McDonald's: An Examination of a Franchise Life Cycle

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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DECLARATION

I declare that the content presented in this thesis/dissertation is, in my understanding and opinion, original and has not been presented for scholarly assessment in the past, either completely or partly, for an academic degree at this educational institution or elsewhere. I would also like to admit that I have studied and understood the principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines of the University regarding the higher academic degree research award and to my dissertation. I would also like to declare that I have abided by the University's principles, prerequisites, processes and guidelines.

ABSTRACT

Many people have given different definitions of franchise but a simple definition could be that a franchise is a kind of business in which the franchise owner has the authority to sell the parent company goods in a defined area. Franchising is a form of distribution of goods and services. It is developed from the grant of a right or privilege to use the name and sell products or services of the franchisor, but also involves the transfer of the knowledge and secrets of the entire business that has been developed the Franchisor. The Franchisor transfers all its operating systems, technical expertise, marketing systems, training systems, management methods and all relevant information to the franchisee. Franchises originate, develop, achieve success, weaken and eventually cease to exist. A few of them are there indefinitely and no one can live without changes. New franchises are formed daily. At the same time every day, hundreds of franchises are eliminated forever. Franchises that are able to adapt to the changes are thriving and those that are inflexible, disappear.

Some franchises are developing faster than others, and do their work better than others. The manager must know at what stage of franchise development they are and assess the leadership style required to correspond to this stage. That is why the widespread notion of life-cycle comes with some predictable changes to a specific sequence over time. The concept of the life cycle has distinct stages through which the franchises go through, and that the transition from one phase to another are predictable, and not random. Franchises originate, develop, achieve success, weaken and eventually cease to exist.

Therefore, the life cycle is the process by which franchises are launched through a series of stages, from conception to its demise. More and more businesses are discovering the franchise model ...