ABSTRACT
Goodbake is a large UK public limited company operating primarily in the food, drink, and tobacco industry, although it also has interests in other sectors. Within the food industry it operates in manufacturing and distribution, both wholesale and retail, producing cakes, biscuits, nuts, chocolates, and frozen food. Through the holdings PLC the company operates a divisionalized structure with eight UK divisions: biscuits, snack foods, frozen foods, distribution services, restaurants, small businesses, group research, and management services. In addition the company has interest in North America and Europe. In the UK it employs around 30,000 people, the majority of them women, in a large number of separate establishments located the length and breadth of the country. There have, however, been a number of major closures in the 1980s. The case study took place in two locations: one a major factory located in Scotland (henceforth Scotcake), part of the main manufacturing division; the other, part of the small businesses division engaged in the manufacture and distribution of bakery products throughout Scotland (henceforth Breadline).
