Alkyl, Ltd., designs shoes using computer-aided design, and they electronically store all new product information, including manufacturing instructions. When the designers have finished their work, they electronically transmit all the blueprints for the new products to a network of Southeast Asian suppliers and manufacturers with which Alkyl, Ltd., has formed strategic alliances. Instructions for the design of a new sole are sent to a supplier in India with instructions for the leather uppers to a supplier in Bhutan. The strategic alliance Alkyl, Ltd., follows is an example of a ________ structure.
A) network
B) decentralized
C) vertically integrated
D) diversified product

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A network structure is a series of global strategic alliances that one or several organizations create with suppliers, manufacturers, and/or distributors to produce and market a product. Network structures allow an organization to manage its global value chain in order to find new ways to reduce costs and increase the quality of products-without incurring the high costs of operating a complex organizational structure.