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Tag: Restructure

  • Microsoft Restructuring Plan Could be Unveiled on Thursday

    Earlier this month, Microsoft’s Don Mattrick, president of the Xbox division, left the company to become the CEO of struggling mobile game developer Zynga. The move was quite sudden, with Microsoft left leaving CEO Steve Ballmer in charge of this fall’s launch of the new Xbox home console, the Xbox One.

    Though the reasons for Mattrick’s departure were the subject of much speculation, one rumor that was repeated often was that he had left just before a massive executive restructuring effort was to take place at Microsoft. This week, reports are surfacing that the restructuring plan may go into effect sooner rather than later.

    All Things D is reporting that Ballmer will unveil his executive restructuring plan on Thursday. Citing unnamed “sources close to the situation,” the report states that the reorganization will center on services and hardware for business and consumers. Another rumored part of the plan is to eliminate redundant groups within the company and place efforts into a fewer number of more important products.

    The rumors have, understandably, caused a stir within the higher-ups at Microsoft. As reported last week by Bloomberg, Skype CEO Tony Bates is rumored to be promoted to head of an acquisitions and developer outreach branch at the company, while Julie Larson-Green, the current head of the Windows division, could be put in charge of all hardware at the company. Other big moves could include Qi Lu running an online services division, which would include Bing and Office, and a marketing shuffle could leave Windows marketing head Tami Reller with a larger role at the company.

    (via All Things D and Bloomberg)

    (Image courtesy The CBI under Creative Commons license)

  • Hewlett-Packard to Cut 2,000 More Jobs Than Previously Stated

    Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced today that it would cut 2,000 more jobs than it originally reported back in May. This brings the total planned layoffs up to 29,000 by the end of fiscal year 2014.

    According to a Bloomberg report, a regulatory filing today revealed the increased number of layoffs. Back in May, HP announced that it had begun a restructuring program, of which the tens of thousands of layoffs (8% of its entire workforce) are a large part. The company estimated that the program will save $3-$3.5 billion annually by the end of 2014.

    This news comes on the same day that HP announced a new lineup of enterprise security solutions. A new focus on cloud security and information analytics is part of HP’s restructuring program.

    Even so, its enterprise services were devalued in August, when the company wrote off $8 billion from the value of Electronic Data Systems (EDS), an IT services company HP bought in 2008 for $13.9 billion. Since that acquisition, HP has faced the growing competition and rapid industry change that many aging technology manufacturers have seen. HP’s stock has reflected this, falling over 30% this year, according to Bloomberg.

    HP has not announced the reason for the increased number of layoffs. At the IFA trade show in Berlin two weeks ago, HP announced a new series of Windows 8 ultrabooks and a Hybrid tablet/PC called the HP ENVY x2

  • Best Buy Cuts 400 Jobs as they Restructure

    Best Buy Co. Inc. announced on Thursday that it will close 50 big box stores and eliminate 400 positions.

    By the fall, Best Buy’s “big-box stores in the Twin Cities will either be closed — or shrunk and renovated.”

    The corporation is trying to reduce costs by about $800 million and adjust to a changing marketplace by reducing the size of their stores and focusing on establishing businesses with less overhead like the100 smaller Best Buy Mobile stores they will be opening across the country.

    Hopefully the company will redistribute its workforce wherever possible so that people don’t have to wait in the unemployment line.

    It looks like this move may have impacted the value of the company’s stock: Yesterday Finance & Commerce reported that “news of the store revamp came as Best Buy’s stock fell as much as 9 percent in Thursday morning trading amid fourth-quarter sales that did not meet analysts’ expectations. The stock closed down $1.85 per share, or 6.95 percent, to $24.77.” But today Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from “hold to buy. The company’s strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, attractive valuation levels and good cash flow from operations. [And] feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.”

    As technology continues to get smaller and thinner there is less reason to operate out of stores that resemble warehouses.

    One Twitter user thinks that their store experience was unsatisfactory and thinks the products will break his bank:

    @Jim_Napier
    Jim Napier    With Best Buy closing stores, where on earth where I find high pricedr electronics and sales staff that doesn’t know the product?! 18 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    Apparently this man is not alone. Many people posted on the previously mentioned article from Finance & Commerce:

    “You need to close! Your stores are too expensive anyway. The average person can’t afford to shop there.”

    “Agreed with kmf, … they suck, I cant believe they are still in buisness, waaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced stuff. can get anything they sell somewhere else for at least one third less the price. horrible store. cant believe people shop there. I needed a power cord, $25.00 dollars, went to another store, ten bucks. it was the last chance i will ever give them.”

    “Best Buy will not accept unopened returns (even for cables) after 30 days. They do not respond to customer service questions via email to their contact center on their web site. Lots of people I know, including me, are boycotting Best Buy. Sure, average TV prices have fallen but there are still plenty of expensive TVs to sell. Do you think their customer service policies may also be at fault??? Companies that fail their customers will eventually fail.”

    Tell us what you think of Best Buy? Do you miss Circuit City?

  • Cox Media Changes-Up Their Leadership

    Cox Media Changes-Up Their Leadership

    Cox Media Group (CMG) announces some new faces in leadership roles and some familiar faces changing roles. Effective ASAP Neil Johnson, formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will now take the reigns of executive vice president of Strategy and Digital Innovation.

    CMG President Doug Franklin commented on the change:

    “Focus in the areas of strategic development and digital innovation are critical to our future success,”

    “Neil’s leadership in CMG’s strategic planning and his experience in securing innovative new ventures will accelerate CMG’s transformation to a digital media company.”

    Mike Joseph, former publisher at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) will be joining the Cox Media elite as executive vice president at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

    Franklin speaks to Joseph’s abilities:

    “Mike is a proven leader and has been leading the charge with the transformation work underway at our newspapers,”

    “Mike will ensure that our newspapers’ immediate needs of transitioning rapidly to digital business models are met with seamless execution.”

    VP of Finance Charles Odom will become CMG’s vice president and Chief Financial Officer.

    Franklin again comments on the changes:

    “Since forming CMG in 2009, we have built strong relationships across all of our media platforms, and that will continue with these new leadership positions,”

    Cox Media owns and operates Valpak, 15 broadcast television stations, one local cable channel, 86 radio stations, eight daily newspapers, and over a dozen non-daily publications. They operate on over $1.7 million in revenue.