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As as promised on Monday, Yahoo posts a major reorganization this week. But is it any coincidence that less than a day after telling investors that Yahoo might do a search deal, CFO Blake Jorgenson is getting the axe?
I’m sure it is. Probably. Maybe. Here’s what Bloomberg caught him saying yesterday:
Any agreement would have to maximize the unit’s value, Jorgensen said today at an investor conference. He added that it would be extremely difficult to separate Yahoo’s search business from the rest of the company, though not impossible. Under a partnership, Yahoo should continue to have full access to the search-engine data, which the company uses to make its display advertising more effective, he said.
“We want to do it for the right reasons and the right economics,” Jorgensen said.
The Times, however, notes another good reason for Jorgenson to leave: he was a close ally to former Yahoo President Susan Decker, who resigned after being passed over for the CEO position.
Minutes after announcing Jorgenson’s departure, CEO Carol Bartz published a blog post (“Getting our house in order“) to say she’s “rolling out a new management structure that I believe will make Yahoo! a lot faster on its feet.” She also promises:
- The new management structure means:
- everything gets simpler
- they’ll be able to make speedier decisions
- the notorious silos are gone
- a renewed focus on the customer
- To create a new Customer Advocacy group to assist the Customer Care team in addressing user concerns and complaints.
- To “singularly focus on providing you ["customers (consumers and advertisers)"] with awesome products”
- Capitalize on one of their strongest assets—their brand—and be “clear in showing the world what the Yahoo! brand stands for.”
Bartz promises that “For you using Yahoo! every day, it will better enable us to deliver products that make you say, ‘Wow.’”
UPDATE: We missed the full text of the internal memo Bartz sent around Yahoo detailing various other changes in the Products division leadership as well as creating a CMO position.
Y’know what? I love Google as much as the next girl, but I really want to see Bartz succeed. Not just because Yahoo’s decline has been an anticlimactic, tragic end for a once-good company, and not just because Google needs the competition.
If a turnaround is possible, then I think the steps she’s outlined are steps in the right direction. What do you think? How can Yahoo continue its course correction—or is this too little, too late?
