Business

Franchise Profile 

100 points

A practical application of the Drexel University Student Learning Priorities of Critical Thinking, Information Literacy, Technology Use, Global Competence, and Research, Scholarship, and Creative Expression

OBJECTIVE 1:  Give students an opportunity to understand the role of franchising in the small business sector of the American economy.

OBJECTIVE 2:  Expose students to business research resources, and with the help of those resources, encourage them to think critically and form options on various business disciplines

Entrepreneurship:  15% of your grade

*How was the business created? (whose idea, history of the company, where the company was started)

*Research how many stores are currently in operation, how many are franchises vs. company owned stores, and when why/the first franchise opened

*Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a parent business franchising its operations

International Business:  10% of your grade

*Prepare a PMI (plusses, minuses, implications) for your firm’s international expansion  (provide at least 3 examples of each)

Operations Management:  10% of your grade

*Does your firm have centralized or decentralized authority for decision making? 

*Given today’s global marketplace, explain the benefits and drawbacks of your firm’s authority structure.

Finance:  15% of your grade

                  *Explain all start up fees for your franchise

                  *Identify any ongoing fees for franchise ownership (how much, payment schedule)

                  *Determine the advertising fee charged to franchisees

Management:  15% of your grade

                                    *Prepare a SWOT analysis for your franchise.  (3 examples per section)

*Compare your franchise’s culture to that of a non-franchised competitor.  What are the benefits and drawbacks of your firm’s culture in today’s global environment?

Human Resource Management:  10% of your grade

                                    *What are the steps one must follow in order to become a franchisee?

                  *Why might an entrepreneur be inclined to buy a franchise?

EXCEL:  15% of your grade

*Using EXCEL, provide a graphical representation of your franchise’s profits and stock price relative to a non-franchised competitor, covering the most recent 3 consecutive years.

*What observations can you make about the competitive advantage or disadvantage of franchise ownership?

Evidence Based Research and References:  10% of your grade

*Cite research sources appropriately in a bibliography

8-9 pages required