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Corporate office activity is concentrated close to head offices in South Eastern England. It is often argued that information technology could change the location of offices by reducing the cost of provincial workplaces. The reorganisation of office functions associated with the introduction of information technology could also provide an opportunity to decentralise administrative structures.Two case studies in offices in manufacturing industry suggest that information technology can in fact be used to support either the centralisation or decentralisation of office work. The impact of the technology varies between corporate structures. In Unilever, a decentralised organisation, information technology has encouraged the decentralisation of routine administrative functions. In the more tightly-controlled Ford accounting function the mechanisation of accounts has been associated with the centralisation of administration at key sites. In both corporate structures it seems that information technology is being used to centralise important management functions.

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The first part of this feature examined the story behind the revival in the fortunes of the Co‐operative movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Part 2 goes on to look at the future prospects for the movement, and to make some observations concerning the autonomous tendency of individual societies when matched against the benefits offered by planning on a national scale.