Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model for building successful franchise partnerships. The model examines the influence of communication and trust on satisfaction and performance in franchise partnerships, considering that franchises are based on franchisor-franchisee and franchisor-supplier relationships.Design/methodology/approach: The unit of analysis refers to the relationships that the franchisor maintains with the franchisees and the main supplier, from the franchisor’s perspective. A mail survey of 592 franchises was conducted by means of a structured, self-administered questionnaire for data collection. A total of 98 valid questionnaires were received and analyzed using structural equation modeling.Findings: Results indicate that communication between franchise partners is related to satisfaction through trust. In fact, communication is a major precursor of trust. Findings also show the direct influence of trust on satisfaction in both relationships. Finally, results evidence that developing satisfactory relationships between partners improves strategic and operational franchise outcomes.Research limitations/implications: The use of the questionnaire limits the approach to information gathering. In addition, the study focused on the franchisor’s perspective of the relationships and it would be interesting to include other partners’ opinions. Further, research should broaden the study scope to include other factors of franchise partnerships.Practical implications: This study provides franchisors with guidelines to develop satisfactory relationships. It recommends that franchisors design adequate programs to create, maintain, and enhance franchise partnerships, and also to improve a trust-based culture.Originality/value: The analysis is conducted taking into consideration the franchisor-franchisee relationship and the franchisor-supplier relationship. Measurement scales are developed and validated for both relationships.

RESUMEN El nuevo modelo formativo de enseñanza universitaria promueve dotar a los estudiantes de las competencias adecuadas. La competencia de comunicación oral es una de las más importantes para la empleabilidad de los titulados universitarios. Hay varios criterios para evaluar esta competencia, por lo que es importante unificarlos. Por tanto, es crucial desarrollar rúbricas validadas. Las rúbricas permiten valorar la calidad de las contribuciones de los estudiantes, así como orientarlos en su desempeño al especificar los factores que serán evaluados. Para alcanzar el objetivo principal de este trabajo se describe el proceso de elaboración de una rúbrica y se analiza su validez y fiabilidad mediante su implementación. Para ello se lleva a cabo una experiencia en la asignatura “organización industrial y administración de empresas” de la titulación de ingeniería industrial. Como consecuencia, los resultados revelan que la rúbrica diseñada es una herramienta válida y fiable para evaluar la competencia de comunicación oral.

Oral presentation is one of the most important transversal competences for the professional career of Electrical Engineers. To develop and assess this competence, scoring rubrics are useful academic tools. The main purpose of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the learning and assessment of oral presentation skills of future Electrical Engineers by using a scoring rubric as a teaching resource. A pilot experiment was carried out in the 2011/2012 academic year in a course in the ninth semester of Electrical Engineering studies with 64 students. In order to acquire the oral competence, students had to present a marketing plan for an industrial electrical project in front of an audience. Feedback was collected in meetings held with teachers and students after the presentations. As a result, the need to review the rubric was detected, in order to make its use easier. The rubric’s design was improved. In the 2012/2013 academic year, 86 students participated in a new experiment using the improved rubric in the same subject. Intra-rater consistency was shown by the scale’s reliability, measured with Cronbach’s alpha. Regarding inter-rater consistency, two procedures were used: holistic and analytic. The holistic procedure revealed a positive and relatively high correlation between the global scores given by each of the two raters. The analytic procedure showed an acceptable level of inter-rater consensus. Through a questionnaire, quantitative data were collected reflecting students’ satisfaction with the use of the improved scoring rubric. The results reveal the rubric promotes students’ learning by providing them with a clear orientation to improve their performance on current academic assignments and in future professional situations. So, the analyses show that the proposed rubric is valid, reliable and, suitable to teach and assess oral presentations in a simulated professional scenario for Electrical Engineers.

The development of a critical spirit as well as the capacity to self-assess and oral presentation competence are essential in relation to students’ future employability. This study examines the influence of confidence, self-efficacy and the existence of incentives on student self-assessments of their oral presentation competence during an educational activity, taking into account the students’ gender. Data from 201 self-assessments was analysed using different statistical techniques. The results show that the existence of rewards is the only variable that has a significant influence on the self-assessment of male students, while those of female students are determined, above all, by their self-efficacy. The results suggest the need to increase student training on self-assessment, taking these differences into account. They also highlight the need to implement initiatives aimed at improving speakers’ confidence in public speaking as well as self-efficacy levels.

Implementation of the European Higher Education Area changed the assessment model in higher education towards a competence-based system, so that students are assessed by what they demonstrate they can do (competences). However, assessment of certain key competences, such as reading, ceases at higher education. The question remains whether reading competence continues to influence academic achievement at this level. We designed a reading comprehension test based on PISA questions and administered it to new-intake university students. The results were linked to students’ grades in each first-year subject and their sociodemographic administrative data. The influence of reading competence and socioeconomic status on grades in all first-year subjects was analysed through structural equation models. The results show that reading competence at the start of university education has a direct influence on grades in all first-year subjects and an indirect influence through the admission grade. In conclusion, reading competence needs to be further developed and promoted even in the university context.