Internationalization of Capital 103 erected elaborate corporate superstructures to unite labor in production, but divide it in power.On the political plane,it has used the state bureaucracy to maintain,by force or by education,the general structural conditions which cause laborers to come to work each day and to accept the authority of the capitalist and his right to higher income,either as managerial compensation or as interest and dividends. Corporate Structure as Divide and Rule "An industrial army of workmen under the command of a capitalist," wrote Marx,"requires like a real army,officers (managers),and ser- geants (foremen,overseers)who,while the work is being done,com- mand in the name of the capitalist"(Capital,vol.2,p.322).Upon its various bases of national labor,the multinational corporation constructs local hierarchies to supervise and manage day-to-day operations,region- al administrations to coordinate national branches,and,at the top, strategy apexes to give overall guidance and direction through the use of budgetary controls.At the bottom of this vertical hierarchy,labor is divided into many nationalities.As one proceeds up the pyramid,nation- ality becomes more homogeneous and increasingly north European. The work of this hierarchy has a twofold character.In part,it fulfills functions of coordination and unification which are necessary wherever larger numbers cooperate;in part it fulfills functions that arise from the alienated nature of work in capitalist production.Under capitalism,the laborer does not think socially about his work,his machines,or his product.He regards his work as something he would rather not do, except that he needs the money.Because he does not participate volun- tarily,each day is a constant struggle over labor time.The capitalist,or his representative,tries to get the laborer to do something he does not want to do.The laborer tries not to do it. The twofold character of the technostructure is reflected in the two- fold nature of division of labor,which partially is based on the greater productivity that results from specialization,and partially stems from the principle of divide and rule.The corporate hierarchy is essen- tially a structure to control the flow of information.It has strong vertical linkages so that information passes up and orders pass down easily,and it has strong lateral communication at the top in order to obtain con- certed action.At the bottom,lateral communication is broken so that the majority cannot consolidate against the minority.This is done through a series of pyramids in which the president supervises n men,who in turn each supervise n men at the next lower level,and so on until everyone is integrated in a large pyramid that fans out from the center.Each supervi- sor controls the budget and promotion of the people below him. This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon,04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsInternationalization of Capital 103 erected elaborate corporate superstructures to unite labor in production, but divide it in power. On the political plane, it has used the state bureaucracy to maintain, by force or by education, the general structural conditions which cause laborers to come to work each day and to accept the authority of the capitalist and his right to higher income, either as managerial compensation or as interest and dividends. Corporate Structure as Divide and Rule "An industrial army of workmen under the command of a capitalist," wrote Marx, "requires like a real army, officers (managers), and ser￾geants (foremen, overseers) who, while the work is being done, com￾mand in the name of the capitalist" (Capital, vol. 2, p. 322). Upon its various bases of national labor, the multinational corporation constructs local hierarchies to supervise and manage day-to-day operations, region￾al administrations to coordinate national branches, and, at the top, strategy apexes to give overall guidance and direction through the use of budgetary controls. At the bottom of this vertical hierarchy, labor is divided into many nationalities. As one proceeds up the pyramid, nation￾ality becomes more homogeneous and increasingly north European. The work of this hierarchy has a twofold character. In part, it fulfills functions of coordination and unification which are necessary wherever larger numbers cooperate; in part it fulfills functions that arise from the alienated nature of work in capitalist production. Under capitalism, the laborer does not think socially about his work, his machines, or his product. He regards his work as something he would rather not do, except that he needs the money. Because he does not participate volun￾tarily, each day is a constant struggle over labor time. The capitalist, or his representative, tries to get the laborer to do something he does not want to do. The laborer tries not to do it. The twofold character of the technostructure is reflected in the two￾fold nature of division of labor, which partially is based on the greater productivity that results from specialization, and partially stems from the principle of divide and rule. The corporate hierarchy is essen￾tially a structure to control the flow of information. It has strong vertical linkages so that information passes up and orders pass down easily, and it has strong lateral communication at the top in order to obtain con￾certed action. At the bottom, lateral communication is broken so that the majority cannot consolidate against the minority. This is done through a series of pyramids in which the president supervises n men, who in turn each supervise n men at the next lower level, and so on until everyone is integrated in a large pyramid that fans out from the center. Each supervi￾sor controls the budget and promotion of the people below him. This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon, 04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions