Identifying Risks in the Supply Chain of Materials at Volvo Cars A Concept Modelling of Environmental, Social, and Technical Risks
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Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Industrial ecology (MPTSE), MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Aglund, Simon
Benson, Julia
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
A few commercial companies in different industries have developed tools for identifying and
assessing both environmental and social material impacts throughout the supply chain.
Facing the contemporary climate and environmental crisis, companies need to advance their
sustainable development and acknowledge sustainability risks. Volvo Cars is a global
Swedish premium car company that wants to develop their own tool for managing
sustainability risks. To achieve their sustainability goals, the risks related to the materials
used in their products need to be understood. Therefore, this thesis was conducted on behalf
of Volvo Cars to lay the foundation for a conceptual model for identification of environmental,
social, and technical risks. The model aims to function as a guide in research & development
and procurement of materials.
Collective understanding of terminology is crucial for a model’s utility. Through literature
research, interviews and workshops, the terminology used in this conceptual model was
polished while compiling issues important to both external and internal stakeholders. The
model is based on A Relational Theory of Risk by Boholm & Corvellec (2011), which defines
risk as a combination of three elements i.e., object at risk, risk object, and the relationship of
risk connecting the two. By first determining what is important to protect, cause-effect chains
can be mapped, identifying the threatening objects that could potentially cause harm. The
final model includes 15 objects at risk divided into three systems: the Nature system, the
Social system, and the Technical system. Additionally, the model includes suggested
indicators each object at risk to enable quantification and comparison between different
material options.
It has become clear that having a shared understanding of the meaning of different concepts
is crucial for developing a model like this. It is therefore important to have a clearly defined
terminology before introducing any kind of management tool, especially regarding
sustainability risks. The model is not operational at its current state, and the next step for
Volvo Cars would be to investigate in further developments such as finding suitable datasets
and introducing a weighting system. This would help with prioritisation, highlighting the most
critical issues.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
risk , conceptual model , terminology , Volvo Cars , supply chain , sustainability