Strategic Groups in the French Franchising Sector

Abstract

We provide a picture of the French franchising sector, based on the strategic group approach. We use a recent 4-year panel dataset from the French Federation of Franchising, for the period 2010–2013, and sophisticated statistical and supervised learning models. Five main strategic groups of franchisors are distinguished in the French system, characterized by specific strategies and performance outcomes. We first survey the literature dealing with strategic groups and then conduct a multidimensional statistical analysis (Principal Components Analysis and Ascending Hierarchical Clustering), highlighting three factorial axes and five clusters. We test the stability of network behaviors with a classification model. Finally, we observe and comment on the differences in strategic group performances.