While the franchise agreement is an essential component of the franchisor/franchisee partnership, legal agreements do not guarantee mutually productive relationships. Co-operation, motivation and teamwork are the real building blocks of success in a franchise chain. Contributed by Franchize Directions To say that franchising is just a legal or commercial relationship between two parties is to provide only part of the story. To complete the picture we need to consider the quality of communication between the parties and said quality is largely dependent on the quality of relationships between the parties. Given the long term nature of the franchise relationship and the interdependence of the parties, the franchisor/franchisee relationship is often likened to a marriage and, as in every marriage, relationships can sometimes become strained. Where a franchise network has developed a system of good internal communications, pressures on one party, rather than becoming a cause for co...