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CONCLUSION

Organizational data mining (ODM) is defined (Nemati and Barko, 2002) as leveraging organizational data, information and knowledge assets to acquire and maintain a competitive advantage.  In this paper we studied the ODM in the franchising industry with respect to the Digital Nervous System (DNS) framework proposed by Bill Gates (1999).  Specifically, we discussed the following topics:

• How the franchise organizational data is managed in the Empowerment and Collaboration Phase of the DNS.  The discussion, summarized in Table 1, was based on the well-known Customer Service Life Cycle by Ives and his colleagues (Ives and Learmonth, 1984; Ives and Mason, 1990).
•  How the franchise organizational information is deciphered from the customer-centered data in the Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Phase of the DNS.  We explained in Figure 1 that OLAP and data mining are the two analytical techniques to decipher the franchise organizational data.
• How the franchise organizational knowledge assets are leveraged in the High Business Value Creation and Implementation Phase of the DNS.  We showed in Table 3 the importance of organizing the working knowledge profiles with respect to the Customer Service Life Cycle.  We also explained that building an Intranet-based Franchise Working Knowledge Repository, similar to the one in Table 4, will enable the franchiser and the franchisees to become the “Professional” innovators to continue leveraging the organizational knowledge assets.  This is what a franchise business is about.         

Specifically, five major topics are discussed in this paper:

In order to economically, efficiently, and effectively, implement the DNS with the capabilities described above, we suggested using trust-worthy Application Service Providers to handle the data and information applications in the first two phases of the DNS (i.e., the Empowerment and Collaboration Phase; and the Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management Phase).  Since the Franchise Working Knowledge Repository is the most important intellectual capital of the company, we recommended it to be managed within the franchise system.  Finally, realizing the increasing popularity of using franchising as a growth strategy in the global e-commerce market, we also discussed the implications of the study for companies considering international franchising as a competitive strategy for the growth of their global e-commerce markets.