Martha Stewart
Too Much of a Good Thing?: A Quantitative Analysis of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
Martha Stewart and her business endeavors have come a very long way since the cooking, crafting, and home makeover maven attended a stock brokerage class and earned her trading license in 1968 (O'Rourke 2007). The fact that Stewart even had a brokerage license might seem some what ironic in light of the insider trading scandal and resultant prison sentence that have now become some of the best-known details of her life, but far from being exemplary or definitive of Stewart's character or path to success this episode is quite contrary to the overall trajectory of her life and business acumen (Bhattacharya & Marshall 2009). At the same time, Stewart's current company could certainly stand to be in better financial shape than it currently is.
Beginning with a catering service and then a specialty foods store in the 1970s, Martha Stewart has been doing what she does far longer than her corporation, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, has been in existence (O'Rourke 2007). It is through her entire career, however, that Martha Stewart was able to build the multi-million dollar corporation she is currently the figurehead of (though she is still barred from holding office in her company as part of her sentence), which still has extraordinarily strong sales among a certain consumer segment and significant revenue streams from a variety of operations (Bhattacharya & Marshall 2009; Byron 2002). Despite this revenue, however, the corporation is not currently profitable, and its market value also suggests a company in trouble.
In the following pages, a quantitative analysis of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that examines the financial situation and valuation of the company from several angles will be conducted. This analysis reveals a complex situation for a relatively new corporation still struggling to make a profit despite the fact that it does many millions of dollars in business each year, and that is so closely tied to the persona and image of its founder and effective leader that...
The main objective of leadership training is to teach managers how to relate to their subordinates, understand, support and attend to their needs, all for the purpose of increasing their satisfaction at the work place and consequently the company's productivity. Once the training is complete, employees are prone to receive increased wages, to be better appreciated, to receive premiums, trainings and several other incentives that motivate them. The training would be
This has been the case with Virgin Airlines where employees are given a wide range of incentives so as to enhance their performance as well as motivation levels. On the other hand, during times of crisis, leadership should be focused on damage control. Organizations that have applied this leadership approach before apart from MSO include the Trump Organization in mid-1990 (Greenbaum & Thakor, 2007). Relevant Changes in MSO & Organizational
Since Martha had been capable of cheating, others would probably be too. 3. Training programs The training programs to be designed for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia ought to include technical trainings that assist employees in improving their on job skills. The trainings should include all employees and should be differentiated based on the work areas and positions occupied within the company. Furthermore, aside from trainings, the management should present the workers
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Company Overview For a time, Martha Stewart and her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (trading on the New York Stock Exchange as MSO) was best known for the brief imprisonment of its founder, namesake, and very public face due to insider trading convictions (Yahoo 2011; Brown & Rhodes 2011). Both Stewart and her company have more than rebounded form this debacle, however, and the long and almost entirely
MSLO Events Current Events for Martha Stewart Living Incorporated in 1997, though in many ways in existence since the early 1980s, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has had a fairly eventful life for a corporation despite the brevity of its history. Built as it is around the knowledge, creativity, personality, and actions of its driving force and namesake, it is perhaps understandable that many of the events that have impacted the company and/or
During success, for example, a company would wish for more of the same, and increase rather than change its current practices. Customers service for example might focus on establishing a characteristic sense of open friendliness towards customers by thoroughly training new recruits. An example of this is Virgin Mobile, whose employees are trained to be friendly and cheerfully helpful towards customers. Leadership in a crisis situation would have to focus
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