RESEARCH

Dr. Grünhagen's research interest lies in the broader area of small business marketing and retailing in an international context, and has resulted in over 50 published journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings. As an internationally recognized expert on franchising, his main interest over the past several years has focused on motivations of franchise owners, their satisfaction with the franchisor, the effectiveness of franchise support services, and most recently, consumer perceptions of franchise offerings in the emerging markets of the Middle East and China.

Dr. Grünhagen and his co-authors are the recipients of the 2009 Arthur S. Karp Award for the "Best Applied Research Paper on Franchising" from the Educational Foundation of the International Franchise Association (IFA). He is also a recipient of the Outstanding Research Award from the School of Business at Eastern Illinois University.

Dr. Grünhagen has been quoted as a franchise expert by major global news outlets, among them The Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio (NPR), Entrepreneur Magazine, The China Business Journal, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

◄ Click on the icon to hear Dr. Grünhagen on National Public Radio comment on the Obama Presidential Campaign.

In addition to his research on franchising, Dr. Grünhagen has investigated global consumer perceptions of retail store hours and genetically modified foods, the meaning of materialism to consumers in an international comparison, means of public transportation financing by retailers, and real estate sales negotiations. He has been invited to present his research at professional venues across three continents, Asia, Europe and North America. Dr. Grünhagen is a member of the International Society of Franchising (ISoF) and the American Collegiate Retail Association (ACRA). He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Franchise Management School on the Zhuhai campus of Beijing Normal University and at the University of International Business and Economics in China, and at the University of Rennes in France.

Dr. Grünhagen's scholarly work has been published or is forthcoming in numerous academic journals, including Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Macromarketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Small Business Management, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Economic Psychology, Journal of Marketing Channels, Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, Journal of Food Products Marketing, Information Systems Management, and Jahrbuch der Absatz- und Verbrauchsforschung. He has also presented his studies at various national and international research conferences, among them the meetings of the American Marketing Association (AMA), the Society for Marketing Advances (SMA) and the Macromarketing Society.

Dr. Grünhagen is the Associate Editor for Franchising and Small Business Marketing of the Journal of Small Business Management, the oldest leading journal in entrepreneurship and small business management. He has also been Co-Editor of a Special Issue of the Academy of Marketing Science Review (on "Global Entrepreneurship") and the Journal of Small Business Management (on "Entrepreneurial and Small Business Marketing"). He has served on the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Marketing Science Review, and is a member of the Editorial Review Boards of the Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing Channels and the Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship. Dr. Grünhagen has chaired the Office Depot Small Business Research Forum, and is the 2009 Chairman of the International Society of Franchising (ISoF).