Evolution of brokering; paradigms in e-commerce enabled manufacturing

As more manufacturers adopt the virtual enterprise metaphor, inter-organizational interactions (customer-supplier relations) are being transformed. Automated electronic third party mediation (or brokering) mechanisms play an important role in this environment. We discuss how brokering's role and practice needs to evolve with evolving organizational forms. Supporting tools, technologies, and mechanisms needed to implement electronic commerce based on brokering are discussed. Future research and practitioner issues affecting both managers and researchers are also described. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.