Firstly , it has to be noted that the WTS has mainstreamed somewhat since Russell & Rutherford’s time and would be almost unrecognizable to a JW or Bible Student from those eras. There is an almost inevitable process that as membership grows into many millions and as 2 nd & 3 rd generation adherents dominate that there is a dilution of the original ideals and doctrines as company placemen replace the old guard. Whatever you say about Russell , Rutherford & Franz there certainly hasn’t been anyone as dominant or as charismatic in recent times.
Structurally , I think is probable that the WTS will morph into more of a mainstream pseudo Christian group in the future , especially as 1914 continues to recede. They will face the challenge , as one poster put it , of being “an end times cult without an end times”. Imagine what the WTS would have looked like if Franz , Dunlap et all had managed what essentially was a power and ideological control struggle in 79/80. It would only have taken another 2 or 3 sympathetic GB members & a couple of “high-ups” in the Bethel for them to have “Christianised” the WTS.
While they lost and the hardliners won , there is no reason why a similar situation won’t recur , with a different result. This is particularly possible as the GB seem to have settled on a much smaller power base of a GB in single figures , with none appointed since 2005. Allowing for 2 or 3 very elderly members and a couple of guys who basically nod assent to the majority without saying anything, this means that basically only 3 or 4 people control the society and set the agenda.
