Modelling relationships and franchising in gastronomy

This thesis focuses on the analysis of the key aspects of franchising in the gastronomy industry from the perspective of the key players – the franchisor and the franchisee. The purpose of the thesis was to identify the areas that influence the success of franchise collaboration and to visually represent their relationships, roles and potential tensions through model-based approaches. Six semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with experts, franchisees and franchisors as part of the research. The data was processed using open coding and thematic analysis. This resulted in three analytical models – the Venn diagram, the Pyramid model and the Compass model, which illustrate the distribution of roles, the hierarchy of key areas and the dynamics of system linkages. The conclusions show that the success of franchising in the foodservice industry is primarily determined by the quality of the relationship between the partners, the effectiveness of the operational framework and the ability of the system to respond flexibly to changes in the environment.