ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the influence of organizational structure on profits, and the influence of investment strategies using those profits on organizational structure. It examines the implications of incorporating inter-sectoral differences in profit rates that reflect differences in organizational structure. It differentiates the cases of single-plant and multi-plant enterprises, and determines the flow of investment funds within corporations. The chapter examines some of the alternative ways in which multi-plant firms organize the division of labour within and closely linked to the corporation, such as an internal spatial division of labour. It investigates how the division of labour can organize subsidiaries and subcontractors to employ the just-in-time system of production. Finally, the chapter considers the investment and disinvestment strategies available to corporations. The debate about the impact of the degree of oligopoly, one aspect of organizational structure, on profit rates is as yet unresolved.
