Analysis Problems on Yahoo - Admission/Application Essay Example

Analysis Problems on Yahoo Yahoo is among the leading internet service offering company. It offers a variety of products such as advertisement, downloads, emails and streaming. It is currently ranked third in the industry. However, the company is facing a lot of challenges and losing its market to Google and other new players in the industry such as twitter and Facebook. Yahoo used to provide mailing services, gives new through flickers and other products. However, this display has now been sucked by the social media threatening the actual existence of the company. The currently challenges that yahoo is currently facing can attributed to poor decisions made by the management. For instance, in 1996, the company was approached by some graduate students who wanted to sell to it a new search engine that would ensure that the most important links appeared on the first page. However, the then management refused this request saying that the company benefitted from customer viewing ads by browsing many pages. These graduate developed Google which has now overtaken yahoo (Wheelen, Thomas & Hunger. 367). This paper analyzes the challenges facing the organization and gives recommendations on the strategic management plans that the company should adopt to overcome these issues. Summary of the Issues affecting Yahoo Yahoo started out as a very innovative organization that provided internet products that people needed. However, they have failed to continue with this innovativeness and advance their search engines and other internet products in line with the changing consumer needs. The internet industry is very dynamic; lack of adaptability makes a company to be quickly driven out by other organizations which show such kind of adaptability. The company has focused on functionality as a way of creating value for its products and hoped that revenues would roll in. The company has failed to make attempts in targeting specific users or even given any value added services as a way of getting a competitive edge over its competitors (Farmer & Bryce, 435). In simple words, the company has just been complacent in its former achievement. The company has failed to tap the opportunities that the search engine provides and only see it as a way that people use to get their way around the internet. Their main focus has been the mail, finances and news. In advertising, yahoo gets its revenue through forming partnership with the companies that this assures them of a regular source of revenue. Promotions through yahoo are placed on the yahoo pages. This creates a problem for the web publishers who are not able to measure the size of yahoo or its revenue potential. Google on the other hand has empowered its clients to measure its revenue potential and therefore many companies opt for Google over yahoo (Anon, 245). Despite the fact that yahoo search has the most page views compare to other companies in this industry, its revenues are lower than those of Google. This is because unlike yahoo, Google has enabled its uses to maximize their ads on their websites. Google earns more revenue on the web publishers rather than its pages. All these issues have resulted in the company revenue shrinking slowly as Yahoo loses its clients to new players in the block. Recommendations As has been observed, Yahoo is facing tough competition its rivals. The company can only improve its standing by improving its search engines. This would be through developing a working strategic plan that will ensure that all the issues at stake are addressed. Its current challenges include reduced revenues from its ads as a result of increase in the number of competitors and it needs to deal with Google supremacy in advertising space and search engines (Farmer & Bryce, 435). The company needs to switch its focus on the portals and enhancing its brand name to the realization that the search engine combined with advertising holds its success. The first thing that Yahoo needs to do in reorganizing itself is through purifying its search algorithm. It s can combine its current core competence which is its great focus on portal to give more refined search results. For example, the company can influence the power of social networks and blogs to quantify keywords and links in a formula that has into yet been realized by Google. This would give it a competitive edge over its chief competitor and possibly raises its currents revenue to the desired level. Yahoo is the sole search engine that quantifies the linking texts or the key word so that it provides other links on this key word and also the accompanying keywords (Wheelen, Thomas & Hunger. 362). In terms of advertising, Yahoo need to expand its ads to independent web publishers and this is expected to increase revenue since it will be getting into an area that it had not explored before. Improving the yahoo search engine will definitely address the current problem that yahoo faces of a reducing user base. This is because people are stopping to use yahoo search engines because Google provide better search results. By employing the new search algorithm, Yahoo with its unique features will yield better search result and in that way it will regain its clients. Purifying the search results will also attract more advertisers. This is because advertisers are running away from yahoo because its search engine is defective. This means that what the company needs is to redefine its strategic plan. Formerly it has focused on fortifying its brand by having more portal pages and more sections in its webpage (Blozis et al, 155). It now needs to focus on a refined search engine and everything else will fall in place. They should provide value added products to their users. This means that for yahoo to be successful, it needs to focus its effort to one core competence: search engine. The company will use the portals and social networks to develop a search algorithm that better serves the needs of the consumers. The existing ad network that yahoo has created need to be integrated with the new search algorithm and this will enable it to pick up key words connected to content and texts. The strategic plan will be through redirecting the employees followed by refining the algorithm. This will be followed by implementation of the purify algorithm, refocusing and expanding the existing ad network. The last stage in the strategic implementation plan will be implementation of outside publishers. Redirecting employees will be through guiding them to reduce their focus on expansion of the portals but on how to make the network better by adding value to it. This should be done in such a way that the existing employee base is maintained without laying them off. It will involve developing a new organization culture that focuses more on quality of the product rather than expansion. In redirecting the employees, the first thing that needs to be done is popularize the need for change in the company. This should come from the top management to work force at the lower end of the hierarchy (Farmer & Bryce, 435). When this has been established, the management can now take the employees aboard and explain to them the strategy needed to be adopted in effecting the change. The employees will also need to comply with other changes such as reshuffle in the departments with the HR taking the role of matching the employees with jobs that match their competences and skills. This will increase efficiency as the employees are bound to give their best performance when matched with the right jobs ((Wheelen, Thomas & Hunger. 363). They will then be required to conduct research and develops ways of creating a refined algorithm. The next stage of the implementation process is the creation of a revised search algorithm. This stage will utilize information gathered from the research carried out and develop a model that best serves the consumer internet search needs. After developing and coding the new algorithm, it should then be tested to ensure that there are no flaws and it delivers the best performance. After the algorithm has been verified to be in good working conditions, it is then taken to the implementation stage. The algorithm should be implemented first without rigorously marketing it first. This is because the consumers need to test it first in order to know what it can offer (Anon, 245). This is to avoiding the danger of promising more that the search engine can deliver in advertising which would turn away users. Once it has been successfully launched, the company can now engage in efficient marketing. The next stage is linking the algorithm with the advertising network. The company should use better key word data provided by the new search engine. The refined ad network should again be marketed appropriately as a way of helping the company expand to new markets. This is followed by expanding the ad network. This would involve taking in new publishers and advertisers into the network. The program developers need to ensure that the right infrastructure in place for this to take be effective. The last step will involve getting new publishers as a way of expanding the network and this is expended to increase the company performance (Blozis et al, 165). This is supposed to go hand in hand with serving the existing publishers well ensuring that their needs are met appropriately and reacting to feedback. In summary, it has been observed that Yahoo needs to redefine its current operation and put more focus on purifying its search engines and eradicate the flaws which are the cause of its reduced customer base. Redefining a search engine is an involving process that requires a lot of commitment and may have cost implications. However, when rightfully implemented, it will help refocus the company and make it more profitable. It will help them company develop a strong base for its ad network and this will add value to all its products which will be translated to greater revenues. It is the best way that the organization and stay relevant to the needs of the market hence making it to continue thriving in the current highly competitive business climate. Work Cited Blozis, Dana E, and Sharon Cohen. Yahoo Income: How Anyone of Any Age, Location, And/or Background Can Build a Highly Profitable Online Business with Yahoo. Ocala, Fla: Atlantic Pub. Group, 2009. Print. D Essential Business Studies for Aqa As Le. Folens Ltd, 2008. Print. Farmer, F R, and Bryce Glass. Building Web Reputation Systems. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2010. Internet resource. Wheelen, Thomas L, and J D. Hunger. Strategic Management and Business Policy: Toward Global Sustainability. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Read More