Case Analysis of Yahoo Job

Case Analysis: Yahoo Job 2014
 Introduction of Case
In 2012 on one of Google’s most famous leaders, Marissa Mayer joined Yahoo as the 5th CEO in
last 5 years. The company sets high expectations from the newly appointed CEO as she has
embarked her name due to her intelligence and leadership skills. . Mayer has gained huge name in
Google’s success and a well-known leader in the technology community. The decision made by
Yahoo has gained positive momentum in Silicon Valley as Yahoo is in struggling with its business
and looking for opportunities to grow.
Marissa Mayer’s decision to end Yahoo’s work from home program sparks a firestorm of media
scrutiny. Yahoo, whose business it is to connect people over the Internet, finds itself at the centre of
a nationwide debate on workplace flexibility – even though Mayer never intended to make a broad
industry statement about working from home. This case examines communication efforts to contain
the conflict, and it may spark lively debate over where and when worker productivity and creativity
are most likely to occur.
However, Yahoo generated a fair amount of positive business press under Mayer’s first year of
leadership, it was not clear that the Yahoo brand had improved in the eyes of the general public or
even those of Yahoo's core user base, although the question remains on its confidentiality policy and
impact of a woman in workforce who is at high rank of leadership on society.
 Case Analysis
With modern technological evolution, working from home is a very real and practical option for
many employers and workers by using real-time data, video, and voice telecommunications for
business operations. The scenario promotes plenty of advantages such as eliminates wasted time on
daily commute, a reduction in traffic results in less pollution and better environment, company saves
money with lower overhead and real estate costs, care for required family member etc. In short, it
reduces stress and improving overall worker productivity and morale.
On the other hand instead of facilitating work/life balance, the misuse of such privileges provided by
employer has seen consequences in terms of less interpersonal relations among co-employees, lack
of direction in team as per the company’s direction and mission and less effective business strategies.
Overall, it allows managers to better identify high performers and weed out shirkers.
Yahoo has already been practicing the policy of work from home as per current industry trend. Such
as selling “WFH” refrigerator magnets in the company store. However, the company isn’t making
much profit from past few years. Competitors are coming with more innovations, thereby, more
profit making. It had been getting harder for Yahoo to sustain its position in business. That’s is
where the need to appoint a potential leader was looked upon.
It was a heated welcome received by Mayer as soon as she came on board of Yahoo. Mayer’s move
to end Yahoo’s long-standing “work-from-home” policy stemmed from a desire for a more
connected company culture and increased employee productivity. However, Espiritu, who was
Yahoo’s Global Public Relations Director, knew from her formal weekly meetings and countless
other informal meetings with Mayer that the new Yahoo policy was simply an employee engagement
issue, uniquely intended for Yahoo at that time and she has explained the same to media, which was
a justified move by her.
The questions has been raised by many critics such as Swisher on the sentiments of employees felt
betrayed because they took their Yahoo job with an understanding that they would enjoy a more
flexible work arrangement, whereas it was also believed that the decision was based more on
situation driven as Yahoo has already suffered a yearlong losses were a good reason for Mayer to do
something different. It has been already stated by Peter Cochran “Google is heavily populated by
super-smart engineers who invent new businesses that help it to boost its top line. And new
business ideas get better when smart people from different disciplines randomly bump into each
other in the same building to discuss and refine those ideas.”
In addition to above, criticisms also raised from group of “Mummy bloggers” who scored Mayer’s
decision furiously questioning on her motherhood behaviour and extra privileges given by Yahoo by
setting up Nursery in office premises, which sets her work at ease as compared to other woman in
society. This has been refuted by Ruth Rosen, historian of gender and society, told The New York Times,
“The irony is that (Mayer) has broken the glass ceiling ... but seems unwilling for other women to lead a
balanced life in which they care for their families and still concentrate on developing their skills and career.
The Mayer could had been a set of example for her dedication and commitment to work, moreover, a role
model for other woman by proving how to efficiently a woman can lead an organisation with pregnancy and a
new born. One example has already been set by Jacinda Arderrn, PM of New Zealand.
An alternate way was professed as to measure people by how many hours they work or how much
they are in the office rather about accomplishing great work. However, the realistically
telecommuting appears, instead, to have become instrumental in the general expansion of work
hours, facilitating workers’ needs for additional work time beyond the standard workweek and/or the
ability of employers to increase or intensify work demands among their salaried employees.
Finally when survey on Quora, and in other media reports that former Yahoo executives speculated
that Mayer’s move was likely an effort to change the Yahoo corporate culture and reduce
unproductive, dispassionate employees. One source close to the company reported to
businessinsider.com, “There isn’t a massive uprising. The truth is, they’ve all been [upset] that
people haven’t been working. Gawker’s Maggie Lange reported that many former Yahoo workers
claimed a significant amount of abuse of Yahoo’s former work-from-home policy. Yahoo
employees were certainly glad that the change in policy was made.
At last the leadership of the woman were supported by tech bloggers such as Elizabeth Spiers, who
wrote, “That’s the sad reality for women at the highest rungs of the executive ranks in corporate
America. Everyone applauds when they shatter that glass ceiling. Then they pick up the shards, and
start cutting away, further added, suggested that a male would have been applauded in the tech
community for his tough love approach.
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