Impact of Trade BarriersThere are several pizza franchises that operate internationally, and this is an opportunity open to Papa John's as well. Both Pizza Hut and Domino's have major international operations, and these have been facilitated by a reduction in trade barriers (Buss, 2013). International expansion, especially to emerging markets, has formed a part of the company's growth strategy since 2013 (Euromonitor, 2013). When trade barriers are reduced, this helps franchise businesses in a couple of key ways. First, it allows them to source inputs from anywhere it is cheapest. Papa John's might get its ingredients from America, but it may get its ovens from China, and its cardboard boxes from Canada – wherever is cheapest and trade makes foreign goods much cheaper than they otherwise would be without the reduction of those trade barriers. The other way that declining trade barriers help franchises like Papa John's is that it allows these companies to enter foreign markets, because there are fewer barriers on investment flows, and fewer barriers on things like moving managerial talent around the world. So if Papa John's wants to start in a country, it can send both the talent and...
One is that technology makes for better controls.
Things like RFID tracking help a company run a better supply chain, but even just improvements in telecommunications can help a company to run more efficiently in foreign markets. For example, the use of apps has made it easier for food delivery services to operate – or outsource. Such apps can lower the cost of entry into a foreign market, even in the emerging markets that Papa John's is targeting, because they allow the company to earn more money from fewer fixed resources.
Another way that technological change can help a company like Papa John's is that with the internet, more people are being exposed to different aspects of American culture. This was an ongoing trend before the Internet but has become even bigger since the Internet came into being. Today, someone in most countries can binge watch American TV just as if they are in the US, for example (Munzenreider, 2017). Why does this matter for Papa John's? Because pizza is a major part of American culture but in…
