MIM NOTES No. 190  July 15, 1999

Business people admit self-interest holds back energy production

The British bourgeois newspaper the equivalent of the Wall Street 
Journal has published a lengthy section of articles with a special 
focus on computer technology in the oil and gas industry. Titled 
"Cautious approach to change," the lead article suggests that the 
oil and gas industry are unable to innovate. 

"Eric Leon, the head of the energy and chemicals group at IBM, 
believes many oil companies only use a fifth of the capability of 
such systems [computer technology--ed.], partly because they are 
still structured around old business models." 

From MIM's point of view, the Oracle database spokesperson said it 
best: "'Knowledge is power in business,' says Andrew Lloyd of 
Oracle, who advises energy companies on behalf of the US-based 
software provider. 'It's only natural that people should ask: 'why 
should I help you with such a transformation if, as a result, my 
role might actually disappear?''" 

Under capitalism, all actors are insecure about their profits and 
jobs. As a result, technical and management workers seek to make 
themselves indispensable by making work processes difficult and 
inaccessible to anyone but themselves. That way, they cannot be 
fired if they are workers and their contracts cannot be ended if 
they are a corporation serving another corporation. Such dynamics 
inherent in class society protect jobs and profits, but they hold 
back production. 

Note: Financial Times 10June99, "World Energy" section, p. 1.