The coauthors wish to acknowledge the contribution of the entire X-Culture team: Without the hard work the 141 instructors and thousands of students do every day, the X-Culture Project in general and this study in particular would not be possible. We also would like to acknowledge the support of our many corporate partners, including Gramedia, Lidaris, Innospark, and Caja de Burgos, whose involvement makes the project more meaningful and educational for our students.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a model for the analysis of the competitiveness of the higher education system based on the application of M. E. Porter’s diamond model for researching the competitiveness of the national higher education system. Design/methodology/approach – For the research that is presented in the paper, several methods of theoretical research were used: induction, deduction and comparison. Findings – Application of the selected model provided factors for assessment of the performance of higher education institutions and their performance, as well as the ability of higher education institutions to monitor the environment and, depending on the changes in the environment, to introduce internal changes. Originality/value – The paper proposes a model for examining of the factors of competitiveness in the higher education system.

Abstract.Franchising is not a popular business development form in Lithuania. Only 0.02% of all Lithuanian companies use franchising for business development, while in most of the developed countries franchise is recognized as a convenient business expansion form. So, what factors determine such differences in the use of franchising? Analysis of related literature showed, that mainly researchers analyse some aspects of franchising, however there is no systematized analysis which covers all the main franchise development elements. Therefore, the aim of this article is to systematize franchise business development phases, main elements and factors, influencing this process and to propose a theoretical franchise system development model. Thus, theoretical considerations about the main phases and elements of franchise system development as well as advantages and disadvantages of the system are analysed in the article. These theoretical considerations are generalized in theoretical franchise system development model, which shows, that development of franchise business consists of particular steps, starting from favourable conditions for the system to emerge; intention and ability of franchisor to form franchise based on his business; the establishment and initial development of franchise system; and its further functioning. The article does not test the model and even does not discuss the operationalization of it. Operationalization of the model as well as empirical evidence is presented by the authors in the forthcoming articles.Keywords: franchise, franchise business development model, franchising system, business development, franchisor, franchisee, frachise elements. http://www.btp.vgtu.lt/en tikslas -susisteminti franšizės verslo plėtros stadijas, pagrindinius elementus ir veiksnius, pateikti juos teoriniame franšizės sistemos plėtros modelyje. Šiame straipsnyje pateikiami teoriniai samprotavimai apie pagrindines franšizės verslo plėtros stadijas ir elementus, trūkumus ir privalumus. Teoriniai samprotavimai apibendrinami franšizės sistemos plėtros teoriniame modelyje, kuris rodo, kad franšizės verslo plėtrą sudaro tokios stadijos, kaip palankių sąlygų egzistavimas, franšizės pardavėjo ketinimai ir gebėjimai suformuoti franšizės paketą, paremtą jo verslo pagrindu, sukūrimas ir pradinis franšizės sistemos vystymas bei galiausiai nenutrūkstamas tos sistemos veikimas. Šiame straipsnyje minėtas modelis nėra testuojamas ir netgi neatliekama jo operacionalizacija. Modelio operacionalizaciją ir empirinį pagrindimą autorės pateikia kituose straipsniuose.Reikšminiai žodžiai: franšizė, franšizės verslo vystymo modelis, franšizės sistema, verslo vystymas, franšizės davėjas, franšizės gavėjas, franšizės elementai.

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