The impact of the franchisor-franchisee relationship on franchisee performance

Franchising, as an organisational form, has received much attention from both researchers and practitioners. Many studies have examined various aspects of franchising from either the franchisor’s or the franchisee’s perspective. However, little research has linked the perspectives of both franchisor and franchisee. Given the importance of the relationship between franchisor and franchisee, this thesis presents an integrative view that analyses franchise performance in China at the individual franchisee level. For simplicity, this has been shortened to “franchisee performance” and includes both franchisee financial performance and franchisee satisfaction. Agency theory, the resource-based perspective and a relational view were combined to understand the factors influencing franchise performance. In the context of franchising as a mutual relationship, the key factors analysed were the franchisor’s control mechanisms, the franchisee’s pooled resources with those of the franchisor, and the relationship between franchisor and franchisee. Ten main hypotheses and twelve sub-hypotheses were developed and tested. The analysis was based primarily on a survey of three franchisors and their franchisees in nine provinces. 351 usable questionnaires were collected from franchisees, with a response rate of 43%. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the measurement model and the structural model. Hypotheses were tested using Smart PLS. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the franchisor-franchisee relationship in more depth. ii The results provided valuable insights into franchisee performance. The franchisor’s level of control over a franchise had a positive influence on franchisees’ satisfaction. Franchisees’ resources complementing those of the franchisor had a significant positive effect on both franchisee satisfaction and financial performance. Relational factors, in particular trust and absence of opportunism, had a significant mediation effect on franchisee performance. An unexpected statistically significant finding was that information sharing reduced franchise performance. This thesis makes a theoretical contribution as it shows the limitations of agency theory and its focus on legal contracts in understanding the franchisor franchisee relationship. A franchise relationship is a two-way relationship, especially in China, not merely a one-way principal-agent relationship as proposed in agency theory. The thesis also shows the value of integrating franchisor and franchisee perspectives in analysing franchising, for example, the importance of pooled resources between franchisor and franchisee in the light of the resource-based perspective and relational view in China. The thesis’ practical implications include the need for franchisors to consider the franchisee relationship as multi-dimensional rather than just a formal contractual relationship, especially in China where social relationships are important both before and after a contract is signed. Directions for future research include using this integrated relational view of franchising beyond China; analysis of control mechanisms in franchising; and the role of knowledge sharing. Developing more reliable measurements of franchise performance in emerging economies such as China would also be valuable

Direct rosiglitazone action on steroidogenesis and proinflammatory factor production in human granulosa-lutein cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ovarian granulosa cells are the predominant source of estradiol and progesterone biosynthesis in vivo. Rosiglitazone, a synthetic agonist of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR gamma), is applied as the treatment of insulin resistance including women with PCOS. The aim of the study was to investigate the direct effects of rosiglitazone on steroidogenesis and proinflammatory factor production in human granulosa-lutein cells (GLCs).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Primary human GLCs were separated during in vitro fertilization and cultured in the presence of rosiglitazone, GW9662 (an antagonist of PPAR gamma) and hCG. The mRNA expression of key steroidogenic factors including 3beta- hydroxysteriod dehydrogenase (3beta-HSD), cytochrome P-450 scc (CYP11A1), cytochrome P-450 aromatase (CYP19A1), and steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) were detected by quantitative real-time PCR. Estradiol and progesterone levels in GLCs cultures were measured by chemiluminescence immunoassay, and the proinflammtory factors (TNFalpha and IL-6) in conditioned culture media were measured by ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PPAR gamma mRNA levels increased up to 3.24 fold by rosiglitazone at the concentration of 30 microM compared to control (P < 0.05). hCG alone or hCG with rosiglitazone had no significant effects on PPAR gamma mRNA levels. The CYP19A1 mRNA level at exposure to rosiglitazone alone showed a drop, but was not significantly reduced comparing to control. The expression levels of enzymes 3beta-HSD and CYP11A1 in all treatments did not alter significantly. The StAR mRNA expression at exposure to rosiglitazone was significantly increased comparing to control (P < 0.05). The media concentrations of E2 and progesterone by rosiglitazone treatment showed a declining trend comparing to control or cotreatment with hCG, which did not reach significance. Most importantly, treatment with rosiglitazone decreased TNFalpha secretion in a statistically significant manner compared with control (P < 0.05). The concentration of IL-6 following rosiglitazone exposure did not significantly decrease comparing to control.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In cultured GLCs, rosiglitazone stimulated StAR expression, but did not significantly affect steroidogenic enzymes, as well as E2 and progesterone production. Moreover, rosiglitazone significantly decreased the production of TNFalpha in human GLCs, suggesting that PPAR gamma may play a role in the regulation of GLCs functions through inhibiting proinflammatory factors.</p

Minimum wage effects on employment and working time of Chinese workers - evidence based on CHNS

While minimum wage shortens the average working hours for employed workers, it does not have significant effect on the relative working times for different income groups. These findings may imply some beneficial effects of the minimum wage policies for Chinese workers. The paper examines the impact of minimum wage policies on employment, income, and working time of Chinese workers. Using data from China Health and Nutrition Survey, the focus is on identifying the effects of minimum wage adjustments using a pre-specified model

Learning interactions to boost human creativity with bandits and GPT-4

This paper considers how interactions with AI algorithms can boost human creative thought. We employ a psychological task that demonstrates limits on human creativity, namely semantic feature generation: given a concept name, respondents must list as many of its features as possible. Human participants typically produce only a fraction of the features they know before getting "stuck." In experiments with humans and with a language AI (GPT-4) we contrast behavior in the standard task versus a variant in which participants can ask for algorithmically-generated hints. Algorithm choice is administered by a multi-armed bandit whose reward indicates whether the hint helped generating more features. Humans and the AI show similar benefits from hints, and remarkably, bandits learning from AI responses prefer the same prompting strategy as those learning from human behavior. The results suggest that strategies for boosting human creativity via computer interactions can be learned by bandits run on groups of simulated participants

Gate-controlled reversible rectifying behaviour in tunnel contacted atomically-thin MoS2_{2} transistor

Atomically-thin 2D semiconducting materials integrated into van der Waals heterostructures have enabled architectures that hold great promise for next generation nanoelectronics. However, challenges still remain to enable their full acceptance as compliant materials for integration in logic devices. Two key-components to master are the barriers at metal/semiconductor interfaces and the mobility of the semiconducting channel, which endow the building-blocks of ${pn}$ diode and field effect transistor. Here, we have devised a reverted stacking technique to intercalate a wrinkle-free h-BN tunnel layer between MoS$_{2}$ channel and contacting electrodes. Vertical tunnelling of electrons therefore makes it possible to suppress the Schottky barriers and Fermi level pinning, leading to homogeneous gate-control of the channel chemical potential across the bandgap edges. The observed unprecedented features of ambipolar ${pn}$ to ${np}$ diode, which can be reversibly gate tuned, paves the way for future logic applications and high performance switches based on atomically thin semiconducting channel.Comment: 23 pages, 5 main figures + 9 SI figure

Research Progress on the Mechanism of Grain Dietary Fiber Slowing Down Starch Digestibility

Both starch and dietary fiber, which are important nutrients in cereals, and are beneficial to human health. The digestion rate and digestibility of starch are key factors affecting postprandial blood glucose in the human body. Dietary fiber, that is a nutrient content, has been not easily digested by small intestine, and has the effect of slowing down the digestion of starch, has received much attention in recent years. In this study, the effects of dietary fiber on starch digestibility have been reviewed, and the mechanisms of dietary fiber slowing down starch digestibility from three aspects: reducing amylolysis kinetics, delaying gastric emptying by viscosity of dietary fiber, physical embedding of starch by dietary fiber and wrapping starch with intact cell wall have been summarized, so as to provide a theoretical basis for the subsequent design and production of low glycemic index (GI) foods

17β-Estradiol Enhances the Response of Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell to CpG

Gender differences in immune capabilities suggest that sex hormones such as estrogens were involved in the regulation of the immunocompetence. Numerous studies also suggest that plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) play a pathogenic role in SLE. However, it is unclear whether estrogen can modulate the function of PDCs to influence the development of SLE. In the present study, PDCs from murine spleens were treated with 17β-estradiol (E2) and CpG respectively or both in vitro, then cell viability, costimulatory molecule expression, cytokine secretion of PDCs, as well as stimulatory capacity of PDCs to B cells were analyzed. Results showed that E2 and CpG increased the cell viability and costimulatory molecule expression on PDCs synergistically. Moreover, the intracellular and extracellular secretion of IFN-α was increased by E2 or E2 plus CpG. In addition, E2 and CpG also increased the stimulatory capacity of PDCs to B cells, and the viability of B cells was decreased after neutralizing IFN-α significantly. In the experiments in vivo, mice received daily s.c. injections of E2 and CpG respectively or both, then we found that the plasma concentration of IgM were elevated by E2 and CpG synergistically and the expression of IFN-α/β in spleens were noticeably increased by CpG plus E2 compared with the treatment of E2 or CpG only. This study indicates that E2 could exacerbate PDCs' activation with CpG, which further activates B cells to upregulate susceptibility to autoantigens. IFN-α plays an important role in the stimulatory effect of PDCs on B cells. E2 stimulation of IFN-α production may result in female prevalence in autoimmune diseases such as SLE through activation of PDCs. This study provides novel evidence of relationship between estrogen and SLE and also sheds light on gender biases among SLE patients