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You Work Where?
•Evaluate Yahoo!’s new work initiative. Did it have to be an “all or nothing"
proposition? Discuss.
•What can managers and organizations do to help employees who work from home
be efficient and productive?
•Take the three main concerns - productivity, innovation, and collaboration. From
the perspective of management, how do you think flexible arrangements stack up?
How about from the employee’s perspective?
•Is face time (that is, showing up at work to be seen by your boss and others) critical
to one’s career? Discuss.
•Is being able to work remotely important to you? Why or why not?
Evaluate Yahoo!’s new work initiative. Did it have to be an “all or nothing"
proposition? Discuss.
Absolutely. Going by the article in the case application alone, it seemed that entire
company needed an overhaul and was in bad shape. It would be almost impossible to
decide who would be allowed to continue and who wouldn’t. The company morale was
suffering as employees were not working as a team. Yahoo!’s HR head, Jackie Reses,
realized the disconnect as well when she sent a memo explaining the company’s decision
in 2013, “best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussion," and
that actual presence in the office encourages better collaboration and communication"
(Nisen, 2015). One could have the perspective that, “If the office is going to become a
collection of employees not working together, it essentially becomes no different than a
coffee shop" (Nisen, 2015). Yahoo!’s new CEO Marissa Mayer had a very large task,
fortunately she was able to recognize a weak area that was acting as a cancer, affecting the
entire company. She made a decision that will hopefully place Yahoo! in a position, once
again, to compete against its competition. A decision that I am sure will be evaluated many
times over as to its correctness but for the situation Yahoo! was in I believe it was what
was needed.
What can managers and organizations do to help employees who work from home be
efficient and productive?
For Yahoo! it was not an ideal scenario for the current situation but for many companies
telecommuting or working from home, makes the best sense. Once that decision is made,
the company may want to ensure the proper working environment for their employees.
Many companies have provided free smart phones, high speed internet access and even
office furniture for their offsite work area. All things that the company hopes will give
