Concept Uniformity: Control Versus Freedom in Business Format Franchising

Abstract

Developed on a model of uniformity, business-format franchises are likely to experience growing individualization of demand, from franchisees and final customers. Franchisors may need to carefully evaluate trade-offs between standardization and adaptation of the business concept in order to satisfy their customers. The purpose of this paper is to identify potential guidelines for franchisors who are trying to conciliate brand uniformity and adaptation to customer demand. More specifically the cases of McDonald’s and Great Harvest will be examined using the Kaufmann and Eroglu’s (1998) hierarchy of components framework and the categories of customization developed by Gilmore and Pine (1997).