Collaborative supply chain reconfigurations in the transforming Swedish retail context
Preprint, 2026
Urban freight transport is a major contributor to climate change and congestion. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration across sectors, between retailers, municipalities, transport providers, and property owners. Yet many such collaborative initiatives fail to create lasting impact, remaining as short-lived pilots with limited systemic effect.
Aim: To contribute to the understanding of conditions for favourable outcomes in urban retail transport collaborations by identifying and analysing the tensions involved.
•What tensions arise in collaborative urban retail transport initiatives?
•How do these tensions interrelate and what are their implications for planning, implementing, and evaluating collaborative projects?
Analysis identified six tensions inherent to collaborative urban transport projects, each involving competing but equally legitimate demands (see figure).
T1 Unique perspectives vs. shared understanding: Diverse sector knowledge and viewpoints are a prerequisite for innovation, yet divergent ‘languages’, expectations, and views on what collaboration means obstruct progress.
T2 Familiar actor constellations vs. strategic actor selection: Established trust and shared working history ease collaboration, yet tend to exclude actors who are strategically essential or who own the problem.
T3 Formal control vs. informal flexibility: Clear goals, contracts, and mandates provide direction and accountability, yet effective collaboration also requires trust, openness, and willingness to develop beyond what was originally agreed.
T4 Short-term project goals vs. long-term system change: Room for experimentation and learning from failure drives innovation, yet project timelines, reporting cultures, and shifting market conditions work against sustained development.
T5 Commercial viability vs. societal utility: Actors must see economic gains for collaboration to be sustainable, yet societal benefits are rarely sufficient to justify private investment without regulatory intervention.
T6 Isolated pilots vs. systemic change: Bounded pilot projects allow for controlled testing and learning, yet permanent implementation requires political will, regulatory change, and building on prior work
Aim: To contribute to the understanding of conditions for favourable outcomes in urban retail transport collaborations by identifying and analysing the tensions involved.
•What tensions arise in collaborative urban retail transport initiatives?
•How do these tensions interrelate and what are their implications for planning, implementing, and evaluating collaborative projects?
Analysis identified six tensions inherent to collaborative urban transport projects, each involving competing but equally legitimate demands (see figure).
T1 Unique perspectives vs. shared understanding: Diverse sector knowledge and viewpoints are a prerequisite for innovation, yet divergent ‘languages’, expectations, and views on what collaboration means obstruct progress.
T2 Familiar actor constellations vs. strategic actor selection: Established trust and shared working history ease collaboration, yet tend to exclude actors who are strategically essential or who own the problem.
T3 Formal control vs. informal flexibility: Clear goals, contracts, and mandates provide direction and accountability, yet effective collaboration also requires trust, openness, and willingness to develop beyond what was originally agreed.
T4 Short-term project goals vs. long-term system change: Room for experimentation and learning from failure drives innovation, yet project timelines, reporting cultures, and shifting market conditions work against sustained development.
T5 Commercial viability vs. societal utility: Actors must see economic gains for collaboration to be sustainable, yet societal benefits are rarely sufficient to justify private investment without regulatory intervention.
T6 Isolated pilots vs. systemic change: Bounded pilot projects allow for controlled testing and learning, yet permanent implementation requires political will, regulatory change, and building on prior work
Författare
Kajsa Hulthén
Chalmers, Teknikens ekonomi och organisation, Supply and Operations Management
Johan Hagberg
Göteborgs universitet
Rekonfigurering av leveranskedjor genom samverkansbaserade projekt inom den svenska detaljhandeln
Göteborgs universitet, 2024-01-01 -- 2025-12-31.
Chalmers, 2024-01-01 -- 2025-12-31.
Styrkeområden
Transport
Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Transportteknik och logistik