Replication in an international franchising strategy: the Eataly Moscow case

Abstract

This thesis’ aim is to investigate franchising as a replication strategy for the internationalization of Italian food and beverage companies. The focus is on two determinants of replication strategy: knowledge transfer and the tradeoff between local adaptation and global integration. In particular, how they are influenced by the choice of franchising as governance of the new business unit. The case study of this dissertation is represented by Eataly Moscow opening project. The analysis highlighted the main issues that an Italian food and beverage organization faces in undertaking an international franchise in a culturally distant market.