Franchised and Small, the Most Beautiful of All; HRM and Performance in Plural Systemsj sbm_310 605..626 by Maryse J. Brand and Evelien P. M. Croonen Franchising is particularly present in industries in which human resources play a vital role. However, little is known about human resource management (HRM) in a franchising context. This study investigates HRM behavior and performance using a sample of 171 units within one plural retailing system. The results lend support to the agency and entrepreneurial perspectives; franchised units have a relatively low HRM intensity but superior HR performance. We also find a negative relationship between unit size and performance, moderated by type of unit ownership. We conclude that when it comes to HR performance, the units that are franchised and small are the most beautiful of all.

business format franchising, fairness, justice, strategic change, trust,

Although franchising scholars largely acknowledge that franchisees may behave like entrepreneurs, little is known about whether and why franchisees differ in their entrepreneurial behaviors. Franchisees are semi-autonomous entrepreneurs running geographically dispersed units within established organizations. We therefore use corporate entrepreneurship (CE) literature to define and measure franchisee entrepreneurial behavior, and we build on an entrepreneurial motivation framework to develop an integrative set of hypotheses that explain differences in franchisee entrepreneurial behavior. We test these hypotheses using survey data on 119 franchisees within a single Dutch franchise system. Our results show that the extent of franchisee entrepreneurial behavior varies considerably, even within a single franchise system. The differences in franchisees' entrepreneurial behaviors can be explained by differences in franchisees' intrinsic goals, relational satisfaction and local competition.

Very little is known about how franchisors can maintain and/or create trust among their franchisees. This article develops a theoretical framework on antecedents of franchisees' trust in their franchisors and franchise systems. We integrate franchising literature with literature on trust in other organizational contexts to develop propositions and an overall framework. We argue that a franchisee's general propensity to trust combined with its perception of trustworthiness of its franchisor and franchise system determine this franchisee's level of organizational trust. We also distinguish three franchise system components consisting of several determinants that influence a franchisee's perception of its franchisor's and franchise system's trustworthiness.

This article uses an in-depth case study of two franchisor imposed change processes in one franchise system to generate propositions on the antecedents of franchisee responses to franchisor-initiated strategic change. The results point to the importance of the level of standardisation in the franchise system on franchisee responses to changes introduced by the franchisor. The franchise system’s standardisation level, as perceived and expected by franchisees, determines the number, nature and level of importance of antecedents of franchisee responses to change. Overall, franchisee expected profitability and trust are the most important antecedents. Additionally, non-economic motivations for running a franchise influence decisions to take-up alternative opportunities and diminish the importance of switching costs. Finally, actions of parties outside the existing franchise relationship may influence franchisee decisions to switch systems.