Should Cartels be treated as noble houses?

[Maulbane]

Here's a terrible, terrible example I made for the Thunderdrome and my Goblin, Hekley.

Trade Prince Steamwheedle
(if he isn't dead or what, Blizzard c'mon)
↓
Mogul Clutchdagger (arena mogul)
↓
Dr. Dealwell (runs the Thunderdrome)
↓
Lil' Hekley (Head Adjudicator)
↓
Scrubs

I mean, it's a terrible example, but it's what I imagine the power structure to be. Some cartels might be more bureaucratic than others, but considering the innate ambition and tenaciousness Goblins have, I think any attempt to pad out the system would just end it flattening overnight in a string of horrible, unforseen boating accidents.

[Diethe]

Well, if we're really gonna compare Cartels to the corporations and then mixing fantasy in it, it'll look a bit like this:

Trade Prince
Chairman/CEO of the Steamwheedle Cartel Conglomerate. It's gonna have its own Board of Directors, led by the Trade Prince as well as a President-figure who makes sure operations run smoothly. He leads the Steamwheedle Conglomerate. It's a big company that mostly has holdings in either subsidiary companies or its own holdings. Basically an umbrella corp.
↓
Moguls
Hands of the Trade Princes. Can hold various titles such as Mogul, Director, etc. mostly depending on the company's business. CEOs of subsidiary companies under the Cartel. It has its own board of directors, being its own company too. It's gonna have a lot of specialties and variances depending on the company's business. The main difference is that the Steamwheedle Cartel owns a significant share of the company and has influence in its big decisions. Some of its board of directors will also have major Steamwheedle goblins. Businesses range from a city's waterworks company, to mining, to gladiatorial franchises (Do take note that franchises are handed out by a company for a business owner or another company to use for a set time or a share of the profits). Companies require five people to form (Who would most likely be the board of directors) and unlike small businesses, also get money by selling out shares or percentage of the company to investors who get a yearly share of part of the profits.

Examples of these are Tinker's Union (Led by a Director), a subsidiary company which is owned partly by all the cartels. Venture Co. is also an example, though it is mostly in competition with the Steamwheedles and whether or not it is under a Cartel control or independent is unknown. Steamwheedle Cartel has a lot of subsidiaries, such as the Gadgetzan Waterworks Co., while Bilgewater has the Kajaro Trading Company (KTC) under it.
↓
Barons
Basically Magistrates. Appointed Officers or Operating Officers of either the Steamwheedle Conglomerate or a subsidiary of it. They hold the lands and make sure operations flow smoothly. Steamwheedle holdings include Ratchet (Under Operating Officer Gazlowe), Booty Bay (Under the Blackwater Raiders and Baron Revilgaz), etc.
↓
Business Owners
Various other business owners who run their own small to medium business entities, and are mostly independent but still have to pay taxes to operate. These range from slavers, bosses, store owners, privateers, etc. They're mostly their own bosses. Unlike companies, businesses can either be run by a single owner or a partnership.

Military-wise, the Trade Coalition, apart from its bruisers who merely police its lands or its various mercenaries, has its own Trade Fleets. Often Trade Princes have several Trade Fleets to keep their lands safe from pirates.

Vice Admiral Grezzlik
Oversees all the Trade fleets.
↓
Admiral
Runs several Trade Fleets.
↓
Captain
Runs a single ship, or runs one Trade Fleet.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing Moguls around especially since these can vary from being large companies to small ones that operate single businesses if you want to RP serving under a certain Cartel, but the safest would be being a Boss of your own business or company. Really, these are titles that can freely be used depending on the company (Except Trade Prince of course and to an extent, Barons if you don't own the land). Just make sure the heirarchy is respected and at any given moment you are always under someone.

[Krent]

Well, if we're really gonna compare Cartels to the corporations and then mixing fantasy in it, it'll look a bit like this:

Trade Prince
Chairman/CEO of the Steamwheedle Cartel Conglomerate. It's gonna have its own Board of Directors, led by the Trade Prince as well as a President-figure who makes sure operations run smoothly. He leads the Steamwheedle Conglomerate. It's a big company that mostly has holdings in either subsidiary companies or its own holdings. Basically an umbrella corp.
↓
Moguls
Hands of the Trade Princes. Can hold various titles such as Mogul, Director, etc. mostly depending on the company's business. CEOs of subsidiary companies under the Cartel. It has its own board of directors, being its own company too. It's gonna have a lot of specialties and variances depending on the company's business. The main difference is that the Steamwheedle Cartel owns a significant share of the company and has influence in its big decisions. Some of its board of directors will also have major Steamwheedle goblins. Businesses range from a city's waterworks company, to mining, to gladiatorial franchises (Do take note that franchises are handed out by a company for a business owner or another company to use for a set time or a share of the profits). Companies require five people to form (Who would most likely be the board of directors) and unlike small businesses, also get money by selling out shares or percentage of the company to investors who get a yearly share of part of the profits.

Examples of these are Tinker's Union (Led by a Director), a subsidiary company which is owned partly by all the cartels. Venture Co. is also an example, though it is mostly in competition with the Steamwheedles and whether or not it is under a Cartel control or independent is unknown. Steamwheedle Cartel has a lot of subsidiaries, such as the Gadgetzan Waterworks Co., while Bilgewater has the Kajaro Trading Company (KTC) under it.
↓
Barons
Basically Magistrates. Appointed Officers or Operating Officers of either the Steamwheedle Conglomerate or a subsidiary of it. They hold the lands and make sure operations flow smoothly. Steamwheedle holdings include Ratchet (Under Operating Officer Gazlowe), Booty Bay (Under the Blackwater Raiders and Baron Revilgaz), etc.
↓
Business Owners
Various other business owners who run their own small to medium business entities, and are mostly independent but still have to pay taxes to operate. These range from slavers, bosses, store owners, privateers, etc. They're mostly their own bosses. Unlike companies, businesses can either be run by a single owner or a partnership.

Military-wise, the Trade Coalition, apart from its bruisers who merely police its lands or its various mercenaries, has its own Trade Fleets. Often Trade Princes have several Trade Fleets to keep their lands safe from pirates.

Vice Admiral Grezzlik
Oversees all the Trade fleets.
↓
Admiral
Runs several Trade Fleets.
↓
Captain
Runs a single ship, or runs one Trade Fleet.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing Moguls around especially since these can vary from being large companies to small ones that operate single businesses if you want to RP serving under a certain Cartel, but the safest would be being a Boss of your own business or company. Really, these are titles that can freely be used depending on the company (Except Trade Prince of course and to an extent, Barons if you don't own the land). Just make sure the heirarchy is respected and at any given moment you are always under someone.

I like the set up of this hierarchy. It makes the most sense. I would like to add, in regards to Moguls however, that the lore paints them as....well, kinda lazy. Moguls have a reputation for living in excessive luxury while not having to do much busy work. This leads me to believe that the majority of Moguls earn their money through equity and perpetuity--that being, Moguls are the major source of investment for many start-up, smaller firms in the Steamwheedle hierarchy.

Most likely, any goblin that has a new idea or wants to start up a business under the Steamwheedle Cartel's umbrella, will have to seek out an investor to get rolling. That investor will most likely be a Mogul, who has someone on payroll to negotiate such things. The Mogul provides a chunk of capital, and gets equity in the business--and probably a sweet royalty deal or perpetuity. So as the small business thrives, the Mogul gets to cash in a nice steady stream of profit.

Granted, I'm not exactly educated on economic matters. I only have two semesters worth of economic study under my belt, and those were all electives (Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Business Ethics, and a class on International Trade). So I dunno if my speculation on Mogul stuff is...uhhh, accurate.