Tacit Knowledge Barriers in Franchising: Practical Solutions

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers that hinder tacit knowledge transfer in a franchise environment and offer a compendium of solutions that encourage franchisees and franchisors to leverage tacit knowledge as a resource for competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach– Drawing from the research on franchise organizations there are five barriers to tacit knowledge transfer that present a challenge to both vertical and horizontal information flow in a franchise environment. It is suggested that when specific behaviors and processes are adopted to encourage sharing tacit knowledge it is possible to reduce tension and promote collaboration in the franchise relationship. Findings– Barriers to tacit knowledge transfer in franchise organizations include: Trust, Maturation, Communication, Competition, and Culture. Ideas for fostering knowledge sharing are offered. Research limitations/implications– The factors identified only partially explain why there may be resistance to sharing tacit knowledge between franchisees and franchisors. Solutions recommended will need further testing to assess their impact on creating cultures that embrace tacit knowledge sharing. Practical implications– For franchisors and franchisees to encourage tacit knowledge sharing they will need to recognize and value what each player contributes to the relationship. Originality/value– The identification of specific barriers to tacit knowledge transfer in franchise environment sets the stage for future work that can expand on solutions in the franchise context that potentially has economic and psychological benefits for both parties

Using needs assessment as a learning tool in the product development process: A case study of a quick service restaurant chain

Purpose– The purpose of this case study was threefold. First, to examine whether a needs assessment can work in the context of an organization’s new product development process to identify the gap between what “is” occurring and what “should” be occurring. Second, to investigate how a well-known stakeholder classification system can be adopted in a practitioner setting. Third, to identify why the new product development process derailed in a quick-service restaurant chain. Design/methodology/approach– A Fortune 200 quick-service restaurant chain provided the setting for a case study on the new product development (NPD) process. Data were gathered from multiple stakeholder groups using interviews and a survey questionnaire. Findings– Findings support the adaptability of needs assessment as a learning tool to help organizations identify and address performance gaps. A second finding was the applicability of the Mitchell et al. (1997) classification system to identify and prioritize groups of stakeholders. Finally, this study revealed that the specific activities involved in the NPD process were not codified, and that the restaurant chains cross-functional team was not adhering to the process due to a lack of training. Research limitations/implications– The specific setting may limit the generalizability of findings. Future research could determine the applicability in other settings. Practical implications– This study provides useful insights for applying needs assessments in conjunction with a stakeholder analysis when problems arise in the product development process. Originality/value– The study contributes to understanding around product development learning tools and provides impetus for the adoption of needs assessments and stakeholder analysis when deficiencies in the process occur

Organization Development Through Franchise Advisory Boards A Model for Governance Relationships

Franchising brings a unique set of challenges to human resources and organization development (HROD) practitioners who are focused on strategically aligning human capacity and organizational goals through cultures of collaboration. Because franchising consists of inter-firm relationships, the presence of franchise associations can help ensure that franchisee voices are heard and that collaborative relationships exist between the franchisor and franchisees. These franchise associations typically use governance structures, which includes elected boards of directors. Although practitioner data delineate the roles these franchise boards should perform, there has been only limited empirical investigation on the topic. Moreover, no research addresses how to foster productive relationships between the franchisees and franchisors who work together in these board relationships. This article presents a proposed framework for these boards, using a multi-theoretical perspective that addresses the competing emphases affecting the franchisor–franchisee relationship and the respective roles for HROD professionals

Impact of persisting amblyopia on socio–economic, health and well–being outcomes in adult life: findings from the UK Biobank study

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate associations between persisting amblyopia into adulthood and its “real-life” impacts and inform the current debate about the value of childhood vision screening programs. Methods: Associations between persisting amblyopia and diverse socioeconomic, health, and well-being outcomes were investigated in multivariable-adjusted (sex, age, ethnicity, deprivation) regression models, with 126 400 participants (aged 40-70 years) of the UK Biobank with complete ophthalmic data. Analysis by age group (cohort 1, 60-70 years; cohort 2, 50-59 years; cohort 3, 40-49 years) assessed temporal trends. Results: Of 3395 (3%) participants with confirmed amblyopia, overall 77% (2627) had persisting amblyopia, declining from 78% in cohort 1 to 73% in cohort 3. The odds of persisting amblyopia were 5.91 (5.24-6.66) and 2.49 (2.21-2.81) times greater in cohort 1 and cohort 2, respectively, than cohort 3. The odds were also higher for more socioeconomically deprived groups and for white ethnicity. Reduced participation in sport, adverse general and mental health, and well-being were all independently associated with persisting amblyopia, with the strongest associations in the youngest cohorts. Associations with lower educational attainment and economic outcomes were only evident in the oldest cohort. Conclusions: There has been a decline in the overall frequency of persisting amblyopia since the introduction of universal child vision screening in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, most adults treated for amblyopia in childhood have persisting vision deficits. There was no evidence that persisting amblyopia has vision-mediated effects on educational, employment-related, or economic outcomes. The observed adverse outcomes were largely those not directly mediated by vision. Patients undergoing treatment should be counseled about long-term outcomes

Online Workforce Development in Community Colleges Connection With Community, Institutional, and Governance Factors

This study examined community and institutional factors that influence offering online workforce development programs in community colleges. The study included a random sample of 321 community college in the United States. Findings conclude that colleges operating under statewide governance structures and in states with more highly centralized statewide practices have more online occupational programs than other types of institutions. In addition, student racial demographics factor into online course offerings. Institutions with higher percentages of White students are more likely to offer online occupational programs. These findings illustrate a potential need for additional online program development in colleges with larger percentages of students of color and raise questions about how states with decentralized systems can increase educational access by facilitating additional online workforce development programs

The Roles of Knowledge and Organizational Form on Opportunity Evaluation

What influences an individual to pursue one type of entrepreneurial opportunity versus another? Knowledge is central to the concept of opportunity identification and evaluation.  Using conjoint analysis to capture underlying decision policies, we explore the roles of both knowledge and organizational form in the evaluation of entrepreneurial opportunities.  Our findings suggest that, among respondents who considered entering a franchise agreement a viable alternative to founding an independent business, franchise versus independent form alone did not play a specific and significant role in the evaluation of the attractiveness of entrepreneurial opportunities.  Rather, organizational form appears to influence the impact of both human capital relatedness and the inimitability of resources attributes on opportunity attractiveness. 

Fragility and hysteretic creep in frictional granular jamming

The granular jamming transition is experimentally investigated in a two-dimensional system of frictional, bi-dispersed disks subject to quasi-static, uniaxial compression at zero granular temperature. Currently accepted results show the jamming transition occurs at a critical packing fraction $\phi_c$. In contrast, we observe the first compression cycle exhibits {\it fragility} - metastable configuration with simultaneous jammed and un-jammed clusters - over a small interval in packing fraction ($\phi_1 < \phi < \phi_2$). The fragile state separates the two conditions that define $\phi_c$ with an exponential rise in pressure starting at $\phi_1$ and an exponential fall in disk displacements ending at $\phi_2$. The results are explained through a percolation mechanism of stressed contacts where cluster growth exhibits strong spatial correlation with disk displacements. Measurements with several disk materials of varying elastic moduli $E$ and friction coefficients $\mu$, show friction directly controls the start of the fragile state, but indirectly controls the exponential slope. Additionally, we experimentally confirm recent predictions relating the dependence of $\phi_c$ on $\mu$. Under repetitive loading (compression), the system exhibits hysteresis in pressure, and the onset $\phi_c$ increases slowly with repetition number. This friction induced hysteretic creep is interpreted as the granular pack's evolution from a metastable to an eventual structurally stable configuration. It is shown to depend upon the quasi-static step size $\Delta \phi$ which provides the only perturbative mechanism in the experimental protocol, and the friction coefficient $\mu$ which acts to stabilize the pack.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

UK & Ireland observational study of outcomes following congenital / infantile cataract surgery: IoLunder2 five year follow up

PURPOSE: To investigate outcomes following cataract surgery with and without primary intraocular lens implantation in children aged under 2 years with congenital or infantile cataract. METHODS: A bi-national prospective longitudinal cohort study undertaken through a collaborative research network, with case ascertainment through active surveillance, and standardised data collection on children who underwent cataract surgery with and without IoL implantation between Jan ‘09 and Dec ’10. Multivariable multilevel regression modelling was undertaken to interrogate the association between IoL implantation and outcomes of interest. RESULTS: 256 children were recruited into the study following informed parental consent. For 242 (95%) children, 5 year post–operative follow up data were available. Overall, median age at surgery was 7 weeks (IQR 5 weeks-7 months). Significant ocular co-morbidity (horizontal corneal diameter<10mm, axial length<16mm, complex persistent fetal vasculature, other structural anomaly) was present in 42% of BCC eyes, 39% of UCC eyes. Primary IoL implantation was undertaken in 58/149 children with bilateral congenital/infantile cataract (BCC) and 45/93 with unilateral disease (UCC). Children who underwent IoL implantation were older at surgery, less likely to have an ocular comorbidity, and less likely to live in relative socioeconomic deprivation. At 5 years following surgery, median acuity in eyes of children with BCC was 0.5 logMAR (interquartile range 0.2-0.9), and with both eyes open 0.38. Median acuity in operated eyes of children with UCC was 0.8 logMAR (IQR 0.4-1.5). Secondary glaucoma had been diagnosed in 24% of BCC children (13% of eyes), and 12% of children with UCC. Following adjustment for age at surgery and presence of co-existent anomalies, IoLs were not associated with better visual outcome, and did not reduce odds of secondary glaucoma. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings that IoLs do not confer visual benefit or protective effect against glaucoma (as previously postulated), and previous findings of a higher risk of re-operation, routine use of IoLs in children under 2 years is not advocated. IoLunder2 is also able to provide data on the associations of visual outcomes and glaucoma risk with age at surgery, peri-operative management and post-operative rehabilitation, in order to inform policy and practice

Congenital cataract associated with persistent fetal vasculature: findings from IoLunder2

PURPOSE: To describe the frequency, characteristics, and treatment outcome of persistent fetal vasculature (PFV) in children undergoing surgery for congenital and infantile cataract in the first 2 years of life. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Observational population-based cohort study with case identification through active surveillance and standardised data collection via a national clinical network, the British Isles Congenital Cataract Interest Group (BCCIG). RESULTS: The IoLunder2 cohort comprises 246 children undergoing surgery for bilateral and unilateral congenital and infantile cataract in the first 2 years of life. A total of 58/246 (24%) children had PFV (%): overall, 46/95 (46%) with unilateral cataract, and 12/141 (8%) with bilateral disease. Anterior segment vascular remnants were more common in bilateral than unilateral disease (75 vs 11%, P=0.01). At 1 year after surgery, 20% of children with bilateral PFV and 24% with unilateral had achieved normal vision for age within the operated eye. The prevalence of post-operative glaucoma was 9% (of children with bilateral disease) and 4% (unilateral). CONCLUSION: PFV is significantly more common than previously reported, and outcomes are comparable to that for congenital and infantile cataract overall

Zeolite-Templated Carbon Materials for High-Pressure Hydrogen Storage

Zeolite-templated carbon (ZTC) materials were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated as potential hydrogen storage materials between 77 and 298 K up to 30 MPa. Successful synthesis of high template fidelity ZTCs was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption at 77 K; BET surface areas up to ~3600 mT2 g^(–1) were achieved. Equilibrium hydrogen adsorption capacity in ZTCs is higher than all other materials studied, including superactivated carbon MSC-30. The ZTCs showed a maximum in Gibbs surface excess uptake of 28.6 mmol g–1 (5.5 wt %) at 77 K, with hydrogen uptake capacity at 300 K linearly proportional to BET surface area: 2.3 mmol g^(–1) (0.46 wt %) uptake per 1000 m^2 g^(–1) at 30 MPa. This is the same trend as for other carbonaceous materials, implying that the nature of high-pressure adsorption in ZTCs is not unique despite their narrow microporosity and significantly lower skeletal densities. Isoexcess enthalpies of adsorption are calculated between 77 and 298 K and found to be 6.5–6.6 kJ mol^(–1) in the Henry’s law limit