ABSTRACT
The firm is a typical and iconic organization in an economy divided between a public and a private sector, with monetary transactions in markets as the main arena for exchange and trade and with sustaining/expanding capital as a main intention and measure of success. Capital is an input factor of finances and equipment, and an output factor in the form of profit or loss. This chapter discusses the question is if speech-act theory—the theory of how speech acting and narrative struggles sometimes produce agreements on the formation of new functional, task-specific groups—or organizations—discloses powerful structures and dynamics in firms. Marx and Engels were amazed at the innovativeness that emerged within the new capitalist or capital-producing economy. The standard wage contract assumes that profits (beyond wages) go to capital (firm) owners. There is reason to believe that if the structure of firms in a modern economy were changed from capital ownership to cooperative membership firms, the consequences would be large.
