Conceptualizing fairness in franchisor-franchisee relationship: Dimensions, definitions and preliminary construction of scale

This paper seeks to conceptualize fairness in the context of franchisor-franchisee relationship adapting literature from organizational justice and fairness and channel relationship literature. The study proposes comprehensive conceptualization of the concept of fairness based on extensive review of the literature as having four dimensions namely, distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational fairness. The study follows step by step procedure suggested in the literature including exploratory interviews and generating a pool of items from the existing literature to develop a valid and reliable measure of fairness. The study surveyed 105 franchisees of large scale Fast moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) organization in India using maximum likelihood estimation with promax rotation to analyze the data. Preliminary scale developed clears the validity and reliability tests. Findings of the nomological test suggest positive association between dimensions of fairness and trust. Future research should further refine concept and validate the construct in different settings and cultures.