Dear colleague, attached you will find the CALL for papers for the SPECIAL ISSUE of JOURNAL of RETAILING to the theme of FRANCHISING. Rajiv Dant, Marko Grunhagen and I are jointly co-editing this issue.

Announcement of EMNet 2009: September 3 - 5, 2009 The forth international conference on Economics and Management of Networks (EMNet) will take place at the School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (www.efsa.unsa.ba). The call for papers will be sent out in October. Conference information will be found at: http://www.univie.ac.at/EMNET

Best regards, Josef Windsperger

CALL FOR PAPERS Journal of Retailing Special Issue: Franchising and Retailing

Rajiv P. Dant, University of Oklahoma Marko Grünhagen, Eastern Illinois University Josef Windsperger, University of Vienna

Special Issue Co-Editors

Franchising is the world’s fastest growing form of retailing. The Journal of Retailing is proud to announce a Special Issue focused on the broad-based theme of franchising in retail settings. In this issue, we hope to feature multidisciplinary franchising research so long as the authors can relate the manuscript to the context of retailing. Manuscripts that significantly advance the boundaries of our current knowledge of franchising, in both single-country and multi-cultural settings, are equally encouraged. The Special Issue is seeking submissions that provide new insights into franchising as a vehicle to deliver value to all retail aspects of a franchise system in the broader sense, such as retail customers, franchisees, or the broader franchisee-franchisor relationship. Topics for this Special Issue could include (but are not limited to):

• Examination of relationships critical to the retailer-franchisee beyond the common fast-food setting • The role of franchising in shattering the glass ceilings for women and minorities • Plural forms theory of franchising • Cross cultural examination of the ownership redirection thesis • Consumer research perspectives on franchise service delivery • Incorporating personality variables into traditionally B2B oriented franchising research • Reexamination of franchising research topics using longitudinal data • Investigation of consolidation pressures and downsizing effects in franchise systems • Integration and synthesis of traditional franchise theories in retail settings • Cross cultural examination of theoretical frameworks commonly used in explaining the franchising phenomenon in the North American context (e.g., agency theory, resource dependence theory, signaling theory, transaction cost analysis, property rights theory, etc.) • Cross country examination of the legal aspects of franchising and its impact on the evolution of franchising • Research into the evolution and outcomes of franchise contracts and their impact on the governance of retail franchise systems

Papers should be submitted to the Journal of Retailing by September 30, 2009, with a cover letter indicating that the paper is intended for the Special Issue. See http://ees.elsevier.com/retail/ for details of submission guidelines. However, submit the manuscript to the co-editors via email. Do not use the electronic submission process of the Journal.

Special Issue Co-Editors: Professor Rajiv P. Dant Professor Marko Grünhagen Professor Josef Windsperger University of Oklahoma Eastern Illinois University University of Vienna Price College of Business Lumpkin College of Business & Applied Sciences Center for Business Studies 307 West Brooks 4012 Lumpkin Hall Bruenner Str. 72 Norman, OK 73019-4001 Charleston, IL 61920 1210 Vienna U.S.A. U.S.A. AUSTRIA Phone: +1-405-325-4675 Phone: +1-217-581-6906 Phone: +431-4277-38180 Email : rdant@ou.edu Email : mgrunhagen@eiu.edu Email : josef.windsperger@univie.ac.at