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As franchisees are perceived to be independent and self employed entrepreneurs, their ongoing development is frequently overlooked or poorly managed; particularly compared with the development opportunities for corporate staff in their support offices. The concern is that franchisees do not prioritise their own professional development due to their inability to diagnose and source appropriate training, their focus on immediate operational needs and a lack of free time to undergo development activities. As primary income generators of franchise businesses; organisational effectiveness and growth of the entire organisation rests on the abilities of the franchisees. This article examines one training program offered to franchisees at a major Australian franchise organisation. Through a survey of franchisees, some important lessons have been learned regarding the nature, scope and design of development initiatives for franchisees and some recommendations are provided to better manage franchisee development for the benefit of the entire organisation.

Examines the nature and success of corporate communication initiatives within a large retail franchise organization. Challenges faced by communication strategists in franchised organisations are discussed and initiatives for overcoming these barriers are outlined. Research conducted through Deakin University into franchisee awareness of, and support for, corporate instigated policy is outlined. The research, centred on corporate communication tools, found strong franchisee awareness of corporate policy with a few exceptions. Franchisee support for policies varied considerably. Recommendations for more effective communication between franchisors and franchisees include greater corporate initiated consultation and clearer promotion of core ideas that justify and explain rather than preach and demand.

Discusses a recent study into the level of satisfaction experienced by franchisees in the Australian restaurant sector. A model of consumer buying behaviour was used to identify the characteristics of both franchisers and franchisees which contribute to owner‐manager satisfaction with the purchase and operation of a franchised small business. The post‐purchase intentions of franchisees, were also investigated. Based on the survey findings from nine companies and 127 of their franchisee owner‐managers, provides prognostic and diagnostic frameworks to assist both franchisers and franchisees in their selection of a suitable business partner and in specifying appropriate remedial action in marginal franchised outlets.

Through an exploratory study, based on interviews with retail franchisees and franchisers belonging to the British Franchise Association, the operational nature of the relationship between franchisee and franchiser is explored. The views of franchisees and franchisers on the nature and level of their respective responsibilities throughout the relationship are sought, and differences in perceptions are pinpointed. The early findings suggest that, whilst apparently a franchise is an opportunity for a new entrant with no previous business experience, the whole process from vetting and training, through to trading, is in fact based on the assumption that the entrant is familiar with general business practice.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the conceptual relationship between the running royalty programs and the performance of a franchisee or franchisor. Thus, this paper will analyze the correlation of financial stability when the franchisor strengthens the running royalty policy at aspect of franchisor.

A model is presented and designed. The paper will analyze the causality which is affected by strengthening the profit structure with the running royalty program and also find out how the strengthened profit structure will affect and improve the franchisors' sustainable supports for the franchisees, service quality and service satisfactions.

Although the franchise industry is growing in Korea, the stability of business is still in doubt because the business cycle of the franchisor is shortened. This paper found the reasons why franchisors have unstable status in Korea. The main reason was the instability of profit structures for franchisors which are a burden to the franchisees which then worsen the franchisors' financial status. The biggest different from the US franchise industry was the running royalty program. So, this paper will apply the running royalty program politically to the franchise business in Korea and find out how it will affect the overall business cycle.

This study was limited to the Korean franchise industry and found out the factors which influence the franchisors' performance in various aspects. By analyzing with casual loop diagram, this paper found how each of the factors interact and bring out the positive feedback process. Also, it suggests a way of adopting the running royalty program into the Korean market.

Despite the significance of knowledge sharing for competitive advantage in networked businesses like franchising systems, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding regarding the strategic value of knowledge sharing in the context of franchising. In particular, the specific contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in facilitating interorganizational knowledge exchange among franchising members remains inadequately understood, particularly in emerging economies. Therefore, this study aims to explore the mechanisms involved in the knowledge-sharing process facilitated by a virtual learning environment (VLE) within franchising networks and examine the role of VLEs in facilitating knowledge.

This study uses a multiple-case study approach involving 24 franchisees and the franchisor within a Brazilian franchising network operating in the furniture market to examine the role played by a VLE.

The results of the study reveal that the introduction of a VLE has played a significant role in fostering enhancements in the knowledge-sharing process among the franchisor and franchisees in the network. Moreover, the results indicate that VLEs play a significant role in overcoming geographical obstacles, thereby enabling efficient knowledge sharing between franchisees and franchisors operating in extensive territorial contexts. Finally, findings indicate that intracommercial competition acts as a prominent barrier, leading to low levels of cooperation and knowledge-sharing intent among franchisees within the network.

This study contributes to the existing knowledge by enhancing the understanding of how ICTs can facilitate knowledge sharing in organizations operating within franchising systems. Furthermore, this paper advances the comprehension of the role of networking franchising configuration and governance in supporting organizational improvements. Additional actionable insights are provided.

Although multiple forms of governance mechanisms have been studied to address the opportunistic behavior in franchising, research has not shed light on franchise systems operating in emerging markets despite exponential growth in these markets. To address this gap, this study aims to test the direct effects of different governance mechanisms on franchisee’s opportunism and moderating effects of franchisee’s relationship satisfaction on the relationship between different governance mechanisms and franchisee’s opportunism.

Survey data from 151 franchise owners were used to test the conceptual model and research hypotheses. The confirmatory factor model and structural equation model were tested by using AMOS.

Findings suggest that formalization and solidarity in franchising relationships negatively affect franchise opportunism. By contrast, franchisees, who are otherwise satisfied with their franchisor, find centralization and formalization oppressive and, therefore, engage in opportunistic activities.

The study makes important contributions related to franchising in emerging markets. It addresses opportunistic behavior by franchisees in emerging markets and the role played by different governance mechanisms in curbing such behavior. The study has some limitations related to its cross-sectional design and its focus on a single emerging country, among others.

This study is among the first to examine the role of governance mechanisms to address franchisee’s opportunism in an emerging market context. The study’s findings have important theoretical and practical implications for governance design in business-to-business relationships in emerging markets.

This study aims to study research on franchise chain performance that has focused on franchisors’ efforts to align their interests with those of franchisees to address partner uncertainty. In contrast, the question of what a franchisor should do to address another type of uncertainty and task uncertainty remains understudied. The authors suggest a franchisor’s coordination as a key means of alleviating task uncertainty and ongoing support and plural form as two mechanisms of coordination. The authors also posit that aligned interests between the franchisor and the franchisee improve, whereas one-sided interest impedes, chain performance. Furthermore, providing greater ongoing support or deploying plural form amplifies the positive effect of aligned interests on chain performance.

The authors relied on secondary data to test the hypotheses. The authors collected data for analysis from Bond’s franchisee guide and Nation’s Restaurant News restaurant database. They also tested the framework by analyzing 17-year, panel data of 71 restaurant chains operating in the USA and Canada using system generalized method of moments.

Results show that aligning interests does improve chain performance, but that the positive effect is amplified when aligned interests are matched with a chain’s provision of ongoing support or use of plural form.

The authors explicate why it is not enough to address the misaligned interests or lack of coordination alone; a chain manager needs to address both of these problems together. In addition, the authors explicate how two franchisee coordination mechanisms – ongoing support and plural form – help a chain augment the beneficial effect of aligning interests on chain performance. Without solving the twin problems of misaligned interests and coordination simultaneously, a chain is unlikely to achieve its full performance potential.

This paper aims to elucidate and extend the concept of power and fairness in the context of franchisor–franchisee relationship.

On the basis of Dul and Hak’s (2007) recommendations, the conceptual model is developed from closely related domains (e.g. channel relationship) using pertinent theories. On the basis of this comprehensive analysis, new propositions about fairness in a franchisee–franchisor context are drawn. The primary purpose of this research is to conceptually and theoretically further the understanding of antecedents and consequences of fairness in a franchisor–franchisee relationship context by proffering a framework. Finally, this study examines the concept of fairness of its antecedents and moderators that have received scant attention in the context of franchising research.

This study contends that non-coercive power is perceived fairly. Also, coercive power that is legitimate is perceived fairly. However, coercive power that is illegitimate can be detrimental to relationships between franchisee and franchisor. Furthermore, a franchisee who perceives the relationship to be fair is likely to place more trust in relationship, is more satisfied with relationship and is less likely to be opportunistic. Finally, the study contends that these relationship outcomes are dependent on the franchisee’s personality traits.

One major limitation of this study is that the propositions have not been empirically tested. However, this paper cites several business cases that have been used to support the propositions proffered in the study. Our conceptual model supported by previous theoretical findings and industry cases suggests that it is important to focus on social dimensions along with economic costs of a franchisor–franchisee relationship. Future researchers may empirically examine the relationships posited in this study by using the primary industry data.

This paper takes a comprehensive view of various social constructs affecting a franchisor–franchisee relationship. It also highlights the role of individual personality factors in a franchisor–franchisee relationship, extends prior work on relational dimensions from channels to the franchising context and provides managerial conclusions.

The purpose of the research was to discover to what extent franchisees supported the direction the company was taking as determined by the board of directors. Specifically, franchisees were invited to comment on corporate policies, initiatives and values that they were expected to implement and embody in their daily business practices.

This article presents the findings from an international study conducted on the world's largest retail bakery franchisor which operates some 670 bakeries (January 2004) throughout Australia and New Zealand.

In many key areas of company policy and values, a considerable proportion of franchisees appeared to be strongly opposed to, or ignorant of, what the corporate body was promoting as business strategy. With respect to environmental initiatives, many franchisees are not supporting corporate policy to a very significant degree and some major initiatives seem destined to fail unless effective intervention is enacted. A proportion of franchisees are not implementing many core policies designed to promote good employee relations and develop staff potential. There were also some concerns regarding franchisee attitudes towards community involvement.

Outlined here are the distinct characteristics of franchise organizations that can combine to frustrate corporate governance. The survey findings as they relate to the company's policy initiatives and organizational values are discussed, along with recommendations for developing more effective franchisor‐franchisee relationships.