Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

This paper aims at developing a model on which to base good quality franchise relationships. The franchise sector has the potential to generate wealth for the franchisee and the franchisor, create employment and be a tool of empowerment. It is also associated with relatively less risk than other forms of self-employment. However, there have been a disturbing number of failures in the sector and reported cases of abuses of franchisees by franchisors. Some franchisors have sought liquidation of franchise units in courts of law. An investigation was commissioned into the sector with the objective of uncovering problems in the quality of the relationships in the sector. The obligations of both the franchisees and franchisors were stipulated. Aspects of quality were then considered to lay a foundation upon which improvements in the relationships could be based. This was followed by a survey to find the performance gap between the quality of service that was expected from the franchisor and what the franchisees were actually receiving. Five dimensions of service quality – tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy were empirically investigated. The findings of this research revealed that the quality of service of franchisors fell short in all dimensions. It is arguable that other aspects of quality are being neglected by the franchisors. It is against this backdrop that a model is proposed to improve the quality of service in the franchise relationships. The model incorporates contemporary ideas on quality. Principles of total quality management, quality function deployment, customer satisfaction and self-assessment are applied to the franchise relationship. The use of the model will contribute towards better relationships in the franchise sector.

This treatise investigates the restaurant industry, entrepreneurship, franchising and restaurant franchising in order to develop a model that will enable a full service restaurant concept to be converted into a successful franchise system. Restaurants play a significant role in our lifestyle, and dining out is a favoured social activity. The industry plays an important role in the transfer of skills as many people start working in the restaurant industry before moving onto more formal careers. The restaurant industry offers many opportunities for entrepreneurial activity as a result of the relatively low barriers to entry. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity regardless of the resources at hand and it requires a willingness to take calculated risks in order to build something of value from virtually nothing. The success of emerging economies such as China and India has proven that the only growth sectors in these economies are small and medium enterprises, which are driven by entrepreneurs. Franchising is considered to be a viable growth strategy for small business as it provides a means of raising capital and a method of expanding the business in a relatively low risk manner. There are many well established restaurant franchise brands that originated in South Africa, starting out as successful single outlets and then by means of the business format franchise model, developed into multi unit franchise systems. There are certain basic generic steps that must be followed when developing a franchise system. This was verified by the empirical study of this treatise which was conducted as a single unit case study on the Dulce Franchise Group. Finally, as a result of the analysis of the literature study and the findings of the case study, a restaurant franchise conversion model was developed.

Franchise contracts are often standard form contracts drafted by the franchisor and presented on a "take it or leave it" basis. Although these typically one-sided contracts may be necessary to prevent franchisees from harming the franchisor's brand name, in practice, the franchisors' contractual power can lead to franchisor-opportunism, in particular through wrongful terminations and nonrenewal, onerous transfer restrictions, and so on. Accordingly, federal government and some state legislatures have enacted specific franchise laws in order to balance potential power imbalance and to protect franchisees from opportunism. However, these laws have been criticized for being harmful to the franchising sector as they restrict franchisors' termination power, and thus, encourage franchisee-opportunism. As current laws appear to be failing to provide a fair solution for both parties, this dissertation offers an alternative theory drawn from the European concept of goodwill recoupment. Under the proposed approach, once a franchise comes to an end, the franchisee would be entitled to a payment for its goodwill. The payment does not depend on the franchisor's wrongdoing; if and to the extent that a franchisee has positive local goodwill, the transfer of this value to the franchisor upon cessation justifies the payment. This payment would allow the franchisee to receive a fair return for its intangible investment without constraining the franchisor's monitoring power and flexibility. The proposed approach is a better-suited solution against opportunism than those currently used in the U.S. legal system. This approach would ultimately reduce both franchisee and franchisor opportunism, and incentivize investment and cooperation. / Temple University. James E. Beasley School of Law / Law

No description available.

An emerging paradigm shift in the marketing discipline has prompted renewed research interest in the nature and scope of exchange. A common theme in the research to date is a departure from the traditional transactional orientation to a relational perspective of exchange. The relational emphasis is particularly germane to contractual Vertical Marketing Systems (VMS) where the emphasis is on long-term, mutually beneficial interaction between various channel members. The franchisor-franchisee relationship, a type of contractual VMS, is governed by norms that impact system efficiency and effectiveness. Despite the unprecedented growth of international franchising systems in the marketplace, a paucity of empirical attention has focused on cross-national franchisor-franchisee relationships. With many U.S.-based business format franchisors penetrating foreign markets, the primary purpose of the dissertation is to provide insights into tools which franchisors, and franchisees can use during the evolution of the exchange relationship. To identify differences across geographic boundaries, the dissertation simultaneously studies domestic and cross-border franchisor-franchisee relationships.

Durante décadas a evolução das teorias e métodos da administração financeira contribuiu para novos comportamentos dos gestores de grandes empresas frente aos desafios constantes e crescentes. Assim, as tomadas de decisões e as atitudes são realizadas com maior segurança e de forma pro ativa. Esses conceitos e métodos são aplicados com o apoio de controles contábeis que objetivam a disposição das informações financeiras essenciais em forma de demonstrações contábil-financeiras. Assim a contabilidade por ser alimentada constantemente pelas movimentações financeiras ocorridas na empresa, passa a ser considerada um sistema de informação poderoso e indispensável à gestão financeira. Diante dessa situação observa-se que nem sempre a função da contabilidade é entendida como uma importante ferramenta para a informação gerencial, ela ainda é interpretada de uma forma que foge as suas origens e que ainda impera uma predisposição distorcida de suas funções. Com base nessa importante ferramenta de controle é que ocorre a aplicação e atuação dos conceitos e métodos da administração financeira como apoio ao processo decisório de empreendimentos franqueados. Portanto, o desenvolvimento desse trabalho objetiva demonstrar a necessidade de aplicação dessas teorias e métodos para garantir desde uma simples sobrevivência até o sucesso pelo crescimento de franquias. Entende-se que o início da formação da administração financeira se deu nas grandes empresas, então, diante desse quadro, criou-se a necessidade, por meio desse trabalho de averiguar se essa área também poderá servir como um sistema de apoio às decisões nas micro e pequenas empresas inseridas em sistemas de franquia. Portanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso da sistemática financeira, no que a coleta de dados fora feita por questionários com trinta e cinco franquias no setor de educação em duas regiões do estado de São Paulo. Além dos questionários, realizou-se um estudo da sistemática financeira de uma rede de franquias no setor alimentício, por meio de entrevistas semi-estruturadas, no intuito de realizar um estudo comparativo entre os dois sistemas. Portanto é evidenciado o interesse e a necessidade da aplicação da administração financeira como sistema de apoio ao processo decisório de pequenas franquias garantindo a sobrevivência e o sucesso desses empreendimentos, desde que os sistemas e os procedimentos financeiros sejam padronizados e cubram os resultados e que estes ofereçam condições básicas de controle para a efetiva aplicação. / During decades the evolution of the theories and methods of the financial administration have contribute to new behaviors of the managers of big companies facing constant and growing challenges. Thus, the takings of decisions and the attitudes are accomplished with larger safety and in pro-active way. Those concepts and methods are applied with the support of accounting controls that objectify the disposition of the essential financial information in the way of accounting-financial demonstrations. This way the accounting constantly fed by the financial movements accurred in the company, become a powerful and indispensable system of information to the financial administration. Due to that situation it is observed that the function of the accounting is not always understood as an important tool of managerial information, it is still interpreted in a way that is far from its origins and a distorted predisposition of its functions still prevails. Based on that important control tool is that the application and performance of the concepts and methods of the financial administration as support to the decision process of franchised enterprises happens. Therefore, the development of this project objectifies to demonstrate the need of application of those theories and methods to guarantee not only the survival but also the success for the growth of the franchises. It is understood that the beginning of the formation of the financial administration happened in the big companies, then, facing this picture, the need was created, through this project, to discover that area can serve also as a support system to the decisions in small companies inserted in franchised systems. Therefore, a study case of the systematic finances was accomplished, when the collection of data was made by questionnaires with thirty five franchises in the education section in two areas of the state of the São Paulo. The study of systematic finances of a chain of franchises in the food sector was also accomplishing a comparative study between the two systems. Therefore it is evidenced the interest of the need of the application of the financial administration as support system to the decisions process of small franchises guaranteeing the success of those enterprises, as long as the systems and the financial procedures are standardized and collet results and that they offer conditions of control for the effective application.

by Yiu Chuen-lai. / Spine title: Deciphering small business owner's strategies. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-161). / Abstract / Acknowledgment / Table of Contents / Chapter Chapter One --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Small business characteristics --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter Three --- Franchisees' knowledge about franchise relation --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter Four --- Why and how franchisees join the franchises ？ A study of franchisees' working histories --- p.80 / Chapter Chapter Five --- What do franchisees do ？ In quest of their work and their role in the operation --- p.104 / Chapter Chapter Six --- Conclusion --- p.140 / Bibliography

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

South Africa is currently undergoing a phase of transformation that has indicated a shift from institutionalised oppression in all political, social and economic spheres to a society that is ideally open, free and democratic. Many aspects of life in South Africa are therefore changing as this transformation process is proceeding. It is this transformation process that has prompted interest in the area of economic empowerment amongst those who were previously disadvantaged in the "old" South Africa. The previously disadvantaged represent a large percentage of potentially economically active members of South African society. However, because of a high unemployment rate, other alternative forms of employment need to be sought, mainly through entrepreneurial endeavours. One such alternative, which is presented in this study, is the possible role that the franchise industry may play in economically empowering people that were previously disadvantaged. The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically examine the potential of franchising to act as a mechanism for economic empowerment. It explores the perceptions of franchisors, franchisees and financial institutions in regards to the current state of the franchise industry in order to assess the extent to which franchising does or does not act as a mechanism for economic empowerment. Conclusions have been drawn to correlate the theory and the empirical analysis of the surveys that were undertaken. It has been found that in many ways, franchising may act as a mechanism for economic empowerment but there are factors that inhibit the role that franchising can play in promoting this form of entrepreneurship. Where these negative factors have surfaced, a methodology has been presented in order to minimise such effect. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.