SELF-ASSESSED LEADERSHIP TRAITS OF FRANCHISEES VS. MANAGERS: IS THERE HOPE? Robin B. DiPietro University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management 9907 Universal Blvd. Orlando, FL 32819 Phone: 407-903-8034 Email: dipietro@mail.ucf.edu Denver Severt University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management Dianne H.B. Welsh John Carroll University Muldoon Center for Entrepreneurship ABSTRACT Organizational leadership traits, hope level, organizational commitment, and service quality perceptions of franchised managers and franchisees are differentiated in the current study in order to add to the current understanding of the role of franchising in entrepreneurship and to help franchise systems improve efficiency. For scholars, the dynamic relationship between entrepreneurship, franchisees, and management is an important and developing triangle in the organizational behavior literature which merits further investigation. For practitioners, the role of leadership styles in franchising and entrepreneurship presents a valuable recruiting imperative. The current research proposes a study for better understanding of the variations between these roles in organizations. INTRODUCTION Franchising has been one of the fastest growing methods of doing business in the U.S. and abroad for the last half century. It is a less expensive, less risky form of doing business than developing a start up company (Taylor, 2000). Because of the dominance of this form of doing business, the exploration of franchisees’ perceptions as well as the perceptions of the managers that work with them is needed to investigate the differences between franchising and other types of entrepreneurship, but also in order to increase the effectiveness of franchised organizations. BACKGROUND LITERATURE Entrepreneurship Theory and the Resource-Based View of the Firm There is extensive literature on the role of entrepreneurship in economic development. The work of Schumpeter (1934) is a key building block in the argument that new firms are essential to a revitalized economic order. In this view, entrepreneurs destroy the existing economic order by introducing new products and services, by creating new forms of organization, or by exploiting new raw materials. Opportunity recognition and subsequent action are essential to entrepreneurship. The importance of acquiring resources for new venture formation and growth