Only a few years ago, B2B exchanges were expected to completely alter conventional buyer-supplier relationships. Some e-business proponents foresaw a sweeping away of industry and national differences in purchasing patterns as Old Economy firms were displaced by the business models of their New Economy rivals. The reality, however, has proven to be otherwise, as evidenced by the number of independent public B2B exchanges that are no longer in operation. Yet even as public exchanges have run into trouble, large industry wide exchanges are continuing to crop up and smaller, private exchanges are flourishing.…