Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The business format, franchising, can be defined as "the granting of a licence for a predetermined financial return by a franchising company (franchisor) to its franchisees. The grant entitles them to make use of a complete business package, including training, support and the corporate name (branding and logos). Thus enabling them (franchisees) to operate their own businesses to exactly the same standards and format as the other units in the franchise chain." (Grant 1985, p4 as cited by Altinay, L. 2004) Franchising as a business model can be seen in essence as a proven business model that is sold as a "best practices knowledge" model to franchisees. Although the "best practices" approach is at the core of franchising no formal methodology was found to exist to guide the development thereof. The lack of a formal methodology in this regard has given rise to various self-designed so-called "project management" approaches as found to be applied in the development of franchise outlets. This mini-thesis sets about testing the theoretical and practical integration of a formal project management approach, in fast food franchising market. Both from a theoretical and practical point of view it was found that the integration of a formal project management methodology and franchising as a business model would improve the functionality of franchising as a whole. By developing a formal methodology in a course for the franchising model, better control over the limited scarce resources (money, time, quality and people) at its disposal can be obtained, allowing optimal growth through proper development, planning, monitoring and delivering of business outlets. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die besigheids formaat, naamlik agentskap, kan beskryf word as: die vergunning van 'n lisensie teen 'n voorafbepaalde finansiële tarief deur die maatskappy, aan sy agentskappe. Die vergunning leen hulle daaraan toe om gebruiksnut van die hele pakket te kan benut, insluitende opleiding, ondersteuning en korporatiewe naams- (handelsmerk en logo) gebruik. Sodoende bevoeg die gebruiksnut die agentskappe om hulle eie besighede tot dieselfde standaarde en formaat as die ander agentskappe in die groep te bedryf. (Grant 1985, p4 soos aangehaal deur Altinay, l.2004) Agentskap as 'n besigheids model kan beskou word in wese as 'n erkende besigheids model, wat verkoop word as 'n "beste kennis praktyk" model, aan die organisasie se agentskappe. Alhoewel die "beste kennis praktyk" metode, aan die kern van agentskap is, is geen formele metodologie gevind wat die ontwikkeling daarvan reguleer nie. Die tekort aan 'n formele metodologie in die aanwending van agentskap het tot gevolg gehad dat verskeie self ontwikkelde sogenaamde "projek bestuur" metodes in gebruik geneem is in die ontwikkeling van verskeie agentskappe. Hierdie mini-tesis is daartoe gemik om teoretiese en praktiese integrasie van 'n formele projek bestuur metodiek in die kits kos agentskap mark te beproef. Beide van 'n teoretiese en praktiese perspektief was dit bevind dat die integrasie van 'n formele projek bestuur metodologie en agentskap as 'n besigheids model, die funksionele toepassing van agentskap as 'n geheel sal bevorder. Deur die daarstelling van 'n formele agentskap kursus bied dit die organisasie beter kontrole oor hulle beskikbare skaars hulpbronne (geld, tyd, kwaliteit en mense), wat optimale groei bevorder weens die ontwikkeling van verbeterde ontwikkeling, beplanning, toesighouding, en lewering metodes.

PhD (Business Management) / Department of Business Management / Microfranchising’ is one of the new innovative entrepreneurial concepts that has gained traction in the past few years and potentially can provide a livelihood to the three billion people that live at the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoPInnovationCenter, 2020) on less than US$2 a day. While microfranchising is a strategy meant to rapidly scale-up entrepreneurship behaviour, very little is known about the microfranchising processes as well as its ability to enhance entrepreneurship in South Africa. Resultantly, the latter is ignored from entrepreneurship discussion and discourse at both academic and policy levels. To address this gap the study assessed microfranchising practices in South Africa, with the aim of proposing a microfranchising framework that will enhance entrepreneurship development. The study used the interpretivism research paradigm to achieve the study objectives. Primary and secondary data were employed to collect data on the microfranchising practices in South Africa. The study sampled five microfranchise entrepreneurs (four microfranchisee and one microfranchisor using the in-depth structured interview format while secondary data (microfranchisees and microfranchisors success stories) and was employed to collect data on the former and current practices of microfranchising in South Africa. The collected data was analysed using the ATLAS.ti. The study results show that microfranchisees exhibit traits of successful entrepreneurs. As a result, the study concludes that microfranchising can be used as a tool for entrepreneurship development using the proposed microfranchising framework developed in Chapter 6 of this study. The value of this work is among the first in seeking to propose a framework for developing entrepreneurship through microfranchising. The implication of the study is that it potentially provides policymakers with valuable tools to understand microfranchising practices and its efficacy in stimulating entrepreneurship development in South Africa. The study recorded and established microfranchising practices in South Africa to enhance the extinct academic literature on microfranchising and entrepreneurship ventures operating at the BoP. / NRF