Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Yahoo CEO Taps Out

Yahoo Inc. lets out the news that Jerry Yang will quit as chief executive of Yahoo effective as soon as a replacement is found. With this news Yahoo’s shares shot up 4 percent in the assumption that this move would remove all obstacles hindering the Microsoft deal.

Yang will go back to being Chief Yahoo, spending his time on strategy and technology. Most criticisms against Yang rooted on his intention in carving an independent strategy for Yahoo. He was also blamed when Microsoft Corp pulled out from the negotiations of the powerhouse company acquiring Yahoo earlier this year.

Immediate rival Google Inc. dismissed a search advertising partnership on account of regulatory concerns, amplifying the bad criticism Yang has been getting when yahoo’s shares nosedived.

In an attempt to boost Yahoo’s earnings, Yang also made month-long negotiations with Time Warner Inc. about combining with its AOL unit. This also failed to close a deal.

“The company is in desperate need of change and this is clearly one way to do it,” said Ross Sandler, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, adding that Microsoft could enter the picture again. “Jerry was the roadblock for the last deal getting done.”

As a response to all of this, Yang has been very vocal about selling the company only for the right price.

The process of finding a replacement for Yang could take four to 12 weeks. Several executives are considered as prospects for the job, including former eBay Inc Chief Executive Meg Whitman, former AOL chief Jon Miller, News Corp President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin, former Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig and Yahoo President Sue Decker.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Financial Crisis and Outsourcing

Contrary to the thinking that outsourcing has been experiencing major cut-offs because of the financial crisis, there is actually light headed in the outsourcing direction. The cost-cutting can prove to be a good thing as this is exactly what outsourcing advocates. The only part of it that I think would suffer would be the call center industry because it's usually the first to go when cutting business functions. It is, after all, not exactly an income churner.

Small businesses are turning to outsourcing as a means of compensating for their losses with low cost labor. This set-up allows their business to function even with minimum capital. With the number of companies shutting down because of the economic crisis looming over United States, morale is down and the uphill climb is as tough as ever.

Outsourcing has been the subject of controversy for countless debates and arguments on how one should go about his business. Outsourcing is the process of contracting outside companies for the accomplishment of a particular business function. Usually the business function that gets outsourced is one that is considered non-core to the company’s primary functions. However, in the face of economic crisis, businesses are considering transferring more functions aside from customer service in the hands of business process outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing companies.

And why not? If it will save you a great deal of money and get you through the financial storm, why the heck not? There are a lot of great places to find good, quality outsourcing services. The Philippines is a prime example of a rising country in outsourcing.