Line Managers as Conduits of Corporate Standards: Evidence From Human Resource Practices in Fast Food Franchise Chains

ABSTRACT

This study integrates organizational theory and strategic human resource management research to examine how corporate standards for managing frontline employees shape human resource (HR) implementation at the unit level. While prior research has recognized the role of line managers, less is known about how HR investments directed at line managers influence their implementation of HR practices. We argue that more extensive HR‐related corporate standards, embedded in chain training and technology systems, lead franchisees to invest in line manager training and compensation. These investments enhance line managers' ability and motivation to implement HR practices for frontline employees in line with corporate standards. We further propose that corporate enforcement mechanisms, in the form of contract terminations, strengthen these relationships. Using a nationally stratified random sample of 908 franchisee‐owned units across 143 U.S. fast food chains, we combine survey data on unit‐level HR practices with independent measures of corporate standards from franchise disclosure documents. Results reveal that corporate standards do not simply flow through to frontline employee HR practices but are instead transmitted through line manager HR investments, with stronger effects under greater enforcement. These findings identify line managers as key conduits through which corporate standards are enacted in unit‐level practices and highlight the importance of aligning standards, managerial investments, and enforcement in decentralized organizations.