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Barriers to franchise initiation for general remodelers in U.S. remodeling industry: A non-franchisor perspective

Murray, BC; (2008) Barriers to franchise initiation for general remodelers in U.S. remodeling industry: A non-franchisor perspective. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

The following report is an exploratory investigation into the barriers of franchise initiation for general contractors in the US remodeling industry. The applicability of theories used to describe why firms franchise is evaluated using secondary quantitative data. Further exploration is achieved by interviewing non-franchising, general remodelers classified as 'potential franchisors'. Overall, the outcomes suggest that franchisee recruitment is a perceived operational barrier by general remodelers which constrains franchise initiation. The most surprising and significant finding is the impact of key decision-makers' perceptions on franchise initiation in founder-controlled firms. The outcomes however may only apply to a specific population of firms that are founder-controlled and of a similar vintage to those firms in the sample. According to upper echelon theory, it is likely that outcomes would be different for companies that are not founder-controlled or have younger management. Younger managers may have a risk and psychological profile better suited to initiate nontraditional strategies such as franchising. Institutional theory is used to suggest that as the profile of general remodelers change so too may perceptions of key decision-makers and industry norms. Therefore, it is opined that perceptual barriers to franchising are temporal and likely to reduce over time. Word count: 11,881 Keywords: US remodeling industry, general remodelers, franchise initiation, and barriers.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Barriers to franchise initiation for general remodelers in U.S. remodeling industry: A non-franchisor perspective
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
UCL classification:
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1567827
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