Martha Stewart Case

Decisions Made at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Incorporated
Shelly L. Wilson
MGT 350
Drew Stevens
University of Phoenix
June 2, 2004

Decisions Made at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Incorporated
Critical thinking is a very important part of any business. In order for successful decisions to be made, a thorough analysis of options is vital. While some decisions can be more important than others, all decisions in business should be considered with critical thinking skills in mind.
A recent personal problem for a high profile CEO has created numerous critical decisions to be carried out by the CEO's company. Even poor choices of Management's personal lives can greatly impact business decisions as seen with Martha Stewart and her
However, a MSO spokeswoman claims otherwise. She also suggests that subscribers and customers "buy Martha Stewart towels and read Martha Stewart Living for product quality, not for the face behind the name." In fact, Sharon Patrick, the new CEO stated that it was "a bad idea at this time" to remove Martha's name from the products. She also suggested that seventy percent of Martha Stewart Living subscribers thought so as well. (Crawford, 2004)

Evidence still suggests otherwise. CNN Money reported on May 20, 2004 that "the company plans to downplay the "Martha Stewart" on the cover of its flagship Martha Stewart Living magazine. It will strip the tag line "From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living" from the company's year-old Everyday Foods magazine. And the askMartha syndicated newspaper column is now called "Living", and no longer carries Martha Stewart's byline."
On March 15th 2004, it was announced that Martha Stewart has chosen to resign as a Director on the Board, and as CEO. The company claims that she will now assume a position as Founding Editorial Director. She will now be reporting to Sharon Patrick whom has been assigned the CEO position. (PRNewswire-FirstCall,
The contract states that her employment was set forth on the terms and conditions within the contract which include termination due to death, disability, or cause. The company shall have "cause" to terminate the Executive's employment based on "conviction of a felony or willful gross misconduct that, in either case, results in material and demonstrable damage to the business or reputation of the company; or willful and continued failure to perform her duties". This find suggest that the company chose to force Martha to resign as oppose to appear unsupportive or unsympathetic to the public regarding their founder. (http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com)

And recently, another pivotal decision was made to place production of the Martha Stewart Living Television show on hiatus. This Emmy-award winning daily syndicated show will be interrupted for Season 12, the 2004-2005 broadcast season. MSO will however continue on with production of other service shows. They also plan to accelerate development of special programming and newly developed series.
(PRNewswire-Firstcall,