International franchising and performance: a resource-based perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate international franchise performance. It focuses on how franchisors conceive their international performance, the drivers of their international performance, and how age-at-entry moderates the impact of their resources and capabilities (R&C) on international performance. Design/methodology/approach Using the lens of the resource-based view of the firm, the authors build on franchisor voice from a qualitative study (n=28) to propose a research model of international franchise performance. A second, quantitative study (n=89) tests the model with PLS structural equation modeling. Findings Franchisors view international performance in terms of relationship satisfaction with foreign franchisees and performance in comparison to competitors. The empirical results show that relationship satisfaction significantly improves comparative performance. Both franchisor-owned resources, the brand and knowhow, enhance only comparative performance, while all three international relational capabilities, related to knowhow transfer, monitoring, and contract design, and both reconfigurational capabilities, related to organizational responsiveness and innovativeness, improve relationship satisfaction. Only contract design and innovativeness increase comparative performance. Finally, late internationalization reinforces franchisor ability to leverage relational and reconfigurational capabilities for better relationship satisfaction. Originality/value This paper contributes to research on international franchise performance. It uses a mixed-method design and offers the first quantitative investigation of the drivers of international franchise performance. This research also integrates the role of franchisor R&C with franchisor strategic choices, through the moderating effect of internationalization timing.