Department of English and American Studies, FF UP OLOMOUC
B.A. Thesis Evaluation

Student: Zdenka Hostova
Title: Analysis of Opening a Franchise vs. Independent Retail Food Business
Supervisor: J. Ference
Opponent: S. Schwarzhoff

	Grade 
A, B, C and F 
(F = fail)	Notes	
1/ Aim/Goal: definition	 B		
                      accomplishment
	C	See below	
2/ Argumentation (ability to accurately form initial and closing arguments, logical coherence, ability to generalize as well as present pertinent specific details)
	  C		
3/  Knowledge of primary literature
	C	See below	
4/   Knowledge of secondary literature (extent, adequacy)
	C		
5/ Originality (in argumentation, critical approach and conclusions)
	C		
6/  Formal level (adhering to citation and bibliographic standards)
	C	See below	
7/  Stylistic level of the thesis
	B	See below	
8/ Stylistic level of the summary
			
9/ Typography, graphic appearance, freedom from errors
	B		
10 / Thesis’s contribution to the field
	C		

Comments and Questions for the defense:
See below

In closing: 
The thesis is - is not - recommended for defense.

Suggested classification (1, 2, 3, 4): 3

Olomouc, date 6 June 2010			Steven Schwartzhoff
																			Supervisor - Opponent for the B.A. thesis

Posudek

Zdenka Hostová’s bachelors thesis Analysis of Opening a Franchise verses an Independent Retail Food Business proposes to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of franchising in food services as compared to independent restaurants. Overall, this goal is achieved in sufficient detail and with sufficient clarity to fulfill the minimum requirements of a work on this level. 
	As far as language is concerned, the author shows an ability to write in an appropriate style with only rare formal mistakes in grammar which pose no problem in understanding. The text does occasionally revert to a slightly less formal style with an excessive use of the personal pronouns “you” and “I” less typical of formal academic style and more appropriate for an advice book for new business people (see section 7.11 on p. 17). As these sections of the text may be taken as practical advice about starting a business, this is not a major problem, but it does stand out as stylistically different from the rest of the text. This is not a significant problem at the B.A. level, but would be a matter of concern if the student continues in further studies and should be noted. 
	As far as research is concerned, 43 pages of English text does seem minimal for a diploma thesis but is not so far out of the norm to be a matter of great concern. The student also uses a sufficient number of sources, with six books listed and numerous web sites which can be considered reliable or authoritative. It is unfortunate that the author has not included any periodical literature (magazines, newspapers, professional journals…) in her research. The university library has extensive databases with such resources easily available and it is hard to believe that no relevant sources could be found. Nevertheless, the sources can be considered sufficient even if not exemplary.
	    As to content and organization, the work begins with a clear, useful and well-written introduction to the problem with sufficient information to orient the reader to follow the entire text. The first chapters (3-8) clearly and logically lay out the conditions, advantages, disadvantages, and requirements necessary to make a decision whether to choose to start a franchise of independent restaurant. These chapters are complete, reasonably structured, and link together logically. Chapter 9 is considerably less developed. After a clear first paragraph defining some of the important trends relevant the food industry overall, the chapter goes into a description of how McDonalds franchises work and mentions briefly some other alternative franchising opportunities on the Czech market. The final paragraphs of the chapter do provide significant insight into some matters effecting the foodservices industry, but the chapter as a whole is rather undeveloped without a clear introduction or conclusion which would put all the issues raised into context and relate them to the overall theme of the entire text. Chapter 10 provides an analysis of the restaurant Potrefená Husa and how it illustrates essential points of running an eating establishment. While this provides the best point to show how the author is able to apply theoretical principals from the previous chapters to a concrete example, the chapter is quite minimal, covering not a full three pages. The author does not clearly explain how this chain builds a unique business model which distinguishes it from other well-run restaurants, for example, what would be the target customer base of this chain (younger, older, trendy, sports oriented, families …) or what is unique about the food or drink offer or appearance of the interior…. Chapter 10 summarizes the results of a consumer survey in the UK. This chapter is not clearly connected with the rest of the text and seems to have been added just to fill space. The useful information from this survey could be integrated into chapter 9, but as it is it contributes little to the overall text and should be dropped. Most disturbing, there is no English conclusion. In place of that, chapter 12 is a four-page summary in Slovak. If written in English, this would constitute a sufficient, if rather wordy and not particularly concise, conclusion, but as is the English text is not complete. After inquiring about this with the student’s advisor, I was given an English conclusion from an earlier version which could be considered acceptable. The final copy should include a Czech (Slovak) summary distilling the overall text for archival purposes, but this should not take the palace of a clear English conclusion. I assume this to be the result of a misunderstanding and leave to the defense if a revised version needs to be submitted to make the text formally complete. 
	Overall, I consider the text to be acceptable and recommend that it proceeded to a defense with a provisional grade of “C.”

 Steven Schwartzhoff