*5.1. Research Contributions*

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes by explicitly incorporating the elements of sustainable strategies suggested by the NRBV with CT to develop a novel and comprehensive quality convention framework for FSCs. This is theoretically relevant because of the complexity of evaluating quality in food products, and because of the diversity present in and dynamic nature of different FSC configurations [75]. Furthermore, the proposed framework allows issues that have formerly been considered peripheral to operational performance (e.g., ecological and civic conventions) to be reflected under the umbrella of quality management.

To our knowledge, this is the first use of CT in the OM/SCM discipline. Given CT's long history in geographic sociology and political economy as well as its tradition of explaining socially embedded quality conventions in agri-food systems, we believe that there is substantial potential for further application of CT to FSCs, as well as to other industry contexts.
