Sphera Uncovers ‘Trust Paradox’ in Latest Supply Chain Risk Report as Supplier Financial and Quality Pressures Intensify

Sphera uncovers a “trust paradox” in its latest supply chain risk report, as pressures on suppliers over finances, sustainability and quality intensify.

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, January 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sphere today published its Supply Chain Risk Report 2026revealing a growing trust paradox in supply chain risk management: organizations report near-universal confidence in their data, visibility and regulatory reporting, while disruption, loss and supplier-level risks continue to rise.
The report draws on Sphera’s proprietary supply chain risk intelligence and structured survey data from 800 CPOs and supply chain directors in the US, UK, Germany and Canada, collected quarterly throughout 2025.

Together, the results show that executives operate under continuous oversight from the board and CFO, expressing high assurance in their risk intelligence, while simultaneously facing frequent disruptions and recognizing structural weaknesses in supplier data, engagement, and upstream visibility.

Trust is high. The results are lagging.

Across surveys, 98% to 100% of respondents say they have confidence in the completeness and timeliness of supplier risk data, their ability to quickly detect supplier financial distress, and the accuracy of sustainability and compliance reporting. Yet 73% report financial or operational losses due to supply chain disruptions in the past 12 months, with the average organization experiencing 3.48 material disruptions.

“This is not a lack of intent or awareness,” the report notes. “This is a paradox of trust: high assurance in outputs such as dashboards and reports, alongside a recognized fragility of the databases that power them. »

“Executives are confident in their reporting and early warning capabilities, but disruptions and losses remain commonplace,” said Paul Marushka, CEO and president of Sphera. “Resolving this paradox means shifting the focus from trust to evidence – ensuring that risk decisions are based on verifiable data and can withstand board scrutiny. »

Incident data shows pressure is concentrated, not easing

Sphera’s incident monitoring data reinforces that the external risk environment is not stabilizing uniformly:

Supplier viability risk remains the largest category by volume for the third year in a row and continues to rise, increasing by approximately 10.3% in 2025 compared to 2024, following growth of 5.8% the previous year. A sharp increase of around 20% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025 highlights the acceleration of financial tensions at the end of the year among suppliers.
Delivery risk has eased since 2023 and stabilized in 2025, but remains operationally volatile from quarter to quarter.
Image and compliance (sustainability and regulatory) risk is increasing, with a pronounced increase of approximately 28% in Q3 2025, which aligns with reporting and regulatory cycles.
Quality and Performance risk, although lower in absolute volume, is the fastest growing category, increasing almost 60% year-over-year in 2025, with increases every quarter.
These trends suggest that risk is increasingly concentrated and interconnected, clustering around financially distressed suppliers where quality issues and sustainability and regulatory concerns increasingly emerge together.

Scrutiny of Governance Reveals Paradox

Surveys show that decisions about supply chain risks are now regularly challenged at the highest levels:

48.5% of organizations report that supplier or supply chain risk decisions are challenged weekly or monthly by boards, CFOs or senior executives.
An additional 46.5% report challenges each quarter.
At this rate, trust alone is no longer enough. Decisions must be defensible, traceable and evidence-based, with a clear chain from signal to action.

Why resilience gains have stagnated

Most organizations report having already implemented traditional resilience measures, including supplier diversification, offshoring, buffer inventory, expanded monitoring tools, and widespread adoption of AI. Yet disruptions persist because fundamental constraints remain unresolved: limited supplier cooperation; inconsistent data quality level 2+; fragmented systems; and slow cycles of risk assessment before decision.

Involvement 2026

The report concludes that the defining challenge for 2026 is not to add more tools, but to resolve the trust paradox by strengthening the foundations: verifiable visibility at N levels; evolving supplier engagement; validated data integrity and decision-ready evidence that stands up to board scrutiny. Without this change, confidence will remain high on paper, while disruptions and losses will remain a normal operating condition.

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About Sphere

Sphera is a leading provider of enterprise risk and compliance software and data services, with a focus on delivering operations, product, supply chain, corporate sustainability and environmental resilience, health and safety (EHS). For more than 30 years, we have served 8,500 customers and more than a million users in 100 countries to help businesses keep their employees safe, their products durable, and their operations productive. Learn more about Sphera at https://sphera.com/. Follow Sphera on LinkedIn.

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