The Determinants of Global Expansion: A Study on Food and Beverage Franchisors in Malaysia

In the past decade, franchising has become a well-known platform for business expansion. Various strategies have been employed by franchisors in expanding their business into the global market. However, few studies have assessed the determinants that can be adopted by the franchisors in bringing value as well as opening up opportunities for global market expansion. This study aims to explore the determinants of global expansion based on Malaysian franchisors’ experience. A qualitative research approach was adopted through various case studies with ten franchisors from the food and beverage industry in Malaysia. In-depth interviews were carried out to explore this topic. Thematic analysis was performed through the “Atlas.ti” software package version 9.0, which was also used in analyzing the data. The findings indicated that there are four themes, and nine sub-themes were discovered from the grounded data. The franchisors agreed that franchise brand, business location, product, advertising, and promotion were able to influence franchisors in designing strategies for global expansion. The data were also able to provide an in-depth understanding of the determinants for global expansion that can be undertaken as a guide to prospective franchisors who want to start exploring the global market. These results are expected to assist the government as well as the agencies involved with franchising in improving related policies, strategies and programmes. Thus, it is important to understand these determinants in order to survive in a competitive global market.