Should Supplier Networks Be One-to-Many or Many-to-Many?

Every company has a supplier network: the constellation of vendors that sell them goods and services. A closed (or “one-to-many”) supplier network is one in which interactions are limited to those between a single buyer and its multiple suppliers. An open (or “many-to-many”) supplier network includes multiple buyers and multiple suppliers, sharing information and collaborating more broadly. A hybrid supplier network is an open network that can be used additionally in a closed fashion for transactions in which trust is deemed to be important. Should supplier networks be one-to-many or many-to-many?