A seminar about power relationships in franchising will hear that both franchisors and franchisees wield significant power, but that the parties often misunderstand its extent and use.

The seminar “Franchisor versus Franchisee – Who really wears the pants” will be held in Sydney on June 5 by Griffith University and jointly presented by the Griffith Business School’s Dean of Learning and Teaching, Professor Lorelle Frazer, and Franchise Advisory Centre director Jason Gehrke.

The seminar will reveal preliminary findings of research into power relationships, and propose a model for movement of power in a franchise system back and forth between franchisor and franchisee.

Funded by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the initial research has been conducted by Griffith’s Professor Frazer, Dr Scott Weaven and PhD candidate Owen Wright.

The research explores the issues of power, control and conflict in franchise relationships, with early indications that influencing factors include the success of the franchisee’s business, the stage of the franchise relationship, and the size of the franchisee’s holdings.

“The perception is that each side thinks the other has power, but the reality is that the franchise agreements which bind the parties together are written in the franchisor’s favour,” says Professor Frazer.

Underlying the relationship is the drive to align franchisor and franchisee goals for maximum system effectiveness.

Defining power in the relationship as the ability to influence the allocation of resources, Franchise Advisory Centre director Jason Gehrke indicates that franchisees hold high levels of power as a result of their ability to influence the allocation of franchisor resources before, during and after the franchise term.

“Franchisors expend terrific amounts of time, effort and money in their acquisition of franchisees, and this gives franchisees initially a large amount of power, but it is power that they are largely unaware of,” says Gehrke.

“The power balance then swings back toward the franchisor and bounces back and forth depending on circumstances during the franchise term, before initially swinging back in favour of the franchisee at the end of the relationship again due to the reallocation of resources expended by the franchisor in replacing that franchisee.”

Gehrke’s franchise power model showed that highly established franchisors in mature markets held a greater balance of power than new systems where the balance of power could be held by franchisees.

The next “Franchisor versus Franchisee – Who really wears the pants” seminar will be held in Sydney on June 5, from 6-8pm at the Hyde Park Inn, 271 Elizabeth St, Sydney.

Entry is free, but places are strictly limited.

To book, please phone or email Anne Hutton at Griffith University on 07 3382 1187 or

Click here to download a PDF of the seminar flyer.