Yahoo! - A New HR Challenge (A)

Following the do-com bubble burst in August 2001, Libby Sartain, new chief of people and SVP of human resources at Yahoo!, must determine the direction of human resources management at the traumatized media company. Suffering revenues, a collapsed stock price, several executive resignations, and recent layoffs—the first-ever at the company—have created anxiety and fear among employees. Furthermore, new CEO Terry Semel, former co-CEO of Warner Brothers, had arrived in May but had not yet provided his new plan for the company. The case considers how Sartain, previously VP of people at Southwest Airlines, understands the problems facing Yahoo! and the role of human resources in facilitating organizational renewal.