Governance structure

So far, in this chapter, we have:

• Looked at the various business models
• Assessed the impact of centralization versus decentralization
• Identified the roles and responsibilities of each type of member

We can now see how organizations have been structuring themselves to provide a coherent approach that deals with the different levels of focus that decision-makers have, depending on their roles.

While the centralized and decentralized governance models can appear to be very different from each other, in reality, there are shades of grey. Some functions may be central while others are decentralized. Again, much of this has to do with the business model and imperatives driving the network.

Centralized governance

While a network may adopt centralized or decentralized governance, each organization also has a mechanism to control who makes decisions. Typically, organizations rely internally on centralized governance. The...