Achieving Institutional Isomorphism in International Franchising through Knowledge Transfer: Evidence from the Food and Beverage Industry in Cambodia

ABSTRACT This study evaluates franchising decisions in the food and beverage industry by incorporating an institutional perspective and an organizational learning perspective to account for both economic and social factors. Adopting a qualitative approach, multiple-case-study analysis is conducted on international franchise brands in the food and beverage industry. The results indicate how each type of franchise network – underdeveloped, developing, and developed – achieves coercive and mimetic isomorphism and how that leads to distinctive implications for both the franchisor and the franchisee. This research fills the gap in the franchising literature by providing insights into knowledge-transfer practices and institutional isomorphism.