Operating in multi-party networks: A party for the C-suite or should purchasing also be invited?

Societal challenges require organisations to increasingly operate in multi-party networks. For purchasing and supply management (PMS), this implies “business-not-as-usual” as governance of inter-organisational relationships will need to expand from dyadic to multi-stakeholder relationships. The current paper sets out to explore how PSM dyadic governance might change in the presence of networks and under the influence of network governance, and what PSM competencies may accordingly be required. Our results hint at multi-party network settings having implications for the collaboration with and governance of partners, and for what PSM competencies are key to effectively drive multiple parties to take collective action.