餐飲加盟商跑料十大線索研究

Abstract

加盟總部與加盟商間長期良好的互動關係為加盟體系發展的重要議題，雙方透過有型化契約簽訂，以互信承諾作為長期合作的發展基礎，以達成彼此共同利益。然而，立場不一致、環境的利誘、資訊不對稱下導致加盟商跑料行為於連鎖體系中行之有年，其本研究之「跑料」意指「加盟商未依加盟契約條款內容向加盟總部或其指定之供應廠商訂購營業所需貨品或原物料之行為」。加盟總部與加盟商關係嚴密則愈能達成共利互榮的目標，但因雙方所處立場相持、認知與目標有異，在面臨有關利益衝突時，可能會選擇對自身權益有利行為為採取之行動。當加盟者經營績效已維持穩定，轉以降低進貨成本以求提高獲利為常見方式。而跑料行為將使加盟總部產品在市場上品質不一，損及企業名聲，亦將造成加盟總部需花費更高的監督成本，相關防範成本皆會造成交易成本增加。在連鎖加盟企業中，企業難以判斷加盟商實際之所作所為是否符合連鎖加盟企業之期望 (Bercovitz，2004) ，當為了防範加盟商，對其資訊的蒐集過程勢必更加嚴謹小心，因為資訊若不充足，存在不確定性時，投機主義行為的發生機率將會大大的提高 (Kulkarni，2001) ，總部若要完全瞭解加盟商的行為，實有其困難性。故本研究透過學、業界專家效度驗證，針對其建議發展研究正式訪談題項，以5間餐飲加盟總部及12間餐飲加盟商進行探討，總計共17位受訪者為本研究深度訪談之研究對象，採內容分析法進行資料分析。其研究結果如下：一、加盟主的投機主義無法避免，並且會造成對總部企業的損失。二、總部可藉由嚴謹的加盟合約擬定，以降低加盟者投機行為。三、總部可透過不定時協助、監督加盟者的營運狀況，以避免加盟主的投機主義，破壞彼此的長期合作關係。

A positive relationship between franchise headquarters and franchisees is required to ensure the growth of franchise system. The headquarters and franchisees sign a standard form contract and subsequently develop their long-term cooperation based on mutual trust for their mutual benefits. Faced with different positions, environmental inducements and information asymmetry, however, many franchisees have ordered goods and materials from sources other than the franchise headquarters for many years. As stated in this study, “ordering goods and materials from sources other than the franchise headquarters” means “according to the franchise agreement, franchisees are required to order the goods and materials needed by their business from the franchise headquarters or from the suppliers designated by the franchise headquarters, but they simply choose to order such goods and materials from sources other than the franchise headquarters.” The franchise headquarters and franchisees have to maintain a close relationship for their mutual benefits. Faced with different positions, cognition and goals, however, franchisees are likely to act for their own interest whenever they have a conflict of interest. Many franchisees start to decrease their purchase costs in order to improve their profit margin once their business has stabilized. Once franchisees order goods and materials from sources other than the franchise headquarters, the franchise headquarters has varied goods and materials with varied quality in the market, which not only affects the franchise headquarters’ reputation, but causes the franchise headquarters to incur excessive costs in order to supervise the franchisees. As a result, the transaction cost increases. It is extremely difficult to judge whether the franchisees’ behaviors meet the franchise headquarters’ expectations. Franchise headquarters have to be careful about how the franchisees gather their information. If there is not enough information, there is an uncertainty and a higher probability of opportunism. It is extremely difficult for the headquarters to fully understand the franchisees’ behaviors. In this study, four catering franchise executives were interviewed intensively, using expert validation test to examine their recommendations in order to identify the topics required by the official interviews, while data was analyzed using content analysis method. Research results are summarized as follows: 1. There is no way to avoid the franchisees’ opportunism, which definitely results in the headquarters’ loss. 2. The headquarters may resort to the stricter standard form contract in order to minimize the franchisees’ opportunism. 3. The headquarters may assist the franchisees and monitor their daily operations in order to minimize the opportunism and at the same time maintain their long-term cooperation. Finally, according to the results of the study put forward practical recommendations, provide the competent authorities, academia for further improvement.