The great topic of Dogpatch, brought up my some thoughts about "Who is in Charge of the Watchtower Society".
First the character of the organization: since the foundation by W.H. Conley and the Russells the Watchtower Society have ever been commercial.
1. Cooporation between businessmen and bankers: Joseph, Charles Taze Russell and William H. Conley.
2. Exchange a small store chain for a more profitable business: religion.
3. Target group: anxiously, rich, white, mainly female part of population.
4. Using money making scheme 1: the Watchtower Society had to pay for the license of the publications written by Russell, Tower Publishing corporation.
5. Using money making scheme 2: all profits of the Watchtower Society are invested in real estate. Offices and converence halls all over the world. Thousands of local congregation buildings worldwide. Build for free by volunteers, amortized by volunteers and hired for full market price every week by the same volunteers.
This commercial character and intention is organized in a business model: the hundreds of worldwide corporations as part of the Watchtower Society.
Like all other commercial organizations, the business model needs a product.
The product of the Watchtower Society is: religion, an organized collection of belief systems , cultural systems , and world views that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values . (quote: wikipedia).
This product is virtual. Just like a service sector product.
To guarantee the continuity of the organization, the product can be upgraded, swept away and transformed.
These service sector products are developed by the writing staff at watchtower headquarters. A part of the product is the facade role of the Governing Body / FDS.
Alongside the virtual product, there is the real hardware department. It operates professional in a publishing and in a construction version.
So my opinion is:
The hardware departments are the leading factor. They stand for the continuity of the organization.
The virtual product departments are flexible. They go to the right if they need so, they go to the left if they need so, to support the hardware departments.
Who is in charge?
The hardware departments. Legal officer Philip Brumley, Watchtower publisher James Pellechia, and Chief investment officer Gary Carver.
Maybe they have links with the Cayman Islands, like The Firm. But I have no proof of that.
Gorby