Franchising is an important organizational form, but extant theory explaining firms' use of franchising is at best incomplete. Research has primarily used agency and resource-scarcity theory to explain firms' propensity to franchise, and studies have rarely investigated the performance differences among franchising firms. In an attempt to offer a different and, hopefully, richer explanation for the antecedents to firms' propensity to franchise and franchisor performance, I build hypotheses grounded in resource-based and relational theories, and test these ideas using a survey of 156 top management team members from active franchisors. Findings support my arguments that the relational view adds explanatory power, but similar support was not found for resource-based variables. However, resource-based and relational variables both explain firm performance, both directly and by interacting with firms' propensity to franchise. I also found that some relational variables act opposite to theory, and further investigation revealed the existence of two distinct organizational types, the plural form and the turnkey operator. These findings suggest that future inquiry can benefit from looking beyond firms' exact propensity to franchise and more to organizational type as a moderator of the relationship between franchisor and relational resources and performance. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2007. / June 1, 2007. / Relational View, Resource-based Theory, Franchising, Agency Theory, Franchisor / Includes bibliographical references. / James G. Combs, Professor Directing Dissertation; Larry C. Giunipero, Outside Committee Member; Bruce T. Lamont, Committee Member; Annette L. Ranft, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182441 |
| Contributors | Gillis, William E., 1964- (authoraut), Combs, James G. (professor directing dissertation), Giunipero, Larry C. (outside committee member), Lamont, Bruce T. (committee member), Ranft, Annette L. (committee member), Department of Management (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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