Implementing criteria changes: how to achieve higher standards. (Management & Operations).

Maintaining and enforcing system standards in a franchise system should be at the very top of a franchisor's priority list. That commitment--on the parts of both the franchisor and the franchisee--should be ongoing, continuous, and relentless. For example, in the quick- service restaurant industry, who can disagree with the proposition that clean stores and products that are fresh, correctly prepared, and served at proper temperatures drive sales and enhance brand equity? Or with the opposite proposition that dirty stores serving stale, poorly made, or undercooked food will result in a loss of sales, reduced brand equity, and a decrease in the value of the investments that franchisees have made in their businesses? The interest in enforcing standards is not just that of the franchise system but of the entire franchisee community.

Although all franchise systems have certain established rules, procedures, and policies with respect to standards, the time may come when a franchisor deems it desirable to make changes to its standards enforcement criteria …