Development of Managerial Skills and Franchising: Management Models and Pandemic Context

The study analyzed managerial skills, within the franchise business model, since such organizations have specificities in their structures, but the literature, on managerial skills, is little explored. We used as a theoretical framework, the model of contrasting values by Quinn et al. (2003). With a qualitative approach of a descriptive character, seven franchised companies from Piripiri-Piaui were researched, through interviews with the managers. The variable Covid-19, recurrent in the interviewees' testimonies, was included in the model as a contribution to interference in the activities of the franchises. The analysis of the results took place using the Atlas.ti software version 8. The results revealed the predominance of two models that reflect in the management of these franchises, these are the Human Relations Model and the Rational Objectives Model. It was found that the pandemic changed the operational functioning of companies and this had repercussions on the managerial skills studied, in which skills related to adaptability were in evidence. In addition, competencies aimed at the company's external environment suffer limitations from the franchisor, evidencing the influence of the organizational structure on the development of competencies. As main competencies, team building, proactivity, planning, and organization were presented. Thus, the contribution of this study, at an academic level, occurs due to the scarcity of works in the literature, and, in a practical way, it contributes by demonstrating how competencies are developed in this business model, and how such organizations acted in the pandemic context.