Redefining Quality in Food Supply Chains via the Natural Resource Based View and Convention Theory
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The paper is very clearly written and correctly applies the theoretical backgrounds of NRBV and CT. The empirical findings of qualitative nature are well structured, categorized and interpreted. The case methodology is well used. The results are exciting and novel, providing new insights into food companies' quality policies and management.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments and review of our manuscript. Consistent with your completion of the review checklist, we have undertaken a thorough review of spelling, grammar, and syntax throughout the manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
Journal: Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050)
Manuscript ID: sustainability-1817531
Type: Article
Number of Pages: 35
Title: REDEFINING QUALITY IN FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS VIA THE NATURAL RESOURCE BASED VIEW AND CONVENTION THEORY.
Dear Authors,
It has been for me a great honour, as well as a pleasantly challenging activity, to review the article entitled ”REDEFINING QUALITY IN FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS VIA THE NATURAL RESOURCE BASED VIEW AND CONVENTION THEORY.”
Overall, the article is interesting. However, at times the text is a bit chaotic and not easy to read. Therefore, I suggest editing the text in order to give it a better and consistent sequence of threads. I’d also suggest that the Authors introduce a few corrections (given below).
In my opinion, the Introduction chapter is written in a rather chaotic way and could be more widely supported by literature.
Minor remarks:
- the meaning of the abbreviation FSCs should be explained at the beginning of the main text (line 1). Admittedly, it is explained in the abstract, however when it is first used in the main text it should also be done,
- the same applies to the abbreviation NRBV,
- I’d suggest that the Authors use the passive voice instead of writing the second person plural (we).
2 Literature review and theoretical development
This chapter is broken down into logically consecutive subsections. Table 1 as well as Figures 1 and 2 are a good illustration. The referenced literature was correctly selected.
In several places in the text, the Authors mention the nutritional quality of food products, e.g. regarding grains. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to expand on this thread and to provide a few examples, e.g.:
- Szczepanek, M. et. al. (2018, September). The assessment of market demand for products obtained from primary wheat forms with increased nutritional value. In Proceedings of the 27th International Scientific Conference Agrarian Perspectives XXVII “Food Safety–Food Security (pp. 381-387). (https://ap.pef.czu.cz/dl/69194?lang=en) https://ap.pef.czu.cz/en/r-12193-conference-proceedings
3 Research design and methodology
This chapter is written in a clear and understandable way. It is well-illustrated by Tables 2 and 3 as well as Figures 3 and 4. It is also well divided into logically consecutive subsections. However, in my opinion, the number of references to the methodical literature and the indication of the use of these methods by other researchers could be greater, which would strengthen the justification of the research methods used.
4 Findings
This chapter presents the results of the research obtained in an understandable way. It is logically divided into the following subchapters and subsections. It is supported by properly selected literature references.
5 Discussion and conclusions
The conclusions are clear. It is worth emphasizing and appreciating the fact that the limitations and future research directions were identified by the Authors. Another positive factor is the fact that the article the article is of an utilitarian nature.
I don't feel competent to comment on linguistic correctness as English is not my mother tongue. I wish the Authors good luck.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, and for taking the time to review our paper.
Regarding your first comment regarding the organization of the Introduction, we have made a few revisions which we hope improve the flow of that section. The change-tracked version of the paper submitted to the journal should indicate where these changes have been made. In particular, we emphasized the integration of our two selected theories earlier in the introduction, and established our objective of theory elaboration and middle-range theory development within the introduction.
Regarding your remarks about acronyms, we have updated the text to ensure that first use is spelled out in the text and the first figure as well as in the abstract to reinforce the meaning of specific acronyms.
With respect to use of the passive rather than the active voice, we have not made any changes at this time. Our training and experience with other journals has reinforced an expectation of the use of the active voice where possible. We respectfully defer this type of change to the journal editors; should they deem this global revision necessary we will undertake those edits.
We have responded to your comment regarding expanding the discussion of nutritional value by further assessing the literature that explores consumer perceptions of food attributes that encompass both environmental sustainability as well as social sustainability (e.g., nutritional or health attributes). This review lead us to a highly relevant structured literature review, which we have incorporated (see Section 2.2.2 Worlds of production and quality conventions in the FSC context).
Regarding the citation of relevant literature in the methodology, we have revisited the literature and incorporated additional references specific to theory elaboration, theoretically-based typologies, and application of the case study method, particularly in the context of operations and supply chain management (see Section 3 Research design and methodology). We hope that these revisions address your comment and we thank you for making this suggestion.
Reviewer 3 Report
Drawing of NRBV with convention theory (CT), this study develops a new set of quality dimensions by placing social and ecological considerations at the core of quality management of food products in FSC. Case study methodology with cases from the United States of America (USA) food industry. The analysis explores how firms bundle quality conventions across FSCs for competitive advantages.
I enjoyed reading the manuscript without any issues. The research gap, NRBV and CT, theoretical and practical implications, limitations are well articulated.
note: US should be corrected as the United States of America (USA).
I recommend the manuscript accepted for publication at its current form.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments and your review of our research. Consistent with you comment, we have modified the abbreviation from US to USA.
Reviewer 4 Report
Dear Authors,
It is a well-written descriptive paper. I have two suggestions. First, the references should be revised. More recent literature should be investigated and added to the paper. Most recent paper is from 2020.
Second, the topic is interesting, however, as of my knowledge, there are possibilities for empirical analysis for the area of the paper.
My suggestion is to revise the paper with empirical findings and resubmit. The paper is on an important and interesting field. However, it can be improved.
Author Response
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, and for taking the time to review our paper.
Regarding your first suggestion, we have re-evaluated the literature and included several more recent relevant citations from the food supply chain literature from 2021. The change-tracked version of the manuscript reflects these additions. Please see Section 1 (Introduction) and Section 4.3 (Cases competing based on multiple quadrants) for the addition of these references.
With respect to the second suggestion regarding empiricism, we respectfully note that we have employed case study methodology, which is a recognized empirical method. Our study objectives include theory elaboration followed by empirical validation. We therefore integrate the natural resource based view (NRBV) with conventions theory (CT) to generate a new theoretical framework for conceptualizing dimensions of product quality in the food supply chain context. The theory elaboration forms the basis of a typology of food supply chains which, in turn, is empirically tested using the case study method. This application of case study methods serves to empirically validate the theory-based typology.
This empirical study does not conduct traditional hypothesis testing due to the exploratory nature of this study. We note the applicability of case methods to this context in the methods section (Section 3 Research design and methodology), and we also acknowledge the limitations and need for further empirical work, including potential hypothesis testing, in our conclusions (Section 5.3 Limitations, future research, and conclusion).
A separate reviewer suggested that we modify our methods section to incorporate more references to the underlying methodological literature. We have addressed this suggestion by revisions to Section 3 (Research design and methodology). We hope that these revisions help support our position with respect to empiricism having been applied in the existing manuscript.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions, and for taking the time to review our paper.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
The introduced corrections and the explanations provided are satisfactory.
Reviewer 4 Report
I have read the authors' response letter and also went over the revised manuscript.
It is my opinion that the Authors' explanations for the critiques directed to the paper and the additions following the review comments are adequate.
It is my opinion that the paper is ready to publish.
I suggest a one last grammar check for very minor issues and spell check. I suggest a software such as Grammarly would correct these very minor issues.
