عملیات بین المللی خرده فروشی : ورود و گسترش پایین دست از طریق فرانچایزینگ (امتیازدهی)

In this paper, the shift into international franchising from other forms of operation, rather than the typical home market franchising base, is explored. The focus is international retail franchising, based on a study of the Danish clothing and footwear industry. In this study it was found that Danish companies were moving into international franchising as an outcome of a more general shift from upstream wholesaling and subcontracting activities to downstream involvement in retailing activities. Preceding establishments of foreign subsidiaries and company-owned retail operations seemed to be important in facilitating the move into franchising.

Research on the use of franchising in international operations has tended to concentrate on companies that have built franchising activities first within their domestic market before utilising that experience and the tried franchising system in the international arena (Walker & Etzel, 1973; Hackett, 1976; Walker, 1989; McCosker & Walker, 1992; McIntyre & Huszagh, 1995). Indeed, this research suggests that franchisors are loath to alter their basic franchising package, once developed domestically, for foreign markets. For example, Walker (1989) found that the bulk of US franchising companies he surveyed had engaged in minimal changes to the marketing mix components of their franchising packages in international operations. Clearly, there are significant benefits in being able to experiment, modify and develop a franchising system within a local market first — learning how to operate the system and to manage a franchised network. If the resulting system and associated learning can be transferred to a foreign location with limited alteration, the transfer process thereby becomes easier and cheaper. Nevertheless, recent US research has stressed the additional demands on firm capabilities as a franchisor moves from domestic to international franchising, as a result of having to adapt to differences in the franchising and cultural environment (Fladmoe-Lindquist, 1996). While there appears to be a dominant path of domestic to international franchising, there is conceptually no reason why there should not be other patterns of adoption of franchising as a form of international operations. Based on the experience of a small number of Australian companies' international franchising activities, Welch (1990) notes a diverse range of forms and paths to franchising use in international operations. One option used by Australian companies in expanding international activity was to add franchised outlets to existing foreign retail operations as a way of accelerating the process of international market penetration. In this paper, we have sought to extend the investigation of the shift into international retail franchising from a base which includes other forms of foreign operations, but without commensurate domestic franchising development. The aim was to build a framework for understanding how and why franchising may be used as a means of expanding international retail operations at a later stage of internationalisation. The circumstances surrounding such a move into — and use of — franchising were investigated. Particular emphasis was given to the steps which precede, and contribute to, the company's ability to make the shift, as well as to other influential factors. In addition, the ways in which companies cope with the demands of what would seem to be an important new approach to international expansion were examined. Given the paucity of research on the shift into international retail franchising, the authors undertook an exploratory study of this shift by Danish clothing and footwear companies. The reporting of the empirical study follows an examination of conceptual issues and pertinent empirical research.

The move into international franchising from other forms of international operations would seem to be a potentially important phase in the overall development of international franchising. If companies can successfully handle this transition, and it becomes a path of wider use, it might provide further impetus to the growth of international franchising. An obvious barrier to this development would seem to be the lack of preceding experience in franchising and, therefore, the lack of franchising-specific knowledge and skills, and package development, normally honed through the process of expansion in the home market. Investigation of the pattern of internationalisation of Danish clothing and footwear companies revealed that, out of 60 companies in total in the industry, nine had reached what might be called an advanced stage where international franchising had become part of their international operations. Clearly, then, the shift has assumed some importance in this context. This was confirmed in the more detailed case investigations, which demonstrated that franchising had become increasingly important for the case companies in achieving international retail expansion. The Danish experience also indicated that the move into franchising was not perceived as a major or difficult one because of the preceding forms of ‘preparation’ — foreign subsidiary development for wholesaling and subcontracting purposes and the establishment of company-owned retail outlets. These provided a base of foreign market and retail sector knowledge, and a ready-made organisational base for handling the franchising activity. Further, the form of franchising in the two case companies was such that it limited the commitment to, and involvement in, the franchised operations. In explaining why their companies had used franchising, both case company representatives stressed the contribution to growth, while emphasising qualities of low investment and low risk. In some respects the internationalisation patterns of the Danish clothing and footwear companies raise interesting questions about what is a ‘normal’ pattern of internationalisation (Luostarinen et al., 1994). High-commitment operation modes in the form of foreign subsidiaries and own retail outlets precede low-commitment franchising operations, contrary to the general pattern. It would seem that resource commitment and market risk considerations give way to learning and the development of a range of company competencies to enable the later use of franchising in the establishment chain.