Examining the Relationships between Ethical Issues in Franchising Business Success and Characteristics of Franchising Businesses: A Study in Turkey

Abstract

Franchising offers growth opportunities for firms operating in global markets; however, cultural differences and national regulations in new markets can create ethical challenges and conflicts that could impact the success of franchising operations. Also, franchisors and franchisees have ethical obligations toward each other that must be properly managed for a mutually beneficial franchising relationship to exist. This study builds on earlier work that identified clusters of ethical issues that, from the perspective of franchisees in Turkey, are important for the long-term success of both franchisorfranchisee relationships and the franchising system in Turkey. In this paper, the earlier work is extended by examining the impact of six different franchising characteristics on the perceived importance of ethical issues in long-term franchising business success. The paper also discusses the implications of these findings for successful relationships between franchisors and franchisees.