Understanding ’s  Benefits and Research through an Operations Strategy Framework Borut Rusjan Pavel Castka Despite the success that the   standard has achieved it has been extensively criticized and empirical studies have shown controversial results about its impact on performance. Our conceptual study was motivated by the mentioned dilemma about  effectiveness, and the controversy that this dilemma raises in literature on the one hand and on the other by almost exponential growth of certifications among companies world-wide. It is our opinion that in order to understand results related to   implementation we need to take a step back from empirical research and instead try to analyze  conceptually by taking into account also the results of empirical studies implemented in the past. The purpose of the paper is to clarify the purpose of im- plementation of   and, in relation to this purpose, to analyze different possible benefits resulting from its implementation. In order to achieve this purpose our goal is to analyze the criticism of the old  : by using a specific framework of the operations strategy theory. The paper emphasises that in accordance with its conformance purpose,  is successful in building conformance capability and that by using   practices companies can also benefit in relation to production economics through improved process efficiency and to other competitive capabilities. It also emphasises that empirical results expected from   implementation are strategy contingent and therefore this should be taken into account in designing empirical stud- ies about ’s benefits. Key Words: , quality assurance, conformity, standards  Classification: ,  Introduction Since its introduction in  , the  standard for quality manage- ment systems has made a huge intprint on global economy: there are one million firms certified by the standard, the standard has been adopted Borut Rusjan is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Pavel Castka is an Associate Professor at the College of Business and Economics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. Managing Global Transitions  (): –