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The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for building successful franchise partnerships. The model examines the influence of communication and trust on satisfaction and performance in franchise partnerships, considering that franchises are based on franchisor-franchisee and franchisor-supplier relationships.

The unit of analysis refers to the relationships that the franchisor maintains with the franchisees and the main supplier, from the franchisor’s perspective. A mail survey of 592 franchises was conducted by means of a structured, self-administered questionnaire for data collection. A total of 98 valid questionnaires were received and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results indicate that communication between franchise partners is related to satisfaction through trust. In fact, communication is a major precursor of trust. Findings also show the direct influence of trust on satisfaction in both relationships. Finally, results evidence that developing satisfactory relationships between partners improves strategic and operational franchise outcomes.

The use of the questionnaire limits the approach to information gathering. In addition, the study focused on the franchisor’s perspective of the relationships and it would be interesting to include other partners’ opinions. Further, research should broaden the study scope to include other factors of franchise partnerships.

This study provides franchisors with guidelines to develop satisfactory relationships. It recommends that franchisors design adequate programs to create, maintain, and enhance franchise partnerships, and also to improve a trust-based culture.

The analysis is conducted taking into consideration the franchisor-franchisee relationship and the franchisor-supplier relationship. Measurement scales are developed and validated for both relationships.

This study aims to examine how two types of trust affect five key franchisee attitudes/behaviors within a setting where franchisees have strong contractual ties to the franchisor. The five attitudes/behaviors are: identification and satisfaction with the franchisor, compliance and non‐compliance with franchisor directives, and perceived relationship quality. These attitudes/behaviors were chosen because research has found each to affect franchise performance.

The model in the paper features two trusting beliefs that influence attitudes/behaviors. The study gathers US franchisee questionnaire data then analyzes the model using partial least squares techniques.

Trusting belief‐competence was found to reduce non‐compliance with the franchisor, and also increase identification with the franchisor. Both trusting belief‐competence and trusting belief‐honesty were found to enhance satisfaction with the franchisor and perceived relationship quality. Neither of these two trusting beliefs was found to influence compliance with franchisor directives. Perceived mutual commitment appears to strongly influence both trusting beliefs, whereas length of time as a franchisee does not.

The findings support relational contracting theory, showing that even within a contract, trust exerts a significant influence on vital franchisee attitudes. Other research shows these attitudes/behaviors influence franchise performance, though the present study does not measure performance.

The results suggest franchisee trust is key to the ongoing franchise relationship. Hence, franchisors should try to build franchisee trust. They can do so by enhancing mutual commitment and by supplying well‐conceived new products and marketing campaigns.

This study clearly shows the value of franchisee trust and suggests several ways to build it.

This paper aims to identify and evaluate the factors which influence relationship development between franchisors and franchisees in international service franchise partnerships.

Case studies of two international hotel firms were the focus of the enquiry. Interviews and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques.

Findings demonstrate that role performance, asset specificity and cultural sensitivity influence relationship development in franchise partnerships. The influence of these factors, however, varies in different forms of franchise partnerships, namely individual and master franchises.

The findings are based on case studies in the international hotel industry and therefore may not be generalizable to other industry sectors.

Service firms should adopt a systematic organization‐wide approach to, and management of, relationship development in franchise partnerships. In particular, in the case of cross‐country partnerships, both franchisors and franchisees need to develop and exploit their inter‐cultural skills and adapt their business practices to the cultures of host and home countries where appropriate.

The paper exploits three main streams of research which could inform the antecedents of business‐to‐business relationships, namely power‐dependence, transaction cost theories and international business. It thus advances services marketing and more specifically international franchising literatures by offering a holistic theoretical perspective to our understanding of business‐to‐business relationship development.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the important role of training (specifically, training relevance and training transfer) in enhancing franchisor-franchisee relationship satisfaction, and its influence upon customer performance (e.g., customer satisfaction, quality service), all driven by an internal marketing (IM) culture.

An empirical study consisting of a questionnaire was conducted on a final sample of 157 individuals who are members of the franchise system. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results reveal that IM culture has a direct influence on training relevance; likewise, training relevance provides a positive and significant effect on training transfer, which does directly affect franchisor-franchisee relationship satisfaction and at least also impacts indirectly on customer performance.

In order to ensure the success of the franchise system and customer satisfaction, all franchise parties should take a proactive role in the configuration of the training programmes. This proactive role should be conformed based on an IM culture developed properly by the franchise to strengthen a successful long-term relationship.

This paper provides an innovative approach to strengthen the franchisor-franchisee relationship through training based on the IM culture. This exploratory study integrates different theoretical frameworks that, to our knowledge, have not been linked, such as IM culture and franchise literature, considering the franchisee as an internal customer who has an influence on external customer satisfaction, with training and training transfer as essential key factors.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of fairness on relationship quality and re-contract intention in the foodservice franchise industry and this paper intends to delineate the implications of enhancing the mutual relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee in the future domestic foodservice franchise system.

To prevent the lack of reliability and to pursue the internal consistency of the measurement model, this study adopted SPSS (Ver.20.0) and derived Cronbach’s alpha. Additionally, this study conducted a confirmatory factor analysis by using AMOS (Ver.20.0) program to assess the unidimensionality of measurements. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized research framework.

The results showed that distributive fairness and informational fairness increase the relationship quality, which franchisees perceive under the franchise system. Among the relationship quality factor, only the trust has a considerable impact on the (performance) re-contract intention. The effect of fairness on relationship quality does not show a statistically considerable difference between the two groups (global franchise vs domestic franchise). However, in terms of a global franchise, distributive fairness has a significant impact on relationship quality, whereas domestic franchise, distributive fairness directly affects performance (re-contract intention).

This study provides readers with an effect of fairness in the franchise system. Results obtained in this study are useful for understanding the fairness and relationship quality in the franchise system.

Recently, as the foodservice franchise market is experiencing significant growth, government and franchise-related agencies are making considerable effort to improve the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee and to offer a better system and policy concerning the protection of consumers. Government and franchise agencies should develop an adequate policy to improve the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee by breaking away from the imprudent support.

This study investigates whether fairness in the franchise system has a significant effect on the relationship quality and the performance (re-contract intention) and provides implication about the mutual growth between franchisor and franchisee to the potential food service franchise in Korea.

This paper aims to evaluate the antecedents of franchise relationship development from the perspective of a sample of Chinese and Turkish franchisees.

This study explores relationship development through semi-structured interviews with Chinese and Turkish franchisees.

The findings of the study demonstrated that both the culturally adapted role performance of franchisors and communication geared towards knowledge transfer contribute to relationship development with franchisees.

This exploratory study evaluated the influence of role performance and communication as factors influencing relationship development. Further research could explore other factors in other countries and industries.

To build and develop long-term relationships with franchisees, franchisors need to invest in continuously improving their franchise infrastructures and enhancing their brand reputations. Communication and knowledge transfer between the franchisors and the franchisees are crucial for the management of dynamic relationships.

This paper advances franchising literature by offering a combined and complementary theoretical perspective to our understanding of the influence of power and social investments in relationship development between franchisees and franchisors. In particular, the study identifies role performance of franchisor and communication with franchisees as the key antecedents of relationship development.

Although research in franchising is currently experiencing an advancement in the investigation of behavioural attributes, the motivators and perceptions of participants within this partnership, the key variables of trust and commitment, a key to successful business relations, requires further insight. The purpose of this paper is to extend the idiosyncratic dynamics of the franchisor‐franchisee relationship and the influence of such constructs from a distance perspective. Seminal work on relationship marketing (Morgan and Hunt) forms the foundation in the development of the franchising relational dynamics model posed within this paper.

This paper adopts a qualitative, case‐based approach of four Australian retail franchises with holdings in New Zealand. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 20 franchisees to derive perceptions on trust and commitment currently experienced within the franchise relationship to inform the resultant findings.

Key findings suggest trust and commitment are limited or non‐existent within franchise systems if the provision of consistent, transparent communication is absent or minimal, increasing the propensity for dysfunctional agent‐based behaviour. Three major antecedents for success of a franchise system exist: goal congruence, organisational culture, and communication. Minimal levels of commitment and trust exist where distance affects the stated antecedents.

This research is exploratory with the findings providing an imperative for further investigation in the management of human factors within franchise systems as opposed to transactional‐based foci in many current studies. Theoretical development adopting a relationship marketing focus from a distance perspective rather than the transaction‐based approach of a single country adds to existing research. This paper is limited to analysis of franchisees' perceptions. Future research should look at both franchisor and franchisee perspectives.

Research of perceptions of individual franchisees, trust and commitment within the franchise relationship is limited within the Asia‐Pacific region. Findings of possible dynamic differences in the franchisor/franchisee dyad provide initial evidence advancing and informing both academic and managerial practice.

The purpose of this study is to explore the franchise relationship in China, focusing on the relational constructs of power, control, support and conflict in this developing franchise environment. Agency theory has dominated franchise research. A more rounded theoretical interpretation of the franchising relationship is offered by employing both agency theory and institutional theory perspectives.

The study adopts an interpretive approach, employing in-depth interviews with franchisors and franchisees in nine franchise organisations operating in the retail sector in China. It contributes a fuller understanding of how to manage the research process in China.

The study reveals how the relational constructs of power, control, support and conflict are manifest in the franchise relationship in China. The explanatory power of agency theory is apparent when viewed in terms of the vertical agency problem. However, free-riding outside the franchise system, in the form of counterfeiting, mitigates against the occurrence of free-riding within it. With regard to institutional theory, we demonstrate that the regulatory institutional pillar is a crucial foundation for the franchise relationship.

The study offers insights for franchisors and franchisees considering franchise relationships in China.

For the first time in the literature, this study offers insights into key elements of the franchise relationship in China. Employing both agency and institutional theories facilitates a rounded explanation of the developing franchise environment in China.

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.

As international retailers continue to employ franchising as a major method of market entry, the control of these international retail franchise networks becomes of significant importance. The aim of this paper is to examine the methods by which UK‐based international fashion franchisors control franchisees and their international franchise businesses.

The paper employs a qualitative methodology and a multiple case design. Six UK‐based fashion retailers with international franchise operations form the empirical basis of the study.

The franchise contract, support mechanisms, franchise partner selection, the franchise relationship and the use of master/area franchising were found to be the major methods by which international retail franchisors exert control over their franchise networks. While coercive and non‐coercive sources of power were identified in the form of the franchise contract and support mechanisms, the paper also identifies sources of relationship power and organisational power.

The paper provides practical information to existing international franchisors and those firms considering the move into the international marketplace via the franchise mode of operation. By highlighting additional sources of power in the form of organisational and relationship power, franchisors are offered further means by which to control their international businesses than hitherto identified in the international franchise literature.

Traditional franchise research suggests that there is a dichotomy in the sources of power available to franchisors, that is, coercive or non‐coercive sources of power. While acknowledging the existence and importance of these sources of power and their related methods of control, this paper adds further dimensions to the academic debate by introducing relationship power and organisational power. Therefore, franchise partner selection, the franchise relationship and the use of master/area franchising emerge from the qualitative findings as further control mechanisms available to international retail franchisors.