Perhaps it has not come up as an issue in your franchise system—a franchisee on your board of directors. Is this a good or bad idea?
There are many situations today where a group or a constituency wants to make sure that it has a voice at the decision-making table by having a representative on its franchisor’s board of directors—a so-called “constituency director.” For example, it is commonplace today for investors other than common shareholders to have representatives named to boards of directors. In addition, demands for seats on boards are frequently being made by non-investors, in the technical sense,1 such as labor unions.2 Why should or shouldn’t franchisee groups or associations receive similar special treatment?
