John Stanworth

Colas, burgers, shakes, and shirkers: Towards a sociological model of franchising in the market economy

Abstract A growing volume of literature continues to inform debates on franchising as a business form. However, a great deal of the theorizing and research continues to focus on narrowly defined issues such as franchising as a distribution channel. The dominant reason for this restricted focus is perhaps that franchising does not fit comfortably within the limits of any single academic discipline or area of management practice. Rather, it extends into a multiplicity of fields such as law, marketing, economics, entrepreneurship, human resource management, psychology, sociology, and organizational theory. It is the authors’ contention in this paper, that a more encompassing theoretical model is now needed and that a mainly sociological approach has much to offer. This discipline arguably has the conceptual suppleness and ability to link the strategies and behavioral patterns of individual actors to organizational structures and characteristics, and to set these in the context of the wider economy and society. Overall, the model offered here takes the form of 15 general propositions spanning three levels: the macro, touching on cultural, societal, and economic attributes, the organizational, and, finally, the individual level. It builds on the substantial existing literature, seeking to integrate this in order to form a general model equally suited to quantitative or qualitative research approaches.

Who Becomes an Entrepreneur

PROFESSOR JOHN STANWORTH, Stephanie Blyth, Bill Granger, and Celia Standworth are all members of the Future of Work Research Group at the London Management Centre, Polytechnic of Central London, England. At the current time, they are involved in several research projects, one of them being the study of rates of intergenerational inheritance of enterprise culture-a principal theme of this paper. The authors examine evidence from several countries in an attempt to predict the incidence of enterpreneurship and conclude that sociological determinants offer the best indication as to precisely who, among the many who express an interest, is most likely actually to make the transition to self-employment. In addition to examining the contributions of others in this field, the paper presents data recently collected by the authors themselves.

Franchising in the Modern Economy-towards a Theoretical Understanding

James Curran is Reader in Industrial Sociology at Kingston Polytechnic, Kingston upon Thames, England, and John Stanworth is Professor and Director of the Srral Business Unit of the Polytechnic of Central London, England. They have been researching the franchised small enterprise since 1975 with the aid of funding from the Social Science Research Council in Britain. Despite the growing importarce of franchising in the modern economy, there is relatively little systematic theorising on the franchise business form. The paper explores the emergence and roie of franchised economic activities at three levels: the social, organisational and motivational. Previous theory and research relevant to eacll level is critically assessed and those elements surviving the examination are brought together with recent thinking and findings to provide the basis of a general theory of franchisirg The latter is expressed in twelve propositions each linked to one or other of the. above levels and suggestions are made for the further refinement of the theory.

A New Look at Job Satisfaction in the Small Firm

The widely accepted view that job satisfaction is higher among workers in small firms than their large-firm counterparts, especially in terms of non-monetary and expressive aspects of work, is critically examined. Workers employed in small and large firms in the printing and electronics industries were surveyed using a semistructured interview strategy. Job satisfaction was related to work environment and also nonwork influences such as family life-cycle position. The findings show that when such factors as the specific characteristics of the industry and age and marital status of respondents are taken into account, size of firm is not, in itself, an important factor in explaining differences in levels of job satisfaction. It merely interacts with these other influences, sometimes to raise and sometimes to lower, perceived levels of satisfaction.

Franchising as a small business growth strategy : A resource-based view of organizational development

Not only are most franchisees themselves small businesses, but so are many franchisors, particularly in the formative years of their franchise businesses. High turbulence and attrition rates in the formative years of franchise businesses result in an industry profile whereby, at any one time, around half of all franchise systems are less than five years old with less than 10 outlets. The question arises: how do successful franchise organizations plan their human capital development in order to accomplish successful growth? An adjunct to this question is the role of franchisees who, while not totally independent in the sense of the conventional small business person, certainly do not see themselves as conventional employees either, and have certain expectations of participation in the process of which they are an integral part. This exploratory article uses case study material from a number of ‘exemplar’ franchise companies in the development of a resource-based view of organizational development. The article should hold considerable interest, not only for academics interested in franchising, but also for those examining fields such as small business strategic management, innovation and intangible asset growth.

Unravelling the Evidence on Franchise System Survivability

The underlying hypothesis behind the evidence presented here - some of it drawn from earlier literature and some of it previously unpublished - is that franchise system survival patterns largely mirror those of conventional small businesses, with high attrition rates in the formative years, rather than being a sure-fire recipe for success with low system failure rates. After all, the majority of new franchise systems are in fact themselves small businesses, obliged to construct a front-end infrastructure of managerial support some years ahead of achieving full financial break-even point. In effect, given the demands placed upon an infant franchise system to finance and manage the processes of franchisee recruitment and all that entails, plus induction and field support for franchisees, the new franchise company is, in effect, developing the management and administrative structures normally associated with a medium-sized business, without the income levels normally associated with this scale of business. F...

Franchising: an international perspective

Section 1: Franchising - A Conceptual Overview 1. Franchising as an Entrepreneurial Venture Form 2. Colas, Burgers, Shakes and Shirkers: Towards a Sociological Model of Franchising in the Market Economy Section 2: Franchising As An Organisational Form 3. The Theory of the Firm and the Structure of the Franchise Contract 4. The Choice of Organizational Form: The Case of Franchising 5. Franchising: Firms, Markets and Intangible Assets 6. Power in a Channel of Distribution: Sources and Consequences Section 3: Survival and Growth Rates In Franchising 7. Franchising: Promises, Problems, Prospects 8. Survival Patterns Among Newcomers to Franchising 9. Franchising Growth and Franchisor Entry and Exit in the US Market: Myth and Reality 10. Towards a Model of Franchise System Development Section 4: The Ownership-Redirection Debate 11. Will Successful Franchise Systems Ultimately Become Wholly-Owned Chains? 12. Competative Advantage Variation over the Life Cycle of a Franchise 13. What we know about Ownership Redirection in Franchising: A Meta-analysis

Managing an Externalised Workforce: Freelance Labour‐use in the UK Book Publishing Industry

Editorial departments in the UK book publishing sector have shrunk considerably recently and many former in–house employees have transferred to home–based, self–employed (freelance) status, often still working for their former employers. The results of interviews with in–house managers of externally–based freelancers are presented here, along with a model of segmented labour markets.

Franchising and the franchise relationship

The franchise method of distribution offers a promising chemistry for combining the economies of scale enjoyed by the franchisor with the entrepreneurial drive and spirit of the franchisee. Until recently, there was little empirical research-based knowledge of the precise socio-economic characteristics of franchising or the dynamics of the relationships involved in this method of distribution. We were reliant on anecdotal evidence. However, enough empirical evidence does now exist for us to address these issues more seriously. This paper presents that empirical evidence and argues that the conclusions drawn from it can be generalized to a range of economies on the grounds that, just as the franchise format is reasonably standard across national boundaries, so is enterprise culture and its underlying motivation.

Ownership redirection trends in franchising

Franchising has long been seen as an avenue into small business. For some, it offers opportunities to build up franchise systems, as franchisors, by cloning small business success in exchange for a royalty. For many others, as franchisees, it offers opportunities for self‐employment, combining elements of the independence normally associated with self‐employment allied with the security derived from association with a tried‐and‐tested business system. However, there is an ongoing debate, the ownership redirection thesis, which suggests that franchise systems will only characteristically seek to involve franchisees in their business growth strategies during the early phases of business development. Thereafter, when finance, human capital and local market intelligence resources are no longer at a premium, the thesis predicts, franchisors will reduce their dependence on franchising with franchisees the prime casualties. Assesses the available evidence on the ownership redirection thesis and offers some fresh data on the issue.