for strategic management as to recruitment, selection, and ongoing support provided by franchisors.

This research is particularly valuable to franchisors who are contemplating expanding their franchising business internationally.