Funky wrote:So if the company was struggling due to decrease in demand combined with increase in costs(generally accepted explanation), why would this be the fault of management? If there is less profits to go around, everyone has to take a pay cut. The union employees went on strike as though they were somehow detached from the company as a whole so I would say that they are to blame for not being "team players".
You know what management do right? Its not simply telling people when to turn up and go home, and whipping them when they do bad. Strategic decisions are high level managements most important responsibility. It would appear that Hostess is failing because they did not evolve with the market; as you say, demand is dropping and costs are rising. In a very evolved market such as foodstuffs there is no excuse for losing demand to substitutes other than weak management. Look at the fast food chains for example; they quickly adjusted their menus in light of people - at least on the surface - becoming more health conscious.
Phatscotty wrote:Was there a different result from the union members turning down the offer that we are not aware of?
You seem to be mistaking the effect (pay cuts - which were refused) for the cause (drop in demand, debt loading, and rise in costs) in this case.
@Both of you:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/ ... ad-to-die/