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[Silver Night]

CBD is, I think the least explored of the Caldari big 8.

We know it is part of the 'practical' faction, and that it is the State's biggest importer/exporter.

There's also the CBD Sell Division (which is 'independent' - though 80% owned by CBD. The independence part presumably has to do with how it's run).

Being 'practical' - which when applied to SuVee and NOH sort of reads as 'ruthless' and very flexible ethically - and the largest State importer/exporter what does CBD get up to?

What might the internal culture be like?

[orange]

I suspect it is very diverse.

It is an import/export company with investments across New Eden.  It is a "Caldari" State Corporation, but I think that has more to do with its origins than its current dealings.  It enjoys the benefits of State-corporation status, but works to minimize the disadvantages it creates.

[Hamish Grayson]

It seems to me that people focus to much on the criminal connections and 'flexible ethics' angle when thinking about the  practical bloc.   PF tells us that the big difference between the three blocs is their opinion on economics.   The liberals desire a Laissez-faire free trade between the Empires with a strong CONCORD to protect the trade lanes, back the ISK, and manage the SCC.

The patriots reported don't care about trade policy they just want a stronger economy than everybody else.  How that is supposed to work is beyond me.

The Practicals are Merchantilist.  I've been doing some reading on merchantilism for a while and I think getting into that would require my biggest wall-of-text to date so instead  I suggest that anyone really interested in understanding the differences between the three Caldari blocs start here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilist


Some goals of Merchantilism:

  

 * That every inch of a country's soil be utilized for agriculture, mining or manufacturing.
    * That all raw materials found in a country be used in domestic manufacture, since finished goods have a higher value than raw materials.
    * That a large, working population be encouraged.
    * That all export of gold and silver be prohibited and all domestic money be kept in circulation.
    * That all imports of foreign goods be discouraged as much as possible.
    * That where certain imports are indispensable they be obtained at first hand, in exchange for other domestic goods instead of gold and silver.
    * That as much as possible, imports be confined to raw materials that can be finished [in the home country].
    * That opportunities be constantly sought for selling a country's surplus manufactures to foreigners, so far as necessary, for gold and silver.
    * That no importation be allowed if such goods are sufficiently and suitably supplied at home.

Of course in New Eden the ISK has replaced gold and silver, and bullet three supports my pet theory that the Practicals made the most extensive use of the Tube child program.

Also, concerning the 'criminal' connections of the practicals.   CONCORD, CBT, CN, and the Customs Authority are all supported and controlled mostly by their political rivals.    The patriots in particular have a strong influence over the Navy since they push the most for growing it's budget, build and design it's weapons and send more of their people into it's service and hire more of it's retirees.      As far as practicals are concerned these policing forces might as well just be an extension of their rivals and it makes since that they would not have much respect for those bodies authority.

[Silver Night]

Hamish, do you think that would suggest practical corporations - perhaps SuVee and CBD in particular supporting more people coming in from outside the State (or even that they might be more willing to take in people who have left other corporations) as a source of cheaper labor? (Bucking the traditional isolationist tendencies in the State.) Perhaps even the two cooperating, since CBD is in import-export and SuVee is in the land (and probably labor) intensive fields (mining, ag, consumer manufacturing, etc). I mean, they are both more diverse than that, but those are given as *major* areas of focus.

I agree with what you said about the 'criminal' angle, to a large degree. Maybe not even rivals, so much as law enforcement being an obstacle to properly doing business.

Also NOH is the one where the criminal part is explicitly mentioned, SuVee is just considered 'ruthless', which may or may not mean that there is systematic law breaking.

[Hamish Grayson]

Hamish, do you think that would suggest practical corporations - perhaps SuVee and CBD in particular supporting more people coming in from outside the State (or even that they might be more willing to take in people who have left other corporations) as a source of cheaper labor?

I couldn't say, but a lot of systems with practical stations in them also have federation stations.   There are a lot of Quafe/NoH station pairs.

[Vieve]

Hamish, do you think that would suggest practical corporations - perhaps SuVee and CBD in particular supporting more people coming in from outside the State (or even that they might be more willing to take in people who have left other corporations) as a source of cheaper labor?

I couldn't say, but a lot of systems with practical stations in them also have federation stations.   There are a lot of Quafe/NoH station pairs.

Spacelane Patrol (CBD's security arm) has certainly hired foreigners -- though I suspect they're at least naturalized Citizens -- as Agents.

[Silver Night]

I wonder if a megacorporation can just say, essentially, 'your a citizen now' and have it be so.

[orange]

TL:DR - Yes

What does being a "citizen" mean?

I have never liked the term's application in regards to the State, it fits much better with the Federation/Republic.

In the State, someone without a corporation is a nobody and literally can slip through the cracks.  The State (ie CEP & its subs) does not afford/protect any individual rights or privileges (outside of their direct employees).

So, yes, corporations can say "you are an employee of our corporation, a State corporation, and thus a citizen of the State."  The path to becoming an employee of a corporation can vary however and it means different things when Wirykomi or KK hire/protect a non-Caldari employee from an outside investigation versus when Ishukone does the same.

[Silver Night]

Yeah, that's about how I figue it - it's down to the corporate sov thing.

Which might raise questions about whether the CPD might be trying to do something about that, to prevent corps like Ishukone or NOH, or indeed CBD from simply making people citizens.

[Vieve]

So, yes, corporations can say "you are an employee of our corporation, a State corporation, and thus a citizen of the State."  The path to becoming an employee of a corporation can vary however and it means different things when Wirykomi or KK hire/protect a non-Caldari employee from an outside investigation versus when Ishukone does the same.

If I recall some of the shenanigans correctly, it was much easier for Celeste (who'd been a Senate employee, but she'd never served in the Federation Navy -- and who held advanced degrees) to become a Lai Dai "citizen" than Vieve.

[Silver Night]

Anyone know if there are any CBD-related resources I missed?

Which is to say, anything aside from the corp description

[orange]

What it holds shares in is a useful bit of information.

CBDSD - 80%
DCM - 55%
MF - 5%
RA - 55%
SP - 100%
CD - 35%

I think that CBD is the only Caldari corporation to actively hold significant shares in a Gallente corporation.

[Silver Night]

Creodron is a competitor of Roden's too. 35% is a big chunk.

I wonder if owning shares in the same company implies that there might be any other business connections?

To Aliastra and Quafe in particular.