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International audience; While omnichannel strategies have become increasingly ubiquitous in franchising, there is a dearth of academic research on how franchisees perceive omnichannel retailing and how the latter impacts the franchise relationship. Yet, the rise of omnichannel strategies could modify the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisees in different ways. For instance, the diversity of channels could reduce the ability of franchisors to monitor their franchisees and could empower the latter (Lee et al., 2019). Some channels, mainly the brand’s website, could introduce new forms of intra-brand competition between the franchisor and franchisees’ units (Bridges, 2017; Cliquet and Voropanova, 2016). The present research seeks to address this gap in knowledge by focusing on the following research question: what impact does the implementation of an omnichannel strategy in franchised networks have on the franchiseefranchisor relationship quality?

International audience; This research contributes to theory by extending the knowledge on power in franchise relationships to the case of omnichannel marketing. As the relative autonomy of franchisees can be an obstacle to optimal omnichannel integration, the research uncovers three broad forms of franchisor practices to align franchisees to the omnichannel strategy, rooted in an enforcing, a collaborative, and an empowering stance.

PurposeThis paper, using a case study on Jibu, a water distribution chain that distributes bottled water in Africa, aims to underline the importance of social relationships and communication within franchise chains operating in the social sector in developing countries and their contribution to the clarification of the concept of social franchising.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a case study of Jibu, a water distribution chain composed of 122 franchised units and 2,100 independent retailers. The primary data were gathered through an analysis of in-depth interviews with 67 people (Jibu co-founder, headquarters staff, franchisees, micro-franchisees and customers) in Uganda and Rwanda.FindingsThe findings showed that the extent and richness of social relationships and communication existing within the Jibu chain are not limited to top-down and build a feeling of belonging to a family. These social relationships and communication are key characteristics of social franchising.Practical implicationsThis research can assist franchise experts, franchisors and franchisees to better assess the importance of social relationships and communication in social franchise chains in developing countries and help national and local governments better understand how franchising works in the social sector.Social implicationsFranchising is not limited to hotels, restaurants and retail businesses. Franchising can be applied to businesses that have social goals, in addition to profit goals. For example, the Jibu franchise is a relevant and efficient solution to providing the African people with access to drinking water at an affordable resale price. This paper, thus, contributes to increasing the awareness of this franchising phenomenon in social sectors in developing countries and in Africa, in particular.Originality/valueAccess to drinking water is an important issue in many developing countries, above all in African countries. Franchised water services are an innovation in terms of a business model in developing countries with micro-treatment plants run by franchisees and small units run by micro-franchisees or retailers, both franchisees and micro-franchisees being local entrepreneurs.

Purpose This paper aims to explore how the power of salient stakeholders involved in the green waste management of franchise chains can impact the ability of the chains to change their green practices. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study is based on interview data from 19 franchisors and their head office staff operating in the fast-food sector in France where franchise chains have been ‘named and shamed’ as continuing to ignore waste management regulation. Findings The findings suggest that both the form and bases of power of different stakeholder groups have important implications for the implementation of green practices, even those required by law. The authors find that the franchisees’ central network position alters the ability of franchisors to directly engage in dialog, consult with, and educate key stakeholders, creating additional challenges for franchisors in the implementation process. Research limitations/implications The qualitative nature of the study limits the extent to which the findings can be generalized. Future studies could develop an instrument to assess franchisor perceptions of stakeholder power. Practical implications The findings suggest that franchisors should consider carefully how they communicate changes to green practices to their franchisees to ensure not only their compliance but also their motivation to engage with those stakeholders with whom they have regular interactions. The findings can also help governments to better understand how to involve other stakeholders to ensure effective environmental legislation. Originality/value The study is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to consider the role of stakeholders in the implementation of green practices in franchise chains. By examining franchise chains, this paper provides new insights into the role of an additional stakeholder, the franchisee, and enriches the literature on green practices in the hospitality sector.

International audience; Pricing management is complex in hybrid organizations like franchising, as much of the raison d’être of franchising is built upon maintaining chain uniformity. However, franchisees and franchisors may have very different views on what the optimal prices are at a given unit. The aim of our research is thus to assess how resale pricing decisions are made and implemented in franchised chains and what the business consequences are. Our research question is then “Which pricing-based practices reduce conflicts between franchisors and franchisees and so enhance performance?” Based on a questionnaire-based survey of 406 franchisees in the largest European franchise market, France, the results of our analyses show that resale pricing in franchised chains is of crucial importance not only vis-à-vis customers, but also vis-à-vis franchisees, particularly concerning their satisfaction, store performance, and intention to acquire additional stores. On the franchisor part, pricing is essential in terms of brand performance and brand name value. Regarding the franchisor-franchisee relationship, pricing is crucial in terms of the occurrence of conflicts.

International audience; This study represents a first comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art of the franchise industry in South Asia. The development of franchising in the seven South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka is outlined. A systematic overview of the franchise industry and its relatively short history in the region is created for each country, synthesizing economic and franchise infrastructure development. The study shows clear deficiencies across South Asia with regards to reliable legal regimes, specific franchise legislation and disclosure requirements, the availability of official data on franchising, and franchise education. Implications for policy makers and franchise academics conclude the analysis.

Franchising is an organizational governance form where relational and formal contracts complement each other and where franchisor and franchisees together may obtain better performance than working alone. Although relational contracts may adapt to changing environments, they are not as efficient in ambiguous settings. In franchised stores, liability for low performance is not always clear. Indeed, franchisor and franchisees work in close collaboration, and, therefore, this ambiguity on causes of low performance may lead to conflicts. The franchising literature, as far as we know, has addressed practitioners’ concerns regarding performance on one side, and conflicts on the other side, but no study has exclusively focused on low performance and the emergence of conflicts. Our research contributes to the franchising literature by filling this relative gap and, contrary to “conflictperformance assumption” (Pearson, 1973; Duarte and Davies, 2003) held in the broader context of distribution channels, we consider low performance to be a cause, rather than a consequence, of franchisor/franchisee conflicts. This empirical study deals with franchising in France, the leading market in franchising in Europe and the third largest in the world. We used a qualitative approach based on 44 in-depth interviews with 27 franchisors and executives/high-level managers of franchise chains, as well as 17 franchisees from various industries to get a dual, and so more complete, assessment of franchising practitioners’ views of performance-related conflicts. Our research findings show that franchisees, as independent small business owners, give priority to financial results compared to other goals and they are driven to continuously improve the performance of their store(s). When expectations are not met, franchisees sometimes blame franchisors because they are interdependent in their success and liability is not straightforward. As a collaborative team, franchisors and franchisees may benefit from minimizing conflicts and preventing them with the careful selection and management of franchisees that share franchisor’s values and have internal locus of control., We sincerely thank the students of the Master in Franchising, Retail & Service Chains at the Graduate School of Management (IGR-IAE Rennes) – University of Rennes1 who have contributed to data collection as well as the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2017-85704-R) for its support.

As franchisees are independent entrepreneurs, one important part of the business format that franchisors are not allowed to impose on their franchisees is resale prices. They are only allowed to indicate a recommended or a maximum price. This study looks further into the capabilities underlying the calculation of resale prices and suggests that price-setting is part of both: the “business know-how” transferred to franchisees and the “organizational know-how”, that is, capabilities developed and kept at the franchisor level., The authors acknowledge the International Society of Franchising for the Best Paper Award they received at the 2019 conference as well as the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2017-85704-R) for its valuable support.

PurposeThe relational nature of franchising flowing from the contract between franchisor and franchisee which enshrines a close, continuing relationship raises the issue of good faith. While there are academic papers analyzing good faith, these do not capture the practical understanding and expression of the concept and the manner and application in which it operates in the real world of franchising. The purpose of this paper is to assess how good faith is defined and understood by franchise practitioners – franchisees, franchisors and their legal advisors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have adopted a qualitative approach by conducting and analyzing a series of 18 in-depth interviews with franchisees, franchisors and lawyers specializing in franchising.FindingsThe findings show that good faith is particularly important in franchising because of the disparity in the knowledge and power of the parties. They suggest that good faith is not only a legal notion but also a notion that is linked to the personal relationship between the franchisor and its franchisees. It then plays an important role in terms of management of this relationship and of the system as a whole. Moreover, they demonstrate that there is not one single shared understanding of good faith amongst franchising practitioners. Indeed, franchisees, franchisors and specialist franchise lawyers suggested that good faith can refer to transparency, trust, loyalty, fairness and equity amongst the franchisees, fair play, frankness, respect, ethics, kindness, “best efforts” and personalities.Originality/valueThe originality of the research lies in the fact that good faith is examined through the voice of franchising practitioners who explain how they define and understand good faith rather than through a detached academic lens.

International audience; This study examines the role of national culture on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) rhetoric contained within franchisee recruitment promotional materials, where EO rhetoric is defined as the strategic use of words in organizational narratives to convey the risk taking, innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness of the firm. The sample comprised 378 franchise organizations, in five different countries (Australia, France, India, South Africa and the UK). The results indicate that franchise systems operating in high uncertainty avoidance and feminine cultures use less entrepreneurially oriented rhetoric, suggesting that EO rhetoric in franchise organizations varies according to different national cultural contexts.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of participative franchising on performance from the franchisee perspective. In particular, the paper analyses the impact of the franchisee autonomy – in human resource management and marketing decisions – affective commitment to the network and network innovativeness on the franchisee relative performance. Design/methodology/approach A survey answered by 226 franchisees in France allowed to estimate a structural equations model through partial least squares regression analysis to test the hypothesised relations between autonomy, affective commitment, innovativeness and performance. Findings According to the authors’ findings, franchisee’s autonomy in commercial policies, mediated by to franchisor’s ability to innovate and acknowledge innovations stemming from the franchisees, and the affective commitment to the network, emerge as strong determinants of the franchisee’s performance. Research limitations/implications The results confirm the conclusions of other research, but extend and integrate them, providing evidence that the role of participative franchising should not be neglected. Practical implications The results obtained provide evidence about the importance of bidirectional communication instruments in the relations between franchisor and franchisee, and participation tools for the identification, recognition and support to the innovative successful practices developed by franchisees to be quickly implemented by other franchisees in the network. Originality/value This paper looks at franchisee autonomy, affective commitment and innovativeness as potential determinants of franchisee’s performance, being the latter an underexplored topic.

International audience; How resale prices in franchising are determined is of particular interest to franchisors and franchisees, as well as researchers, due to their links with customer attraction, chain uniformity, franchisor know-how, franchisee autonomy and legal dimensions. We combine legal and managerial considerations to assess the way franchisors perceive price-setting policies within their chains by looking at which specific practices are involved in franchise chains, which rules are approved by franchisors, which ones franchisors comply with or skirt, etc. This empirical study is based on an analysis of 19 semi-structured interviews with franchisors from different brands and industries running their businesses in the French market. Findings show that franchisors have different understandings of their franchisees' freedom in terms of resale pricing. Even though the ban on directly imposed resale prices on franchisees seems to be accepted in practice by interviewed franchisors, some franchisors impose prices without openly admitting to it. This paper can be considered by franchise experts, franchisors, franchisees and franchisee candidates as an overview of resale price-related legal aspects, adopted practices and potential conflicts in franchise chains. It also highlights price-related practices to be avoided in order to prevent potential conflicts in franchise chains.

International audience; Franchising has been growing in most countries and most industries, and it is now growing in social sectors, e.g., healthcare, education, the provision of water. The aim of this paper is to understand and assess, using the case study of Child and Family Wellness clinics (CFW), the business model used by franchisors in the social sector; i.e., how franchisors use the core elements of franchising to manage their networks in the social sector. This research deals with three main elements of franchising, i.e., know-how, assistance and brand name, as well as the franchisor/franchisee and franchisee/franchisee relationships. The empirical work, based on the Child and Family Wellness clinics (CFW) network in Kenya, relies on primary data gathered through the conduction and analysis of 19 in-depth interviews and on secondary data from access to internal data. The main findings of this research show that franchising in the social sector seems to work no differently from franchising in more traditional sectors, at least in terms of know-how, assistance, brand name and franchisor/franchisee and franchisee/franchisee relationships. This research serves as an example and a set of guidelines for entrepreneurs who want to develop a franchise concept in the healthcare sector or any other social sectors, as well as a support for these entrepreneurs to develop and grow their concept. It can provide them with ideas on what should be implemented in the areas of know-how, assistance, brand name and relationships in order to succeed, e.g., organization of training sessions, setting up of committees.

International audience; In this chapter, using a dual approach based on managerial and legal perspectives, we examine franchisee attitudes regarding online sales in franchise networks to better understand their views of the costs and benefits of e-commerce in a franchise network. We thus explore the following research questions from a franchisee perspective: What are franchisees’ attitudes regarding online sales?; Are online sales viewed as complementary or competing sales for physical stores?; What about the opening of a franchisor’s website?; and What about the opening of a franchisee’s website? We also analyze how several different e-commerce options available to franchisors impact franchisee incentives and how they would be treated under European Union competition law.The empirical research is based on the conduction and analysis of 46 in-depth interviews with franchisees in the retail and service industries in the French market.We find that online sales in franchise networks raise important questions for the franchisees, and for the franchisors as well. E-commerce has to be integrated into the development strategies of franchise networks. Franchisors should facilitate the online sales practices of their franchisees in order to avoid potential conflicts with them or among the franchisees themselves, thereby maintaining the control necessary to ensure healthy network growth. Moreover, franchisors should pay attention to the sharing of Internet sales with its franchisees.Our chapter contributes to the stream of franchising literature dealing with the use of Internet in franchise networks. Moreover, it can be viewed by franchisors, franchise experts, franchisees, and franchisee candidates as an overview of issues linked to online sales in franchise networks. It also highlights best practices when having a multichannel strategy.

International audience; Know-how is widely acknowledged as one of the cornerstones of franchising. However, despite its importance, both in the successful management, but also the regulation of the franchise agreement, it remains a somewhat elusive construct. Within this paper, by drawing on both the ex ante literature and the views of 27 expert lawyers from France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, we seek to gain new insights into the concept of know-how, by addressing the following questions: How are know-how requirements understood and interpreted by doctrine and jurisprudence? And, is there consensus in the interpretation of the characteristics of know-how? In this paper, we try to answer these questions. We believe the findings allow us to better understand the concept of know-how and provide a critical insight of the various characteristics of the know-how imposed by the European regulation. The findings further highlight the importance of evaluating the effectiveness of know-how.

International audience; The aim of this paper is to characterize franchisors’ e-commerce strategies by studying their website functionality. Franchisors can use their website to facilitate consumer search. They can also provide content and tools to promote online purchasing (e.g., promotion codes, online payment, delivery options). Why are some franchisor websites more “search oriented”? What are the factors that influence the provision of informational tools and/or transactional tools? This empirical study is based on a detailed observation of 130 e-commerce websites of franchisors operating their chains in the French market.

International audience

During our thesis we studied franchisors’ internationalization strategies in order to determine the optimum choice of organizational mode. These international developments cause new problems which existing literature does not provide satisfactory answers. In order to propose a new analysis, we choose to use a dynamic approach to international franchise systems. We focus our work on issues of competitive advantage development by foreign franchisors locations and we provide a framework based on the organizational capabilities perspective. A qualitative methodology enables us to define the competitive advantage of franchisor and questioned the implementation of this advantage into international operations. We seize the competitive advantage of franchisor with athematic analysis of franchisors practice. We identified three core capabilities. Subsequently, we analyzed international developments and highlighted the transfer of the core capabilities to the sub-franchisor. Then, our analytical framework allowed us to underline the importance of taking account of the competitive advantage in the process of choosing the organizational mode in order to understand the competitive advantage exploitation in the new market. From a dynamic perspective, we identified two levels of dynamism and we show the importance of understanding the determinants of the development of the second level to refine the knowledge of the achievement of international operation.; Au cours de notre travail doctoral nous avons étudié les stratégies d’internationalisation des franchiseurs afin de comprendre les déterminants du choix de la modalité de franchise internationale. Ces développements internationaux font émerger de nouvelles problématiques auxquelles les travaux académiques existants ne donnent pas d’analyses satisfaisantes. Pour les approfondir nous revenons sur ces questions à travers une approche dynamique des réseaux de franchise internationaux. Nous focalisons notre travail sur les problématiques de développement de l’avantage concurrentiel par les localisations étrangères des franchiseurs en proposant un cadre d’analyse basé sur l’approche des capacités des entreprises. Une méthodologie qualitative nous a permis de dimensionner le métier de franchiseur et d’interroger la mise en œuvre de métier au niveau international. Suite à une analyse thématique du discours de franchiseurs, nous avons identifié trois capacités centrales sources d’avantage concurrentiel. Par la suite, nous avons analysé des développements internationaux et mis en évidence le transfert de ces capacités à la modalité de franchise internationale. Notre cadre d’analyse nous a alors permis de souligner l’importance de l’analyse des capacités sources de l’avantage concurrentiel dans le processus du choix de la modalité d’entrée pour comprendre le développement des réseaux dans le nouveau marché. D’un point de vue dynamique, nous avons identifiés deux niveaux de dynamisme distincts et nous montrons qu’il importe de comprendre les déterminants du développement du deuxième niveau pour affiner notre compréhension de la réussite internationale des entreprises.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a novel perspective on resale pricing in franchising, i.e. from a franchisee perspective, by combining legal and managerial considerations in the European context. The objective is to assess franchisee perceptions regarding resale pricing in their chains. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a qualitative approach and use 46 in-depth interviews with franchisees covering retail and service industries in the French market. Findings Many of the interviewed franchisees believe that joining a franchise chain involves respecting the recommended resale prices. For some of the franchisees, in link with the chain uniformity, imposing uniform resale prices throughout the chain represents a strength, because customers who visit different stores within the franchise chain expect to find consistent pricing. Moreover, many franchisees consider that their franchisors have some know-how that they use to set correct resale prices, taking into account the profit margin. Research limitations/implications This research contributes to the literature on resale pricing in franchising, as well as the franchising literature in general, by combining legal and managerial considerations, adopting a franchisee perspective, covering retail and service industries and focusing on French and European markets. Practical implications This research can be viewed by franchise experts, franchisors, franchisees and franchisee candidates as a synthesis of resale price-related legal aspects, adopted practices and potential conflicts in franchise chains in the French market. It also highlights price-related practices to be avoided to prevent potential conflicts. Originality/value The subject of resale pricing in franchise chains is a hot topic, because of its link with customer attraction, chain uniformity, franchisor know-how, franchisee autonomy and the legal dimension.

International audience; This empirical article deals with the location strategy and performance outcomes of franchised chains in Brazil. Brazilian franchising has experienced vertiginous process of expansion in recent years, being present in different regions of this country of continental size, including the most remote and less developed. Based on the background literature in economics and management regarding location choices and spatial competition in retailing, we use a new and unique dataset to distinguish several behavior categories in spatial strategies of franchising chains in Brazil, via a two-step cluster analysis. The performance outcomes are then studied with econometric estimations on panel data. Our results provide evidence that the choice for agglomeration, and the location in areas with a high population and a high human development index, lead to higher chain performances.

International audience

Présenté par Muriel Fadairo; International audience

Présenté par Muriel Fadairo; International audience

International audience; The adoption and use of a professional social media network by franchise chains is the focus of this paper. We draw on resource-based theory, institutional economic theories of incentives and externalities and multidisciplinary literatures on franchising, innovation adoption and interorganizational communication to link (i) franchisor characteristics and partnering strategies to the adoption and use of a professional social media network and (ii) the extent of use of this network by a franchisor to the number of followers of its network page. Hypotheses are empirically assessed using data on 500 US franchise chains from Entrepreneur’s Annual Franchise 500 for 2011, content analysis of LinkedIn pages for 317 franchise chains in 2011 and number of followers in 2015. One key finding is that franchisor adoption of LinkedIn is positively influenced by franchise chain size, franchising fees and franchisor marketing communications and negatively affected by franchise concept complexity. A second important finding is that, among franchisors who adopt LinkedIn, the extent of use of LinkedIn is positively impacted by franchise chain size, franchising fees and negatively affected by franchise chain age. A third notable finding is that the number of followers of a franchisor’s LinkedIn page in the short term is positively impacted by the extent of information about franchise chain and recruitment. A fourth key finding is that the number of followers in the longer term (2015) is positively impacted by whether the franchisor had a presence on LinkedIn in 2011 and, for these franchisors, by the number of followers in 2011.

International audience; When establishing a new business, entrepreneurs can decide to join a network of independent business partners rather than choose the alternative of independent business ownership. In this study, we use a probit model on a large database to study the human, social, and financial capital of French entrepreneurs who join franchising and comparable forms of networks. Results confirm that initial levels of human and social capital are significant de- terminants of network membership. We also show that an increase in the proportion of the project financed by debt increases the probability of joining a network.

Existing literature on franchising has extensively studied the presence of plural form distribution networks, where two types of vertical relationships-integration versus franchising-co-exist. However, despite the importance of monetary provisions in franchise contracts, their definition in the case of plural form networks had not been addressed. In this paper, we focus more precisely on the " share parameters " in integrated (company-owned retail outlet) and decentralized (franchised outlet) vertical contracts, respectively the commission rate and the royalty rate. We develop an agency model of payment mechanism in a two-sided moral hazard context, with one principal and two heterogenous agents distinguished by different levels of risk aversion. We define the optimal monetary provisions, and demonstrate that even in the case of segmented markets, with no correlation between demand shocks, the two rates (commission rate, royalty rate) are negatively interrelated.

Learning Objective:This case is suitable for an undergraduate or MBA course on entrepreneurship, franchising, or international strategy. It seeks to fulfill the following teaching objectives: To help students understand the internationalization strategy of franchise chains To provide students with an opportunity to evaluate the challenges associated with converting existing units into a new brand To provide students with an opportunity to develop their communication and decision-making skills in terms of dealing with an acquisition To provide students with an opportunity to consider the need for local adaptation To teach students to assess the importance of dealing with specific cases found within a chain; In 2015, Burger King France operated 26 Burger King restaurants in France and had ambitious plans for growth. In a press release, Burger King France shareholders announced the projected acquisition of Quick, a chain of 509 fast-food restaurants operating in France and a few other countries. Burger King France intended to gradually convert the Quick restaurants into Burger King restaurants—a move that would turn Burger King into the second-largest fast-food chain in France. While this acquisition provided a significant growth option for the Burger King chain, it also posed several challenges in the form of brand image, company culture, and the many issues that could come with the process of converting and internationalizing a chain within its home country.

International audience; This empirical article provides a picture of the French franchising sector, based on the strategic group approach. We use a recent four-year panel dataset from the French Federation of Franchising, regarding the period 2010-2013, and sophisticated statistical and supervised learning models.Five main strategic groups of franchisors are distinguished in the French system, characterized by specific strategies and performance outcomes. We survey first the literature dealing with strategic groups, then we conduct a multidimensional Statistical analysis (Principal Components Analysis and Ascending Hierarchical Clustering), highlighting three factorial axes and five clusters. We test the stability of network behaviors with a classification model. Finally, we observe and comment the differences in the strategic group performances.

International audience

International audience; Les réformes des dernières décennies dans le secteur universitaire, s'opérationnalisant par davantage de gouvernance autonomiste et de gestion de risques financiers (Hommel, 2012), ont incité les universités à adopter un comportement et des choix corporatifs ou entrepreneuriaux (Slaughter et Rhoades, 2004; Starkey et Tempest, 2008), les faisant passer de cathédrales d'apprentissage (cathedrals of learning) à des cathédrales de revenu (cathedrals of earning) (Engwall, 2008). Ce mode de développement, appelé « l'université entrepreneuriale », s'est largement diffusé à travers le monde (Etzkowitz et al., 2000). Ce constat est encore plus vrai dans le cas des facultés et écoles de gestion. Bien que celles-ci aient maintenu leur mission de recherche et d'enseignement, elles se sont engagées de plus en plus dans des activités aux motifs commerciaux tels la formation des cadres (Executive MBA), l'offre de perfectionnement aux entreprises, le franchising de programmes à l'international, le partenariat industriel, le consulting, etc. Dans cette quête de nouvelles sources de revenu, et s'appuyant sur des efforts de branding pour s'afficher favorablement sur les rankings (Corley et Gioia, 2000) et donc devenir et demeurer attrayantes, quelle part les facultés et écoles de gestion laissent à la production et au transfert de savoirs utiles aux acteurs de l'entrepreneuriat social et collectif ? Dans plusieurs régions, ces derniers forment un secteur non négligeable du développement local et ont traditionnellement bénéficié de collaborations avec le milieu de la recherche (par exemple, au Québec, en Belgique, en Espagne). Pour les chercheurs et leurs établissements, ce sont des partenariats bien moins (sinon pas du tout) lucratifs comparativement aux contrats de perfectionnement et de consulting avec des grandes firmes privées. De plus, les savoirs largement disponibles ayant été souvent bâtis pour et avec le secteur privé et les entreprises multinationales, l'accompagnement des entrepreneurs sociaux et collectifs requièrent une certaine « traduction » ou adaptation, donc plus exigeant en termes de temps et d'autres ressources pour les chercheurs. Ces entrepreneurs vont-ils finir par être les laissés-pour-compte de l'université entrepreneuriale ? Notre communication discute de cette question et propose des hypothèses de travail sur les facteurs institutionnelles – soit, celles régulatrices, normatives et cognitives (Scott, 1995) -, qui incitent (ou non) les facultés et écoles de gestion et leurs chercheurs à continuer à desservir l'entrepreneuriat social et collectif dans un contexte qui les pousse vers le mode de « l'université entrepreneuriale ».

As an idea valued by distribution agreements reflect a modern understanding of the contract in which different characteristics are combined. It is at the same, a network distribution agreement, belonging in the category of reiterative agreements, a financing agreement, and a collaboration agreement. Franchise agreements are also an idea that is disparaged by ditribution. There are some challenges un connection whith changes in legislation and case law that feed the critiques against them. Likewise, the existence of an information imbalance at the start of the contractual relationship can lead to an economic, and possibly, a legal imbalance between the parties. While the regulations applicable to contract agreements as well as of the contractual clauses help to frame the relationship between the parties to the agreement, the absence of a legal system specific to franchise agreements contributes to the development of disputes on this topic.; Figure valorisée de la distribution, le contrat de franchise reflète une conception moderne du contrat où se conjugue différents caractères. Il est tout à la fois, un contrat de distribution en réseau qui s'intègre dans la catégorie des contrats de réitération, un contrat de financement et un contrat de collaboration. Le contrat de franchise est également une figure décriée de la distribution. Certaines difficultés liées à l'évolution de la législation et à celle de la jurisprudence alimentent les critiques à son encontre. De même, l'existence d'un déséquilibre informationnel et ce, dès l'origine de la relation contractuelle, peut conduire à créer un déséquilibre économique et éventuellement juridique entre les parties. Si la réglementation applicable au contrat de franchise ainsi que l'ensemble des clauses contractuelles contribuent à encadrer les rapports entre les parties au contrat, l'absence de régime juridique propre au contrat de franchise contribue, toutefois, au développement de contentieux en la matière.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore independent small business owners’ perceptions of franchisees relationships with their franchisors, their fellow franchisees within the chain, their employees and their customers. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a qualitative approach and, more specifically, 26 in-depth interviews conducted with independent small business owners from various business sectors. Findings – These independent small business owners perceive that franchisees have a dependency-based relationship with their franchisors; a competition-based relationship with their fellow franchisees; a rather complicated relationship with their employees; and a superficial relationship with their customers. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the franchising literature by presenting an outside-chain view of franchisees’ relationships with their franchisors, other franchisees, employees and customers. Practical implications – The findings may have practical implications for franchisors, enabling them to better understand the concerns of independent small business owners as potential franchisee candidates. Originality/value – The outside-chain view of franchisees’ relationships is innovative.

International audience; PurposeThe subject of resale pricing is a hot topic in franchising, due to its links with chain homogeneity and franchisee autonomy. The franchisee is bound by current legislation and regulations, in addition to respecting the franchise contract clauses, to the extent that they are lawful, and potentially opposing contentious professional practices. Focusing on resale prices, we cover these three perspectives, that is, legal, contractual, and professional constraints, using a dual approach based on managerial and legal perspectives and illustrating our arguments using examples from European and French cases.Methodology/approachWe illustrate our arguments using examples from European and French cases.FindingsWe pointed out that the ban on the practice of imposed resale prices presents several advantages (e.g., integrity of franchise chains, chain’s commercial dynamism).Research limitations/implicationsOur paper contributes to the stream of franchising literature dealing with resale prices.Practical implicationsOur paper can be viewed by franchisors, franchise experts, franchisees, and franchisee candidates as a synthesis of the impact of European and French regulations on resale price-based practices to be adopted in franchise chains. It also highlights practices to be avoided in order to prevent potential conflicts.Originality/valueWe use a dual approach based on managerial and legal perspectives to explore resale prices in the context of franchising.

Franchising has become a common strategy in the development of commercial networks. While management science has long been interested in the reasons for choosing franchising, geography has shown little interest in this particular form of network’s control and its impact on the spatial diffusion of these networks. The present paper analyses the reasons for an Indian company to expand its network of clinics through franchising and the consequences on its spatial distribution. Considering the effect of distance, what strategies are designed to control a network of franchises? Our methodology is based on semi-structured interviews with franchisees and management of the network coupled with the development of a database to study the spatial distribution of the network in India’s urban system. After an initial phase of rapid diffusion, network development was slowed down and later stagnated until the company finally dropped the franchise model for an internal growth model., Le franchisage est devenu une stratégie courante dans le développement de réseaux commerciaux. Alors que la science de la gestion s’est intéressée aux raisons du choix de la franchise par les acteurs économiques, la géographie s’est encore peu intéressée à cette forme particulière de contrôle d’établissements et à ses conséquences sur la diffusion spatiale et l’implantation de ces réseaux. On revient dans cet article sur les raisons qui ont poussé une entreprise indienne à s’appuyer sur le modèle de la franchise pour développer ses cliniques et aux conséquences de ce choix sur la diffusion spatiale de son réseau. Quelles stratégies sont définies pour contrôler un réseau de franchises et tenir compte de l’effet de la distance ? On s’appuie sur des entretiens semi-directifs réalisés auprès des franchisés et des dirigeants du réseau et le développement d’une base de données sur les établissements pour suivre la diffusion spatiale du réseau dans le système urbain indien. Après une première phase de diffusion rapide, le développement du réseau va se ralentir et stagner jusqu’à l’abandon du modèle de la franchise au profit d’une croissance interne.

International audience; The organization of interfirm networks, such as alliances, cooperatives, franchise and retail chains, has become an important research topic in the field of economics, marketing, strategic management, and organization theory. This book contributes to the literature on formal and informal inter-organizational governance by providing new insights on contract design, ownership, evolution of cooperation, role of social capital and performance in franchising networks; includes topics of loyalty, reputation and organizational form as well as performance of cooperatives, and discusses the relationship between formal and relational governance in alliances, governance structures of innovation activities, dynamics of interfirm conflicts, and network externalities and alliance formation.

International audience; A meta-DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) approach is used to analyse the impact of the industry in which the franchisor operates its business on its chain efficiency by comparing chain efficiency between and across industries (retail versus services). To provide realistic short-term and long-term objectives to inefficient chains, a level-bylevel benchmarking path is developed with the context-dependent DEA approach. Furthermore, the joint implementation of both approaches enables an identification of chains for which the industry influences their efficiency, an evaluation of the efficiency share that results from industry-specific factors rather than factors common to the franchise sector as a whole, and the characterization of an implementable and achievable benchmarking defining level-by-level improvements of chain efficiency and taking into account chain characteristics. Such an analysis can help franchisors to define their future strategic and managerial orientations.

This article studies the performance of distribution networks as the result of a range of organizational choices. The analytical part of the article surveys the vast literature devoted to franchising and dual distribution. From this framework, several testable propositions linking network performance to organizational choices are derived. Three complementary criteria of performance are taken into account: the internationalization rate, the expansion rate and the market share. This article provides evidence for the simultaneity between these performance criteria, analytically related as indicators of the network commercial performance. Thus, the econometrical model is defined as a system of simultaneous equations, free of endogeneity regarding the explanatory variables. The estimations on recent French data obtained using the three-stage least squares method provide robust results and show that the type of distribution network, the number of company-owned outlets in the network, the type of sector and the ...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model allowing the implementation of a benchmarking process that jointly measure the efficiency of franchise chains and determine their optimal organizational form. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology is based on a non-econometric technique developed by management scientists on economic concepts for evaluating the performance of decision-making units and implementing a benchmarking process. An extended model is developed in the paper for evaluating the efficiency and determining the optimal percentage of company-owned outlets (PCO) of each franchise chain. Findings – First, results showed that the PCO has a positive impact on franchise chain efficiency; even if other chain characteristics have a larger impact. Second, the optimization of the PCO allows for additional improvements in efficiency. Research limitations/implications – Even though this study has some limitations (e.g. sample and variable selection), it contributes to the literature on franchising by providing an approach allowing us to answer to the question of Shane (1998) on the optimal proportion of franchised units given other firm characteristics. Practical implications – By developing a model that allows for the joint evaluation of franchise chain efficiency and optimal PCO, this study offers to franchisors a new benchmarking process allowing for both a competitive and functional benchmarking. Originality/value – The originality of this research can be found in the new model developed for allowing a benchmarking of franchise chains that allows an evaluation of efficiency jointly with a determination of their optimal organizational form.

International audience; E‑commerce has grown tremendously over the past decade in most business sectors, including the franchising sector. This paper applies the resource-based view to examine e‑commerce strategy in franchise networks and to identify the potential determinants of the presence of transactional capabilities on franchisors' Web sites. Our empirical study is based on 486 U.S. franchise networks in the retail and service sectors. When data were collected in 2009, only 20 percent of the sampled franchisors had adopted an e‑commerce strategy. Our main findings show that the percentage of company-owned stores and network size have a positive impact on the implementation of e‑commerce strategy, whereas network age has a negative effect. Moreover, a franchisor is more likely to launch a transactional Web site in the retail sector and the hotel and restaurant sector. This paper highlights the relevance of using the resource-based view to investigate e‑commerce strategy and provides guidance to franchisors on how to implement a transactional Web site.

This paper studies the performance of distribution networks as the result of a range of organizational choices made by the upstream firm. The analytical part of the paper surveys the vast literature devoted to franchising and to dual distribution. From this framework, several testable propositions are derived, linking the networks performance to the organizational choices. Three complementary criteria of performance are taken into account : the internationalization rate, the expansion rate, the market share. The paper provides evidence that these criteria are empirically related. Thus, a system of simultaneous equations is defined, free of endogeneity relating to the explanatory variables. The estimations on recent French data by means of the three-least squares method provide robust results, and show that the type of distribution network, the number of company-owned units in the network, the type of sector, and the choice to manage several networks simultaneously affect the performance in distribution systems.

This dissertation is for the purpose of comparing two different practices of the same business content from one international franchisor - Wall Street Institute International. The dissertation evaluates the different practices of Wall Street Institute France Isère and Wall Street Institute China Shenzhen, in terms of four aspects which are: infrastructure, service, sales and others. An analysis of these differences is given in the dissertation followed by two local marketing proposals for Wall Street Institute France Isère that are inspired by the two practices.; Ce rapport diagnostic a pour but de comparer deux franchisées dans différents pays ayant deux pratiques différentes avec le même savoir-faire fourni par le même franchiseur international, Wall Street Institute International. Ce rapport diagnostic traite, dans un premier temps, des différences de ces deux pratiques sur quatre aspects : l'infrastructure, le service, la partie commerciale et les autres. Ensuite, l'analyse de ces différences est suivie par deux propositions commerciales locales pour WSI France Isère, propositions inspirées par ces différents pratiques.

International audience; The current book on Nework Governance contributes to the literature by offering new perspectives on network goals and performance, inter-organizational learning and trust in alliances, corporate governance issues in cooperatives, governance of cross-border retail networks, contract design and governance innovations in cooperatives and fanchising.This paper aims to highlight the challenges associated with network uniformity and brand image for franchisors, more specifically when their franchisees set up and manage their own website. This practice has some impact on network uniformity which is a key concept in franchising. We analyze the presence of franchisees on the Internet of 471 networks, both in retailing and services, described in the 2011 franchise directory. We find that only 38 franchise networks are concerned about this practice. We use a qualitative approach based on multiple cases studies of these 38 franchise networks. It points out the different aspects of franchisees’ websites that can damage concept uniformity. Maintaining network uniformity when there are various websites set up and run by franchisees entails challenges to franchisors that are presented in this paper within a managerial perspective linked to technical and organizational know-how. Some insights from the legal perspective are also provided.

International audience; To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the degree of vertical integration by comparing franchised and company-owned chains. On the basis of recent data from the French distribution networks in retail and services, this paper investigates the determinants of network integration in the French distribution systems. The level of network integration increases from franchised chains to company-owned chains. This paper provides evidence that the level of network integration is positively related to the brand name value and negatively related to the resource constraints and monitoring costs of the upstream firm.

International audience; Mundo afora, o franchising desperta grande interesse da literatura, com o suporte de uma infinidade de títulos nas prateleiras das livrarias. Por que, então, mais uma obra? Um olhar mais atento, porém, mostra rapidamente que a variedade existente não se traduz em diversidade. A maioria dos títulos se prende, essencialmente, a dois grandes temas: o franchising "como manual jurídico" e como "guia prático ou de investimento".Poucas, se não raras, são as obras dedicadas a uma abordagem crítica, do ponto de vista econômico e gerencial, dos contratos de franquia. E nas poucas obras que poderiam ser aqui listadas, o lugar comum permanece em termos do viés econômico, restringindo a análise do franchising à transação firmada entre franqueador e franqueado, incluindo na análise, quando muito, o percentual de lojas próprias gerenciado pela rede. Nesse tradicional viés econômico, pouco se discute a respeito das formas de proteção e de valorização da marca franqueada (principal ativo adquirido na aquisição de uma franquia), bem como dos respectivos impactos esperados sobre a estratégia e a organização das empresas que optam pelo franchising como mecanismo de crescimento e expansão.Um dos diferenciais desta obra é justamente essa proposta inovadora à análise dos contratos de franquia (pano de fundo da seleta compilação de capítulos especialmente selecionados para sua composição). Fica aqui, assim, o convite para o entendimento acerca da prática do franchising sob esse novo edesafiante olhar.A partir de uma visão diferenciada, imparcial, eminentemente crítica e madura dos contratos de franquia, este livro destina-se aos estudiosos das áreas de Franchising e de Economia das Organizações, mas também aos adeptos do franchising (sejam eles franqueadores ou franqueados) ou ainda aos interessados por este formato organizacional que vem se consagrando como uma das principais tendências mundiais na comercialização e distribuição de produtos ou serviços.

International audience; he motivation for this paper arises from the importance of stakeholder communications for firms and the rapid emergence of social media networks as a means of such communications. Our purpose is to understand the early adoption and use of social media networks for such communications by firms at a point in time when such networks were relatively new. Specifically, we examine the adoption and use of Facebook (the most popular social networking site) by franchisors and focus on two questions: (1) antecedents of early adoption of Facebook by franchisors, mainly in terms of system age, size, organizational form, advertising royalty rates, industry, and internationalization, and (2) variations in use of Facebook (in terms of content) by these franchisors and the way these variations relate to the characteristics of the franchisors and their systems. Our empirical study covers 408 franchisors doing business in the French market. The analysis approach is quantitative, with the use of t-tests, Pearson chi-square tests and a logistic regression model, as well as a content analysis of the franchisors' Facebook pages. At the time we collected data, we found that only 21.3 per cent of the franchisors had a presence on Facebook. Several characteristics of the system (for example, percentage of company-owned outlets, advertising royalty rates, industry) influence whether a franchisor has a presence on Facebook as well as the nature of content on the relevant Facebook page. We draw on organizational theories and institutional economic theories to offer potential explanations for our preliminary investigation. These research findings can help the franchisors better understand the role of social media networks for stakeholder communications. In particular, our results offer insights for smaller franchisors, in terms of when and how they adopt communication innovations to compete against larger firms.