Hail and Greetings in the name of the God Emperor.

We know RT dynasties exist, what are your thoughts on corporations in the IoM ? Does the Priesthood of Mars make everything? Or are there many small and large companies that make commodities? Perhaps some licensed and overseen by the tech priests lest some corp commits tech heresy....

Where is everything made? The IoM must have a massive industrial and manufacturing base... Is any of it private?

Just wondering what your thoughts or the cannon was.

Sel

The Adeptus Mechanicus surely considers itself above minor routine tasks as producing toiletry articles. Which does not mean that the production does not need machines. Which also does not mean that these machines need to be blessed by the adeptus mechanicus. This is were mere tech adepts come into play, see it as a requirement of a corporation (better if we rename this to industrialist dynasty or manufactorum firm, feels better). You want to use printer presses to produce some sort of newspaper? Then you have to have a tech adept that ensures that the print team does the right things and does the needed blessings. That way the mechanicus receives a sum for lending the services of a minor member and you get normal printer journeymans that know how to use the presses.

I imagine this would be the case for every production-centered industry: automobile, small arms (we know that there are several firms producing military hardware on their own), entertainment (on the richer planets), etc.

For a more flavourfull take, use merchant costers.

A merchant coster, like a corporation has a number of investors and engages in large scale ventures. With the way imperial society is, the investors are all likely to be nobility so a merchant coster may be able to call on significant political and even military might should it need it.

In my games i've had merchant costers that engage in specific endeavours (like mining conglomerates) and those that engage in all kinds of stuff. My players got involved in investigating one that specialised in hard currency transfers while investigating a heretical group. They acted as a bank, accepting hard currency in one location and swapping it for a check which could be exchanged at another of their branches. Useful for people moving large sums of money without actually having to carry it with them.

I think in most of these small scale or low tech cases the Adeptus Mechanicus acts more like an Technical School and oversight angancy then as an actual part of the company. They set up your assembily line, train the supervisers in the appropriate magnifatruing rituals, and come around unexpectedly on occasion to insure that nobody's messing with the proscribed plan, and that the loaned/leased machines are still in good order. There are, of course, also many magnifactoriums that are directly owned by the Ad-Mech, but those tend to be high-technology or War-critical industries.

Manufactoriums and Merchant Coasters, I like those. Many thanks for the ideas everyone.

Indeed, I'd try to refrain from using even the term cooproration or company, just for flavour of the universe.

Better to have 'noble Dynasties with control over large manofactoriums and construction guilds' than 'rich dilletants and boards of directors...'

There are merchant houses and industrial combines in 40k canon that aren't directly under the thumb of the Ad Mech (though they must be licensed to make anything of import). There's more detail in the Dark Heresy books, I can't seem to find much in my Rogue Trader stuff.

Dark Heresy Core Book in the Power Groups section from p312-315 details amongst others the Cestelle Alliance (an agri-corp in all but name), the DeVayne Incorporation (organise millions of labourers in mines, field and refineries) and the Skaelen-Har Hegemony (a "very powerful and efficient heavy manufacturing corporation" "hundreds of factoria in Hive Sibellus and Gunmetal City". They are noted as producing starship components for Battlefleet Calixis.

Inquisitor's Handbook p117 details the Fanes of Gunmetal City as "loose manufacturing cartel-combines".

Ascension p180 actually has a little section on "Corporate Concerns" from "indendent merchants to sector-wide industrial combines". "sole ownership to mutual investment" as ways of running them.

And "Into the Storm" has a list of the main weapons/armour/ammo/supplies producers as well.