Abstract

"Employees or Entrepreneurs? Competing Views on the Predicament of Austrian Tobacco Shopkeepers (1907-1936)"

Juan Carmona-Zabala, United Arab Emirates University (jcarzab@uaeu.ac.ae)

Is a franchisee the employee of a large company, or a modest businessman? This question is not merely a legal or technical one, as it may carry moral implications. Generally speaking, companies are often expected to take some responsibility with regard to the wellbeing of their employees. In the case of business-to-business relationships, in contrast, each party is ultimately responsible for its own success. If franchisees think of themselves as economically dependent from a more powerful party, collective action resembling that of a trade union might make sense. If they see themselves as businessmen, however, they might prefer to focus their energies on outperforming other franchisees.
The purpose of my paper is to present a case study of how different understandings of franchising can emerge at times of crisis. I study Austrian tobacco shopkeepers (Tabak-Trafikanten) in the early twentieth century. They worked as franchisees of the Tabakregie, a state company that held a monopoly over tobacco in Austria. They did so at a time when generalized political and economic collapse often undermined their capacity to stay afloat. I analyze, and compare, two opposed narratives that emerged around their economic plight. One constructed them as dependent from the Tabakregie, and called for thicker profit margins and regulatory change that should come from the company itself. The other, proposed by the Tabakregie’s leadership, constructed the shopkeepers as business entrepreneurs that should adopt the latest innovations in the areas of market research, salesmanship, and advertising.
The research informing this paper is based on periodicals published by the association of tobacco shopkeepers and by the Tabakregie. The results presented in the paper will appeal to scholars interested in the cultural, discursive conditions that frame instances of collective action and collective identities (or lack thereof) involving economic actors.