This paper examines three relationship topologies to provide a framework for assessing the impact of E-business on the customer-supplier relationship E-business is well suited to two topologies, Open Market and Collaborative. The concept of "partnership" encapsulated in the Control typology will come under pressure from the use of E-business in Open Market and Collaborative models, Collaboration is a more appropriate term than partnership for small supplier - large customer relationships. Collaborative working enables formation of virtual enterprises, blurring tier level distinctions and creating a whole new set of project oriented collaborative relationships that come into being and later disappear, E-marketplaces offer compelling benefits for both customer and supplier that will be hard to resist. Aspects of each of the three topologies can usually be found a customer-supplier relationship, but the bias towards Control as practiced today will wane in the future.
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