Franchising in Frontier Markets: Can a Commercial Model for Replication Be Applied to Create Financial and Social Returns?

This grant supported research to explore the viability of franchising as a business model for creating financial and social returns in the developing world. The study analyzed the benefits, opportunities, and challenges for franchising and looked at some potentially critical strategic and tactical adaptations for very low-income markets. A workshop was convened to share the preliminary findings of the study and included a presentation by MIT’s Iqbal Quadir, who successfully franchised cell phones in the developing world.

Grant Amount:

$195,610

Start Date:

April 2009

End Date:

September 2009

Grant ID:

15197