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Discusses the recent trend in the dairy industry towards conglomeration, focusing on the implications for the New Zealand dairy export industry. Describes how a proposed merger of the New Zealand dairy group and Kiwi cooperative dairies (both producer cooperatives) and the Dairy Board (which handled all overseas marketing of New Zealand dairy products) was rejected by the Commerce Commission and discusses the subsequent intervention by the Government in favor of the merger and the formation of a new company, provisionally termed “GlobalCo”. Investigates what dairy farmers desire from the New Zealand Government in the form of legislation and regulation, proposing the following research questions: what are dairy farmers’ perceptions of the dairy merger; how do government regulations affect dairy farmers’ operations; and what are dairy farmers perceptions of government assistance in the industry? Using a holistic‐inductive qualitative study with a sample collected through various contacts in the dairy industry, including farms from the lower half of North Island and all of the South Island, presents findings and outlines implications concerning the government and management at GlobalCo.

Transaction cost economics is an important anchor for analyzing a wide range of economic and organizational issues and is complemented by various theories, resulting in a perception shift of transaction governance structure from a polar classification toward a continuum (John & Reve, 1982; Heide & Miner, 1992; Hennart, 1993). Despite conceptual framework developments, empirical studies based on the continuum are scarce. This research is an initial effort toward TGS dimensionalization and operationalization and reviews theoretical developments since 1930, surveys empirical studies from 1982 to 2004, presents Williamson’s framework (1991), and proposes a set of items for instrument design.

The governance structure of international franchise firms varies from higher control modes, such as wholly owned subsidiaries and joint venture franchising, to lower control modes, such as area development and master franchising. Based on organizational economics, strategic management, and international business perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to use the case study analysis to empirically evaluate an integrative model on the franchisor’s choice of international governance modes.

The study applies qualitative methods, such as in-depth case analysis, to investigate a large set of variables that influence the governance structure decision of the international franchise firm. Specifically, it applies a theory-testing case study with two major competitors in the European automotive rental industry, i.e. Europcar and Sixt. Theory-testing case research is justified by the lack of explanatory research due to the complexity of the franchisor-franchisee relationship phenomena, such as the factors that influence the franchisor’s choice of international governance modes. The investigation of the complex governance structure phenomenon requires a holistic analysis.

The case study shows that environmental, behavioral, transaction-specific, resource-based (system-specific, market-specific, financial resources), and international strategy considerations are important determinants of the governance mode decision of the international franchise firm.

The study responds to the recent call in organizational economics, marketing, strategic management, and international business literature to develop and test a multi-theoretical framework to explain the governance structure of inter-organizational networks, such as franchise networks.

Few previous studies in international franchising have used more than one theoretical perspective to explain the governance structure of the international franchise firm. This study contributes to the theory-testing case study literature by applying a rigorous method of conducting case research. This includes developing a theoretical framework and a systematic research design. A systematic research design requires a holistic analysis by investigating the international franchise governance modes from a variety of theoretical perspectives which are the organizational economics, strategic management, and the strategy-structure perspective.