Pick a concern, any concern. That’s what some Yahoo internal minds could be thinking about the brand’s present state of affairs. Where could the trail of anxiety begin?
How about at the notion of trailing another search engine with a silly name (Well, many do.) for years? Then let’s pour on the fact that the brand is settling into a newly-branded CEO since January. Next, let’s consider that new CEO cut 2,000 jobs (14% of the Yahoo workforce). That’s a good start.
Let’s also consider that the CEO may not be completely who he said. No, it has nothing to do with competence as a leader. It has to do with truthfulness about his computer science degree. Then, consider the person who led the newly-elected CEO process is not seeking re-election on the company board. How many words was that so far? That’s many things to mind if you’re Yahoo.
Oh yeah, you may remember news a while back, regarding selling a portion of Alibaba to an Asian technology entity. As the New York Times reports, the deal was weeks away from possible completion.
An industry analyst has no qualms calling it like it is, stating “this is the last thing on earth that this company [Yahoo] needed.” You mean Google earth?
A committee is sorting out how Thompson was able to ‘get by’ lying about his credentials. He cited getting dual degrees in computer science and accounting from Stonehill College. Actual records only reflect the latter degree. So what’s Thompson doing at Yahoo? Why not become an accountant? I’m being facetious of course; yet, the committee does want to understand the how, who, and when of the hiring process.
Scott Thompson doesn’t have a particular degree. Does that change his level of competency? His fate at Yahoo is yet unclear; but, the Times article reports some directors want to keep him on board. Yahoo has enough problems, right?
Late Monday, Thompson did address employees via an email. This is a section: “We have all been working very hard to move the company forward…I want to apologize to you.”
What’s next for Yahoo? With all the Google “going ons,” Yahoo’s state is an unfortunate one. When trailing competitors, brands can’t afford all the “whoopsies,” especially a domino succession of them.
image credit: Shutterstock – Karuka
