104 Stephen Hymer In principle a person at any one level can only communicate with someone at the same level who is not in his group by going through his supervisor at the higher level.The higher up one goes,the more flex- ibility,opportunity,and discretion are permitted.At the bottom,people are rated on a daily or hourly basis,have little opportunity for advance- ment,and work within narrowly prescribed limits.At the management level,people have a career where promotion is the expected result of performance;the higher they rise,the more they move about,the greater the discretion (responsibility)given to them.People are rewarded doubly since the better the job,the higher the pay.People in the middle and at the top have positions rather than jobs,salaries rather than wages. The vertical stratification of the corporation rests on a division of mental and manual labor.The higher-level intellectual functions concen- trate at the top and vanish on the bottom.In the natural body,head and hand wait upon each other.In the corporation,they part company and become deadly foes.Although the multinational corporation spreads production over the world,it concentrates coordination and planning in key cities,and preserves power and income for the privileged. The power of the bottom is thus weakened by the spatial division of labor.Each national or regional labor force performs a specialized func- tion which is only meaningful to the integrated whole,yet it has no understanding of the whole.Its integration with other groups is not of its own doing,but is the act of capital(the head)that brings them together; it remains an isolated group whose connections to other groups are matters foreign and external to it.Even its national leaders-its govern- ment officials and local corporate executives-are only middlemen in a world system,and are themselves blocked from the information needed to obtain an overall picture.The national technostructures occupy an ambivalent position.On the one hand,they are in conflict with the top of the pyramid over their desire for better jobs or their nationalist identi- fication with their country;on the other hand,they are subordinate and dependent because they lack the key ingredients of capitalist pow- er-information and money. The government may have apparent political sovereignty,but it too has limited real power and is forever looking to international corpo- rations for technology and capital.It remains a weak state,subordinated to the dictates of the budget,the sternest taskmaster of all in a capitalist society.In this way,the corporate economy attempts to solve its di- lemma:it requires an expanding state to solve its problems,but must prevent the state from coming under the actual control of the majority, who have formal control in a democratic state.As long as the state is barred from the process of production,it does not develop the capacity This content downloaded from 202.120.14.154 on Mon,04 Jan 2016 03:31:29 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions104 Stephen Hymer In principle a person at any one level can only communicate with someone at the same level who is not in his group by going through his supervisor at the higher level. The higher up one goes, the more flex￾ibility, opportunity, and discretion are permitted. At the bottom, people are rated on a daily or hourly basis, have little opportunity for advance￾ment, and work within narrowly prescribed limits. At the management level, people have a career where promotion is the expected result of performance; the higher they rise, the more they move about, the greater the discretion (responsibility) given to them. People are rewarded doubly since the better the job, the higher the pay. People in the middle and at the top have positions rather than jobs, salaries rather than wages. The vertical stratification of the corporation rests on a division of mental and manual labor. The higher-level intellectual functions concen￾trate at the top and vanish on the bottom. In the natural body, head and hand wait upon each other. In the corporation, they part company and become deadly foes. Although the multinational corporation spreads production over the world, it concentrates coordination and planning in key cities, and preserves power and income for the privileged. The power of the bottom is thus weakened by the spatial division of labor. Each national or regional labor force performs a specialized func￾tion which is only meaningful to the integrated whole, yet it has no understanding of the whole. Its integration with other groups is not of its own doing, but is the act of capital (the head) that brings them together; it remains an isolated group whose connections to other groups are matters foreign and external to it. Even its national leaders - its govern￾ment officials and local corporate executives -are only middlemen in a world system, and are themselves blocked from the information needed to obtain an overall picture. The national technostructures occupy an ambivalent position. On the one hand, they are in conflict with the top of the pyramid over their desire for better jobs or their nationalist identi￾fication with their country; on the other hand, they are subordinate and dependent because they lack the key ingredients of capitalist pow￾er-information and money. The government may have apparent political sovereignty, but it too has limited real power and is forever looking to international corpo￾rations for technology and capital. It remains a weak state, subordinated to the dictates of the budget, the sternest taskmaster of all in a capitalist society. In this way, the corporate economy attempts to solve its di￾lemma: it requires an expanding state to solve its problems, but must prevent the state from coming under the actual control of the majority, who have formal control in a democratic state. As long as the state is barred from the process of production, it does not develop the capacity 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