• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.19-32
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• 2019

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the mediating effects of relationship fairness factors between franchisor's support services and performance(re-contract intention) in food service franchise. More specifically, fairness was measured into distributive, procedure, interaction, and information, franchisor's support service was divided into pre-start support services (initial support services) and post-start support services (continued support services), and performance (re-contract intent) was measured using 3 items such as re-contract, contract extension, and recommendation. Research design, data, and methodology - The population for the survey is the head of franchises in the metropolitan area (Seoul/Gyeonggi), which operates a restaurant franchise, and samples included a wide range of overseas/domestic brands and regions. The survey was conducted from August 1 to September 30, 2018 through the survey agency. The survey was conducted together with a telephone interview and a direct visit by the investigator. A total of 205 questionnaires were collected and retrieved, 4 questionaires containing missing information were excluded and 201 responses were used for analysis. Results - The results shows that franchisor's initial support services have significant positive effects on procedural, interpersonal, and informational relationship fairness, and continuous support services have significant positive effects on distributive, procedural, interpersonal, and informational relationship fairness. This study also shows that informational and procedural fairness have significant positive effects on performance(re-contract intention). Finally, continuous services a significant positive effect on performance(re-contract intention). Conclusions - The results show that franchisor make a manual, and should improve fairness through regular investigation whether support services was executed as promised in the manual after franchisee operation. In addition, information fairness and procedural fairness have been shown to increase performance(re-contract intention). These results mean that the franchisor's headquarters should provide product and service support for the merchant in accordance with the manual and management policy to reduce asymmetry in information and improve procedural fairness to enhance performance(re-contract intention).

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.31-42
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• 2019

Purpose : This study can provide various implications for the franchisors to expand activities related to franchise support or to develop andoperate an education program for foodservice franchise owners. Research design, data, and methodology : For those purpose, first, the literatureand literature related to the competency of domestic franchise owner were collected and reviewed through the Korea Education and Research Information Service (RISS). Second, the questionnaire was prepared based on the theoretical basis prepared through previous studies. Based onthe foodservice franchise owner's competency model presented by Kim & Lee (2019b), 13 franchise owner's competencies were marked with both 'What is' levels and 'What should be' levels. Therefore, the total questionnaire consists of 26 questions. Third, questionnaires were distributed and collected. This study used data from 55 surveys which were gathered from foodservice franchise owners in Seongnam-si. SPSS 25.0 was used to analyze the collected survey data. Descriptive and frequency analysis were conducted to analyze the demographic characteristics of the study subjects. Next, we conduct a t-test to analyze the difference between the level of 'What is' competencies by the franchise owners and the level of 'What should be' competencies. Descriptive statistics were used to derive the priorities of the 'What should be' competencies. The Locus for Focus model was used to derive the priorities of the required competencies. Result : Four competencies of team leadership, teamwork and cooperation, customer service, technical·professional·managerial expertise were found to be the first to be developed. Conclusions : The conclusions of this study are as follows. First, teamwork and cooperation competnecy, and team leadership competency, which are derived from the core competencies of foodservice franchise owners, are among the leadership competencies required as managers of organizations. Second, customer service competency and ttechnical·professional·managerial expertise competency derived from the core competencies of restaurant franchise owners belong to the job competencies. Third, the results of this study suggest that the foodservice franchisors will be able that will serve as a baseline to support the foodservice franchisors and franchise owners for sustainable mutual growth by encouraging their will and encouraging them to create results.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.45-57
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine the importance and priority arising from the relationship between MRO-office supplies franchisor ("franchisor") and franchisees through an in-depth investigation. In particular, with respect to the MRO-Office franchise industry, we would like to make meaningful contributions in the decision-making process by comparing and contrasting factors that affect the importance and priority of communication, conflict, support and satisfaction through AHP analysis. Research design, data, and methodology: After completion of AHP analysis, the study will also identify factors in order of priority and factors of importance between the franchisor and franchisees. Another purpose of this study is to evaluate and propose business relationship strategies between the franchisor and franchisees. Through AHP analysis, this study will facilitate the relationship between the franchisor and franchise, and determine the factors of importance and factors in order of priority. Result: This study evaluates the differences and priorities of the two groups arising from the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisees through AHP analysis after separately analyzing the franchisor. In this study, the franchisees find that communication is the most important factor, then support as the second most important factor between the two groups. In contrast, the franchisor finds that support is the most important factor followed by communication between the two groups. Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates the discrepancy in evaluating important factors from the perspectives of the franchisor and the franchisees. The largest discrepancy between the franchisor and franchisees comes from an information system related to communication factors. This effectively means that the franchisor has an understanding of this inadequate information system on the part of franchisees but this understanding is not deemed an important factor. The franchisees recognize and focus on the need to obtain feedback from the franchisor regarding management improvement as the most important factor rather than the ability of the franchisor to guide them through the franchisees' operations. To this end, the franchisor should be more flexible in dealing with the problem of improving the work required by the franchisees. For this study, a survey was conducted on employees of MRO-office supplies franchisor, franchisees, and employees and completed based on AHP analysis.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.35-44
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• 2021

Purpose: This study examines the opportunism moderating effect by the startup experience in the relationship between franchisor and franchisees. In the case of a franchise system that has a continuous relational exchange transaction, relationship management is a very important activity because the relationship management between franchisor and franchisees improves the quality of the relationship. Nevertheless, there is insufficient of research on opportunism, which is a negative factor in managing the relationship between franchisor and franchisees in continuous relationship. Research design, data and methodology: This study, we explore the cause of opportunism based on transaction cost theory through prior research and establish a research model based by goal incongruity, uncertainty, information asymmetry, transaction specific assets, the relevance to determinant of opportunism and the startup experienced which is a moderating variable. To verify several hypotheses, the data were collected from 300 out of 1,760 domestic franchisees and analyzed using multiple regression analysis with SPSS program. Results: The findings are as follows. Goal incongruity did not affect opportunism. Opportunism increased as uncertainty increased, and as information asymmetry increased, opportunism increased. An opportunism decreased as transaction specific assets increased. Moreover, the findings show that startup experience only plays a moderating role in the relationship between information asymmetry and opportunism. Therefore, 4 out of 8 hypotheses were supported. Conclusions: The findings show that uncertainty, information asymmetry, and transaction specific assets are the determinants of opportunism. In addition, the results of the analysis of the moderating role of startup experience show that the less entrepreneurial experience, the greater the influence of information asymmetry on opportunism. Our findings mean that maintaining a successful relationship between franchisors and franchisees is possible when franchisors provide knowledge sharing, goal sharing, environmental sharing, and management information sharing to franchisees. In addition, the findings of this study shows that the contract content and management should be changed according to the entrepreneurial experience. In other words, the franchisors must share and integrate the accumulated franchisees' and franchisors' experience with the franchisees to create a synergy that can lead to successful bilateral relationship maintenance, which in turn reduces opportunism.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.63-70
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• 2022

Due to the recent changes in the education market and Corona, Consumers have moved to the tutoring and online learning markets, and the large-scale education service franchise business is reorganized into a small-scale franchise, a business model that maximizes the profit structure from a position where sales are important. Recently, a new learning balance model that can provide individualized services from teacher-centered to student-centered, motivate students is required. In this paper, we propose a new mathematical franchise model (K-MODEL) that can improve a company's profit structure while satisfying the recent education trends and consumer needs from the point of view of the franchise. K-MODEL expects franchisor and franchisees to have a stable profit structure by developing differentiated content and services, learning and operating processes, and various programs to improve learning achievement.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2017

Purpose - As environmental issues, along with the growth of companies, are accelerating, social interests in eco-friendly management that requires corporate social role and responsibility are increasing. The eco-friendly management activity reflects the changes in environmental awareness of consumers. Therefore, the eco-friendly images of companies influence consumers, and the establishing of eco-friendly management strategy has become a very important factor in the greenmarket. In this regard, this study examined the impacts of green leadership and environmental attractiveness on strategic environmental marketing, tactical environmental marketing, and environmental performance towards the employees of franchisee headquarters. Research design, data, and methodology - The survey was conducted towards the 800 headquarters among 2,600 brands that are registered with the Fair Trade Commission of Korea by mail. Among the total of 162 questionnaires collected, 7 respondents were excluded for their incompletion, and thus 155 responses were used in this study. The data were analyzed with SPSS 21.0 and SmartPLS 3.0. Frequency analysis was carried out to understand the general characteristics of the subjects, and confirmatory factor analysis to measure the reliability and validity of the measurement. Correlation analysis was conducted to identify the correlation between constructs, and structural equation modeling to examine the structural relationships among the constructs. Result and Conclusions - First, green leadership had a positive impact on strategic environmental marketing, tactical environmental marketing, and environmental performance. Second, environmental attractiveness had a positive effect on strategic environmental marketing, tactical environmental marketing, and environmental performance. Finally, strategic environmental marketing and tactical environmental marketing had positive impacts on environmental performance. This study can be recognized for proposing new perspectives on eco-friendly management strategy for firms to be able to win competitive superiority and performance by embedding awareness of the importance of environmental market and suggesting practical implications on understanding of environmental attractiveness, strategies and tactics of environmental management, and environmental performance in the franchise industry.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.10
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• pp.39-49
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• 2023

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore areas that have been studied extensively in previous studies related to franchising as a platform for global distribution. Furthermore, franchising is a strategic distribution method that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to replicate an established business model. In addition, franchisees benefit from the use of established branding and receive support from the franchisor. Research design, data, and methodology: This study used the Preferred Reporting Items Systematics Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method to analyse data from 2003 to 2023 in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Results: A total of 79 articles were identified and analysed to see trends and related themes such as product distribution, business distribution, business strategy, emerging market, and franchising relationship. Also, publication trends by year related to franchises are also presented. Conclusions: Overall, the research trend related to franchising as a global distribution is well seen, and every year, many researchers begin to explore the topic of franchising as a method of distribution that can be explored from various aspects either quantitatively or qualitatively. Lastly, limitations and recommendations are made to provide guidance for future studies related to the topic broadly and deeply in enriching the findings.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.69-91
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• 2007

This study is aimed to analyze the impact of the perception of fairness on the relationship quality as a way to enhance the competitiveness through the establishment of a long-term relationship between food service franchisors and franchisees. An empirical analysis found that the more positively the fairness of franchisors is recognized, the more positive impact it has on the relationship quality. As both the distributive fairness and the procedural fairness, the two concepts of fairness, are perceived in a more positive manner, the trust and satisfaction over franchisers were found to be higher, with the conflict shown to be lower. Though both the distributive fairness and the procedural fairness showed a significant result, the procedural fairness, in particular, has a greater impact on the trust and satisfaction over franchisers than the distributive fairness. In addition, the quality of relationship between franchisor and franchisees has a positive impact on a long-term commitment. That is that as their trust and satisfaction over franchisors are higher with less conflict, franchisees will become more cooperative with their franchisors. The greatest impact on the long-term unity, among the factors that constitute the relationship quality, appeared to be trust. Accordingly, it is advisable persons in charge at franchisors place the greatest focus on fostering trust to establish a long-term relationship, inducing it in a positive direction. From such result, suggestions can be made in establishing a strategy for developing an appropriate relationship between food service franchisors and franchisees. Firstly, persons in charge at food service franchisors will have to induce the perception of franchisors' procedural fairness by franchisees in a positive direction in order to enhance the Quality of relationship with franchisees. Secondly, as an alternative strategy for forming a long-term relationship between franchisors and franchisees, the effort should be made to foster a greater trust in franchisors first. In many cases, franchisors currently focus more on their convenience in management than the development of systems to satisfy the franchisee needs. This contravenes with the essence of relationship marketing and thus, it can be said it is the most important of all that focus should be directed at trust and fairness in the effort toward a sustained relationship between franchisors and franchisees in the future.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.107-122
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• 2005

The purpose of this research is to find out what factors have an effect on the retailer's performance. Most of the former researches in the similar fields performed their study based on the customers reasons for revisiting or store loyalty. But this research has been done not based on the customer but based on the retailers. It means that the data was collected from individual retailer. Considering the former research and characteristics of the franchisee retailers, size of temporal population around the retailers, visibility of the retailer, competition situation, out-door promotion, street shelf, size of the retailer were selected as factors affecting on the retailers performance. As a performance variable, number of visitors happened to observation period. Data collection was performed through the observation of the retail circumstance and interview with the retailers owner. As meaningful variables affecting on the retailers performance, size of temporal population around the retailers, visibility of the retailer were found in the 5% significance level, and out-door promotion, street shelf, size of the retailer in the 10% significance level, whereas competition situation did not have effect on retailers performance. Finally, we discuss several theoretical and practical implications, and suggest limitations for the research and future research issue.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.51-58
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• 2013

Purpose - Nowadays, more than ever before, fierce competition, deep market segmentation, short product life cycles, and intensifying customer needs are putting increasing pressure on franchise's organizations to satisfy their customers by creating market-oriented relationships with and enhancing their market knowledge of them. One way that this might be achieved is by establishing deep ties (i.e., job commitment and job satisfaction) with their employees. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine how two important constructs of franchises' strategic efforts, LO (learning orientation) and RMO (relationship marketing orientation), affect job satisfaction, given the mediating role of job commitment. A franchise system comprises a set of contractual arrangements by which mutual obligations are performed. An organizational learning goal motivates employees to improve their abilities and master the tasks they perform. Relationship marketing, in addition, is to identify, establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with customers and other stakeholders to ensure that the objectives of all parties are met and this is done through the mutual exchange of promises. In a relationship marketing orientation, then, a firm creates, maintains, and enhances a strong relationship with its customers by sustaining long-term ties. This study was designed to examine the evolution of various theoretical approaches to franchise systems in order to determine whether theories about firms have significantly affected the franchise system. To this end, the authors developed a structural model consisting of several constructs. Previous studies have suggested that franchises' learning and relationship marketing orientations are important occupational immersion dimensions driving job satisfaction. Research design, data, methodology - We empirically tested a process of how the learning orientation and the relationship marketing orientation influence job commitment and job satisfaction using survey data drawn from 150 responding franchisees who were interviewed about their individual tendencies. Results - The results of this study provide empirical evidence that learning orientation, relationship marketing orientation, and job commitment all influence franchisees' job satisfaction. The results of this study indicate that, first, learning orientation had a significant effect on job satisfaction; second, relationship marketing orientation was positively related to job commitment; third, job commitment had a significant effect on job satisfaction. We also found that relationship marketing orientation and job satisfaction were mediated by job commitment. Conclusions - The findings of this study confirm the importance of learning orientation and relationship marketing orientation in maintaining a positive marketing relationship between franchiser and franchisee from to the perspective of the market. This indicates that franchiser support such as educational programs provided by the franchiser will help franchisees attain higher business management achievement and satisfaction. Moreover, a positive relationship between franchisees and consumers can be maintained through tie effects. Our findings also suggest that learning orientation plays a critical role in job satisfaction within the franchise system.