Gender’s moderating role in the relationship between organisational form and performance in the Spanish supermarket industry

• Published in: Journal of retailing and consumer services Vol. 64; p. 102757
• Main Authors: Vázquez-Suárez, Luis, Mejía-Vásquez, Pericles Ramón, Serafim da Silva, Sheila, Sánchez-Gómez, Roberto
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Company ownership; Franchising; Gender; Sales per employee; Sales per square metre; Service quality; Supermarket industry; Franchising; Supermarket industry; Company ownership; Gender; Sales per employee; Performance; Sales per square metre; Service quality
• ISSN: 0969-6989; 1873-1384
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102757

This research seeks to discover how the organisational form (franchising vs. vertical integration) of 305 supermarkets belonging to a Spanish franchise chain influences unit-level performance measured through three key performance indicators commonly used in the retail literature: sales per square metre, sales per employee, and service quality scores. Additionally, we assess the moderating role of the manager's gender in each individual supermarket. We have analysed the research questions using multivariate analyses, with a panel dataset that includes quarterly establishment-level data covering the period from January 2017 to December 2019. We have found that franchised supermarkets record higher sales both per square metre and per employee than vertically integrated ones. This positive effect of franchising is lower in establishments run by females than in those run by males. The findings also reveal that franchised supermarkets record lower service quality scores than their company-owned counterparts, and this negative effect is again lower in establishments managed by females than in those managed by males.
•Franchised supermarkets record higher sales both per square metre and per employee than company-owned ones.•The effect of franchising on sales both per square metre and per employee is lower in outlets run by women than in those run by men•Franchised supermarkets record lower service quality scores than their company-owned counterparts.•The effect of franchising on service quality is lower in outlets managed by women than in those managed by men.