Influential factors of pro‐environmental behaviors among franchisees in the fast‐food sector

In spite of the increasing attention on environmental sustainability, there is a dearth of knowledge about franchisees' pro-environmental behaviors. This study aims to understand the factors that influence the extent to which franchisees engage in pro-environmental behaviors in the fast-food sector. The research is based on in-depth interviews with franchisees operating restaurants in the fast-food sector in France. The empirical evidence in this qualitative study shows how franchisees' pro-environmental behaviors can be explained as a result of organizational and personal factors, thereby extending the theory of planned behavior, norm-activation-model and organizational support theory within the franchising context. This study offers avenues for more research on green practices in franchising, as well as in the hospitality sector and other sectors such as retailing. It provides important implications for franchise practitioners in the fast-food sector on how to create a more environmentally sustainable business model. The findings offer the first known model of pro-environmental behaviors of franchisees

Acts of hidden franchisee innovation and innovation adoption within franchise systems

Franchising, as an imitative business model, provides a challenging context to create and manage innovation, as franchisors may wish to limit their franchisees' innovative activities to ensure network consistency. Drawing on data from two related empirical studies of franchisees operating in the UK, we seek to understand how franchisees contribute to innovation within their systems. Our first quantitative study reveals that although many franchisees develop innovations, these innovations are not always adopted by the franchise system, suggesting acts of hidden innovation. These findings motivated our second, qualitative study. Through a case analysis of 29 franchisees from 7 different franchise systems, we identify a number of organizational and relational factors that influence both franchisee engagement in innovation, and the extent to which their innovations are disclosed to the network. From these, we develop a theoretical framework of franchisee-led innovation processes, which contributes to the role of social exchange theory in innovation practices within business-to-business contexts. Our findings extend emerging research on innovation in franchise systems, and also provide practical insights on how franchisees can be best supported in creating and disclosing innovations to benefit the franchise system

The influence of entrepreneurial personality on franchisee performance: A cross-cultural analysis

Through a survey-based study of 761 franchisees from four countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Spain – this research examines how a franchisee’s entrepreneurial personality traits affects the financial and relational performance of franchise units. While there is consensus that franchisee characteristics are important for successful franchise networks, there is a long-standing debate within the franchise literature as to the status, and indeed desirability, of franchisees as entrepreneurs. First, we consider how the personality traits of proactivity, innovativeness and locus of control influence the manifestation of entrepreneurial behaviours within the franchise unit, and both the direct and indirect relationships with unit performance. Second, we explore these relationships in two contexts, one associated with high entrepreneurial values (the United States and the United Kingdom) and another with low entrepreneurial values (France and Spain) to determine if the results are consistent across cultures which value entrepreneurship differently. The results suggest that franchisee performance, in terms of both financial performance and relationship quality, are indirectly enhanced by a proactive disposition, mediated by entrepreneurial behaviours. A direct positive relationship was found between locus of control and performance outcomes, but interestingly, franchisees with more innovative personalities performed less well financially. The relationships between franchisee personality, entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and performance were found to be largely consistent across the two cultural groups

When do franchisors select entrepreneurial franchisees? An organizational identity perspective

In spite of the acknowledged importance of the franchisee selection process, only a few empirical studies have examined this research area. This paper employs organizational identity theory to explain when the franchisor desires to select specifically franchisees that have the potential for entrepreneurial behavior. A mail questionnaire survey was utilized to collect data from a sample of franchisors in the UK. The results revealed that the systems that select entrepreneurial franchisees are those that have entrepreneurial values as part of their organizational identity, as reflected in the institutionalized support given by the franchisor for entrepreneurial activities. Additionally, we found that the performance of the franchise system is positively affected where the franchisor seeks to select franchisees whose entrepreneurial values are congruent with those of the system

Entrepreneurial Orientation Rhetoric in Franchise Organizations: The Impact of National Culture

This study examines the role of national culture on the entrepreneurial orientation (EO) rhetoric contained within franchisee recruitment promotional materials, where EO rhetoric is defined as the strategic use of words in organizational narratives to convey the risk taking, innovativeness, proactiveness, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness of the firm. The sample comprised 378 franchise organizations, in five different countries (Australia, France, India, South Africa, and the UK). The results indicate that franchise systems operating in high uncertainty avoidance and feminine cultures use less entrepreneurially oriented rhetoric, suggesting that EO rhetoric in franchise organizations varies according to different national cultural contexts

Building strategic human capital resources : The effects of strategic entrepreneurship on employee recruitment and retention

Although strategic entrepreneurship (SE) and strategic human capital are both crucial for competitive advantage, there is limited knowledge of how SE affects human capital levels within a firm. This study examines the relationship between SE and both employee recruitment and employee retention by drawing on an integrated framework of strategic human capital and incorporating a uniquely created direct construct for measuring SE’s complete domain. Results from survey data of 576 UK-based small- and medium-sized firms indicate that SE is positively related to both employee retention and recruitment. We document the moderating effects of corporate reputation and competitive intensity on those relations

Sustainability and green practices: The role of stakeholder power in fast-food franchise chains

Purpose - This paper explores how the power of salient stakeholders involved in the green waste management of franchise chains can impact the ability of the chains to change their green practices. Design/methodology/approach - This qualitative study is based on interview data from 19 franchisors and their head office staff operating in the fast-food sector in France where franchise chains have been ‘named and shamed’ as continuing to ignore waste management regulation.Findings - Our findings suggest that both the form and bases of power of different stakeholder groups have important implications for the implementation of green practices, even those required by law. We find that the franchisees’ central network position alters the ability of franchisors to directly engage in dialog, consult with, and educate key stakeholders, creating additional challenges for franchisors in the implementation process. Research implications/limitations - The qualitative nature of our study limits our ability to generalize our findings. Future studies could develop an instrument to assess franchisor perceptions of stakeholder power.Practical implications - Our findings suggest that franchisors should consider carefully how they communicate changes to green practices to their franchisees in order to ensure not only their compliance, but also their motivation to engage with those stakeholders with whom they have regular interactions. Our findings can also help governments to better understand how to involve other stakeholders to ensure effective environmental legislation

Influential factors of pro‐environmental behaviors among franchisees in the fast‐food sector

International audienceIn spite of the increasing attention on environmental sustainability, there is a dearth of knowledge about franchisees' pro-environmental behaviors. This study aims to understand the factors that influence the extent to which franchisees engage in pro-environmental behaviors in the fast-food sector. The research is based on in-depth interviews with franchisees operating restaurants in the fast-food sector in France. The empirical evidence in this qualitative study shows how franchisees' pro-environmental behaviors can be explained as a result of organizational and personal factors, thereby extending the theory of planned behavior, norm-activation-model and organizational support theory within the franchising context. This study offers avenues for more research on green practices in franchising, as well as in the hospitality sector and other sectors such as retailing. It provides important implications for franchise practitioners in the fast-food sector on how to create a more environmentally sustainable business model. The findings offer the first known model of pro-environmental behaviors of franchisees

Negotiating agency in mitigating franchisee failure: A critical discourse analysis

This study examines how asymmetries of agential power in franchisor-franchisee relationships contribute to franchisee failure, and how franchisees can negotiate agential power to mitigate failure. Based on a critical discourse analysis, the research findings establish that franchisor dominance during three core stages of the franchisee lifecycle – notably at the pre-launch, inauguration and operation phases – influences franchisee failure. Supporting a theorization based on the agencing framework, this paper presents a nuanced understanding of how agential power is attributed and negotiated in franchise relationships, and portrays franchisees as proactive actors capable of negotiating a stronger, counteractive, agential power position. We introduce the agencing framework as an important governance mechanism for franchise relations and raise implications for managing power-imbalances in franchise relationships

The effects of green brand image on brand loyalty: The case of mainstream fast food brands

International audienceWhile a number of studies have explored consumer attitudes and behaviors towards green brands, the importance of green brand image for mainstream brands is less well understood. This study seeks to explore if the green image of mainstream fast food brands influences consumer loyalty and how their attitudes towards and knowledge of environmental issues may affect perceptions of the environmental performance of fast food brands. Using data gathered from a convenience sample of 2001 Gen Y and Gen Z consumers in France, our study establishes a critical linkage between consumers' environmental values and brand loyalty by including green brand image as a mediator. Further, by exploring mainstream brands, rather than brands that are positioned primarily on green attributes, we find that the mediating effect of green brand image may be dependent on the brand positioning