Trust and Transparency in Modern Value Chains

Erik Valiquette, CCLP, CCLMP, discusses the importance of transparency and trust in supply chains - particularly around ESG

For decades, supply chains were optimized around one primary objective: efficiency. Speed, cost reduction, and scale dominated decision-making, while transparency and trust were often treated as optional or worse, inconvenient. That era is ending.

Today’s supply chains operate in a fundamentally different environment. Regulatory expectations are tightening, customer behaviour is evolving, and sustainability is no longer a side initiative. It’s a core business requirement. In this context, trust and transparency are no longer abstract values; they are strategic imperatives. 

So what is trust? Trust is that slightly fragile yet absolutely essential feeling that makes you believe someone (or something) will actually do what they say they’re going to do without you having to check every five minutes like an anxious parent. More seriously trust is the belief in the reliability, integrity, or competence of a person, system, or organization. It’s built on predictable behaviour and transparency. In other words: you trust when you willingly accept some level of risk because you believe the other party won’t stab you in the back metaphorically or, well… let’s hope always metaphorically.

A Shifting Regulatory Landscape

Governments and regulators around the world are increasing scrutiny on how goods are sourced, produced, and moved. Regulations related to environmental impact, human rights, forced labor, emissions reporting, and product traceability are multiplying and they are becoming more prescriptive.

Frameworks such as ESG disclosure requirements, carbon accounting standards, due diligence laws, and emerging digital trade regulations are pushing organizations to demonstrate not only what they do, but how they do it. Acronyms like CSRD, ESRS, GRI (not the ocean rate increase one), ISSB and mLETR are becoming as common as OTIF, POD and S&OP. This shift requires reliable data, auditable processes, and verifiable claims. Transparency by design, not by exception.

Changing Customer Expectations

At the same time, customers, both consumers and enterprise buyers, are demanding more visibility into supply chains. They want to know where products come from, how they are made, and whether corporate values align with their own.

Trust is now a differentiator. Organizations that can credibly demonstrate ethical sourcing, environmental responsibility, and operational integrity gain a competitive advantage. Those that can’t increasingly face reputational risk, loss of market access, or exclusion from procurement processes altogether.

From Supply Chains to Value Chains

This convergence of regulation and customer expectation is accelerating a broader transformation: the shift from traditional supply chains to value chains.

In a value chain mindset, success is no longer measured solely by efficiency and cost. It’s measured by shared outcomes, resilience, sustainability, social impact, and long-term value creation for all stakeholders. Transparency becomes the connective tissue that enables collaboration across suppliers, partners, customers, and regulators.

Trust is built when information flows reliably across the ecosystem, when data is consistent and verifiable, and when accountability is embedded at every stage.

Sustainability as a Systemic Requirement

Sustainability can’t be achieved without transparency. Measuring emissions, reducing waste, improving labor practices, and meeting climate targets all depend on accurate, granular, and trustworthy supply chain data.

Modern supply chains must therefore evolve into systems that can capture, share, and validate information across organizational boundaries. Technology plays a critical role here but technology alone is not the solution. Governance, standards, and alignment around shared definitions of value are equally essential.

Looking Ahead: Trust, Transparency, and Risk

Trust and transparency are no longer aspirational goals for modern supply chains. They’re foundational capabilities with direct implications for enterprise risk, regulatory exposure, and long-term value creation.

As regulatory requirements expand and enforcement intensifies, boards are increasingly accountable not only for financial performance, but for the integrity of the organization’s value chain. Visibility gaps, unreliable data, and unverifiable claims now translate into tangible risks: compliance failures, market access restrictions, reputational damage, and erosion of stakeholder confidence.

Organizations that invest in end-to-end visibility, data integrity, and collaborative ecosystems are better positioned to anticipate disruption, respond to regulatory scrutiny, and demonstrate credible sustainability performance. Transparency enables earlier risk detection, faster decision-making, and more resilient operations. Turning compliance from a defensive obligation into a strategic advantage.

Conversely, organizations that continue to operate with fragmented data, opaque supplier networks, or manual assurance processes face increasing scrutiny. In this environment, opacity is no longer merely inefficient. It is a governance risk.

For boards and executive leadership, the question is no longer whether to invest in trust and transparency, but whether the organization can afford not to.

Erik Valiquette
President
SDG Network