TY - JOUR
T1 - Franchising in African markets
T2 - Motivations and challenges from a Sub-Saharan African country perspective
AU - Kastner, Adelaide N.A.
AU - Mahmoud, Mahmoud A.
AU - Buame, Samuel C.K.
AU - Gabrah, Antoinette Y.B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - The purpose of this article is to explore and understand the motivations and challenges of franchising in an African economy. While interest in franchising is increasing in African markets, there is a paucity of research on franchising from the perspective of local African firms participating in these international relationships. The motivations and challenges of franchising from the perspective of African businesses have not been largely investigated so far. Using in-depth interviews, we allow motivations and challenges at play to emerge. Convenient and snowball sampling techniques were used for choosing the unit of analysis, which resulted in four respondent firms. A thematic approach was adopted for analyzing the data from the field. Support services, brand name, and franchisor's experience are identified to be the motivations for franchising. Financial assistance from the franchisor, demand, and competition also play a key role in an African firm's decision to franchise. Legal constraints and infrastructure constraints were the key challenges faced by franchisees in Ghana. The findings of this study may hold for franchisees in other African markets. However, contextual differences may be considered in the application of these findings.
AB - The purpose of this article is to explore and understand the motivations and challenges of franchising in an African economy. While interest in franchising is increasing in African markets, there is a paucity of research on franchising from the perspective of local African firms participating in these international relationships. The motivations and challenges of franchising from the perspective of African businesses have not been largely investigated so far. Using in-depth interviews, we allow motivations and challenges at play to emerge. Convenient and snowball sampling techniques were used for choosing the unit of analysis, which resulted in four respondent firms. A thematic approach was adopted for analyzing the data from the field. Support services, brand name, and franchisor's experience are identified to be the motivations for franchising. Financial assistance from the franchisor, demand, and competition also play a key role in an African firm's decision to franchise. Legal constraints and infrastructure constraints were the key challenges faced by franchisees in Ghana. The findings of this study may hold for franchisees in other African markets. However, contextual differences may be considered in the application of these findings.
KW - African markets
KW - franchising
KW - internationalization
KW - motivations and challenges
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047819856&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/tie.21987
DO - 10.1002/tie.21987
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047819856
SN - 1096-4762
VL - 61
SP - 169
EP - 181
JO - Thunderbird International Business Review
JF - Thunderbird International Business Review
IS - 2
ER -