• 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.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.5-18
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• 2017

Purpose - Although literature has established the relevance of entrepreneurial orientation(EO) in the performance of conventional firms, the constraining nature of franchise arrangement makes one wonders if the same relationship holds for companies operating under the business model. Research design, data, and methodology - Using Nigeria - a country with high potential for franchise growth - as a context, this study aims to explore the relevant entrepreneurial orientation skills exhibited by franchisees and show the extent to which these skills influence their business performance and intention to remain. 26 franchisees purposively selected from six local franchise brands in Nigeria were interviewed. Result and Conclusions - The three classic entrepreneurial orientation factors of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking were found to have varying influence on franchisees' business outcomes. This study answers the calls for more in-depth understanding of the relationship between EO and firm performance generally and, franchise firm performance in particular. The value of this effort lies in the fact that it strengthens theory and updates literature on the subject. Based on the findings, specific recommendations are offered to help improve the practice of franchising in Nigeria.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.31-54
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• 1998

The purpose of this research is three-fold; 1, establish the causal model of market-orientation, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and firm's perfor-mance. 2. testify the hypothesis derived by the model on a service industry of fastfood franchise. 3. develop the diagnostic tool for managing the service firm from the perspective of CS. The results show us; 1. customer satisfaction increases the performance of franchise store. 2. employee satisfaction does not necessarily increases customer satisfaction in a short-run, however the long-run impact of employee satisfaction on customer satisfaction is conjectured to be increased. 3. Satisfaction Portfolio Analysis can be utilized as management tool to improve the customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction for service industry.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.37-47
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• 2017

Purpose - Recently, the food service franchise market is experiencing rapid growth and competition is intensifying. Therefore, consumer choice has expanded, and reputation management has become important as a strategy for survival of corporations. Based on previous studies, this research proposed the theoretical framework about the structural relationships among reputation, trust(cognitive trust, affective trust), and loyalty. Research design, data, and methodology - This study examined the structural relationship between reputation, trust, and loyalty from the customer's perspective. Based on comprehensive validation procedures across nine food service Franchise firm types, This study found support for a five-dimensional scale with the following dimensions: Customer Orientation, Employer Brand, Reliable and Financially Strong Company, Product and Service Quality, and Social and Environmental Responsibility. In order to verify the research purposes, research model and hypotheses were developed. The data were collected from 227 food service franchise consumers through online survey. The data was analyzed with SPSS 24.0 and Amos 23.0 statistical program. Result - The results of the study are as follows. First, customer orientation, reliable·financially strong company and product·service quality have significant impact on corporate cognitive trust. And employer brand, product/service quality and social·environmental responsibility have significant impact on corporate affective trust. Second, cognitive trust and affective trust have significant impacts on consumer loyalty. Conclusions - The implications of this study are following as: From the theoretical perspective, this study considers trust as two dimensions such as cognitive and affective, not a single dimension, and identify what dimensions of franchise firms affect consumers' reputation perception and in turn lead cognitive and affective trust, and loyalty. This study also provides several managerial implications. In the franchise market where competition is intensifying, it is very important to analyze the attitudes of consumers in order to gain an advantage in competition with other competitors. In this study, it is meaningful that the study was conducted on consumers who have experience using a restaurant franchise company. Also, reputation is necessary to pay attention to the company because it is an important variable that strengthens with customer through confidence in food service franchise business, and leads loyalty and consumer consumption. Therefore, marketers should develop marketing strategies considering various reputation factors.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.51-66
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• 2015

As competition for better service between corporations is getting fierce, many efforts to improve service quality are being made endlessly. The quality of service is directly associated with customer satisfaction and the employee performance of emotional labor is a key factor to attain a high level of customer review and better corporation image. This study examines an influence of emotional labor on job stress and customer orientation in the context of a service franchise firm. The results are as follow. First, deep acting of emotional labor has a negative influence on job stress, and surface acting of emotional labor has a negative influence on customer orientation. Also, job stress has a negative influence on customer orientation. Second, deep acting of emotional labor does not have a positive influence on customer orientation. Third, surface acting of emotional labor does not have a positive influence on job stress. The findings of this study show that deep acting of service based on an employee emotion can produce the employee's better service attitude by decreasing employees' job stress, but standardized surface acting of service cannot. Therefore, franchisor needs to use employees' deep acting to improve the franchisee service quality.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.359-369
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• 2014

Due to the severe market conditions, pre-entrepreneur seeks to start their business through franchise company. This paper, using the data envelopment analysis(DEA) method, examines efficiency of a group of franchise company in order to provide efficiency information with pre-entrepreneur. Output-oriented DEA model is applied in the investigation of efficiency, and the overall efficiency score is decomposed into pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency. The input variables selected to evaluate the efficiency are franchise deposit, franchise contribution cost and the output variables are sales and number of franchises, and length of business. The results of this paper show franchise industry have the low level of overall efficiency and the main sources of inefficiency is found technical rather than scale. As a result, this paper provides not only the current status of efficiency information of a franchise with pre-entrepreneur but also give warning when they sign-up with franchise business.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-17
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• 2022

Purpose: In this study we aim to identify factors affecting successful inter-firm collaboration. We tried to find out whether government subsidies to small-business owners should be made to experienced and competent cooperatives or to cooperatives with potential even if inexperienced. Research design, data and methodology: Using analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we examine if evaluation criteria for the Small Business Collaboration Grant (SBCG) reflect the potential of successful collaboration of applicant cooperatives. Results: We found that experts tend to think that applicant cooperatives without any experience as a recipient for the SBSG need to be evaluated by their growth potential and their preparation of the application rather than by their business performance or achievement history. The weight of the evaluation must be different between the growth potential and the achievements already achieved. By means of an expert survey, we confirmed that Rookies should weigh evaluation indicators that can reflect their growth potential, and experienced groups should give weight to evaluation indicators that can reflect their achievements. Conclusions: For SBCG applicants with experiences, experts tend to weigh more on SBCG business performances and feasible sharing systems. The screening procedure for the first applicant cooperatives need to focus more on "partner selection" stage, whereas elements related to "realization" apply to experienced applicant cooperatives.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.39-48
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• 2022

Purpose: COVID-19 has negatively influenced the financial performance of restaurant firms. Previous literature suggests that the franchising strategy effectively helps restaurant firms recover from difficult business conditions through various methods for expanding business size and enhancing business efficiency. According to risk-sharing theory, restaurant franchisors may minimize operational risks by sharing the risks with their franchisees. For instance, restaurant franchisors could generate more stable cash flow using franchise fees from their franchisees. However, research on the effect of franchise's risk reduction factor on business performance during pandemic is scarce. Thus, this study aims to examine the positive moderating effect of franchising between COVID-19 and restaurants' financial performance. Research design, data, and methodology: Panel data including financial information and franchising status of restaurant firms were collected for analysis. In order to control for unobserved firm-specific factors, generalized least squared estimation in fixed effects model was conducted. Huber-White robust standard errors were used to deal with heteroscedasticity issues. Results: It was found that COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on the restaurants' financial performance such as ROA (return on assets), ROE (return on equity), and PM (profit margins), which confirms the findings from existing literature. More importantly, results show that the degree of franchising has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between COVID-19 and financial performance of restaurant firms. This suggests that more active engagement in franchising may decrease negative impacts of COVID-19 on the restaurants' financial performance. Conclusions: The study supports existing literature related to risk-sharing theory, by confirming that pandemics, such as COVID-19, negatively affect financial performance of the restaurants. Furthermore, it was found that franchising strategy can help lessen negative impacts of pandemics on the firm performance. These findings can contribute to the franchise and restaurant management literature by suggesting the role of franchising in reducing business risks, thereby positively affecting financial performance. Moreover, this study offers business managers of franchisors and franchisees insights for utilizing franchising in restaurant risk management. Policymakers may also gain information on aiding restaurant firms during global crisis, such as COVID-19.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.51-65
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• 2023

Purpose: As social interest in environmental issues increases, pro-environmental initiatives are becoming more active in many industry sectors. This study explores how a firm's perceived green brand image affects consumer loyalty through brand trust and attachment. Research design, data, and methodology: The data of 363 respondents aged 20 to 59 who purchased the franchise lunchbox in the last three months were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and SmartPLS 4.0. Result: Green brand image affects consumer loyalty through cognitive trust, affective trust, and brand attachment. Regarding serial mediations, cognitive trust affects brand attachment only through affective trust and, in turn, consumer loyalty. Conclusions: This study employs the hierarchy of effects theory to explore the role of the perceived green image of the franchise lunchbox brand in prompting consumer loyalty through brand trust and attachment. The eco-friendly initiatives are imperative in establishing a green brand image, given their critical roles in generating consumer brand trust and attachment as well as consumer loyalty in the franchise lunchbox industry. The franchise lunchbox firms should implement environmental initiatives and effectively communicate and actively inform these initiatives to raise perceptions of green brand image and build cognitive brand trust.

• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.31-46
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• 2023

Purpose: Brand communication plays an important role in the credibility of consumer behavior as it enhances brand equity. This study investigates the effects of brand communication (firm-created communication, consumer-generated communication) on brand awareness, brand attitude, brand loyalty in the hotel business sector by applying the SOR theory (stimulus-organism-response theory). Research design, data, and methodology: This study was analyzed in a quantitative way using the survey results of 400 customers who had experience of visiting hotels. In this study, SmartPLS 4.0 was used to evaluate the research model. The reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity of the measurement tool were verified. Result: Result was found that consumer-generated communications had a positive effect on brand awareness and brand attitude, whereas firm-created communications had a significant effect on brand awareness. In addition, brand awareness had a positive effect on both brand attitude and brand loyalty. Finally, brand attitude was found to have a positive effect on brand loyalty. Conclusions: This study redefines the concept of where chain hotel groups should focus when providing consumers with information about their brands and services. As a result, the conceptual framework of brand communication to increase new customer visits to the hotel brand has been expanded.