• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.23 no.2 s.98
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• pp.270-279
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• 2007

The purposes of this study were to analyze the profitability of audited restaurant franchise firms and to investigate the financial variables affecting profitability. This study decomposed profit variation into the three main factors comprising the Du Pont Identity (operating efficiency, asset use efficiency and financial leverage). The operating efficiency of restaurant franchise firms was on the rise until 2004, but dropped dramatically in 2005. Especially, the profit margin dropped from 13.46% in 2004 to 6.54% in 2005. The asset use efficiency has been decreasing since 2003. The total asset turnover ratio, which can be indicative of over-investment, dropped from 1.55 in 2003 to 1.50 in 2005. The financial leverage remained stable after 2002. There were major differences in debt accumulation among the firms, and the current level of debt was thought to be higher in the restaurant industry than in other industries. Based on the results of a multiple regression analysis, we concluded that the factors affecting ROE were the debt-equity ratio, total asset turnover and the size of the firm. The debt-equity ratio and total asset turnover had a significantly positive effect on ROE, while the firm size had a significantly negative effect on ROE. However, the current ratio and sales growth rate were not significant. The finding that firm size and profitability were negatively related implied that restaurant franchise firms should pursue qualitative growth rather than quantitative growth. There was no major difference in profitability between domestic brands and foreign brands. However, the domestic brand was more efficient in terms of asset usage than the foreign brand.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.339-342
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• 2008

Franchisors court additional franchisees as marketing partners for continued growth in sales revenue. Competitive climate, potential franchisees have their choice of suitors and are likely to scrutinize them carefully. As this research makes, franchisors affiliated with chains that forge strong partnerships are to achieve superior performance. The chain that promises a strong partnership is more have its choice of prospective franchise partners. Developing strong partnerships can use to recruit high quality franchisees. If franchisors with to experience the benefits of a strong franchise partnership, they must be willing to work on behalf of the partnership, perform roles that may extend beyond their traditional boundaries, and resolve their disagreement to the benefit of the partnership rather than to their own benefit. Strong partnerships require sacrifices on the part of both the franchisees and franchisors. However, These sacrifices have substantial payoffs in terms of franchisor performance as well as the performance of the relationship as a whole.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.390-398
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• 2009

This study researches on the two types. First, Researched into important perception, relationship maintenance perception, relationship improvement, relationship recognition between franchisor and franchisee, Seconds, Researched into correlation between franchisor and franchisee at function achievement and relationship maintenance, conflict resolve and relationship maintenance, function achievement and compare with competitor. If franchisor with to experience the benefits of a strong franchise partnership, they must be willing to work on behalf of the partnership, perform roles that may extend beyond their traditional boundaries, and resolve their disagreement to the benefit of the partnership rather than to their own benefit. Strong partnerships require sacrifices on the part of both the franchisees and franchisors. However, These sacrifices have substantial payoffs in terms of franchisor performance as well as the performance of the relationship as a whole.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.65-77
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• 2019

The after China's reform and opening up, the country has been facing the era of material abundance based on its economic power. The Chinese food industry has been growing along with economic growth, high quality, and diversified customer needs. Also, as Chinese people have strong attachment to food, many food franchise companies have been also growing rapidly. As the Chinese government encourages and supports the field of food franchises, so that the quality and quantity of the Chinese restaurant industry have been improved largely. Meanwhile with the support of the Korean government to enter the overseas market, the number of Korean franchise companies are increasing to operate their business in China. Under the influence of Chinese food industrial climate, Korean companies are also in search of global market advancement to China. However, the risks in China are unexpectable, which means that the recent move of China is literally showing rugby action, criticism of operating businesses in China has been climbed up and the domestic SMEs are seriously considering whether to stay or leave. This study investigates the environmental risks of Chinese enterprises, in which the food franchise companies could experience, to manage any risks from entering the Chinese market with uncertainty. Through SWOT analysis and cases, strategies to avoid the risks are suggested for Korean companies to enter the Chinese markets. Therefore, this study researches in the current status of Chinese and Korean restaurants, explores any risks in China in terms of exports to China and market advance, develops strategies to avoid those risks, and provides essential suggestions for entering into Chinese market.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.103-118
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• 2021

With the advancement of technology, the market size of online bookstores is constantly increasing in Korea. Despite the importance of the quality of services provided by online bookstores as many customers use online bookstores, many existing studies have approached only from a linear perspective that satisfying service quality factors will lead to customer satisfaction. In addition, the service quality of online bookstores has only been addressed in general and universal service situations, such as SERVQUAL and e-SERVQUAL and WebQual, or online situations. This study was conducted to consider the specificity of online bookstores and to establish specific strategies for improving service quality. In this study, we present six higher dimensions of service quality for online bookstores and 25 lower dimensions to measure it, and we confirm strategic direction for service quality elements through IPA analysis. As a result of the analysis, a total of 12 factors were included in the first quadrant, which required maintenance of service quality due to the high importance and satisfaction perceived by customers. Next, the importance of customers is high, but their satisfaction is low, so the second quadrant that should be improved first had a total of two factors. Third, the third quadrant was an area where customers perceived low importance and satisfaction, and a total of nine factors were involved. Finally, the fourth quadrant was an area where the customer was satisfied but perceived low importance, with a total of two factors. The results of this study can be used as basic data for strategic use of online service quality factors.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.65-88
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• 2008

Since the implementation of economic reforms in 1978, the Chinese economy grows rapidly at an average annul growth rate of 9% over the post two decades. Franchising has been widely recognized as an important source of entrepreneurial activity. Trust is important in that it facilitates relational exchanges by permits partners to transcend short-run inequities or risks to concentrate on long-term profits or gains. In the relationship between the franchisors and franchisees, trust has been described as an important source of competitive advantage. However, little research has been done on the factors affecting trust in Chinese franchisor-franchisee relationships. The purpose of this study is to investigate what factors affect the trust in the franchise system in China, and to provide guidelines and insights to franchisors which enter Chinese market. In this study, according to Morgan and Hunt (1994), trust is defined as the extending when one party has confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity. We offered a conceptual model of the empirical study. The model shows that the factors affecting the trust include franchisor's supports, communication, satisfaction with previous outcome and conflict. We also suggested the franchisor's supports and communication like to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and the franchisor's supports, communication and he franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome tend to decrease conflict. Before the formal study, a pretest involving exploratory interviews with owners from three franchisees was conducted to make sure the questionnaire was relevant and clear to the respondents. The data were collected using trained interviewers to carry out personal interviews with the aid of an unidentified, muti-page, structured questionnaire. The respondents comprised of owners, managers, and owner managers of franchisee-owned food service franchises located in Beijing, China. Even though a total of 256 potential franchises were initially contacted, the finally usable sample consisted of 125 respondents. As expected, the sampling method was successful in soliciting respondents with waried personal and firm characteristics. Self-administrated questionnaires were used for all measures. And established scales were used to measure the latent constructs in this study. The measures tapped the franchisees' perceptions of the relationship with the referent franchisor. Five-point Likert-type scales ranging from "strongly disagree" (=1) to "strongly agree" (=7) were used throughout the constructs (trust, eight items; support, five items; communication, four items; satisfaction, six items; conflict, three items). The reliability measurements traditionally employed, such as the Cronbach's alpha, were used. All the reliabilities were greater than.80. The proposed measurement model was estimated using SPSS 12.0 and AMOS 5.0 analysis package. We conducted A series of exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses to assess the convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. The results indicate reasonable overall fits between the model and the observed data. The overall fit of measurement model were $X^2$= 159.699, p=0.004, d.f. = 116, GFI =.879, NFI =.898, CFI =.969, IFI =.970, TLI =.959, RMR =.058. The results demonstrated that the data reasonably fitted the model. We also examined construct reliability and reliability and average variance extracted (AVE). The construct reliability of each construct was greater than.80 and the AVE of each construct was greater than.50. According to the analysis of Structure Equation Modeling (SEM), the results of path model indicated an adequate fit of the model: $X^2$= 142.126, p = 0.044, d.f. = 115, GFI =.892, NFI =.909, CFI =.981, IFI =.981, TLI =.974, RMR =.057. As hypothesized, the results showed that it is strategically important to establish trust in a franchise system, and the franchisor's supports, communication and satisfaction with previous outcome tend to reinforce franchisee's trust. The results also showed trust seems to decrease as the experience of conflict episodes increases. And we also noticed that franchisor's supports and communication tend to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and communication tend to decrease conflict. If the trust between the franchisor and franchisee can be established in a franchise system, franchising offers many benefits and reduces many costs. To manage a mutual trust of relationship with their franchisees, franchisor's should provide support effectively to their franchisees. Effective assistant services have direct effect on franchisees' satisfaction with previous outcome and trust in franchisor. Especially, franchise sales process, orientation, and training in the start-up period are key elements for success of the franchise system. Franchisor's support is an accumulated separate satisfaction evaluation with different kind of service provided by the franchisor. And providing support definitely can improve the trustworthy image of the franchisor. In the franchise system, conflicts of interests and exertions of different power sources are very common. The experience of conflict episodes seems to negatively relate to trust. Therefore, it is important to reduce the negative side of the relationship conflicts. Communication actually plays a broader role in reducing conflict and establish mutual trust in franchisor-franchisee relationship. And effective communication between franchisors and franchisees can improve franchisees' satisfaction toward the franchise system. As the diversification of Chinese markets, both franchisors and franchisees must keep the relevant, timely, and reliable communication. And it is very important to improve the quality of communication. Satisfaction with precious outcomes seems to positively relate to trust. Franchisors and franchisees that are highly satisfied with the previous outcomes that flow from their relationship will perceive their partner as advancing their goal achievement. Therefore, it is necessary for both franchisor and their franchisees to make the welfare of partner with effort. Little literature has focused on what factors affect the trust between franchisors and their franchisees in China. This study developed the hypotheses regarding the factors affecting trust in the transaction relationship. The results of data analysis supported the hypotheses strongly. There are certain limitations in this study. First, we may point out that some other factors missed in this study could be significantly important. Second, the context of this study, food service industry, limits its potential generalizability for all franchise systems. More studies in different categories of franchise system are needed to broaden its generalizability. Third, the model was tested empirically in a sample in Beijing, more empirical tests of the proposed model in other Chinese areas are needed. Finally, the analysis in this study was solely based on the perception of franchisees and the opinions of franchisors were not included.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2011

I. Introduction: This study is to examine the structural relationships among exogenous variable (preliminary and post-support, franchisee's perceived business possibility, communication, moral hazard), the mediated variables(satisfaction, perceived risk, trust) and dependent variable(recontracting intention) in the food service franchise industry context. More specifically, this study has considered some realistic characteristics factors influencing satisfaction, perceived risk and trust between franchisors and franchisees and their further recontracting intention from the perspective of a practical approach. In this study, 437 data has been collected and used for the SPSS and AMOS analysis. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling. Since the result of the overall model analysis demonstrated a good fit, we could further analyze our data. II. Research Model: This study is to examine the structural relationships among preliminary and post-support by franchisor, franchisee's perceived business possibility, and communication, moral hazard, has on effect on franchisee's satisfaction, perceived risk, trust and recontracting intention in the food service franchise industry context. Hypotheses are as following (Stern & EL-Ansary 1988; Oliver, 1997;Kee & Knox, 1970; Moorman, Deshpande & Zaltman, 1993; Perron, 1998; Zaheer, McEvily, Perrone, 1998). III. Result and Implication: We examined franchisee who have food service stores for samples of this study. The data were analyzed with structural equation modeling using path analysis. The result of the overall model analysis appeared as following: ${\chi}^2$ = 61.578 (d.f.=9, p<0.01), CFI =.990, GFI =.973, AGFI =.863, RMR =.019, RMSEA= .116, NFI = .988, TLI = .959. The findings can be summarized as follows: First, preliminary and post support of franchisor, perceived business possibility and communication positively influence to franchisee's satisfaction. Second, moral hazard of franchisor has negatively influence to franchisee's satisfaction and positively influence to perceived risk. Third, franchisee's satisfaction and trust has positively influence to recontracting intention. Fourth, franchisee's perceived risk has negatively influence to trust and recontracting intention. We can concluded that franchisor's preliminary and post support of franchisor, perceived business possibility and communication may be considered as the important factors influence to franchisee's satisfaction. Moral hazard has become a focused issue in franchise industry. Finally, the managerial implication has been stated as followings: First, in the process of building a systematic industry support franchise system and developing a creative business model, franchisee's stable profitability should be considered as the first important factor. The franchisee's trust to franchise may become a dominant factor that influence the business expansion of franchisor. Second, franchisor should communication with their franchisees and deal with the realistic difficulties faced by them with an effort. Third, the franchisor should achieve a synergy effect by utilizing the win-win strategy. The moral hazard strategy that achieving the profit through franchisee's damage will not be inadvisable to franchisor. Then the long-term oriented development and profitability can be maintained. To do so, the franchise industry may break away from the traditional business structure to improve management transparency and competitiveness on investment and organizational changing management. The conflict between franchisor and franchisee also can be reduced and big success can be achieved in the franchise industry.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.25-30
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• 2013

Purpose - Foodservices have grown to over 60% of the franchise industry. However, despite reaching this high level, the foodservice franchise industry is experiencing severe ups and downs. While factors such as expansion by franchises and the entry of large multinational firms are causing this imbalance, the more serious problem faced by franchisees is the lack of know-how and correct operating procedures. Franchise headquarters should advise franchisees on important matters such as food ingredients, interior design, tableware, and fixtures. However, even though franchise headquarters have the ability to impart such management know-how, this is often a neglected area. Research design, data and methodology - This study was conducted in an industrial environment to present suitable competitive alternatives for foodservice franchises. Empirical analysis was conducted using a sample of 232 people with experience in targeting customers. The main purpose of this study is not to identify and analyze the factors affecting customer satisfaction. Customers of the Food Service Industry to invite contacts until departure for the service flow by identifying the expectations and allow this area by analyzing the resulting measures to enhance the competitiveness has presented. Results - Actual results contact factors affecting the quality of service on customer satisfaction was a significant influence. However, the end of this analysis, the actual customer satisfaction directly affects the quality of service that is only important factor can commit mistakes. Relatively large impact on customer satisfaction, which is relatively independent of the quality factor should be a review of zone of tolerance. In this study, eating phase relative to contact the service customer satisfaction was the most influential. The results, however, zone of tolerance for an area in the waiting and ordering dissatisfaction factors are appearing. And in the course of these services outside the zone of tolerance area is unsatisfactory evaluation is being done. Conclusions - After all, Foodservice, the contact service management for zone of tolerance the top priority should be can be seen. Foodservice contact first in the case of service quality factors caused by the continuous flow of services, so this step-by-step identification needs to be clearer. This, of course, to distinguish between the actual per unit of activity appears to be more difficult to follow, for it seems to need a lot of future complementary. Next is the assessment of customer service quality. Customers remember the experience for the services of a real contact through the assessment and service evaluation clearly emerge as the expected level can be difficult. However, this situation is controlled by the test method cannot be avoided unless there is no limit to the number of leave. Despite these limitations, the next step to contact a service evaluation and analysis have to continue to refine and thereby franchisees for the operation of the store in terms of practical know-how required to provide to the office believe.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2019

Purpose - Customer loyalty and citizenship behavior are key success factors of franchise system. They make the management of franchisee more effective and efficient. Prior studies, however, mainly dealt with only acquisition utility of customer, such as perceived product/service quality and brand reputation to explain customer loyalty and citizenship behavior, which explains only on one side. We tried to investigate the effect of exchange utility of customer, such as relationship strength and psychological obligation together with the acquisition utility. In addition, we tried to investigate the relationship between customer loyalty and citizenship behavior in franchise context. Research design, data, and methodology - This study used data collected from the dining franchisee managers of 342 franchisors in South Korea. The franchisors consist of more than ten franchisees, the majority of which participated directly in the transaction with franchisor and have worked for more than six months. To test the hypotheses, the study used structural equation model analysis. Results - H1-1, 1-2, 1-3 predicted that acquisition utility would increase customer loyalty to franchisee. In support of H1-1, 1-2, 1-3, the results indicated that acquisition utilities such as perceived product value, perceived service value, and franchise brand reputation had positive effects on customer loyalty. H2-1, 2-2 predicted that exchange utility would increase customer loyalty to franchisee. In support of H2-2, the result indicated that psychological obligation had positive effects on customer loyalty like other acquisition utilities. However, H2-1 was not supported. Relationship strength had no significant effect on customer loyalty. H3 predicted that customer loyalty would increase customer citizenship behavior. In support of H3, the results indicated that customer loyalty had positive effect on customer citizenship behavior. Overall, the evidences generally supported the hypotheses. Conclusion - The results of the study show that not only acquisition utility but also exchange utility increases customer loyalty to franchisee and also show that customer loyalty increases customer citizenship behavior. Interestingly, however, relationship strength has no significant effect on customer loyalty. These results have two implications. The one is that increasing exchange utility can improve customer loyalty as acquisition utility can. The other one is that both of customer utilities can improve customer citizenship via customer loyalty.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.331-344
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• 2009

As per the results verified in this study for the effect, which is given to the intent for contract according to the franchisor's capacity and support factors per the founder's characteristics. Firstly, as for analysis of the effect given by the conditions of the founder to the capacity of the franchisor, the experience and the founder's self-confidence are attentively affected in the history of the franchisor among the capacity of the franchisor, and the experience and the specialized knowledge done in the number of the franchises, and the experienced, specialized knowledge and self-confidence of the founder done in the brand and the self-confidence of the founder done in the capacity of the franchisor. Secondly, as for the hypothesis, which the founder's conditions is the support of the franchisor, the experience, specialized knowledge and the founder's self-confidence attentively affected in the support for advertisement, and the capital and experience done in the educational support, and the capital and specialized knowledge and the founder's self-confidence done in the business manual and the founder's self-confidence done in the package. Thirdly, as for the effect given by the capacity of the franchisor to the intent for contract, the number of the franchises possessed the franchisor and brand are affected to the capacity of the franchisor, and fourthly, as for the hypothesis, which the support of the franchisor affects the intent for contract, the educational support, business manual and package purchase are attentively affected. Therefore, through this study, it can be known that the characteristics of the founder and the capacity and support of the franchisor are mutually related to the intent for contract.