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While the nation's six largest for-profit child care organizations followed the same path of rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, slower growth in the 1990s has led the chains in different directions. Two organizations plagued by heavy financial losses have greatly reduced their expansion, while others have focused on moderate growth or development in school-age programs.(LBT)

Big-time intercollegiate athletics has become College Sports Inc., a huge entertainment conglomerate with operating methods and objectives totally separate from, and often opposed to, the educational aims of the schools housing its franchises. This article dispels prevailing myths and seeks a new role definition for intercollegiate athletics within the university. (MLH)

Whittle Communications, Inc. plans to launch a nationwide chain of private, for-profit schools and sell its proprietary educational products, instructional technology, and management services to school boards. Whittle schools will enroll children aged 3 months to 18 years, schedule hours coinciding with parents' working days, and operate year-round. Whittle's main interest is the bottom line. (MLH)

In the franchising market, transactions involve franchisees paying franchisors for the right to use their business models. In such transactions, the franchise fee functions as the transaction price, which is a critical component of profitability and the long-term survival of franchise brands. Based on Ohmae's 3Cs (i.e., cost, competition, and customers) model, this study investigates how strategic pricing approaches influence franchise fees. The empirical results suggest that franchise fees are influenced by the cost-based and the value-based approaches but not by the competition-based approach. Furthermore, among the approaches, the cost-based approach is found to have the greatest impact on the franchise fee, followed by the value-based and the competition-based approaches, respectively. Additional analysis found that the different pricing approaches are used depending on the business characteristics. By delineating the pricing mechanism of the franchise fee, these findings contribute to the literature on franchising in the hospitality industry, strategic management, and marketing and have important implications for industry practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an agency theory perspective combined with arguments related to the importance of socioemotional wealth (SEW), we evaluate the distinctions among family-, lone-founder-, and corporate-owned and operated restaurants regarding their impact on relevant noneconomic goals in the franchising context (i.e., health code violations). Because of agency issues and family-centric long-term motivations (e.g., desires to enrich members of the family and maintain family ownership across generations), we predict family franchises will place a greater emphasis on noneconomic outcomes and should outperform both lone-founder and corporate restaurants (i.e., receive less health-code violations). Relatedly, we also predict lone-founder franchises will receive fewer violations than corporate outlets due to their enhanced identification with the franchise. We test our hypotheses with a sample of three large fast-food chains in the Southeastern United States. Surprisingly, our results indicate that family-owned restaurants perform worse on noneconomic outcomes than both lone-founder- and corporate-owned restaurants. We discuss the implications of these findings to offer contributions to family business research and franchise practitioners alike. Plain English Summary: We examine how family-owned, lone-founder-owned, and corporate-owned restaurant outlets differ in their achievement of noneconomic goals, as measured by health code violations. Based on an analysis of the quick-service restaurant industry, results suggest that family-owned and family-operated restaurants report more health code violations than corporate- and lone-founder-operated restaurants. Subsequently, there were no statistically significant differences in health code violations between lone-founder- and corporate-owned restaurants. Our research offers insights into the monitoring effectiveness of different governance types regarding noneconomic performance, a salient outcome for franchise systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how migrant density and diversity influence international franchising through a knowledge- based perspective. Using data from the World Franchise Network and U.N. immigration statistics from 1993 to 2013, the study finds that higher migrant density positively impacts international franchising activities, suggesting that a substantial presence of migrants facilitates knowledge transfer and network benefits. Conversely, migrant diversity tends to have a negative effect, indicating potential challenges in harmonizing diverse knowledge bases. However, this diversity can also enhance the positive impact of migrant density on franchising, as it enriches the cultural and knowledge pool. These findings suggest that firms can leverage migrant communities for international franchising success by tapping into their networks and expertise, and that immigration policies could be tailored to support this dynamic. Managers should consider engaging with migrants to navigate cultural nuances and market entry barriers in foreign territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nearly one in ten Canadians in the private sector works in the franchised sector of the economy. For the most part, franchisors operate as rentiers, extracting value from franchisees for the use of their brand. Research has demonstrated that this arrangement puts additional pressure on franchisees to extract surplus value from their employees that tend toward substandard and unlawful working conditions. In this scenario, franchisors benefit from but are only indirectly involved in the extract of surplus value. In some cases, however, the vertical controls exercised by “franchisors” over “franchisees” are so extensive, and the financial contribution of “franchisees” is so limited, that the franchisor becomes involved in directly extracting surplus value from franchisees. We explore this latter phenomenon through an excavation of the history of the legal distinction in Canadian business-format franchising in Canada and detailed studies of two recent Canadian cases in which “franchisees” successfully claimed employment status.

The article is devoted to the study of features of franchising as a strategy of business development, which allows to form resource, technological, innovative, partner competitive advantages and take a stable competitive position in the market and, as the experience of developed countries shows, is a real mechanism for successful development of small business in the long term. The economic essence of the classical model of franchising and the socioeconomic conditions that determined its evolution are disclosed: changes in consumer behavior; strengthening customization and individualization trends; change in franchisee’s expectations of entrepreneurial initiative; rapid development of information and communication technologies; increase in franchisors’ costs for franchisee support; the economic crisis, which contributes to the growing popularity of budget conceptions; growing uncertainty of the external environment. Based on the systematization of the parameters of differences (the fact of brand transfer, features of the regulation of key processes, the possibility of registration of joint ownership of the franchise, standardization of external elements and assortment, as well as the specifics of the process of innovation transfer) alternative models of franchising are characterized: customized franchising of the business format, quasi-franchising and branchising. Knowledge of modern trends in the organization of entrepreneurial activity on the basis of franchising will allow entrepreneurs to choose for business the direction that is in demand at a particular point in time in a certain territory for a specific segment of consumers.

In spite of the increasing attention on environmental sustainability, there is a dearth of knowledge about franchisees' pro‐environmental behaviors. This study aims to understand the factors that influence the extent to which franchisees engage in pro‐environmental behaviors in the fast‐food sector. The research is based on in‐depth interviews with franchisees operating restaurants in the fast‐food sector in France. The empirical evidence in this qualitative study shows how franchisees' pro‐environmental behaviors can be explained as a result of organizational and personal factors, thereby extending the theory of planned behavior, norm‐activation‐model and organizational support theory within the franchising context. This study offers avenues for more research on green practices in franchising, as well as in the hospitality sector and other sectors such as retailing. It provides important implications for franchise practitioners in the fast‐food sector on how to create a more environmentally sustainable business model. The findings offer the first known model of pro‐environmental behaviors of franchisees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become a common practice for restaurant firms to spend amounts exceeding their earnings on share buybacks by depleting their cash reserves or even by borrowing money. Given restaurant firms' limited ability to generate internal cash and the high cost of debt financing, using these means to finance share buybacks could jeopardize restaurant firms' long-term success. However, little is known about the factors influencing restaurant firms' tendency toward this seemingly aggressive buyback behavior. This study revealed that the more restaurant firms' earnings reduce, the greater their tendency is to conduct such aggressive share buybacks. This result could provide some evidence that managerial self-serving behavior plays a role in aggressive share buybacks in the restaurant industry. The study also demonstrated that the positive impact of reduced earnings on aggressive buybacks becomes stronger as a firm's degree of franchising increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how a state-based franchisee association of a multinational quick-service restaurant franchisor introduced three world-first innovations through the activation of the five dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation (EO). The antecedents to this activation were also explored. A historical extended case study focusing on a revelatory case was undertaken. In-depth analysis using a rigorous qualitative methodology was facilitated by the triangulation of informant interviews, publicly available data, archival data, and artefacts. The three innovations explored involved the apparent activation of all five dimensions of EO by the franchisee association. The franchisee association's structure and the provenance of its franchisee members, in being either externally recruited or internally recruited, appeared to have a bearing on whether product or process innovations were pursued. Five antecedents that enhance the propensity of franchisee associations to activate the dimensions of EO were also identified, and a preliminary model was constructed. Whilst the EO of franchisors and franchisees has previously been examined, this study is the first to explore franchisee associations as a vehicle for EO. With around 75% of franchisors incorporating some form of franchisee association, better understanding how to harness their innovative potential could bestow a competitive advantage upon those franchise systems able to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Franchising activities are highly specific, and research on improving the organization and management of human resources in such companies is rarely conducted due to the overestimation of the rigidity of the franchisee-franchisor agreement in terms of implementing appropriate attitudes and behaviors of organization members, including stimulating proactivity, building organizational support or motivating employees. Hence, the main aim of the study is to determine how motivation, organizational trust and proactivity affect a franchise company's development potential. Design/methodology/approach: The study had a form of questionnaire survey realized among 150 franchise businesses in 2022. The opinions of the respondents were gathered using a 5-point Likert scale. The study's respondents were chosen by purposeful random selection. Once the reliability indicator values had been accepted, a statistical study utilizing descriptive statistics, correlation indicators, and a multiple regression model had been completed. Findings: The research confirmed positive correlations between employee proactivity, organizational trust and internal motivation system and the development potential of franchising companies. The built multiple regression model indicated that these variables significantly influence the development potential of franchisees' companies - the whole model explained 42.8% of variation in the response. Research limitations: The main limitations of the study was not fully representative research sample, thus the study requires further confirmation. The quantitative nature of the study should be extended to include qualitative research explaining the examined relationships. Practical implications: For management practitioners, the development of management tools is recommended to improve internal organization and HR management, which should be created as a complementary element to principles of the franchising system rather than as competing one. Originality/value: The paper's contribution is visible by highlighting the significance of creating an organizational culture based on motivation, internal trust and proactivity in development of organization within the franchising network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study refers to the problem of franchising regulation as a phenomenon of private law. In fact, in most legal systems, franchising operates on the basis of the principle of freedom of contract or the principle of freedom of economic activity. However, in some countries, franchising is regulated with varying degrees of intensity. The regulation of franchises seems to be necessary due to the need to protect the economically weaker party to the legal relationship. The question arises whether, at the pre-contractual stage, if the candidate for a franchisee is a natural person who does not conduct business activity, such a person should benefit from the legal protection provided by the legal system for the consumer, in terms of information provided before the conclusion of the contract. The problem of information provided by the organizer of the franchise network is addressed by the so-called model law. In its main part, the study first indicates different ways of regulating franchising in different European jurisdictions. Subsequently, the final part of the core of the presented study is devoted to the key attempt in adopting the franchise regulation in Poland.

This article aims to analyze the current jurisprudence of administrative courts in the context of the statutory prohibition against pharmacy concentration, as referred to in Art. 99 sec. 3 point 2 of the Pharmaceutical Law. Determining the guidelines and principles for interpreting the content of the prohibition of concentration is crucial for resolving cases before the State Pharmaceutical Inspection authorities regarding the issuance or transfer of permits for operating public pharmacies. In the practical dimension of interpreting the content of the prohibition of pharmacy concentration, the practice of conducting pharmacy activities within a business model shaped and provided by another entrepreneur, i.e. based on a franchising agreement, is particularly relevant. Entering into a franchising agreement, due to its specific provisions, may result in the recognition of dependence of the franchisee on the franchisor in a manner that qualifies the franchisee as a controlled entity. This assessment, in particular, can be derived from the overall legal and factual circumstances arising cumulatively from the provisions of the franchising agreement and other accompanying agreements. It should be emphasized that the mere fact of entering into a franchising agreement does not directly categorize the assessment of the franchisor's acquisition and exercise of control over the franchisee, and thus does not itself justify the conclusion that the franchisee has been deprived of the independence and economic distinctiveness required under Article in Art. 99 sec. 3 point 2-3 of the Pharmaceutical Law , thus becoming a member of the franchisor's capital group or at least its subsidiary. However, such an assessment may be justified by the analysis of the provisions of the franchising agreement, which - due to the unspecified nature of the agreement - remain to a significant extent determined by the will of the parties, which in business terms may often mean a significant influence of the negotiating dominant party, i.e. the franchisor. In addition, the provisions of other agreements concluded between the parties to the franchising agreement may also be relevant to the assessment, creating a scope of obligations somewhat separate, but in essence directly affecting the overall legal situation of the franchisee, including the closer subordination of the franchisee to the influence and rights of the franchisor, and the scope of control exercised by the franchisor.

This study investigates the relationship between ownership form and human resource (HR) practices in a franchise system. Using data from a unique establishment-level survey of a US-based limited service hotel chain, the author examines how HR practices vary between franchisee- and company-owned hotels, and among franchisees with diverse ownership structures. Consistent with agency theory predictions of franchisee profit motives and free-riding behavior, franchisee-owned hotels are associated with lower investments in HR practices compared to company-owned hotels. The results of this study suggest that ownership structures influence HR investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's era, franchising is a widely adopted business model used by companies to expand domestically and internationally. Undoubtedly, technology serves as the backbone for efficient management of day-today operations in franchise outlets. This paper aims to offer a general overview of technology integration in franchise business, providing an initial understanding. Our research involved a review of previous studies on franchising that included technological adaptation. The focus of this paper is to increase the understanding of the use of technology in franchise businesses, addressing the factors and challenges faced by franchise businesses seeking technology integration. The review method was used to explore this topic more deeply. Factors have been discussed where it explains what the purpose of the franchise business is to adopt technology and how it helps operations. In addition, challenges are also explained where they are related to what these franchise businesses are facing in maintaining the adoption of the technology they use in a competitive market. Finally, this study identifies future research directions that can be a guide for both future studies and industry players involved in franchise development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the long-term effects of integrating e-commerce into franchise networks. The study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with franchisees and franchisors in Italy. Short-term acceptance of e-commerce by franchisees is often influenced by power imbalances or contractual inertia. However, in the long term, franchisees are less likely to invest in franchise chains that do not involve them in e-commerce. Franchisors face the challenge of choosing between profit-sharing with franchisees or investing more in directly operated stores. It's noted that redirecting ownership could diminish the entrepreneurial value of franchising, which is vital for economic development, especially as multi-unit franchising becomes more prevalent internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bradach and Eccles (1989) identified three distinct forms of plural governance that prevail in business practice: franchising, dual distribution, and concurrent sourcing. Despite the underlying commonality of these forms—organizing an economic activity through multiple governance modes—each form has spawned its own stream of theoretical and empirical research, with relatively little cross-stream knowledge exchange. In this paper, we argue that, given the fragmented nature of these literatures, unexplored opportunities exist for scholars to pursue new research opportunities by importing theoretical predictions, causal mechanisms, and methods from the other streams in theoretically appropriate ways. To highlight what is possible, we first take stock of the distinctive characteristics, conceptual foundations, and dominant methodologies associated with the three literatures. We then identify four key governance challenges—monitoring, cooperation, learning, and competition—that were common across the streams and use these challenges to isolate theoretical and methodological blind spots that merit further research consideration. Our research agenda addresses these blind spots, proposes specific avenues for theory development within each stream of plural governance research, and helps scholars of the franchising, dual distribution, and concurrent sourcing literatures to connect and contribute to research in the intellectual core of plural governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis essay discusses the organizational design of Unjani Clinics as described in Szerb, Kivleneice, and Aggarwal’s organizational zoo case study.

Artykuł przedstawia rozbieżności w rozumieniu franczyzy i grupy kapitałowej na tle prawa konkurencji oraz prawa farmaceutycznego. Organy inspekcji farmaceutycznej uznają czasem, że franczyzobiorca wchodzi w skład grupy kapitałowej franczyzodawcy organizującego sieć aptek. W sytuacji stwierdzenia, że zbyt wiele aptek zostało skupionych w jednej grupie kapitałowej, organy odmawiają wydania zezwolenia na prowadzenie apteki. Skargi na decyzje organów inspekcji farmaceutycznej są rozpoznawane przez wojewódzkie sądy administracyjne, które w niektórych przypadkach uznają, że włączenie franczyzobiorców do grup kapitałowych franczyzodawców było słuszne. Stanowisko, że franczyzobiorca jest częścią grupy kapitałowej franczyzodawcy jest odmienne od przyjętego w przepisach, doktrynie i orzecznictwie prawa konkurencji, gdzie franczyzobiorcę uznaje się za niezależnego przedsiębiorcę, działającego we własnymi imieniu i na własny rachunek. Niezrozumiały jest rozdźwięk w interpretacji, ponieważ przepisy prawa farmaceutycznego nie zawierają własnej definicji grupy kapitałowej, lecz odsyłają do definicji w ustawie o ochronie konkurencji i konsumentów. Artykuł prezentuje poglądy prawa konkurencji na franczyzę i grupę kapitałową, porównując je z poglądami wyrażanymi w orzecznictwie sądów administracyjnych w ramach prawa farmaceutycznego. Wskazuje na potrzebę systemowej wykładni prawa dla uniknięcia rozbieżności w jego stosowaniu.