Sears created a "financial crisis" when hedge fund manager Edward Lampert took control of the company. A CFO's investor mindset is an important perspective during times of crisis because it can help streamline the process and reduce costs. Retail experience must dominate retail in order to take the pulse of consumer desires and determine appropriate margin levels while eliminating organizational inefficiencies. According to Marina Strauss of the Globe and Mail, "radical change will be necessary to improve the retailer's prospects." She quoted Mr. McDonald (CEO of Sears-Canada) as saying in a memo: “Our stores are too difficult to shop. We have inconsistent execution…We are not offering the right product in the right market” (STRAUSS M., 2011).Executive SummarySears Holding Corporation is the fourth largest retailer in the United States and Canada. Their supplements include Sears, Roebuck and Co. as well as K-Mart. “The merger between Sears and K-Mart occurred on March 24, 2005. Sears has more than 4,000 retail stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam. Sears offers products and services in more than 2,700 branded and affiliated stores. Sears operates 894 general stores and 1,354 specialty stores. Sears' full-line stores are located in shopping centers. Specialty stores include the mostly independently owned Sears Hometown stores, Sears appliance showrooms, Sears hardware stores, Sears auto centers, and indoor department stores (Sears Holdings, 2011). , lawn and garden, electronics and automotive repair and maintenance. They are also the largest home service provider serving more than 11 million service customers...... middle of paper ...... insey & Company, provided Sears' leadership in the use of the concepts and techniques of the Carnegie model, and in the creation and capitalization on synergies between merchandising, insurance, real estate and financial services (David, F., 1989). A company's ability to maintain a good reputation is directly related to the company's ability to retain its stakeholders (Peterson, 2005). During a negative event or crisis situation, a company must ensure that it has effective strategies and resources to deal with it responsibly and efficiently in order to minimize losses in share price value. action and public perception of corporate reputation (Coldwell.D, Joosub.T, & Papageorgiou.E, 2012). It is always beneficial to analyze past crises in order to develop a conceptual understanding of crisis situations and the relevance of various means of dealing with them (STERN, EK, p..1, 2009).