Yahoo's Bartz to Streamline Corporate Structure

NEW YORK Newly installed Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz announced plans to streamline the beleaguered company’s corporate structure in a blog post on Thursday.While short on specifics, Bartz indicated that Yahoo had been hindered by its own levels of bureaucracy and complexity, something she is actively working to change. “There’s also plenty that has bogged this company down.” wrote Bartz, who replaced founder Jerry Yang as CEO in mid-January. “For starters, you’d be amazed at how complicated some things are here. So today I’m rolling out a new management structure that I believe will make Yahoo a lot faster on its feet. For us working at Yahoo, it means everything gets simpler. We’ll be able to make speedier decisions, the notorious silos are gone, and we have a renewed focus on the customer.”As for the identity of that customer, Bartz listed both its users and its advertisers as the key constituencies it needs to listen and respond better to going forward -- something that will undoubtedly please digital buyers. Toward that end, Bartz announced the formation of a Customer Advocacy group that will primarily exist to address those group’s issues. “Expect us to hear you better and take better care of you,” Bartz wrote.Also part of Bartz’ maneuvers, CFO Blake Jorgensen is leaving the company, and a replacement has yet to be named. UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter wrote in a report that while the Jorgensen move caught him by surprise, he believes Bartz’s strategy is on the right track. “While we were fans of Blake Jorgensen, Carol Bartz is clearly going to be leading the charge here going forward. Additionally, his departure comes as part of a broader reorganization that will focus on simplifying the org chart at Yahoo and trying to kill the seemingly indestructible silos that have been a part of Yahoo since the beginning. We expect more significant restructurings and divestitures of various businesses will occur in the future as the simpler org chart leads to more of a focus on the company's core businesses.”

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Yahoo's Bartz to Streamline Corporate Structure

Mike Shields

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