Collaborative project governance and resilience in retail–wholesale ecosystems: A theory-building systematic review

Abstract

This study examines how collaborative project governance supports resilience in retail–wholesale ecosystems operating under digital transformation, sustainability pressures, and institutional complexity. Existing research on governance, resilience, channel coordination, and ecosystem adaptation remains fragmented across retailing, logistics, and inter-organizational studies, limiting its ability to explain how multi-actor systems coordinate adaptive change. To address this gap, the study conducts a theory-building systematic review of 33 empirical peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2016 and 2025, using procedures aligned with PRISMA 2020 and thematic synthesis. The review identifies four interrelated components that shape resilience in project-based inter-organizational settings: structural adaptation, relational–contractual integration, institutional alignment, and cross-layer coordination. Based on these recurring patterns, the study develops the Retail–Wholesale Channel Resilience Framework, which conceptualizes resilience as a governance-enabled capability emerging through coordinated adaptation across interconnected actors, channels, and system tiers. The findings show that resilient outcomes depend not only on openness and knowledge exchange across organizational boundaries, but also on how collaboration is governed, aligned, and legitimized across the wider ecosystem. The study contributes a project governance perspective for understanding resilience in complex retail– wholesale environments.