Innovativeness determinants of franchise organisations

Abstract

It is important to point out when analysing business networks, that franchise com- panies (franchise networks) are one of the types of network organisations. In a global economy, franchises are developing dynamically, allowing to achieve a competitive advantage and global expansion. In the modern world franchise organisations are present on almost all continents and in almost all sectors of the economy. Nowa- days franchise systems have to face the growing competition and increasing market saturation of products and services offered by enterprises and enterprise networks. The way for franchise organisations to meet these challenges, is the diversity of their offers in relation to competitors and matching them to the needs of customers. They can do this by creating and implementing innovations. Franchise organisations developing in the economy become the target of a number of empirical analyses. The significance of conditions and the degree of innovative- ness of enterprises that are members of the franchise’s ties were determined in the present study. The research problem was formulated as: the level of innovativeness of franchise companies, sources and innovative activity, as well as the benefits of the implementation of innovation and the factors stimulating and limiting the develop- ment of innovation in franchises. The research assumptions related to innovativeness of franchise organisations were adopted. They arise from the nature of the franchise and rules of franchise relations. Franchise relies on standard solutions implemented in the global economy through the creation of a single franchise unit, the implemen- tation of proven business concepts and building relations based on cooperation of financially and legally independent economic entities. The following assumptions were presented in the study: innovations are implemented in franchise companies to enhance the competitive position of the network and of all its participants (franchisors and franchisees); the introduction of new products or services and the use of new marketing actions are the main type of innovations in franchise organisations; participants of franchise are the main source of its innovations.