THE INTERNATIONALIZATION THROUGH FRANCHISING: CHOICES, LEARNING AND CONTRACT TERMS IN THE FULL-SERVICE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY.

The purpose of the thesis was to analyse the choices and learning of the franchisor, together with the monetary and non-monetary terms of the franchise contract. The study focused in the full-service restaurant industry. The research conducted was exploratory and it used two different case studies. They were explored through a triangulation method using semi-structured interviews, documents and websites. This methodology helps in increasing the construct validity and the trustworthiness of the study. The study provides a broad variety of findings. It explains the existence of strict correlation between the choices of country selection, organizational forms and partner selection and the importance to have a centralized decision. Moreover, it shows that the internationalization starts directly in markets that are very far, geographically and culturally. Among the organizational forms, the master franchising was avoided due to the lack of control that derives from it. The partners were mainly selected through unsolicited request. The contracts terms were seen to be similar to the whole literature and between the cases. They were mainly standardized with some adaptation due to the different nature and contribution of the franchisees. The franchisor learned that it is better to include all the possible sources of conflict in the contract terms and have a clear strategy for the selection of partners, organizational forms and supply of the products.