Franchise chains generally operate as the plural form with two distinct control mechanisms for the same function, characterized by the simultaneous presence of two different operational models, company-owned and franchised outlets. Then, store managers in franchised outlets have to rely on their owner for management resources, while relying their franchiser for the basic operational policy and other matters. Therefore, multiplex relationships exist in the decision-making process. Although we cannot ignore the role of store managers in integrating the goals of the multiple stakeholders in a franchise system, which must operate under a uniform image, to date, explanations of franchise systems have primarily focused on economic factors. Non-economic factors, especially cognitive aspects of store managers responsible for the operation of stores, have hardly been considered. In this study, we examine the store managers of a national franchise chain, and conduct an empirical examination of the integration of the goals of the actors (franchiser, owner, and store staffs) in relation to the effects of pro-active/passive aspects of store managers. The results showed that cognitive aspects of store managers contributed very little to the integration of the goals of these three actors, thus indicating that the store managers' attitudes regarding goal integration were neutral, rather than active or passive. In contrast, we found that the implementation of the management concepts presented by the franchiser contributed significantly to goal integration. Therefore, we discovered that the objective of goal integration can be achieved through management concepts. Additionally, we confirmed that goal integration is reinforced by the constant efforts of the franchise headquarters (president) to convey the management concept. Our findings clearly indicate that non-economic factors are important for facilitating long-term relationships between actors in franchise systems, and offer a new perspective on the stable management of franchise systems.
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