Introduction

In recent years, a plethora of articles have emerged discussing franchising in a global context. A basic search (conducted on June 9, 2005 by the author) on "international franchising" using the popular database of ProQuest Direct revealed 123 publications. However, only 25 of the 123 (about 20%) were in scholarly journals. Franchising World, World Trade, International Marketing Review, Hotel and Motel Management, Nation's Restaurant News, Nation's Business, and Success were the most relevant publications associated with the search. Of these, only International Marketing Review is a refereed journal. In the same fashion, recent years have also seen an increase in the number of scholarly books focusing on global franchising including: 1. The Economics of Franchising, Roger D. Blair, Francine Lafontaine (2005) 2. Incentive Based Franchise-a New Model for World Governance, Sondlo L. Mhlaba (2005) 3. Economics and Management of Franchising Networks, Josef Windsperger, Gerard Cliquet, George Hendrikse, Mika Tuunanen (2004) 4. Franchising and Licensing: Two Powerful Ways to Grow Your Business in Any Economy, Andrew J. Sherman (2003) 5. Franchising, Robert T. Justis, Richard J. Judd (2003) 6. International Franchising in Industrialized Markets: Western and Northern Europe, Ilan Alon, Dianne Welsh (2003) 7. Franchising: An International Perspective, Frank Hoy, John Stanworth (2002) 8. International Franchising in Industrialized Markets: North America, Pacific Rim, and Other Countries, Dianne Welsh, Ilan Alon (2002) 9. International Franchising in Emerging Markets: Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America, Dianne Welsh, Ilan Alon (2001) 10. International Franchising in Emerging Markets: China, India, and Other Asian Countries, Ilan Alon, Dianne Welsh (2001) Increased interest in the global context of franchising is evident in the emergent literature on the subject. This book adds to the scant but growing academic literature on franchising globally by examining theoretical and practical aspects of franchising from the standpoints of franchisors and policy makers. The book is divided into four sections. Section I deals with franchising development explaining why franchisors use franchising, the social and economic benefits and costs of franchising to host markets, and measuring the economic impact of franchising on a locality. Section II focuses on financial impact of franchising to franchisors, how franchisors evaluate foreign markets, master international franchising, and how franchisors cluster. Section III evaluates franchising conditions in three emerging markets: Russia, the Philippines, and Slovenia. Finally, section IV examines two cases of companies using franchising internationally, one of Kodak in China and the other of Marks and Spensor internationally. A chapter by chapter review in each section follows.