How to decide the international franchising mode: A research study in the Turkish fast fashion retail sector

The purpose of this study is to reveal which mode of international franchising has been selected depending on the different formalization levels of franchising contracts, and the level of relationship developing between the franchisor and the franchisee. In the study, the amount of resource transfer from franchisor to franchisee, the level of communication between the parties, knowledge transfer and trust have been considered as the dynamics of the relationship level. In terms of formalization which is another dimension of the research, the level of franchisor's standardization to the franchisee and sanction levels may be applied to the franchisee when it is not complied have been examined. Accordingly, the study has been conducted on the franchising experiences of two companies operating in the Turkish fast fashion retail sector between 2005 and 2015 in the markets of Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar. In this study, which followed the qualitative research method, the multiple case method has been used. The analyzed data has been obtained through document reviews and face-to-face interviews. Analyzes reveal that there is a link between the modes of international franchising that companies have been chosen and the level of relationship and the level of formalization. Thus it has been observed that when the level of formalization and relationship are low, single franchising is chosen, when they are both high, the master franchising is chosen and when the relationship level is high and formalization level is low, area franchising is chosen.