A Study of the Effects of Knowledge Transfer on the Franchisee’s Satisfaction in Restaurant Industry: focusing on the mediating effect of willingness to acquire knowledge and the moderating effect of franchise duration

Abstract

Knowledge transfer, which is a form of knowledge management, plays an important role for enhancing competitiveness of a company. This is particularly true in restaurant franchise business because a franchisee can usually gain fast and instant competitive advantages against its competitors by receiving precious knowledge such as patented technology and management know-hows from franchisor when signing a franchise contract. In order for knowledge transfer to be successful, there are a few issues involved in the knowledge transfer process. First is whether the recipient has the capability to absorb and to utilize the new knowledge. Second is whether they have an intention to receive the knowledge. Last issue is whether the franchise duration affects the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. This study aims to investigate the relationships among the several factors that are involved in the knowledge transfer between franchisor and franchisee in restaurant industry. Data was collected by using a survey questionnaire on the 119 respondents. The results show that the franchisee’s knowledge absorption capability alone is not very effective to make knowledge transfer successful. More important is that the franchisee’s satisfaction level is affected by the organizational intention for knowledge transfer. The franchise duration, however, does not seem to affect the effectiveness of knowledge transfer.