Despite the daily reality of war in the media – and indeed in many

people's political and social lives – it would seem, that it is not

considered part of the business world, organisations or the world

built around them. We are consistently led to believe that the

economy of war and warfare refers to the gains derived from the

production of war equipment, the maintenance of military forces

(both in times of war and peace), and the repair work and

reconstruction necessary after battle is done.

The absence of bloodshed or casualties in business organisations

invites us to assume that the frequent reference made to war is

merely metaphorical. In organisation or management theory it is

seldom acknowledged that extreme violence, sadism, pain and loss

– experiences and dynamics characteristic of every war – are typical

of the contemporary business world. It has become almost

impossible to unveil the reality of business enterprises hidden behind

the rhetoric of free markets and unrestricted competition typical of

contemporary neo-liberalism.

This paper attempts to contribute towards an understanding of

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capitalist competition as ongoing warfare in and among corporations.

The psychotic dimension of war, i.e., the paranoid alienated

elaboration of mourning, finds its expression by unrealistically

projecting into others the cause of the loss of the love object or its

destruction. This line of thought will be pursued by considering

Volkswagen, one of Germany’s leading car manufacturers, as a case

example. Founded during the Third Reich, Volkswagen provides

convincing evidence that its original support for a megalomaniac

military mobilization still has an effect on the micro-politics of the

corporation and its market activities today. Converted to serve the

peaceful economy of post-war Europe, economic warfare has

remained a constituent dynamic of the corporation’s ongoing attempt

to lead world markets. My hypothesis is that similar dynamics are

found throughout the automobile industry and have a major impact

on the business strategies of many, if not most, corporations in their

desperate longing to gain or maintain a predominant role as global