Darden Restaurants is an $8.6-billion company with eight brands, more than 2,100 restaurants, and over 200,000 workers, serving more than 400 million meals a year. The company has a solid diversity and sustainability track record. Still, in this case, the protagonist is seeking ways to improve upon Darden's practices in these areas to cement the company's place in the public's collective mind as a diversity and sustainability leader while bolstering its bottom line. Students are asked to place themselves in Darden President and COO Andrew Madsen's shoes and develop strategies for executing and improving on existing practices that will allow the company to save money, ensure a steady flow of resources, improve financial performance, and create shareholder value.

Sixty-year-old Martha Stewart, founder and former CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., was charged with four legal actions alleging she breached her fiduciary duties to MSO when she made "materially false and misleading statements" about her involvement in trading ImClone stock. Although Stewart's firm was not accused of any crime, she and her company were being likened to corporate villains such as Enron and WorldCom. The A case outlines events and Stewart's initial reactions, providing students an opportunity to examine issues of crisis containment and communication. Through the disaster, what might she anticipate for herself, for her role at MSO, and for the survival of the company she created? How should Stewart deal with unwanted media attention and negative attacks? And what audience was Stewart speaking to when she finally did appear publicly?