Entrepreneurial Teams within Franchise Firms

Abstract

In the research on franchising firms, several assumptions are generally made. One such assumption is that the role of the entrepreneur is predominantly associated with franchisors, and that franchisees operate under a uniformly regimented system of contractual obligations. Given the restrictions and rules, franchisees have few opportunities for entrepreneurial creativity, serving as owner-managers of a single outlet in a prescribed role of managerial convenience. This study reveals a much more complex and dynamic pattern of relationships between the franchisors and franchisees. Evidence of entrepreneurial teamwork is found, where creativity and adaptation is not always confined to franchisors, and several forms of nested teams within franchising firms are examined. Using both quantitative analysis of secondary data from 1201 North American franchises and in-depth interviews, evidence of entrepreneurial teamwork within the context of franchising firms is presented. The study reveals that restrictive franchise agreements were not always rigorously enforced unless problems occurred, allowing room for entrepreneurial activity by franchisees.

Antecedents of early terminations in franchising: franchisor versus franchisee cancelations

“…As Hadfield puts it, contracts are Bbroad in scope, but short on detail^ (1990, p. 991). Even so, very often franchisees neither read the contract nor follow it closely in daily operations (Bradach 1998;Clarkin and Rosa 2005).…”

“…The study is based on the idea that franchising represents an entrepreneurial team between two dissimilar entrepreneurs, franchisor, and franchisees (Kaufmann and Dant 1999;Clarkin and Rosa 2005;Combs et al 2011). Together, they expand a business concept in extensive markets, but they differ in their roles and particular interests.…”

Ingresos Netos Del Franquiciado: Una Señal Para Elegir Franquicia en Una Crisis

“…Diferenciar franquiciados-emprendedores de franquiciados-inversores es necesario (1) para conocer las señales de información que buscan los potenciales franquiciados cuando están decidiendo qué enseña elegir entre varias alternativas y, consecuentemente, (2) ayudar a los franquiciadores a gestionar más eficaz y eficientemente las señales elegidas. Si bien es verdad que entender al franquiciado como emprendedor es controvertido (Clarkin & Rosa, 2005), actualmente está habiendo una corriente de autores que están investigando en esta línea (Dada, Watson, & Kirby, 2014) a la que este trabajo quiere contribuir midiendo la contribución de la franquicia al emprendimiento mediante la aplicación de la tasa de actividad emprendedora anual de España al número de establecimientos franquiciados abiertos cada año durante el periodo de tiempo objeto de estudio para excluir a los franquiciados inversores. Se ha adoptado esta forma de proceder porque no existen datos publicados de establecimientos franquiciados nuevos que fueran abiertos por individuos que franquiciaban por primera vez.…”

Trust and Fairness in Franchise Relationships

“…First, even though research has increasingly shown that trust is critical in inter-firm alliances, there have so far been very few studies investigating the antecedents and consequences of trust within franchise relationships as a specific alliance form (see Dahlstrom &Nygaard, 1995 andBordonaba-Juste &Polo-Redondo, 2004 for exceptions). The literature has often considered franchise relationships from economic perspectives that rather focus on efficiency and formal governance structures than on social-psychological processes and the role of trust in these relationships (Clarkin & Rosa, 2005). Additionally, the literature has largely considered franchise relationships as static with franchisees as passive and non-intelligent players (Elango & Fried, 1997;Clarkin & Rosa, 2005).…”

“…The literature has often considered franchise relationships from economic perspectives that rather focus on efficiency and formal governance structures than on social-psychological processes and the role of trust in these relationships (Clarkin & Rosa, 2005). Additionally, the literature has largely considered franchise relationships as static with franchisees as passive and non-intelligent players (Elango & Fried, 1997;Clarkin & Rosa, 2005). However, franchisees have their own ideas about their franchise relationships and they may adopt various types of responses toward their franchisors.…”