Chronicling the Saga of 25 Years of International Society of Franchising

Abstract

This lead‐in to the Special Issue of Journal of Small Business Management based on the 25th International Society of Franchising's Annual Conference held at Boston in 2011, seeks to accomplish three goals. First, we provide a three‐part historical account of the evolution of this society founded in 1986 as narrated by Jim Brown (for the 1980s decade), Bob Robicheaux (for the 1990–2000 decade), and Gérard Cliquet (for the 2001–2011 years). Second, we reminisce and recognize various notable award winners and leaders of the International Society of Franchising (ISoF) over the past 25 conferences. We must note at the very outset that ISoF has been shaped and molded by the intellectual contributions of hundreds of scholars over the past quarter century. Space limitations prohibit us from recognizing each and every member individually, but omissions should not be construed as lack of recognition of the importance of those contributions. Finally, we present short synopses of the five papers included in this Special Issue.

Notes

1 Cheryl R. Babcock has served as the Executive Director and Arrangements Chair of the ISoF since 1986 and we gratefully acknowledge her invaluable ongoing enthusiasm for the Society.

2 See Table-1 for a year‐wise summary of Conference Chairs of ISoF.

3 See Table-2 for a listing of award‐winning papers from ISoF over the years.

4 Several of the awards cited further in the text included “runners‐up,” second rank, and “honorable mention” winners as well. Space restrictions prevented us from mentioning these, and only the first place recipients are named.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rajiv P. Dant

Rajiv P. Dant is Professor and Michael F. Price Chair of Marketing at the Price College of Business Administration, University of Oklahoma.

Marko Grünhagen

Marko Grünhagen is Lumpkin Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at the School of Business, Eastern Illinois University.

Patrick J. Kaufmann

Patrick J. Kaufmann is Professor and Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar of Marketing at the School of Management, Boston University.

James R. Brown

James R. Brown is Professor and Kmart Corporation Chair in Marketing at the College of Business and Economics, West Virginia University.

Gérard Cliquet

Gérard Cliquet is Professor of Marketing at the Center for Research in Economics and Management, University of Rennes 1.

Robert A. Robicheaux

Robert A. Robicheaux is Professor of Marketing and Marshall Scholar in the Department of Marketing, Industrial Distribution and Economics, University of Alabama at Birmingham.