دانلود رایگان مقاله انتخاب حق امتیاز کارآفرینی چشم انداز هویت سازمانی

abstract

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.

5. Discussion

The selection of suitable franchisees is vital to the success of franchise systems (Watson, 2008) and franchisors can use franchisee selection criteria as a key input control to improve the outcomes of their future franchisees (Jambulingam & Nevin, 1999). In spite of the acknowledged importance of franchisee selection, minimal scholarly attention has been devoted to the relevant theory development, and published research in this area is sparse (Wang & Altinay, 2008; Clarkin & Swavely, 2006; Jambulingam & Nevin, 1999). The present study advances knowledge on the link between the franchise system's organizational identity and the franchisor's desire to select entrepreneurial franchisees. Our findings suggest that franchisors that have institutionalized entrepreneurial activity within the firm's systems and processes will seek entrepreneurial franchisees; that is to say, there is evidence to suggest that they will seek franchisees whose entrepreneurial values match their own. However, it is interesting to note that where franchisors adopted informal mechanisms to support entrepreneurial activities no statistically significant relationship with entrepreneurial franchisee recruitment was found. This may suggest that it is the formal mechanisms (rather than informal) which indicate a clear commitment to entrepreneurial values within the system. This finding can perhaps be explained by signaling theory. It is the formal mechanisms that can be observed, and thus through institutionalized support franchisors can signal their entrepreneurial values to both potential and current franchisees. Indeed, Lucia-Palacios, Bordonaba-Juste, Madanoglu, and Alon (2014) suggest that signaling firm values enables franchisors to attract appropriate franchisees.