The workings of RDA

[exostrike]

Before reading this thread, please read this article from Rocketpunk Manifesto about the workings of 'realistic' megacorps here (read the comments as well): Rocketpunk Manifesto: Corporate Worlds

While in the movie RDA's earth operations are left very vage, apart from the fact that they have influence over the whole of the economy and fit almost all of the evil megacorp cliches. However I feel that RDA's control and authority may be actually less unified than people might think.

Given that RDA started out as a development corperation I suspect it gained its intial capital and power from mining resources (a bit like Vale and BHP Billiton). After this it diversified its interests with different trademarks that are nominally independent if run for the benefit of all (think of the carmakers like volkswagen) an example of this would be the train network it built/owns or operates (its international status would take legal ownership outship the USA where states would be less willing for companies to run train networks without oversight). Eventually its investment arm would have enought capital to buy stakes in other companies such as those that built the ISV venture star, they don't have to be a majority stake, just a large enough stake to make it impossible for the other stakeholder be unable to influence the companies activities without support from RDA. By the 2150's RDA as a company including its sub-companies would be so large that in a way central control would be impossible due to the diseconomies of scale in communication. This means that in effect you have a number of companies , investment, mining, aerospace, commerce operating under the same banner, almost a kind of trade federation described in the above link.

While the rocketpunk manifesto has some points on executive-stockholder relations, there would be many additional merely executive disputes arissing from the situation that I've described above. Instead of a monarchy system where one board or chairman has law, it would be more feudal with the various departments having thier own boards wich have thier own affairs and effectively seperate companies, trying to co-operate with each other, orever scrapping among themselves over funding, investment and recruitment. which are the secret in gaining superiority and therfore growth over the rest. Such company polticies, even worse than today would mean that it would be difficult to impossible for any major changes to be forced through the bureaucracy. This means that even if RDA wanted to stop so distructive, it can't.

[Foxhound]

I would like to say that in my opinion the RDA was allowed to operate on Pandora because the UN and its member states knew that if, for example, Russia, America, and China all tried to mine on Pandora at the same time it would get real nasty. So to prevent WW4 they gave exclusive rights to mine to the only corporation able to afford it. Just a thought.

[exostrike]

Personelly I see the international politics of earth being divided into spheres, each major power having direct influence in those areas. The primary players in this new world order will be China, India, somekind of united Europe or at least a european united front and the USA. Russia I feel with become a more regional power, acting as an indepedent buffer between europe and china. The big tension point will in between China and India and thier powerplays for control/influence over the governments and resources of sourth east asia.

As I feel that there will be other megacorps from these countries, acting with covert support from their parent states to counter the power of RDA (who will have a closer relationship with the US than anyone else). I do agree with our option that even if the world government had operated on Pandora the same thing would have happened, except with a more diverse command staff.