International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Multi-unit management key success factors in the casual dining restaurant industry: A
case study
Robin B. DiPietro Kevin S. Murphy Manuel Rivera Christopher C. Muller

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Robin B. DiPietro Kevin S. Murphy Manuel Rivera Christopher C. Muller, (2007),"Multi-unit management
key success factors in the casual dining restaurant industry", International Journal of Contemporary
Hospitality Management, Vol. 19 Iss 7 pp. 524 - 536
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IJCHM
19,7

Multi-unit management key

success factors in the casual
dining restaurant industry

524

A case study
Robin B. DiPietro, Kevin S. Murphy, Manuel Rivera and
Christopher C. Muller

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University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA

Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the job characteristics or key success factors of
current multi-unit managers (MUMs) in a large casual dining restaurant organization.
Design/methodology/approach The paper is a case study methodology which was used to
survey a group of 71 MUMs in one organization regarding characteristics of their job. There were a
total of 53 respondents for a 74.65 percent response rate. Factor analysis was used to determine
whether any of the 24 characteristics could be condensed into factors.
Findings The paper finds that the eight factors that emerged as key success factors were: single
unit operations, standard operating procedures, multi-unit strategic planning, interpersonal and social
responsibilities, travel and visiting units, human relations, effective leadership, and unit level finances,
which explained 75 percent of the variance among the individual items.
Research limitations/implications The paper shows that the current study is limited in its
generalizeability as the case study methodology is used. The current study does give researchers a
start on categorizing key success factors of MUMs in the twenty-first century.
Practical implications The paper can help practitioners to develop training programs for MUMs,
as well as to help them recruit people for their MUM ranks that exhibit the skills and knowledge
needed to perform the key factors that emerged from the study.
Originality/value The paper takes the topic of multi-unit management and develops a model for
the key success factors needed for successful operation at that level in an organization. This paper is
important for researchers in order to help develop research questions for the future. It is valuable for
top management in organizations in order to help them to create development programs and to focus
recruitment efforts. MUM is underrepresented in the restaurant industry by females and younger
people and this study can help to develop people in these groups.
Keywords Restaurants, Training, Research
Paper type Research paper

International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality
Management
Vol. 19 No. 7, 2007
pp. 524-536
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0959-6119
DOI 10.1108/09596110710818275

Introduction
Multi-unit restaurants or chain casual restaurants represent a large portion of the US
foodservice industry. Over the past 50 years, the restaurant industry has grown to be a
staple of the American diet, and large national chain restaurants lead the pack when it
comes to growth and expansion. Overall, the foodservice industry represents $476
billion in revenue and over 4 percent of the gross domestic product of the US (National
Restaurant Association, 2005). Over 50 percent of the total annual domestic restaurant
sales are accounted for by the leading chain restaurant organizations (Muller and
Woods, 1994; National Restaurant Association, 2005).

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There are over 900,000 restaurant units, with approximately 270,000 of them
representing chain restaurants (National Restaurant Association, 2005). With an
estimated span of control of between two and 15 restaurants per multi-unit operator,
this means that there are approximately 38,571 multi-unit managers working in US
chain restaurants today (Goss-Turner, 1999; Umbreit, 1989). While the US foodservice
industry is growing in revenue at a rate of approximately 4 percent annually, the top 25
chain restaurants grew approximately 5.1 percent in total revenue during the same
time period (National Restaurant Association, 2005; Technomics, Inc., 2004).
This continued growth and the corresponding organizational challenges it brings
suggests there is a distinct need in the market for well-trained and qualified multi-unit
managers. These multi-unit managers (MUMs) are the professional knowledge
workers who Peter Drucker called the manager of managers (Drucker, 1955, p. 24).
There is a need to identify and empirically test the key success factors (KSFs) in
various segments of the foodservice industry in order to help MUMs to be successful in
their role. Additionally, KSFs are needed in order to be able to develop human
resources practices and policies that can help to recruit and train for these KSFs. Many
multi-unit operators come from the ranks of single unit managers without much
additional training or development, and the past literature has shown us that the skill
sets for the various levels of management are different (Muller and Campbell, 1995;
Umbreit, 1989, 2001; Umbreit and Smith, 1991).
There has been limited research done in the area of multi-unit management in the
restaurant industry (Muller and Campbell, 1995; Umbreit, 1989, 2001). Much of that
research has been done in the quick service restaurant industry. Existing research in
the area has shown that the attributes of the single unit manager (including the success
factors that are part of their job set) are very different from the attributes of a
multi-unit manager. The current study is designed to add to the research regarding
casual dining restaurant MUMs and their perceptions on the key success factors
needed to be successful in their careers.
Background literature
Multi-unit management
Single-unit managers require a very different skill set than do MUMs. Reynolds (2000)
found that the top five characteristics required of a single unit manager were:
organizational skills; interpersonal skills; restaurant experience, knowledge, and skills;
honesty, integrity, and strong ethics; and leadership skills. This research was done
through interviews with industry leaders in top chain restaurants and the skills were
found to be similar to the characteristics required of single unit managers in a variety
of other business organizations. Despite the small sample size of the Reynolds (2000)
study, these key characteristics have been found in other studies as well (Kakabadse
and Margerison, 1988; Boulgarides and Rowe, 1983; Van der Merwe, 1978).
Research regarding the attributes and activities that MUMs perform has been
published over the past twenty years by Umbreit and Tomlin (1986), Umbreit and
Smith (1991), Muller and Campbell (1995), Jones (1999), and Umbreit (1989, 2001).
These studies suggested that the knowledge, skills and behaviors of the multi-unit
restaurant manager are measurably different from single unit restaurant managers.
The five overarching dimensions of a multi-unit managers job have been identified to
be: financial management, restaurant operations, marketing and promotions

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management, facilities and safety management, and human resources management

(Umbreit and Tomlin, 1986; Umbreit, 1989).
In the initial research into the role and responsibilities of the multi-unit manager,
Umbreit (1989) interviewed executives and practicing MUMs to determine what the
key job aspects were for a manager of two or more restaurants. The results suggested
that restaurant operations were the most important job aspect of the multi-unit
manager, followed closely by human resources management. The respondents in this
study indicated that they spent over half of their time on the job performing tasks
related to problems in restaurant operations and resolving issues in human resources.
Umbreit (1989) found that some of the self-determined key success factors that
MUMs said they needed prior to being promoted to their new positions included: how
to manage managers, how to motivate people, how to work with a diverse group of
people, how to get things done and solve problems through other people, how to build
teams, how to manage time and set priorities, how to delegate, how to deal with
unstructured time, how to enforce standards in multiple restaurant units, and how to
recognize differences in each units operational situation (Umbreit, 1989; Umbreit and
Smith, 1991). Muller and Campbell (1995) performed a follow-up study with a large
national quick service chain that concurred with the findings of Umbreit (1989)
regarding the key success factors, and found that human resource skills and restaurant
operations were the two most critical skills required of MUMs.
Unfortunately, there have been few studies since that have further investigated the
role of MUMs in restaurant operations. Umbreit (2001) published a qualitative
Delphi-style study of ten chain restaurant executives who were asked to review and
comment on the changing role of the multi-unit manager. The findings of this research
suggested that the expanding span of control for MUMs seen in the late 1980s and
early 1990s had reverted back to the tighter spans of control of previous decades. One
additional outcome of this study was the suggestion from the executives that titles and
specific responsibilities had changed for MUMs over the past 20 years. In their view,
the district management role in 2001 required more soft skills as compared to the
more traditional hard or technical skills of previous times. This finding
re-emphasizes the importance of the human resource skills that previous studies had
found to be a critical component for the success of the multi-unit manager. This
perspective concluded that to be successful in a time of labor and skill shortages, such
as in the current market, there would be an increasing importance placed on new
MUMs to possess excellent communication, team building and motivating skills. This
research emphasized the need for continued research into the changing roles of MUMs.
Casual dining restaurant industry
The casual dining restaurant industry started growing in the 1970s and 1980s when
specialized concepts combined a broader menu appeal with higher pricing strategies
than the quick service restaurants and family dining concepts that were widespread in
the landscape in the US and worldwide at that time (Muller and Woods, 1994). The
consumer found these casual dining restaurants to be a less expensive version of a fine
dining restaurant and used these casual themed restaurants as a place to celebrate an
event. The casual dining restaurant tries to capture the consumers attention by
creating a theme and a brand that seems to represent an extension of the consumer.

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They have a knowledgeable staff and much higher service levels than the quick service
restaurants and family dining restaurants (Muller and Woods, 1994).
Currently, casual dining is a significant segment of the restaurant industry with $63
billion in sales and over 124,000 restaurants in the US alone (Darden Restaurants,
2006). It is also an industry that is expected to continue experiencing meaningful
annualized sales growth of between 5 and 7 percent over the next five to ten years,
which is consistent with the industrys compounded annual sales growth over the past
decade (Darden Restaurants, 2006). Multi-unit, or chain operators, which now account
for over 50 percent of industry sales, have been growing at a faster rate than the
restaurant industry overall. Chains are expected to continue to increase their market
share going forward, with annualized sales growth of between 7 and 9 percent (Darden
Restaurants, 2006).
The existing literature primarily deals with the skills of MUMs from fast food or
quick service restaurants. There is a gap in the research regarding what the KSFs are
in the multi-unit manager positions in the casual dining restaurant industry. This is
important because of the large number of full service casual dining restaurants and
their impact on the overall sales in the restaurant industry. It is also important because
of the need for these organizations to have additional human resource tools to aid in the
recruitment of quality managers for the MUM positions and to aid in setting up
training programs to help promote their single unit managers into the MUM ranks. It is
important to target the KSFs found in the research and to help practitioners with
developing a targeted human resources program. The current research intends to help
close the gap in the research in this area.
The purpose of the current study is to determine: what are the job characteristics or
key success factors that current multi-unit managers perceive are important for their
success?

Methodology
Case study research methodology
The current study was done using the multi-site case study methodology, which uses
multiple participants in order to develop and/or inform theory (Jones, 1999; McMillan,
2000). The case study is appropriate when no experimental control can be used in the
data collection process and when a researcher seeks an answer to what, how, and
why questions (Yin, 2003; Adler and Ziglio, 1996). Since this study was exploratory
in nature and seeks to answer what questions, the case study research methodology
is appropriate. A case study approach may lead to a more informal basis for theory
development through analytical rather than pure statistical generalizations
(Gunasekaran et al., 2001).
A case study was used in this study to establish the important dimensions of key
success factors for MUMs. This case study was designed for the reliable investigation
of contemporary ideas on KSFs for multi unit managers from one of the top 400
restaurant chains in the USA. and the gathering of appropriate information on KSFs
for multi unit managers. The outcome is a list of KSFs for MUMs that are common to
the casual restaurant industry in order to help with human resource practices and
development opportunities regarding MUMs in the casual dining restaurant industry.

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Population frame and sample

Since the purpose of this study is an attempt to identify the key success factors for
MUMs, all the multi unit managers from one of the top 400 restaurant chains in the US
were selected. The data for the study was collected during the annual conference of this
large multi-unit chain organization. A total of 71 questionnaires were hand-delivered to
respondents that attended the annual conference and were personally picked up by the
researchers. Out of the 71 questionnaires distributed, 53 usable ones were retrieved for
a response rate of 74.65 percent. Part of the reason for the high response rate was that
all of the participants were at their annual conference and were accessible for the
researchers. Also, the top executives in the company were very willing to encourage
participation due to the important implications of the research. Due to the nature of
case study methodology the sample of 53 participants is considered a sufficient
number for the analysis.
Questionnaire
The survey used for the current study was adapted from past surveys used by Umbreit
and Smith (1991) and Muller and Campbell (1995). It was primarily developed with
Likert-type rated items with some additional qualitative responses used in order to
elaborate on certain questions. In the survey, there were 24 topics that were evaluated
in order to determine their importance to the MUMs in their current jobs. These 24
topics were tasks that are typically performed by managers. The MUMs evaluated
each item (or task) on a seven point Likert-type scale (1 No importance to
7 Maximum importance) in order to measure the respondents feelings toward the
KSFs for multi-unit restaurant managers. The last part of the survey was used to
gather demographic information such as age, gender, salary, length of service in the
restaurant industry, years in the current position, and education level of the
respondent.
Results
Profile of respondents
The sample was comprised of 41 men and four women. Most of the respondents were
fairly educated; only one respondent was a post university graduate, while 33
respondents completed a college or associate degree, with the remaining ten
respondents answering that they had graduated from high school or less. Nobody from
the sample was younger than 35 years of age. Nine managers were between 35 and 39
years of age, and the remaining respondents were older than 40 (n 34). With regards
to occupation title, Multi-Unit Managers accounted for 37 of the participants; the other
respondents were Executives or Vice Presidents in the company, all of whom had
responsibility to oversee multiple restaurant units within the organization. When
looking at the distribution of salaries, six people had annual incomes of $95,000 or less,
18 earned between $95,000-$115,000, and 20 had annual incomes over $115,000. A total
of 19 of the respondents supervised at least five units and the other 25 had
responsibilities for six or more units. The majority of the multi-unit restaurant
managers in this organization had over ten years of industry experience (n 35),
another six had between six to ten years of experience, and the remaining four had less
than six years of experience. The complete profile of the sample is revealed in Table I.

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Demographic items
Gender (N 45)
Male
Female
Age group (N 43)
Under 35
35-39
39 or above
Education level (N 44)
Completed high school
Completed associate degree
Completed bachelors degree
Completed masters degree
Job title (N 40)
Multi-unit manager
Vice-president/executive

N
41
4
0
9
34
10
8
25
1
37
3

Demographic items
Length of service in restaurant industry (N 45)
Less than six years
Six to ten years
Over ten years
Length of service in current position (N 42)
Less than three years
Three to five years
Over five years
Number of restaurants supervised (N 44)
Five or less
More than five
Salary (N 49)
$95,000 or less
$95,001 to $115,000
$115,001 or more

Management key
success factors

4
6
35
21
7
14

529

19
25
6
18
20

MUM key success factors

In the current study, there were 24 potential key success factors that were analyzed
using a factor analysis in order to produce a more concise model. Factor analysis is a
method of data reduction that allows a large number of items to be condensed to a
smaller number of key items if the items correlate with each other strongly enough. For
53 responses used in the analysis, the overall mean value for the 24 items was 5.39 with
a standard deviation of 1.0. This implies that most of the respondents perceived these
24 items to be very important for their current job (see Table II). The factor analysis
grouped the 24 topics into eight factors displaying eigenvalues greater than one, and
accounted for about 75 percent of the total variance (see Figure 1). Such a high
percentage of variance explained suggests that only a relatively small amount of the
total variance for each group of variables is associated with causes other than the
factor itself.
The results of the factor analysis identified that the multi-unit restaurant managers
Key Success Factors are comprised of eight overarching dimensions (see Figure 1).
Based on the content analysis of the attributes loaded in the eight dimensions, the
components are defined as follow:
(1) Factor No. 1: Single Unit Operations: Include those responsibilities such as cost
controls, personnel training, and maintenance of the facilities. These
characteristics are mostly responsibilities of the single unit manager, but are
viewed as something that is an important key success factor in this
organization by the respondents.
(2) Factor No. 2: Standard Operating Procedures: Multiunit operations strive to
attain maximum productivity. This is achieved by constant gathering of
information and effective marketing strategies.
(3) Factor No. 3: Multi-Unit Strategic Planning: Multiunit managers have the
responsibility to set goals and execute plans.

Table I.
Demographics of
respondents

Table II.
Individual topics related
to key success factors

Single unit operations

Controlling food cost
Unit labor cost controls
Dealing with customer complaints
Daily unit operations
Staff training
Unit repairs and maintenance
Standard operating procedures
Filing reports
Collecting operations data
Use of merchandising/signage
Travel and visiting units
Visiting restaurants
Effective leadership
Acting as a district resource
Focusing on increasing sales
1.47
1.46
1.27
1.65
1.51
1.34
1.48
1.21
1.45
0.75
0.80
0.72

3.67
4.66
3.50
6.57
6.42
6.57

SD

5.08
5.19
6.04
5.47
5.71
5.04

Mean score

Multi-unit strategic planning

District goal setting
Executing quarterly budgets
Crisis management
Interpersonal and social responsibilities
Community affairs
Unit manager development
Monitoring food safety
Human relations
Modeling values
Team building skills
Quality improvement
Unit level finances
Making financial decisions
Checking competitors prices
Restaurant level hiring

Key success factors

5.73
3.11
3.79

0.96
1.56
1.97

0.97
0.82
1.19

1.22
0.62
0.98

5.12
6.75
6.19
6.46
6.13
5.90

0.86
1.06
1.36

SD
6.19
5.69
5.60

Mean score

530

Key success factors

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531

Figure 1.
MUM-key success factors

(4) Factor No. 4: Interpersonal and Social Responsibilities: Multiunit managers must
be more aware of the surrounding community with regards to developing
managers and customer safety.
(5) Factor No. 5: Travel and Visiting Units: This includes scheduled visits to
operations.
(6) Factor No. 6: Human Relations: This category includes responsibilities such as
modeling values to employees, encourage team building and focus on quality
improvement.
(7) Factor No. 7: Effective Leadership: Serving as a district resource and focus
efforts on increase sales.
(8) Factor No. 8: Unit Level Finances: Making financial decision with regards to
menu pricing and restaurant level hiring.
Discussion
The current study helped to expand the research currently available in the casual
dining restaurant industry regarding the key success factors that MUMs need to be

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532

successful in their jobs. The study used a multi-site case study approach and looked in
depth at the MUMs and top executives in a single, large multi-national organization
with multiple brands of casual dining restaurants. In response to the research question,
what are the job characteristics or key success factors that current MUMs perceive are
important for their success in their current job as a multi-unit manager, the factor
analysis helped to narrow the number of survey items down from 24 to eight factors
that describe the key performance areas that are related to the successful performance
of a multi-unit manager.
The eight factors that came out of the current study are: single unit operations,
standard operating procedures, multi-unit strategic planning, interpersonal and social
responsibilities, travel and visiting units, human relations, effective leadership, and
unit level finances. These areas are considered by the respondents to be the eight
factors that have explained over 75 percent of the variance in the responses. When
exploring the means or importance level of these factors, it is clear that the factors of
effective leadership, visiting restaurants, and human relations are the most important
based on the mean scores of the various components that comprise the factors. In
reviewing these eight factors, it is interesting to note that there were only five factors
revealed in previous studies by Muller and Campbell (1995) and Umbreit (1989). This
could be due to the fact that as organizations have matured, more skills are necessary
in order to be successful, or that the other studies combined some of the attributes
together. For example, standard operating procedures and daily restaurant operations
could have been combined along with visiting restaurants. The current study shows
the importance of all of these factors.
When comparing the current findings with the past studies on multi-unit
management, it is clear that as organizations have continued to develop, the soft
skills of management and managing human resources have continued to be important
(Umbreit, 2001). Factors 4, 6 and 7 all have the components of working with and
through people as major components of the factor. Organizations need to realize the
importance of this theme and strive to work with single unit managers and multi-unit
managers to encourage development of that skill.
Another finding from the demographic information presented in the current study is
that there are not many females in the sample. This is indicative of the current state of
top management in the restaurant industry. In the current study, there are
approximately 10 percent of the sample that are females. The restaurant industry, and
specifically the casual dining restaurant industry does not have an equal
representation in the top level management positions (including multi-unit
management positions) that are filled by women. This is something that should be
addressed by focusing on working with the KSFs identified in the current study and
developing training programs to fill in the gaps between the single unit manager ranks
and the multi-unit management ranks.
There are also no MUMs under the age of 35 in the current study. This could be
indicative of the long tenure that people have with the company and how long they
have been in their current position. As the new generation of employees moves into
management ranks, it becomes even more important that some of the higher-level
managers in the company can understand and relate to this generation. Having a
development program in place that can help people move through the ranks in
management could help develop the KSFs at a younger age. The importance to

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organizations of knowing the key success factors for MUMs in their organizations and
to create development programs that encourage growth in the factors will help them to
continue to grow and thrive in a very competitive industry.
Implications for practitioners
The current study helps to inform academics of the responses of a large percentage of
the MUMs for one specific organization. This information can help to guide future
studies in the area of MUMs key success factors and could allow for a comparison of
various organizations and/or various segments of the restaurant industry. By
analyzing the eight KSFs that emerged from the current study, development programs
can be created for that organization in order to help to focus their management team on
how to create MUMs that have the skills required to work in a multi-unit organization
successfully.
The current study can help guide the organization studied in developing training
programs for their MUMs in order to facilitate them in performing their jobs more
effectively, and it can also inform them regarding their human resource practices
regarding hiring people to fill those positions. One of the most difficult issues that
restaurant organizations face is the turnover of their unit managers and MUMs (Berta,
2005). The current study gives a blueprint, through Figure 1, on the various
components of a well-rounded development program for new MUMs.
In order to benefit from the current research, organizations should look at the role of
the MUM and determine which of the factors is critical to successful performance in
their own unique environment. From the list of key success factors, it can be seen that
Factor 1 explains the most variance in the factors at 17 percent. This factor of single
unit operations is the most heavily loaded, meaning that an expert knowledge of single
unit operations is important in the job of a MUM. By reviewing the other factors
though, it is clear that Factor 1 is not the only important factor. Factors 4, 6 and 7
which all relate to the human resource factors load at a combined rate of 24 percent,
thus showing how critical human resource development is. An organization would be
wise to create development programs where human resource practices are evaluated
and emphasized at the multi-unit level. It is also essential that single unit managers are
given training and development in these areas because of the large number of
organizations that promote MUMs from within.
Some of the key findings in the current study are that: females are an
underrepresented group in the MUM ranks and need to be developed within firms in
order to create a more gender balanced workforce; younger people would benefit from
development in key success factors in order to groom them for positions at higher
levels in organizations; and, leadership, single-unit restaurant operations, and human
resource skills are important factors for success in casual dining multi-unit
management.
The restaurant industry in the US is the largest private sector employer and the
largest sector of the hospitality industry, and therefore improving the performance of
industry managers should help increase overall revenues and guest satisfaction in the
hospitality industry. By identifying a list of key success factors for multi unit
managers in the industry and conducting a more in-depth exploration of these
practices, organizational policies and practices can be aligned to help improve overall
performance in the US casual dining industry.

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Conclusions
The use of a case study methodology helps to focus the research in one particular
organization, but it also gives academics and practitioners alike a glance into the
process of research regarding multi-unit management. The casual dining restaurant
industry, along with the rest of the foodservice industry, is continuing to grow at a
rapid pace. This growth is causing the need for increased numbers of MUMs and the
need for specific training programs to help them to succeed in hiring and developing
people in the most effective way. Additional research could be done with a larger and
more varied group of MUMs that would help with the generalization of the data
beyond the current organization.
Additional research could also investigate if there are differences in the perception
of the KSFs between managers from different multi-unit restaurant concepts and
different segments of the restaurant industry. The current study is limited in its
generalizability, but it helps to create a starting point for casual dining restaurant
organizations to look at how the MUMs that work in the segment perceive their roles
and their need for further training and development.
If the chain restaurant industry is going to continue to grow it needs to gain a better
understanding of the success factors that impact MUMs and exacerbate turnover and
cause burnout. More research is needed to determine the degree of influence other KSFs
have on managers for different companies in the restaurant business and hospitality
industry. Additional variables should be included in future research including, quality
of work/life, growth opportunity, and burnout just to name some possibilities. The
sample size and population should be expanded to include a broader cross section of
restaurant companies and number of managers. A longitudinal study could be
conducted to examine the impact of time on the perceptions of MUMs in the casual
restaurant sector regarding KSFs.
Due to the use of the case study method, the results cannot be generalized to all
multi-unit restaurant companies, but the study further aids in understanding the
differences between MUMs and single unit managers. The survey instrument used in
the research could be enhanced to ask more refined questions based on the findings of
the eight factors in the current study. With the future growth of the casual restaurant
sector dependent to an extent on its ability to find managers to operate units and
MUMs to expand in other regions, the need to understand the KSFs are paramount.

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Corresponding author
Robin B. DiPietro can be contacted at: dipietro@mail.ucf.edu

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