Ben Litalien, DM'12
Dr. Ben Litalien (DM 2012) continues to advance franchise education as a recognized global expert. Ben joined the Doctor of Management program with two decades of experience including running the U.S. franchise program for ExxonMobil. Ben focused his academic research on the social franchise (nonprofits engaging the franchise model in support of their mission). Ben created Franchise Well in 2009, a consulting practice that focuses on “franchising for the betterment of society”. He advises a broach spectrum of clients such as IKEA, RE/MAX and The UPS Store on how to improve their franchise activities. He also works with nonprofit organizations to educate them on the benefits of pursuing a franchise strategy. Currently, he has over a dozen nonprofit clients that own and operate franchises such as Link Staffing, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, College Hunks Hauling & Moving and Zerorez Carpet & Tile Cleaning.
Ben created the Certificate in Franchise Management program for the School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University in 2007. This is the only comprehensive educational program in franchising recognized by the International Franchise Association Institute for Certified Franchise Executives (CFE). The program he developed at Georgetown features three 3-day sessions each semester and attracts attendees from across the country and around the world, and has graduated almost 1,000 students since its inception.
Advancing franchising education is at the core of Ben’s passion and expertise; he has participated in a variety of media programs dealing with this topic. In September 2015 he was featured on NPR on the Kojo Nnamdi show discussing the impact of a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling against McDonald’s (link: https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2015-09-09/new-labor-law-ruling-affects-fast-food-workers). Ben also contributes a quarterly article to Franchise Asia magazine on global franchise topics and is collaborating with fellow scholars on franchise research.
“The UMUC DM Program was a game changer for me” says Ben, “it provided me with the academic foundation needed to augment my experience and become one of the only true scholar/practitioners in franchising on the planet”.
O/F: 540.657.1427 | C: 540.845.2885 | Skype: bclital
