The franchise partner selection process and implications for India

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tushar Vaishnav ◽  
Levent Altinay

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the franchise partner recruitment process and decision‐making criteria used to select partners. It aims to investigate the process and parameters considered by franchisees in selecting potential international hotel organizations as partners. The success of such choices influences growth of the firms and consequently affecting industry and economy.Design/methodology/approachIn‐depth semi‐structured interviews with owners, directors, vice presidents and mangers of the franchisee organizations were deployed.FindingsFindings suggest that partner selection is a multidimensional activity involving several key stages. Indian franchisees use profitability, brand name, operations support as decision‐making criteria while selecting their partners.Practical implicationsDifferences occur at various stages of partner selection. A proper understanding of partner selection dynamics and careful consideration of criteria's like culture, organizational values, pricing, experience, etc. would result in a better building of relationship.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the complexity of the process and the decision‐making criteria from a franchisee's perspective. From a practical perspective, it could be of value to future and existing international hotel chains using franchising as a mode of expansion.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70
Author(s):  
Joanna Bohatko-Naismith ◽  
Carole James ◽  
Maya Guest ◽  
Darren Anthony Rivett ◽  
Samantha Ashby

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the injured worker’s perspective of experiences with their workplace return to work coordinator (RTWC), and explore some of the barriers they encountered in the return to work process. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten injured workers from New South Wales, Australia. The thematic analysis of transcripts was completed. Findings The findings provide an insight into the experiences of injured workers and their relationship with RTWCs. Five key themes emerged from the data: return to work experiences and the RTWC role, high turnover and lack of consistency in the role, RTWC “ideal”, knowledge and skills, communication skills and the RTWC role and GP visits privacy and conflict of interest with peer RTWCs. Practical implications The role of the workplace RTWC in the return to work process for injured workers is important and these findings are highly relevant to the return to work sector. Consistency within the role at the workplace and careful consideration of the specific traits and characteristics required by an individual to perform the role need to be observed during the selection process by employers when appointing a workplace RTWC to assist injured workers return to work. Originality/value This is the first Australian study to examine the injured workers views and experiences with the workplace RTWC and other factors that shape the return to work process.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Alves ◽  
Raquel Meneses

Purpose – This paper aims to contribute towards a better understanding of the partner selection process, which anticipates a successful co-opetition partnership. Co-opetition partnerships refer to developing cooperation efforts between competitors. The scarcity of studies conducted in this field to date provides limited contribution for the understanding of the partner selection process in this, particularly, paradoxical concept. Design/methodology/approach – This study follows a methodology based on systematic combining for the qualitative analysis of four cases of domestic co-opetition in Portugal. A sample range of eight companies was selected for a series of semi-structured interviews. Testimonials were transcribed and data coded for content analysis. Findings – Results indicate that prior personal relationships between decision-makers are facilitators for the implementation of cooperation partnerships with competitors. Based on these findings, this paper proposes a three-step model to explain the process of partner selection for co-opetition partnerships. According to this model, after opting to commence a new coopetitive business alliance, the manager undergoes a first unconscious selection based on his/her own prior personal relationships, followed by a conscious and judicious selection based on specific criteria related to partner’s operational skills, resources, effectiveness and trust. Research limitations/implications – Given that the sample is entirely formed by companies from one single country, further research would benefit from the inclusion of other countries expressing different business contexts and cultural environments. Originality/value – The value of paper derives from the comprehensive realization of partner selection for domestic co-opetition as fundamentally a network-related process.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Farmaki ◽  
Nikolaos Pappas

Purpose The influence of destinations’ poverty on tourism decision-making and, more precisely, destination selection has received scant attention despite the increasing importance of poverty. The purpose of this study is to examine the combination of factors influencing tourists’ destination selection in relation to developed destinations’ rising poverty levels through the adoption of complexity theory. Design/methodology/approach This study used fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to examine the combinations of factors that are significant in influencing destination selection whereas necessary condition analysis was used complementarily to evaluate the size effect of the examined conditions. Moreover, semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders were performed to examine the relationships that describe the generated configurations. Findings In total, four solutions were generated: the cultural influence and poverty, the destination aspects, the poverty issues and the travel experience and poverty while qualitative data reveal that industry policymakers and practitioners hold different perceptions of tourists’ destination selection process. Research limitations/implications Study results show that poverty perceptions influence destination selection. Hence, poverty must be considered in travel behaviour investigations beyond the developing destination context, whereas destinations may select either one or a combination of the generated sufficient configurations when deciding on their tourism development plans. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study examining the effects of developed destinations’ increasing poverty levels on tourism decision-making and specifically on destination selection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6581
Author(s):  
Jooyoung Hwang ◽  
Anita Eves ◽  
Jason L. Stienmetz

Travellers have high standards and regard restaurants as important travel attributes. In the tourism and hospitality industry, the use of developed tools (e.g., smartphones and location-based tablets) has been popularised as a way for travellers to easily search for information and to book venues. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews based on the face-to-face approach was adopted for this study to examine how consumers’ restaurant selection processes are performed with the utilisation of social media on smartphones. Then, thematic analysis was adopted. The findings of this research show that the adoption of social media on smartphones is positively related with consumers’ gratification. More specifically, when consumers regard that process, content and social gratification are satisfied, their intention to adopt social media is fulfilled. It is suggested by this study that consumers’ restaurant decision-making process needs to be understood, as each stage of the decision-making process is not independent; all the stages of the restaurant selection process are organically connected and influence one another.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 536-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascale Simons ◽  
Jos Benders ◽  
Jochen Bergs ◽  
Wim Marneffe ◽  
Dominique Vandijck

Purpose – Sustainable improvement is likely to be hampered by ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in care processes (the organization’s decision-making context). Lean management can improve implementation results because it decreases ambiguity and uncertainties. But does it succeed? Many quality improvement (QI) initiatives are appropriate improvement strategies in organizational contexts characterized by low ambiguity and uncertainty. However, most care settings do not fit this context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a Lean-inspired change program changed the organization’s decision-making context, making it more amenable for QI initiatives. Design/methodology/approach – In 2014, 12 professionals from a Dutch radiotherapy institute were interviewed regarding their perceptions of a Lean program in their organization and the perceived ambiguous objectives and uncertain cause-effect relations in their clinical processes. A survey (25 questions), addressing the same concepts, was conducted among the interviewees in 2011 and 2014. The structured interviews were analyzed using a deductive approach. Quantitative data were analyzed using appropriate statistics. Findings – Interviewees experienced improved shared visions and the number of uncertain cause-effect relations decreased. Overall, more positive (99) than negative Lean effects (18) were expressed. The surveys revealed enhanced process predictability and standardization, and improved shared visions. Practical implications – Lean implementation has shown to lead to greater transparency and increased shared visions. Originality/value – Lean management decreased ambiguous objectives and reduced uncertainties in clinical process cause-effect relations. Therefore, decision making benefitted from Lean increasing QI’s sustainability.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Chuan Chen

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making at the diagnosis and treatment stages of their cancer journey. Patients’ information sources and their decision-making approaches were analyzed. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants. Findings The cancer patients sought information from various sources in choosing a hospital, physician, treatment method, diet and alternative therapy. Physicians were the primary information source. The patients’ approaches to treatment decision-making were diverse. An informed approach was adopted by nine patients, a paternalistic approach by four and a shared decision-making approach by only two. Practical implications In practice, the findings may assist hospitals and medical professionals in fostering pertinent interactions with patients. Originality/value The findings can enhance researcher understanding regarding the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Said Yurtyapan ◽  
Erdal Aydemir

PurposeEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software which is a knowledge-based design on the interconnective communication of business units and information share, ensures that business processes such as finance, production, purchasing, sales, logistics and human resources, are integrated and gathered under one roof. This integrated system allows the company to make fast and accurate decisions and increases its competitiveness. Therefore, for an enterprise, choosing the suitable ERP software is extremely important. The aim of this study is to present new research on the ERP software selection process by clarifying the uncertainties and find suitable software in a computational way.Design/methodology/approachERP selection problem design includes uncertainties on the expert opinions and the criteria values using intuitionistic fuzzy set theory and interval grey-numbers to MACBETH multi criteria decision making method. In this paper, a new interval grey MACBETH method approach is proposed, and the degree of greyness approach is used for clarifying the uncertainties. Using this new approach in which grey numbers are used, it is aimed to observe the changes in the importance of the alternatives. Moreover, the intuitionistic fuzzy set method is applied by considering the importance of expert opinions separately.FindingsThe proposed method is based on quantitative decision making derived from qualitative judgments. The results given under uncertain conditions are compared with the results obtained under crisp conditions of the same methods. With the qualitative levels of experts reflected in the decision process, it is clearly seen that ERP software selection problem area has more effective alternative decision solutions to the uncertain environment, and decision makers should not undervalue the unsteadiness of criteria during ERP software selection process.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the relevant literature by (1) utilizing the MACBETH method in the selection of the ERP software by optimization, and (2) validating the importance of expert opinions with uncertainties on a proper ERP software selection procedure. So, the findings of this study can help the decision-makers to evaluate the ERP selection in uncertain conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre El Haddad ◽  
Alexandre Anatolievich Bachkirov ◽  
Olga Grishina

Purpose This study aims to explore the commonalities and differences of corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions among business leaders in Oman and Lebanon, two Middle Eastern countries forming a comparative dyad with a high level of cultural variance within the Arab cluster. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit qualitative data that were analyzed by means of multilevel analysis. Findings The findings provide empirical evidence that CSR is a powerful factor in managerial decision-making in the Middle East with the national cultures of Oman and Lebanon exerting partially differing effects on CSR decision-making. Practical implications The study enlightens practicing managers and policymakers in terms of the salience of multiple actors’ influence on CSR decision-making processes and the responses they may receive when developing and implementing CSR initiatives in the Middle East. Originality/value The study proposes a seven nodal model, which captures the flow of CSR decision-making in the research contexts.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Wiecek-Janka ◽  
Marcin Nowak ◽  
Arkadiusz Borowiec

PurposeThis paper is a part of the application trend of the development of the grey systems theory. The purpose of this paper is to present the use of the GDM model in the diagnosis of the occurrence of crises in family businesses. The issue of the occurrence of conflicts and crises in family businesses is one of the most important and common in management science in Poland.Design/methodology/approachIn the paper using the GDM model (in which the weights of the criteria were determined using the modified Thurstone method), the authors presented a way to diagnose the occurrence of crises in family businesses for a sample of Polish family businesses using, among others, a questionnaire-based survey.FindingsAs a result of the conducted research, it turned out that in eight surveyed businesses no symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed. In three businesses, the symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed, but they did not threaten their existence. In the case of four businesses, the symptoms of crisis that threaten their existence were diagnosed and immediate remedial action was recommended to them.Originality/valueThe authors are of the opinion that the presented research results may be a reason for the validity of using the GDM model in the diagnosis of crises in family businesses. At the same time, it is recommended to undertake further research on,inter alia, conflict fields in family businesses, or on the use of the modified Thurstone method as a part of determining the validity of decision-making criteria in GDM models.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1528-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil Kumar ◽  
Amit Pal ◽  
Ashwani Vohra ◽  
Sachin Gupta ◽  
Suryakant Manchanda ◽  
...  

Purpose Supplier selection for capital procurement is a major strategic decision for any automobile company. The decision determines the success of the company and must be taken systematically with the utmost transparency. The purpose of this paper is to construct capital procurement decision-making model to optimize supplier selection in the Indian automobile industry. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the stated objective, a combined approach of fuzzy theory and AHP-DEMATEL is applied. Evaluation parameters are identified through an extensive literature review and criteria validation has been introduced through a Fuzzy Delphi method by using fuzzy linguistic scales to handle the vagueness of information. AHP is employed to find the priority weight of criteria, although an inter-relationship map among criteria is not possible through AHP alone since it considers all criteria as independent. To overcome this, DEMATEL is used to establish cause-effect relationships among criteria. Findings The results show that the total cost of ownership (TOC) is the first weighted criterion in supplier selection for capital procurement, followed by manufacturing flexibility and maintainability, then conformity with requirement. The cause-effect model shows that supplier profile, TOC, service support and conformity with requirement are in the cause group and are considered to be the most critical factors in selecting the supplier. Originality/value The study’s outcome can help the automobile industry to optimize their selection process in selecting their suppliers for capital procurement; the proposed model can provide guidelines and direction in this regard.


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