This paper's objective is the structural analysis of potential supply chain risks by applying interpretive structural modeling (ISM). It will demonstrate how ISM supports risk managers in identifying and understanding interdependencies among supply chain risks on different levels (e.g. 3PL, first‐tier supplier, focal company, etc.). Interdependencies among risks will be derived and structured into a hierarchy in order to derive subsystems of interdependent elements with corresponding driving power and dependency. The point for departure for ISM methodology is the identification of relevant elements, in our case supply chain risks. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. The paper sets out to discuss definitions and classifications of supply chain risks in Section 2. Next, the concept of SCRM is emphasized and the elements to be modelled are identified. Section 3 contains the methodology and provides the results of the ISM, followed by a concluding Section 4 of the major findings. Section 5 contains the description and results from two case studies conducted for testing the theoretical findings and the practical applicability of the methodology. Section 6 highlights the practical use of the methodology. Finally, further research questions are provided in Section 7.