IT Businesses and Franchising: A Research Proposal

Franchising has been popular as a growth strategy for small businesses; it is even more so in today’s global and information-based economy. In early 2001, Entrepreneur magazine—well known for its Franchise 500 listing—added a Tech Businesses category to its Franchise Zone with three subcategories: Internet Businesses, Tech Training, and Miscellaneous Tech Businesses. This study applies Herbert Simon’s model for business firm growth as a theory-grounded solution to help managers understand the growth dynamics of ITbased franchising businesses. We present a research proposal with a pilot study of the growth of 27 ITbased franchise businesses, and explain how to relate the parameters of Simon’s model to strategic variables that can give managers a valuable strategic tool to understand the context of their industrial competition in IT-based franchising.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: HICSS
• Authors: Ye-Sho Chen, Chitu Okoli, P. Pete Chong
• Keywords: Biometrics, HICSS 2003, Miscellaneous Tech Businesses, System Sciences, Tech Businesses, Tech Businesses Category