Abstract
Electronic marketplaces are a popular phenomenon, both for academics and for practitioners. One of the most discussed e-marketplace is Covisint, the 'big' e-marketplace of the automotive industry. This paper analyses Covisint via transaction cost economics, the tool of choice when analysing e-marketplaces in academia. The empirical material consists of interviews with operatives and managers from customers and owners of Covisint, suppliers, potential customers that have chosen not to join Covisint, and Covisint themselves. The results indicate that Covisint has several problems: lack of incentives for suppliers to join the initiative, lack of participating organisations on the supplier side and an overall lack of ability to balance interests and objectives of the actors involved.