The misalignment cycle: is the management of your supply chain aligned?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework for describing and analyzing misalignments in supply chain management related to changes in supply chain structures, processes and management components. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the systems approach, a single‐case study including several embedded cases from the same supply chain was deployed. This was done according to the abductive research approach, which is favourable when extending existing and developing new theory. Data were collected through observations, interviews and workshops, and later analyzed through pattern matching. The case studied was the Swedish cash supply chain, which was appropriate since it has gone through several changes in its supply chain structure and management. Findings – A framework to describe and analyze misalignments in the supply chain was developed. The framework consists of three steps: first, identify changes in the supply chain, second, Identify Misalignments, and third, identify symptoms. For each step, a specific and more detailed framework was developed in order to facilitate the identification processes. Originality/value – Using the framework described in this paper a researcher or practitioner acquires a structured approach to mapping the management of a supply chain so that its current misalignments can be identified.