Lee Charnley has been promoted from secretary to managing- director, while Mike Ashley has for the first time officially taken a seat on the board.
Transfer policy will be overseen by those two, plus manager Pardew and chief scout Graham Carr, but Charnley will decide.
Director of football Joe Kinnear said "judge me by my signings", and that could be said about Charnley this summer.
Our future seems to be in his hands.
Alan Pardew: “I think it means he’s taking a closer hold of the club, maybe, and I think that’s a good thing.
“Mike has seen for good or bad what we are at the moment.
“I think he has a good knowledge of football and good experience now. You have to say he’s an experienced owner.
“I’d like to think in the summer we can make the right decisions.
“Lee has been in and around our transfers and had good experience of working with Graham and myself and the needs of the club – the agenda set and the needs of the first team.
“Sometimes, like with all transfer conversations, there are certain conflicts about positions and conflicts about certain types of player and it’s very important the chief executive (or managing director as Charnley is) makes those calls right.
“Some might favour the younger player – maybe for the future of the club, not the immediate use of the manager – but the immediate problems for the manager is the priority and he understands that. I think he gets that right.”