It really didn't. It meant that since everyone owns everything (but people high up in the party somehow own it all just a bit more), nobody was ever responsible, yet you always had a higher up. Just like today, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The net result is that business would not be profitable, but since there was nobody to scapegoat, people never got fired and business continued being disfunctional, not as efficient as it should be and all around couldn't meet the demand.