Franchising research on emerging markets : Bibliometric and content analyses

Abstract: This study reviews the franchising literature on emerging markets. We used the Bibliometrix R-package and VOSviewer software to perform a bibliometric analysis of 297 articles between 1989 and 2020 obtained from the Scopus database. We combined bibliometric coupling, historiographic citation, keyword co-occurrence, and conceptual thematic analysis, with a content analysis of the most cited articles based on total global and local citations. We identified two main research clusters: international franchising and social franchising. This article provides a deep understanding of the intellectual and conceptual structure of the academic field. It complements existing qualitative reviews and attempts at characterizations, and suggests future research directions

Internationalization of franchise networks

This chapter provides an overview and critical evaluation of the international franchise literature. It distinguishes four main research streams, which are analysed according to theoretical and methodological framing, data collection, operationalization and measurement issues, as well as empirical and conceptual findings. These core research themes refer to the home country as well as host country factors that induce internationalization of franchise firms, the choice of governance structure of international franchise firms and the relational aspects of international franchise networks. Finally, the chapter discusses limitations of the existing research and concludes with some recommendations for future research

The Choice of Governance Modes of International Franchise Firms - Development of an Integrative Model

This paper examines the evolution of the international franchise research with special focus on the governance modes of the international franchise firm and develops a new model for the franchisor's choice of the international governance modes. International governance modes in franchising refer to wholly-owned subsidiaries, joint venture franchising, area development franchising and master franchising. Although many studies on the governance modes of the international franchise firm have been published in the last two decades, no prior study develops an integrative framework that investigates the determinants of the international governance modes by combining organizational economics and strategic management perspectives. Specifically, this study explains the governance modes of the international franchise firm by applying transaction cost theory, agency theory, resource-based and organizational capabilities theory and property rights theory. \ua9 2013 Elsevier Inc

Determinants of the governance structure of the international franchise firm: A case study analysis in the automotive rental industry

Purpose: The governance structure of international franchise firms varies from higher control modes, such as wholly owned subsidiaries and joint venture franchising, to lower control modes, such as area development and master franchising. Based on organizational economics, strategic management, and international business perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to use the case study analysis to empirically evaluate an integrative model on the franchisor\u2019s choice of international governance modes. Design/methodology/approach: The study applies qualitative methods, such as in-depth case analysis, to investigate a large set of variables that influence the governance structure decision of the international franchise firm. Specifically, it applies a theory-testing case study with two major competitors in the European automotive rental industry, i.e. Europcar and Sixt. Theory-testing case research is justified by the lack of explanatory research due to the complexity of the franchisor-franchisee relationship phenomena, such as the factors that influence the franchisor\u2019s choice of international governance modes. The investigation of the complex governance structure phenomenon requires a holistic analysis. Findings: The case study shows that environmental, behavioral, transaction-specific, resource-based (system-specific, market-specific, financial resources), and international strategy considerations are important determinants of the governance mode decision of the international franchise firm. Research limitations/implications: The study responds to the recent call in organizational economics, marketing, strategic management, and international business literature to develop and test a multi-theoretical framework to explain the governance structure of inter-organizational networks, such as franchise networks. Originality/value: Few previous studies in international franchising have used more than one theoretical perspective to explain the governance structure of the international franchise firm. This study contributes to the theory-testing case study literature by applying a rigorous method of conducting case research. This includes developing a theoretical framework and a systematic research design. A systematic research design requires a holistic analysis by investigating the international franchise governance modes from a variety of theoretical perspectives which are the organizational economics, strategic management, and the strategy-structure perspective

Determinants of master international franchising

International franchise firms can be governed by equity and non-equity governance modes. This chapter provides an analysis of the major determinants of master international franchising (as non-equity mode) from international strategy, resource-based and organizational capabilities, and transaction cost and agency perspectives respectively. The conceptual model summarizes the impact of strategic, asset-specific, environmental as well as behavioural factors on the franchisor\u2019s choice of master international franchising. Albeit focusing on master international franchising, the chapter\u2019s propositions may also be applied to franchise expansion with other low control modes. The chapter shows that the right franchise mode choice is a critical task based on multiple determinants which influence the success of the international franchise chains. It may assist franchisors, franchise network partners and policy makers in analysing the conditions of master international franchising in the target country and applying efficient governance modes for successful expansion of the franchise brand into host countries

Governance of international franchise networks: Combining value creation and value appropriation perspectives

This study develops a new perspective on the franchisor\u2019s choice of international governance modes as a value creation and value appropriation mechanism. Value creation refers to knowledge creation from the joint use of the franchisor\u2019s intangible system-specific knowhow and foreign partners\u2019 intangible local market knowhow; value appropriation refers to efficient knowledge exploitation based on transaction cost savings under conditions of uncertainty and transaction-specific investments. Based on primary data from 162 international franchise systems headquartered in eight countries, the results highlight the importance of intangible knowledge-based resources (franchisor\u2019s system-specific knowhow and franchise partners\u2019 local market knowhow) and transaction cost factors (transaction-specific investments, environmental uncertainty, and cultural uncertainty) for the franchisor\u2019s choice between equity modes, such as wholly-owned subsidiaries, and joint venture franchising, and non-equity modes, such as single-unit franchising, area development franchising, and master franchising