When Martha Stewart Omnimedia Inc. (MSO) was confronted with its
CEO and corporate icon being prosecuted for insider trading of ImClone
stock, its corporate board took a risk by moving away from an avoidance crisis management strategy to conceptualizing a business bigger than Martha
Stewart (Alva, 2002). As a damage control strategy, the CEO repositioned the
brands and reconfigured the organizational structure. The result was that
Martha Stewart was taken off the magazine covers, and her name was deemphasized on other products. In addition, top management was reorganized into
executive teams responsible for core areas of the business.