Brand Franchising

The success of McDonald’s as a leading brand on the international stage owes much of its momentum to the company’s unique approach to franchising. Operating for the past forty years in a fiercely competitive marketplace, McDonald’s has established a reputation as one of the world’s most successful franchising organisations. At the heart of this success lies a unique interdependence between franchisor and franchisee that few other companies have been able to emulate. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the historical roots of McDonald’s approach to franchising and to show how this approach has been instrumental in building one of the strongest and commercially most successful brands of the nineties. First, however, must come an introduction to franchising.