This ad will close in  Franchising: The American Dream?  An
author speaks out on the pros and cons of buying a franchise.
While doing graduate work at the University of Chicago, Peter
Birkeland attempted to conduct a sociology study on a particular
corporation. Unfortunately, that company's CEO didn't want to
cooperate. Undaunted, Birkeland decided to take another
approach, focusing on the franchising side of the company.  Once
he began his research, Birkeland discovered very little academic
material on franchising existed. For about four years in the
early '90s, Birkeland worked with franchisees and franchisors in
three companies, attending meetings, going to trade shows and
working in the field. Based on these experiences, Birkeland has
written Franchising Dreams: The Lure of Entrepreneurship in
America (The University of Chicago Press).  Franchise Zone spoke
with Birkeland, president of The Birkeland Institute, a Chicago-
based network performance consultancy, on his experiences, the
current state of franc