Finding the right mix: Franchising, organizational learning, and chain performance

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sorenson, O; Sorensen, JB
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.185
• 发表日期: 2001
• 页码: 713-724
• 关键词: organizational learning; incentives; franchising; restaurant chains

摘要

Franchising provides an increasingly important vehicle for entrepreneurial wealth creation and accounts for a large and growing share of business in the retail and service sectors. Chains-which operate in dispersed markers-most frequently use this form of governance. These firms must balance the centralization and standardization required for efficiency with the adaptation needed for success in varied local markets. By adopting an organizational learning perspective, we argue that the min of company-owned and franchised units affects this balance, thereby influencing chain performance. In particular, the different incentives facing company managers and the entrepreneurs that manage franchises encourage distinct patterns of organizational learning. Franchised establishments provide better opportunities for the firm to learn through experimentation; however, companies find it easier to diffuse this information and enforce standards through their company-owned units. Analyses of franchised restaurant chains in the United Stares provide empirical evidence of this trade-off Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.