Sustainable Development Through Franchise Innovation in the Digital Economy

Abstract

Franchising has been popular as a strategy for businesses to grow and innovate. It is even more so in today's business need of developing digital solutions for sustainability. In responding to United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, using franchise innovation to replicate proven sustainable solutions in other parts of the world is an effective approach to scaling up solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. The essence of a successful franchise innovation lies in managing the good relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee. In this paper, we show that digital business solutions for sustainability play an important role in growing and nurturing such a good relationship. Specifically, we discuss that franchise innovation via Netchising, combining the digital power of the Internet for global demand-and-supply processes and the international franchising arrangement with local business solutions for sustainability, is an entrepreneurial approach to communities' development where economic and social aspects are mutually supportive.