E-Business and Big Data Strategy in Franchising

Background: Building The Franchisor/Franchisee Relationship

Franchising is “a business opportunity by which the owner (producer or distributor) of a service or a trademarked product grants exclusive rights to an individual for the local distribution and/or sale of the service or product, and in return receives a payment or royalty and conformance to quality standards. The individual or business granting the business rights is called the franchisor, and the individual or business granted the right to operate in accordance with the chosen method to produce or sell the product or service is called the franchisee.” (Justis & Judd, 2002, pp. 1-3) Developing a good relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee is the key for a successful franchise (Justis & Judd, 2002). Figure 1 describes how to build a good franchisor/franchisee relationship.

Figure 1.

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The franchisor needs to learn continuously for the growth of the franchise. The learning process is developed through five stages (Justis and Judd, 2002): (1) Beginner – learning how to do it; (2) Novice – practicing doing it; (3) Advanced – doing it; (4) Master – teaching others to do it; and (5) Professional – becoming the best that you can be. Once reaching the Advanced stage, most preceding struggles have been overcome. However, further challenges will arise as the franchise continues growing. This is especially true once the system reaches the “Professional” stage, where various unpredicted and intricate problems could arise. Bud Hadfield (1995), the founder of Kwik Kopy franchise and the International Center of Entrepreneurial Development, aptly stated: “The more the company grows, the more it will be tested.” (p. 156). To capture the learning process, a counter-clockwise round arrow surrounding the franchisor is used to depict the increasing intensity of learning as the franchisor continues to grow.