Franchising的优势分析：以McDonalds的CASE STUDY加以说明随着世界经济的增长，商业机会的不断扩大。特许经营的概念在全球范围内越来越受欢迎。几十年来,特许经营是分布在特定的某一洲或国家，但现在特许经营为了获得更多的人气在全球范围内扩张并出现了跨国现象。现在大量小型,中型和大型公司都使用这种策略来扩大经营和业务，并且获取了新的市场和大大的提升了收入。在这项研究中,我们的目标是评估和讨论特许经营战略是否有助于企业获得新业务市场和提高市场份额和盈利能力，这也是特许经营的终极目标。 WHAT IS FRANCHISING?--特许经营是什么? 特许经营是一个专业术语,可以适用于任何地区的经济体系。特许经营包括产品和服务的制造、供应生产、加工、分销和出售商品并提供服务,这些服务的营销,分销和销售。 Definition of Franchising:--特许经营的定义: 国际特许经营协会(IFA)对于特许经营的定义是“持续的关系,特许人提供许可特权做生意,加上援助组织、培训、销售和管理等方式,处于对于特许人的考虑”。 As the world economies are expanding and business opportunities growing so as is the concept of Franchising gaining popularity across the globe. Few decades back, franchising was spread over a certain state or country only but now franchising is gaining more popularity and is expanding globally and across the borders. Now a large number of small, medium and large companies are using this strategy to expand their operations and business to capture new markets and generate revenues obviously. In this study we aim to evaluate and discuss the weather franchising strategy is helpful to companies to acquire new business markets and enhance their market share and profitability; the ultimate goals of franchising. 什么是特许经营——WHAT IS FRANCHISING? Franchising is a term which can be applied to just about any area of economic endeavor. Franchising encompasses products and services from the manufacture, supply for manufacture, processing, distribution and sale of goods, to the rendering of services, the marketing of those services, their distribution and sale. Definition of Franchising: The International Franchise Association (IFA) defines franchising as a “continuing relationship in which the franchisor provides licensed privilege to do business, plus assistance in organizing, training, merchandising and management in return for a consideration from the franchisee”. Franchising may be also defined as a business arrangement which allows for the reputation, (goodwill) innovation, technical know-how and expertise of the innovator (franchisor) to be combined with the energy, industry and investment of another party (franchisee) to conduct the business of providing and selling of goods and services. The fact that, as a method of doing business, franchise arrangements have grown so rapidly in the last 10 or 20 years (worldwide) is due simply to the fact that franchises are an effective way of combining the strengths, skills and needs of both the franchisor and the franchisee. To be truly successful, the one is reliant on the other. In most instances, franchising combines the know-how of the franchisor with the where-with all of the franchisee and, in the more successful franchising systems, the energy of both. Background Franchising is a system of business that has grown steadily in the last 50 years and is estimated to account for more than onethird of the world’s retail sales. There are few of us how who are not touched by the results of franchising. Franchises range from the ubiquitous McDonalds® to lawn mowing services such as Mr. Green®, valet services, medical and dental services, to book keeping services and even to services helping us to prepare our tax forms. Franchising is not restricted just to fast food outlets and gardening contractors. There are now franchises for mentoring managers and sportspeople and franchises for internet shopping. Who knows what the future will bring? The only thing that we can be sure of, is that if there is a need in the market place, it is more than likely going to be filled by an innovative and creative business which is seeking to capitalize on its market lead and Intellectual Property advantage through some form of franchising scheme. Types of Franchises: There are basically two (2) types of franchises. 1. Product Distribution Franchises 2. Business Format Franchises Product Distribution Franchises Under this type of franchise arrangement the franchisee simply sells the franchisor’s products; there is basically a supplierdealer/retailer relationship. The franchisor has permitted the franchisee to use, under license, his logo and trademarks. There is no management support or system for running the business. Business Format Franchises On the other hand, the Business Format franchisee not only uses the franchisor’s product, logo and trademarks, but is also provided with a complete system of conducting the business itself. This system will include total management guidance, such as marketing plans and full operational manuals. This is the most common type of franchise in the USA, Canada and the UK. Business format franchising is what franchising is all about today and is essentially why franchising is the most successful method of distributing goods and services in the economic history of the planet Earth. Franchise Arrangement The franchise arrangement is an arrangement whereby the franchisor permits – licenses the franchisee, in exchange for a fee, to exploit the system developed by the franchisor. The franchised system is generally a package including the intellectual property rights – such as the rights to use the Trade Mark, trade names, logos, and “get-up” associated with the business; any inventions such as patents or designs, tradesecrets,how of the business and any relevant brochures, advertising or copyrighted works relating to the manufacture, sale of goods or the provision of services to customers. The Intellectual Property is unique to the business and provides the business with it’s competitive advantage and market niche.#p#分页标题#e# Typical Franchise System A typical franchise system will generally include: A license to use the system In return for an agreed amount the franchisee is granted a license to conduct his or her business along the lines prescribed by the franchisor. This will usually include the use of all relevant Intellectual Property, marketing and advertising publications, store design and “get-up”, as well specialized equipment necessary to operate the systems and on-going or development and improvements to the system. A shared development and improvement obligation Most franchising arrangements have an ongoing shared development and improvement obligation which is incumbent on both the franchisor and franchisee. This requires a mutual trust and respect and a sharing of the overall aims and goals of the franchise. The basic tenant for this approach is that what is good for one must be good for the other. The franchisor is also obligated in the arrangement to nurture, encourage and provide assistance to the franchisee. The franchisee for their part is required to maintain and promote the franchise and to conduct business prescribed in the system manuals and best practice guidelines. The franchisee also has the continuing obligation to pay maintenance fees to the franchisor in accordance with the franchise arrangement. These fees usually include an advertising / marketing component as well as an on-going management service fee. The franchisor’s right to determine how the business operates Most Franchise arrangements contain a component which stipulates that the franchisee is to conduct the business along prescribed guidelines and in accordance with the franchise best operating practice. The franchisor for his part is required to maintain, distribute and update the manuals, operating procedures and quality requirements when changes are made – and to provide on-going training. The franchise arrangement will usually also require the franchisee to protect the Intellectual Property of the franchise system, and to operate in accordance with territorial or geographical obligations agreed. Both parties will be required to conform to the agreed accounting disclosure provisions. The franchising arrangement is a legal document relying on contract law and inevitably on mutual trust between both parties 特许经营能为特许经营人带来价值吗——DOES THE FRANCHISING PROVIDE VALUE TO FRANCHISEES? The degree to which a franchise system penetrates a target market over time often is influenced by the rate to which its individual franchisees expand. Yet a franchisee's decision to expand the business operation depends, in part, on the perception of value that the franchisee expects to receive from the franchisor in return for a variety of fees (for example, entry fee, advertising fees, royalties). Moreover, the franchisee's experience with its franchisor may strengthen or weaken his or her perception of franchisor value. The change in perception of franchisor value can influence franchisees' decisions to expand their franchise operations. To date, scant research exists on factors influencing a franchisee's decision to expand. In the reported study, a four-stage analysis was conducted to examine empirically whether franchisees' opinions about the value of their franchisors changes over time. The study findings reveal that franchisees had the strongest, positive opinions when asked to recall an earlier decision to expand their franchise operations. These opinions weakened when franchisees contemplating expansion of their operations were asked for their current and anticipated future opinions of franchisor value. Overall, franchisees were undecided when asked about their perceptions of current franchisor value and anticipated future franchisor value. Implications of these findings for theory and practice of franchising are discussed. Introduction Franchising commonly is considered a contractual vertical marketing relationship between a franchisor and one or more franchisees. Franchisees of various types exist, often distinguished by the size of their operation and the modalities of the contractual agreement with the franchisor (Kaufmann and Kim 1995; Kaufmann and Dant 1996). They typically pay an entry fee as well as recurring royalties and advertising fees to the franchisor. In return, franchise owners receive the right to use the trademark or even the entire business format as well as a host of services provided by the franchisor, often including legal advice, consulting on location and real estate development, national advertising campaigns, training, and so forth. The franchisor-franchisee relationship represents a partnership conducted as a form of relational exchange. As such, the strengthening of the franchisorfranchisee relationship, such as through expansion of individual franchisees' businesses, involves a sharing of benefits and costs (see Macneil 1980 for a description of relational exchanges). Accordingly, of particular interest to franchise owners is the balance between the payments made to the franchisor (that is, franchisee costs) and the "value" (that is, franchisee benefits) received in return (Porter and Renforth 1978; Kaufmann and Lafontaine 1994; Michael 1999). Moreover, consistent with partnership theories (for example, Garbarino and Johnson 1999), franchisees are expected to remain in the relationship as long as they perceive to receive adequate value for their contributions to the franchisor. Recognizing that franchisees' perceptions of value of services received versus payments made to the franchisor may change over time, it is important that franchisors effectively manage franchisee perceptions of the value received from the franchisor. Unfortunately, research on franchisees' perceptions of their franchisors is scant. As a first step to filling this gap in the understanding of franchiseefranchisor relationships, we empirically examine whether franchisee perceptions of franchisor value change over time. In essence, we are aiming to answer the question, "Does the strength of perceptions of value assessment change over time?" More specifically, we examine singleunit and sequential multiunit franchisees' perceptions of value received from the franchisor at the present time and compare these assessments to expectations for the future and to expectations they recall from their past.#p#分页标题#e# The knowledge that, in fact, franchisee perceptions of franchisor value change over time may have many implications for the evolution of the franchisorfranchisee relationship. Recognizing that changes in attitudes (that is, value perceptions) tend to occur before changes in behavior (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980), franchisors would be able to manage their franchisor-franchisee relationships more effectively by monitoring how their franchisees perceive them. For example, by understanding the nature and direction of changes in franchisees' perceptions of franchisor value, franchisors may be able to position themselves better to their franchisee partners to achieve a positive value perception and thereby to gain greater cooperation from the franchisees. First, a review of relevant franchising literature is provided. Then, the research design, analysis, and findings are presented. Finally, implications, recommendations, and limitations of the study are outlined. Advantages of Owning a Franchise The main advantage of owning a franchise is the feeling of freedom that being selfemployed brings. This freedom is tempered with the knowledge that the owner has invested in a proven system and has the training, support and encouragement of other franchisees and the franchisor. Owning a franchise should also provide a semi-monopoly environment in which to conduct business in a particular area. Generally, there is also an informed readymade customer base. There will of course be competitors but the franchisee will be granted the sole franchise for a given area and often will be given client listings or job sheets. Most importantly though, being part of a franchise ensures the franchisee is part of an instantly recognizable brand, the product or service expectations that a brand brings, and the reputation gained by the brand over time. A franchise also offers the franchisee with the ability to capitalize on the knowhow and systems that have been proven to be successful. The quality of the product or service provided is therefore in many ways guaranteed. Some of the advantages a franchise offers are: Freedom of employment Proven product or service outcomes Semimonopoly; defined territory or geographical boundaries Proven brand, trade mark, recognitionShared marketing, advertising, business launch campaign costs Industry know-how Reduced risk of failure Access to proprietary products or services Bulk buying advantages On-going research and development 麦当劳案例分析——CASE STUDY- McDonalds Introduction When the McDonald brothers, Dick and Mac opened their first restaurant in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, they could never have imagined the phenomenal growth that their company would enjoy. From extremely modest beginnings, they hit on a winning formula selling a high quality product cheaply and quickly. However, it was not until Ray Kroc, a Chicago based salesman with a flair for marketing, became involved that the business really started to grow. He realized that the same successful McDonald's formula could be exploited throughout the United States and beyond. There are now more than 29,000 McDonald's Restaurants in over 120 countries. In 2001, they served over 16 billion customers, equivalent to a lunch and dinner for every man, woman and child in the world! McDonald's global sales were over $38bn, making it by far the largest food service company in the world. In 1955, Ray Kroc realized that the key to success was rapid expansion. The best way to achieve this was through offering franchises. Today, over 70 percent of McDonald's restaurants are run on this basis. In the UK, the first franchised restaurant opened in 1986 - there are now over 1,200 restaurants, employing more than 70,000 people, of which 34 percent are operated by franchisees. This case study examines the success of franchising and investigates the special three way relationship that exists between the franchisee, the franchisor and the suppliers. What is franchising McDonald's is an example of brand franchising. McDonald's, the franchisor, grants the right to sell McDonald's branded goods to someone wishing to set up their own business, the franchisee. The license agreement allows McDonald's to insist on manufacturing or operating methods and the quality of the product. This is an arrangement that can suit both parties very well. Under a McDonald's franchise, McDonald's owns or leases the site and the restaurant building. The franchisee buys the fittings, the equipment and the right to operate the franchise for twenty years. To ensure uniformity throughout the world, all franchisees must use standardized McDonald's branding, menus, design layouts and administration systems Advantages to the franchisee 1. Being their own boss In return, the franchisee agrees to operate the restaurant in accordance with McDonald's standards of quality, service, cleanliness and value. McDonald's regularly checks the quality of the franchises output and failure to maintain standards could threaten the licence. The franchisee is also expected to become involved in local events and charities. Ray Kroc believed strongly that a business must be prepared to put something back into the community in which it operates. The franchisee, for all the training and support McDonald's offers, is running his or her own business. They fund the franchise themselves and therefore have much to lose as well as gain. This makes them highly motivated and determined to succeed. 2. Selling a well established, high quality product In this case, the product is recognized all over the world. A large proportion of new businesses and new products fail, often due to costs of the research and development needed. The McDonald's formula, however, has been successfully tried and tested. Ray Kroc's insistence that all McDonald's outlets sold the same products and achieved the same quality has led to a standardization of the process and great attention to detail.#p#分页标题#e# The cooking processes in McDonald's restaurants are broken down into small, repetitive tasks, enabling the staff to become highly efficient and adept in all tasks. This division of labor and the high volume turnover of a limited menu allows for considerable economies of scale. For the franchisee, this can considerably reduce the risk of setting up their own business. There is no need to develop the product or do expensive market research. Nor will they have sleepless nights wondering if the product will appeal to the consumer. McDonald's carries out regular market research. 3. Intensive initial training Every franchisee has to complete a fulltime training program, lasting about nine months, which they have to fund themselves. This training is absolutely essential. It begins with working in a restaurant, wearing the staff uniform and learning everything from cooking and preparing food to serving customers and cleaning. Further training at regional training centers focuses on areas such as business management, leadership skills, team building and handling customer enquiries. The franchisee will have to recruit, train and motivate their own workforce, so they must learn all the skills of human resource management. During the final period, the trainee learns about stock control and ordering, profit and loss accounts and the legal side of hiring and employing staff. Consequently, no McDonald's franchisee would have to ask a member of his or her staff to do something that they couldn't do themselves. Knowing this, can also be a powerful motivator for the staff. 4. Continuous support McDonald's commitment to its franchisees does not end with the training. It recognizes that the success and profitability of McDonald's is inextricably linked to the success of the franchises. A highly qualified team of professional consultants offer continuous support on everything from human resources to accounting and computers. The field consultant can become a valued business partner and a sounding board for ideas. 5. Benefit from national marketing carried out by McDonald's A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design, (or a combination of these) which identifies one organization’s products from those of its competitors. The phenomenal growth of McDonald's is largely attributed to the creation of its strong brand identity. McDonald's trademark, the Golden Arches, and its brand name has become amongst the most instantly recognized symbol in the world. In the UK, McDonald's recognized the need for a co-ordinate marketing policy. In order to be successful, an organization must find out what the customers want, develop products to satisfy them, charge them the right price and make the existence of the products known through promotion. Cinema and television advertising have played a major part in McDonald's marketing mix. McDonald's is now the biggest single brand advertiser on British television. Radio and press advertisements are used to get specific messages across emphasizing the quality of product ingredients. Promotional activities, especially within the restaurant, have a tactical role to play in getting people to return to the restaurants regularly. All franchisees benefit from any national marketing and contribute to its cost, currently a fee of 4.5 percent of sales. The franchisees additionally benefit from the extensive national market research programs that assess consumer attitudes and perceptions. What products do they want to buy and at what price? How are they performing compared to their competitors? Any new products are given rigorous market testing so that the franchisee will have a reasonable idea of its potential before it is added to the menu. The introduction of new products, which have already been researched and tested, considerably reduces the risk for the franchisee. Massive investment in sponsorship is also a central part of the image building process. Sponsorship in 2002 included: Football World Cup Olympic Games Community Partner of The Football Association The Scottish Football Association The Northern Ireland Football Association The Football Association of Wales Pop Stars: The Rivals All of which increases awareness of McDonald's brand. However, McDonald's still follows Ray Kroc's community beliefs today, supporting the Tidy Britain Group and the Groundwork Trust, as well as local community activities. 6. Forecasting Another major problem for a new business is predicting how much business it might enjoy, running the risk of either cash flow problems or the difficulties associated with overtrading. The turnover and profit from any outlet will vary, depending on a wide range of internal and external variables. Each franchisee is expected to take a positive approach to building up sales, although an average rate of return of over 20 percent is generally expected over the lifetime of the franchise. The advantages for the franchisor McDonald's recognizes the benefits of a franchised operation. Franchises bring entrepreneurs, full of determination and ideas, into the organization. Franchising enables McDonald's to enjoy considerably faster growth and the creation of a truly global brand identity. The more restaurants there are, the more McDonald's can benefit from economies of scale. On the financial side, McDonald's receives a monthly rent, which is calculated on a sliding scale based on the restaurant's sales, i.e. the higher the sales, the higher the percentage and visa versa. There is also a service fee of 5 percent of sales in addition to the contribution to marketing. The purchase price of a restaurant is based on cash flow and is generally about £150,000 upwards. The new franchisee is expected to fund a minimum of 25 percent of this from their own unencumbered funds.#p#分页标题#e# Dynamic innovation Whilst the franchisees have to agree to operate their restaurants in the McDonald's way, there still remains some scope for innovation. Many ideas for new items on the menu come from the franchisees responding to customer demand. Developing new products is crucial to any business, even one which has successfully relied on a limited menu for many years. Consumer tastes change over time and a company needs to respond to these changes. Innovation injects dynamism and allows the firm to exploit markets previously overlooked or ignored. The introduction of the Egg Mc Muffin in 1971, for example, enabled McDonald's to cater initially for the breakfast trade. Filet-o-Fish, Drive-thru's and Play lands were all products or concepts developed by franchisees. The three-legged stool - the suppliers A third group of stakeholders, critical to the success of the franchise operation, is the suppliers. As McDonald's considers the quality of its products to be of absolute importance, it sets standards for suppliers that are amongst the highest in the food industry. McDonald's believes in developing close relationships with suppliers - everything is done on an open accounting, handshake trust basis. The supplier's work closely with McDonald's to develop and improve products and production techniques. This close interdependency is described as a three-legged stool principle, and involves McDonald's, the franchisees and the suppliers. Suppliers that are able to meet the quality standards set down by McDonald's have been able to share in the growth and success of McDonald's Conclusion McDonald's views the relationship between franchisor, franchisee and supplier to be of paramount importance to the success of the business. Ray Kroc recognized the need very early on for franchisees that would dedicate themselves to their restaurants. He wanted people who had to give up another job to take on the franchise venture, relying on their franchise as their sole source of income and would therefore be highly motivated and dedicated. Consequently, McDonald's will not offer franchises to partnerships, consortia or absentee investors. The initial capital has to come from the franchisee as a guarantee of their commitment. The selection process is rigorous to ensure that McDonald's only recruits the right people. |
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