Background: Due to unforeseen world events such as the Covid-19 pandemic or war inUkraine, the discussion of risk management in supply chains is increasing. Supply chains areinherently subject to risk as they are completely susceptible to outside entities’ behaviour thatare largely out of their control. Supply chains that have less risk in them, are clearly desirableas they will be more resilient in times of crisis. Companies are searching for ways to increaseresiliency in their supply chains through various methods, which include internal and externaltransparency. However, SC partners can experience barriers to releasing SC information. Therefore, improvements in incentivization strategies will be the goal moving forward. Purpose: This study aims to contribute to supply chain risk management theory by developinga comprehensive and practicable framework of incentivization to increase supply chain transparency. The proposed framework will provide businesses with a clear overview of barriers,benefits, and drawbacks of internal and external transparency, as well as explain how and whento employ specific incentivization methods. Method: This study will be accomplished by analysing supply chain management literatureand carrying out a qualitative interview study with industry professionals. Seven interviews areconducted with various supply chain professionals to gather a broad scope of transparency benefits, incentivization methods, and barriers to transparency. This deductive approach will allowfor comparing and combining of theory and practice, resulting in a more accurate and holisticmodel. Conclusion: The findings of this study reveal the existence of numerous incentivization methods, barriers, and benefits associated with transparency. In addition, this study highlights somedisparity between literature and actual practices. Moreover, this study identifies additional barriers to transparency that were not previously addressed in examined literature. In light of thesefindings, a comprehensive incentivization framework has been developed to provide guidancefor businesses in addressing relevant barriers by selecting appropriate incentivization methods.

Supply chain transparency is principally focused on a company's efforts toward disclosing information about their products, and their supply chain operations to the public. Essay 1 is a conceptual paper that examines the risks of disclosing supply chain mapping information to consumers and proposes an approach to developing risk mitigation strategies. This essay also develops a set of supply chain mapping conventions that support the development of an agility-focused supply chain map. Essay 2 employs an experimental design methodology to examine the impact of disclosing the ethnicity of a supplier on consumers' behaviors, while also capturing the extent to which a consumers' ethnic identity and prosocial disposition influence their behaviors. Finally, also using an experimental design, Essay 3 analyzes consumer outcomes based on disclosing no, partial, and full supply chain transparency information, and accounts for heterogenous consumer traits such as the importance of information to a consumer and their perceived quality of information. Collectively, these essays advance the body of knowledge that seeks to understand the risks and benefits of supply chain transparency, by conceptually identifying risks and proposing an approach to minimize the risks associated with supply chain transparency, and by illuminating the conditions that prompt favorable consumer outcomes.

Companies including their stakeholders, investors and nongovernmental organizations have an increasing interest regarding the information about the impact of their products in terms of who, how and where the products were produced (Kashmanian, 2017). A qualitative field study including interviews and observations was conducted in order to carry out the comparison of Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) between certified and conventional businesses. In fact, it argued that these two type of businesses differ greatly from each other when it comes to the safety and quality of the product (Manning & Baines, 2004), price premiums (Lakhal et al., 2008; Jena et al., 2012), increased environmental (Ibanez & Blackman, 2016; Burivalova et al., 2016) as well as social benefits (Milder et al., 2015; Stranieri, Cavaliere & Banterle, 2017). The comparison of certified and conventional businesses was carried out as a case study in the coffee industry in Colombia, where it is common to have both these type of businesses. Empirical data of three certified businesses was compared to five conventional ones, which is supported by additional interviews. This field study belongs to Minor Field Studies and is supported by a scholarship from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Conceptual framework was created for this thesis and it provides new theoretical insights by presenting SCT variables used for conducting a comparison between certified and conventional businesses. The findings of the study suggest that SCT does not exist in the supply chains in the coffee industry in Colombia and by utilizing the conceptual model for analysing the empirical data, this thesis contributes to the academic literature by creating a generally applicable conceptual model of SCT variables, and shows the interrelation between traceability and visibility in supply chains.

Falsified and substandard drugs are classified as a global problem and continue to increase as manufacturing becomes globalized and the complexity of distribution systems expands. The falsified and substandard drugs come with major health risks and socioeconomic consequences. The pharmaceutical supply chain is handled by several parties, making it harder to detect when falsified and substandard drugs end up in distribution. Since the rise of the cryptocurrency bitcoin, blockchain technology has been recognized for its transparency and security. Previous research describes blockchain as a decentralized database structure that preserves a chronological chain of blocks where each block contains a registered valid network activity verified by consensus of the participants in the network. The purpose of this study is to create a broader understanding of how blockchain can improve the transparency and traceability of the pharmaceutical supply chain in order to reduce the incidence of falsified and substandard drugs. The study is based on a qualitative method in the form of five semi-structured interviews with representatives from the pharmaceutical industry and two blockchain companies. In the study's discussion section, the literature study is set against the collected empirical material. Two tables also illustrate how the pharmaceutical industry is working with traceability and what effects blockchain can provide a supply chain. Finally, the study notes that regulations on the pharmaceutical industry primarily control which database structure is implemented on the supply chain. It is also stated that blockchain has characteristics that can improve transparency and traceability of a supply chain, but the technology is to some extent limited mainly by its large need for capacity

Ericsson has recently experienced difficulties to meet the customer demand, which has led to lost market shares. This is mainly due to the long and unpredictable lead times within their supply chains. Therefore, Ericsson seeks to increase their ability to meet the customer demand by reducing the customer order lead time. A shorter lead time would imply a greater responsiveness and improved service level towards the customers. A directive from the company was to base the study on the supply chain for the customer Algeria Telecom Mobile. The purpose of the study is to give recommendations for improvements that reduce the total lead time in a supply chain perspective in order to improve the customer service level.  To be able to fulfill the purpose, four objectives were distinguished and supported with existing frameworks for analyzing supply chains. The first step was to create a current state map, which was achieved by conducting 24 interviews with people working within the supply chain. The second step was to identify potentials for lead time reduction. This was done by categorizing the supply chain parts and the problems that were gathered during the current state mapping into meaningful groups, and thereafter prioritize the categories with the greatest potential. The third step was to generate alternative solutions by conducting a second literature review based on the potentials that was identified during the prior step. The general solutions were later modified in order to fit the current supply chain. It resulted in eight Ericsson specific solutions. The fourth step was to evaluate these solutions in combination, which led to a recommended combination of solutions that provided the greatest lead time reduction. Also the requirements for implementing these solutions were presented in this step.  The recommendation for Ericsson is to rearrange their current supply chain for the studied customer and use two different supply chains; the Regional supply chain and the Alternative supply chain. The two arrangements will both be based on the implementation of a supply hub, which implies a movement of the customer order decoupling point closer to the customer. The Regional supply chain will cover the main flow and be used when the customer orders products from a product portfolio that has been agreed within the region. The Alternative supply chain will act as a complement and cover the flow of products outside the regional product portfolio.   The estimated customer order lead time for the Regional supply chain is 17 days, which is a reduction of 80 % in the normal case for the studied supply chain. The lead time for the Alternative supply chain is more difficult to estimate precisely, but it will be reduced in comparison with the current situation. Moreover, the service level towards the customer will be increased for both the Regional and the Alternative supply chain. To summarize the recommendations that are forwarded to Ericsson, they are listed below:  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Implement a regional supply hub  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Agree on a regional product portfolio  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Implement time slots for inbound flows  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Use BPO as a payment method instead of Letter of Credit  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Use a CIP, DAP or DAT Incoterm  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Implement a product configurator and let the customer place orders on commercial descriptions or a solution id.  <li data-listid="34" data-aria-posinset="15" data-aria-level="1">Integrate processes and activities throughout the supply chain and establish a greater information exchange.