[otini]

> The current top-down, militaristic control structure of most companies is more a result of path dependence than any fundamental requirement.

I strongly disagree. In a corporation, the relation of the employee to the employer is intrinsically one of subordination. It is defined as such in the labour laws of most countries.

Of course, this subordination is not necessary militaristic — but it can be, and naturally tends to be in a context of financial pressure on the company.

The point I want to make is that an employment relation is not symmetric (although it may be experienced as such by those of middle- or upper-class position) but happens on a background of economic depencency, and that is more and more true as the job is less paid and less considered.