Franšizing kao strategija internacionalizacije malih i srednjih preduzeća

Abstract

The internationalization is an important strategy for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that want to expand their business in foreign markets. Franchising, as a strategy of internationalization of SMEs, is still insufficiently researched topic, especially in the Republic of Serbia. Therefore, the main aim of the research is ТНОntТПТМatТon oП tСО sТtuatТon anН opportunТtТОs Пor SMEs’ internationalization and the implementation of franchising as one of the internationalization strategies. After defining the theoretical framework, the empirical research was conducted, with the aim of contributing to the understanding and encouragement of franchising as the strategy of internationalization of SMEs in the Republic of Serbia. The empirical verification of defined hypothesis was performed by statistical analysis of primary data collected through on-line questionnaires. The implementation period of the field research was from May to July 2016. The research was focused on franchise SMEs in the Republic of Serbia. The realization of sample was 32 franchise SMEs. Hypothesis testing was conducted using a set of statistical methods. The research results indicate that franchise SMEs in the Republic of Serbia implement franchising less frequent than other internationalization strategies. In addition, the results show that internal and external factors, and factors from the domain of modern ICT and the Internet can have an impact on the implementation of franchising as a strategy of internationalization. In the final, the results indicate the existence of differences in the size and character of the impact of certain internal and external factors between the franchise SMEs which implement franchising and franchise SMEs which implement other strategies of internationalization. After analyzing the obtained results, the relevant recommendations are given in terms of raising awareness of SME owners about the benefits of franchising as a strategy of internationalization and promoting the franchising as a business concept. The practical implications of the research are related to the recommendations for greater institutional support for existing franchise SMEs and SMEs that are planning to develop its franchise system in the future.