Green Transportation: Alleviating Misalignments Between Shippers and LSPs in Scope 3 Emissions Reporting : Multiple case study on Shippers and LSPs dyad in Swedish Context

Sammanfattning

Green transportation has become increasingly important in addressing the environmental impact of freight logistics, particularly in relation to Scope 3 emissions, which occur across organisational boundaries. In this context, Scope 3 emissions reporting between shippers and logistics service providers (LSPs) represent a critical but complex inter-organisational process. Despite its importance, limited research has examined how misalignments between these actors hinder emissions reporting and how such misalignments can be alleviated. This study aims to identify the misalignments that exist between shippers and LSPs in Scope 3 emissions reporting and explore mechanisms to alleviate them with Relational View (RV) theory. A qualitative multiple case study approach was adopted, focusing on three shipper–LSP dyads within a Swedish context. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using within case and cross-case analysis, supported by pattern matching within existing theory. The study found three major misalignment categories: data related, people and organizational related and reporting related misalignments. The findings reveal that misalignments arise from inconsistencies in data requirements, lack of standardised reporting and organizational practices, unclear roles and responsibilities, and limited communication between actors. These misalignments hinder scope 3 emissions reporting process by shippers ultimately. Furthermore, in consistent with RV the study explored three main alleviating mechanisms: knowledge specific, effective governance and relation specific. The study explored how these mechanisms may alleviate those identified misalignments. Overall, the study contributes by highlighting misalignments as a key barrier in emissions reporting and by providing insights that support improved alignment between shippers and LSPs.