Yes, more layoffs are indeed coming to Yahoo, sources confirmed to BoomTown, but perhaps even more than have been reported.

But that’s not all, as even more top-level managers are either leaving or being moved around the ever-changing organizational structure at Yahoo (YHOO).

That includes a longtime top sales operations exec, Dan Foehner, who is about to start at Facebook next week, as well as others contemplating leaving, on their way out or are being reshuffled.

In other words, business as usual at the tumultuous company, whose nickname should be “Reorg.”

First, the layoffs, which the New York Times was first to report yesterday would be announced Tuesday (side note to Damon–this is how you link to scoops) during Yahoo’s first-quarter earnings call and could impact several hundred employees.

The quarterly results are expected to be weak by most analysts, which is why more layoffs–which had been mentioned by the company as a possibility–are an obvious move.

But several internal sources said Yahoo staff is bracing for employee departures that might to be even higher, as many as 500 or more.

That could mean a complete lopping off or sale of various business units that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has been evaluating since she arrived in January.

Why? Well, several employees said they were told the new round of cuts will not actually take place until June and that Yahoo HR is now preparing to follow the rules required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

Under the complex federal guidelines, Yahoo must provide a written WARN notice to affected employees “at least 60 calendar days in advance of covered plant closings and mass layoffs.” WARN notices are triggered for a variety of reasons, although a smaller number of layoffs across many units typically does not require it.

A WARN notice is required, for example, when an employer shuts down a facility or operating unit within a single site of employment and lays off at least 50 full-time workers, as well as when an employer lays off 500 or more full-time workers at a single site of employment.

In its last two layoffs, Yahoo issued WARN notices and slashed about 2,500 jobs in total last year, leaving it with about 13,600 employees world-wide at the end of 2008.

But some of Yahoo managers are still leaving on their own.

Many top engineers, for example, have taken jobs of late at Microsoft (MSFT) after the software giant installed a Yahoo tech star, Qi Lu, as its top online exec.

And, BoomTown reported earlier, there have also been numerous departures of key staff recently, including: PR head Jill Nash, Zimbra founder Satish Dharmaraj and soon, high-ranking techie Venkat Panchapakesan.

And more still, it seems.

Yahoo’s VP of Sales Operations Foehner, for example, is headed out after a long stint at the company and is going to Facebook, said several sources inside and outside the company.

On Foehner’s Twitter page, he tweets about a new unnamed job, as well as an athletic endeavor (Foehner is a dedicated triathlete): “back in pleasanton. starting bike adventure on thurs. start new gig on monday. 9 weeks til CdA!”

There is also a lot more movement inside Yahoo, as the reorganization done by Bartz in February shakes out.

Typical of this is Mike Walrath, the high-profile former CEO of Right Media, an online ad exchange snapped up by Yahoo for $720 million in 2007, who is now an advertising-focused SVP at Yahoo.

Now Walrath is moving out from under the purview of Yahoo North America EVP Hilary Schneider and will report to Ari Balogh, EVP of Products and CTO, as all search products seem to be rolling up through his organization. (Both Balogh and Schneider are pictured here.)

While there are other key execs at Yahoo–see this drastically downsized Yahoo management page, which used to be a lot longer–Balogh and Schneider have roughly split the company into two parts, product and engineering for Balogh and the bulk of the content and advertising businesses under Schneider.

Bartz is at the top, of course, and moving parts is not a complete surprise, said one exec, as she gets more control of the company.

“The last reorg was a blunt instrument, so now she is starting to surgically move people around or even out, after seeing what staff can and can’t do and what fat there still is,” said one exec close to the situation.

That’s no small comfort to Yahoo’s reorg-and-layoff-weary staff, especially at its Sunnyvale, Calif., HQ in the heart of Silicon Valley.

When Bartz announced her big reorganization in late February, she declared a moratorium to the endless reorganizations that had plagued the company’s troops for far too many years.

Wrote Bartz in an email to Yahoo employees about her new management lineup:

“I know you guys have reorg fatigue. Hang in there–our intention is to leave this structure in place for two to four years. We’ll continue to make adjustments as needed, but we expect this core structure to stay put.”

Perhaps the core is still solid, but a lot is still quite undefined at Yahoo, as it seeks to right its shaky fortunes.

Here’s an interesting irony–Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz will have her 99th day in office on the very one that the Internet giant will announce its first-quarter earnings: April 21, 2009 at 2 p.m. PST.

Technically, it will mean that she has been running Yahoo (YHOO) for 100 days, a time when most administrations get their first evaluation.

Thus, if it’s good enough for President Obama, it’s good enough for Bartz!

While most expect the results for the quarter to be weak, due to the econalypse, the overall verdict from BoomTown’s needling of Yahoos to give me info on their new leader recently: Love, love, love Bartz’s innate decisiveness, and wanting more of the same.

“She has an opinion and she is not afraid to use it,” joked one high-ranking Yahoo. “That is a big deal for a lot of people here who have wanted a CEO who is very forceful.”

And the only substantive negative: Some remain worried about her lack of Internet savvy, although most of those admit she has been a quick learner as the 100-day mark comes to a close.

In Yahoo’s case, 100 days has a special meaning–when he got his job in late 2007, former Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang declared that he was going to give the troubled company a 100-day evaluation with “no sacred cows.”

The Yang-farmed bovines, as it turned out, just got fatter.

Under Bartz, more have been under the knife, as the hard-charging exec has started to really put her imprint on the company.

She has certainly talked tough since the meet-the-press conference on her very first day on Jan. 13.

Some memorable Bartz quotes were about Yahoo’s immediate needs, in her estimation: “some friggin’ breathing room” and “frankly, [the company] could use a little management.”

That kind of tough-lady, Annie-Get-Your-Gun quote-making has been Bartz’s signature, whether it be in folksy Friday memos she has sent out to staff or at the fourth-quarter earnings call in late January, only weeks into her tenure, when she declared:

“This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens.”

Well, except for the management structure, which Bartz pulled right apart and reshuffled six weeks in.

Cleaning up and simplifying the complex reporting structure in an all-roads-lead-to-Carol set-up and tossing out the CFO were main points of the reorganization. Many at Yahoo expect there to be even more cuts in staff sooner than later, many sources said.

And there have also been departures of key staff, including: PR head Jill Nash, Zimbra founder Satish Dharmaraj and soon, high-ranking techie Venkat Panchapakesan.

Yang too, although he remains on the board, has not been present as much at the company.

Curiously, though, except for the new CMO, Elisa Steele–whose office is powerfully located right next to Bartz, as many Yahoos noted to me–there have been no further appointments for open positions for CFO, a new Customer Advocacy top exec and a new international head. Presumably, they are on the way.

Not that Bartz has not been busy–visiting Yahoo staff and clients all over–as well as finally finding time for a face-to-face meeting with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Silicon Valley recently.

Before the recent meetings, in a classic negotiating tactic, Bartz (pictured here) has projected a disinterested, poker-faced attitude about the situation, even telling Yahoo staff in one meeting “that she plans to spend a lot of time investigating whether to sell Yahoo’s search business, but that her ‘gut’ was not to do that.”

Well, a sale of Yahoo’s search business might not happen, Bartz was only buying a little time in being so confident and projecting the affect that Yahoo had some leverage and a choice.

But that is exactly what she does not really have, given that Yahoo faces the prospect of spiraling costs to maintain a search share, even as it has a good chance of declining.

So, last week, the news–first reported here Friday–that Bartz was involved in preliminary talks with Microsoft (MSFT) about an extensive commercial advertising and search partnership–should have come as almost no surprise.

A re-engagement between the companies, after a bruising takeover battle that ended in tears all around, has been long hoped for by investors and other observers, given that both have struggled against the search behemoth that is Google (GOOG).

(Or, in a nickname that BoomTown is trying unsuccessfully to popularize: Googzilla.)

The talks–which are not about the software giant making another acquisition offer for Yahoo–are ongoing and might not lead anywhere, but it is in both sides’ interest to avoid that outcome.

“Yahoo has to do some kind of deal or Bartz will be facing a decline even she cannot manage,” said one person close to the situation. “And Microsoft, if it wants to compete in search, needs Yahoo’s share along with its own.”

Among the surprisingly innovative ideas being bandied about: Yahoo might take over all of Microsoft’s display and premium advertising business to sell along with its own, while Microsoft would run the search advertising business for the pair.

And, while the discussions could degenerate into chest-pounding and pointless jockeying, one assumes that Bartz gets the idea that Yahoo needs a lot of help–including from some rapprochement with Microsoft, from making its staff even leaner, from streamlining its product focus and from striking other significant partnerships.

Many inside and outside Yahoo certainly hope that spirit–and not the one from this video below of a fabulous scene of Betty Hutton and Howard Keel in the musical classic, “Annie Get Your Gun,” singing “Anything You Can Do”–prevails with Microsoft in the next 100 days.

More moving of the chairs at AOL’s Platform-A.

The Time Warner (TWX) online unit will announce today that Mark Ellis has been promoted to EVP of sales at the advertising division.

He will lead Platform-A’s digital ad sales, sources said, including premium efforts at AOL’s MediaGlow content unit and for its third-party ad network.

It is all part of extensive management reorganization being done by Platform-A President Greg Coleman, former sales head at Yahoo (YHOO).

New CEO and Chairman Tim Armstrong started yesterday and told staff in a memo that even more change was coming, as part of a 100-day effort to evaluate how to revive the online company.

Ellis has been at AOL for a while, most recently as SVP of vertical and product sales. Previously, he worked at sports marketing company IMG, at Quokka Sports, a sports Web site and at Time Inc. as publisher of Time Inc. New Media.

The undoing of previous management of AOL continues at the Time Warner (TWX) online unit with even more reorganization of its Platform-A advertising unit.

Sources said the changes are part of a simplifying of the division, one of three at AOL (the others are communications and content).

Platform-A head Greg Coleman, who used to run ad sales at Yahoo (YHOO) and should know from reorgs, had already done some rejiggering in late February after he arrived.

Coleman–who was hired by former CEO Randy Falco, but will be staying anyway under new head Tim Armstrong–penned a memo about the changes, which went out to staff this morning and is below in its entirety.

Headline: Execs moving in and out of musical chairs and fewer cooks in the kitchen, or “more people on the street selling.”

Here’s the entire memo, after the jump:

To: Platform-A US employees

From: Greg Coleman

Subject line: Organizational announcement

Dear Platform-A colleagues,

At our last All Hands meeting we discussed the need to move quickly to position Platform-A to grow revenues and gain share in today’s tough market. We talked about how we are putting together a plan of action that we can implement quickly, and how we need to move aggressively to better align our sales force, and get more people on the street selling.

Today, we’re announcing the first steps we’re taking to implement this plan.

First, I’m pleased to announce that we’ve named Chris Maccaro VP New York, where he will lead an expanded regional sales team in our largest market. Chris has worked in a variety of roles in his six years at AOL, most recently as VP Property Sales. Prior to that, he was a Regional Sales Director in New York. Chris will be announcing his leadership team and sales structure over the next few weeks. The New York, Boston and Mid-Atlantic offices will report into Mark Ellis on an interim basis. Also, our Toronto office will now report into Rick Simmons and become part of the Midwest Region.

As a part of this realignment, Brent Spitzer will be leaving the company. Brent has made many tremendous contributions to our organization over the past nine years. Please join me in thanking him for everything he’s done for Platform-A and wishing him all the best on his next endeavor.

Next, we will be disbanding of the Property and Category sales teams and realigning many of the talented individuals from those teams into regional sales and other parts of the organization. Both teams were instrumental in providing vertical focus and sales pressure over the past year, but there is a more urgent need now to drive direct advertiser demand and relationships. Our Homepage and Multicultural teams will remain intact and will report to Ron Bernstein.

The Product Sales team will continue to report to Julie Greenhouse but will move under Don Kennedy, as will Ben Trenda who runs Agency Partnerships and Global Alliances. Don will also create a small team of sales specialists who will focus exclusively on driving network revenue through the regional sales teams. Don will be working to build his team and will announce details of his organization in the next few weeks.

We all recognize the need to drive world class customer solutions more effectively and efficiently. To that end, we are creating a new Marketing Solutions organization, which will combine the current Strategy, Marketing and Property Sales Development teams. This new organization will focus on the needs of sales and the customer, and will harness the assets of MediaGlow, the Advertising.com network and our other best-of-breed products. We’re beginning a search for a strong leader to run the Marketing Solutions organization. We are also beginning a search for a highly credentialed Research Director to support sales. In the interim, Doug Boccia, Aleck Schleider and Blake Pierson will report to Mark Ellis. Anne Hunter and her ADlytics team will now report into Peter Ban and the Business Intelligence organization.

We are not planning any near-term structural changes in our Account Management organization. This team is critical to our success in scaling revenue, and it has risen to the occasion throughout the integration of Platform-A and our migration to ADTECH.

I realize that these are widespread changes, but they are necessary for us to succeed. There will be a transition period of several weeks where we will provide more structural clarity and displaced individuals will be able to interview for open positions.

I can’t tell you how encouraged and excited I am about the progress we are making and what we’re going to accomplish at Platform-A. These changes are the first steps in moving forward to build a world-class sales organization.

Greg

I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name/It felt good to be out of the rain/In the desert you can remember your name/’cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.

Actually, for Yahoo (YHOO), which is holding its big annual meeting of the company’s advertising sales staff in Indian Wells, Calif., maybe just a little pain since BoomTown is only a scant few miles away, as the crow flies, attending the Demo09 conference in Palm Desert.

Don’t worry, Yahoo PR, I will not crash the proceedings or be bribing the bartenders to get more leaks. But you Yahoos should still be careful with the wine in the hot tub anyway–as Carol says, loose lips sink ships!

The gathering–to which Yahoos were greeted at Palm Springs Airport by purple Yahoo-capped greeters and were ferried to the Marriott’s Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa via limos, according to many Demo attendees who ran right into the phalanx–is being run by Yahoo sales head Joanne Bradford.

Bradford has the unenviable task of selling into the weak ad market and driving sales, despite a very troubled economy and a company trying to claw its way back to stability. And, of course, getting Yahoo’s much buffeted sales staff jazzed up to do so.

Bradford will be helped in inspiring Yahoo’s large sales staff with what is sure to be a cussing-good appearance by CEO Carol Bartz.

Just last week, Bartz announced a massive reorganization of the company’s management to streamline it and make decision-making quicker.

“She thinks it critical she be there to get the troops excited,” said a Yahoo in the know.

Ye-haw!

How much do I wish I were there to see that performance? Much! (Except for the part in which I would be thrown out on my keester by Bartz herself, despite my plan to disguise myself by wearing all the Yahoo swag I have collected over the years.)

Instead, I am riveted to the goings on here at Demo. Right now, for example, I am watching an it’s-always-darkest-before-the-dawn session with venture investors on the dire economic situation, and about to see a new “touch book” computer.

Video of that and more, of course, to come.

Goodness gracious, make it stop!

You must know by now how much BoomTown loves internal Yahoo (YHOO) memos. But this is getting ridiculous.

It’s been like a flash flood after a long drought at Sunnyvale HQ today, as Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz turns on the fire hose of a whole lot of communicating.

A lot. A real lot.

“I know you guys have reorg fatigue,” wrote Bartz, in the latest email to employees about the management reorganization finally announced this morning.

Also memo fatigue at All Things Digital HQ, if you can believe it.

Okay, I give, Carol! Well, for now, until another juicy internal memo you aren’t handing out freely lands in my inbox, for example, such as one about a search deal with Microsoft (MSFT). I’d like one of those to go, please!

But, in a gesture of a leak-free peace (can the drop-kick bounty be suspended for just today?), I am posting this last memo about the management reorganization from Carol “Chatterbox” Bartz.

(Although, I wish she would stop insulting the press, as she does below again. We are just doing our job–and very accurately, as it turned out–yet the jibes continue. Which is odd, frankly, given that Bartz has had mostly glowing coverage in the media her entire career.)

But Bartz did seem to leave a little mystery in the email still, as if even more rearranging were to come.

Writes Bartz (my bolding):

“As soon as decisions were made, I wanted you to know about them–even if that means we don’t have all the details nailed down yet”.

Wait, are the deets all nailed by Bartz’s productive hammer or aren’t they?

At least, thankfully, the note is capitalized properly, unlike the quaint no-caps stylings of former CEO Jerry Yang.

In any case, if you just can’t get enough, here is Bartz’s reorg blog from this morning and her new management structure memo too.

And here is her entire email on the reorg to employees:

From: Carol Bartz
Reply-To: Carol Bartz
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:02:49 -0800
To: “all-worldwide@yahoo-inc.com”
Subject: Our New Organization

Yahoos,

As I’ve gotten to know Yahoo! over the past several weeks, I’ve developed a point of view on how our organization should be structured to set us up for success.

Our goal is simple: to consistently deliver awesome consumer and advertiser experiences, everywhere in the world we do business. Delivering great customer experiences is everyone’s job at Yahoo!–and each part of our organization will have a clear role in making that happen every day.

The timing of this announcement is important. As soon as decisions were made, I wanted you to know about them–even if that means we don’t have all the details nailed down yet. Yes, there’s been a lot of speculation in the media over the past few days…that’s been a little frustrating, but I’m not willing to speak publicly about decisions before they’re final. Today, they are–so I’ll lay out our new organizational structure for you now.

I know you guys have reorg fatigue. Hang in there–our intention is to leave this structure in place for two to four years. We’ll continue to make adjustments as needed, but we expect this core structure to stay put.

The structure outlined below will enable us to make big improvements in our product quality and operational efficiency. Part of that is simplicity–I’m frankly amazed at how complicated some things are here! We’ll have much clearer decision making and accountability. Product and regional teams will share responsibility for revenue targets and expense management, but we’ll have one P&L, for which I’m accountable.

We will also be in a better position to really listen to and understand our customers–both consumers and advertisers. I think we’ve gotten into the habit of focusing internally too much and we sometimes forget who we’re here to serve. You’ll notice that our management structure puts a renewed focus on the customer, with stronger feedback loops across the company…and they all come through me.

Also, as you know, no organizational structure is a substitute for collaboration, communication and trust. We’ll all need to evolve our behavior a bit–as teams and as individuals – to make this structure work the way it’s designed.

So here’s the overview, with the roles that will report directly to me. As you’ll see, some of our leaders are still to be determined. I know you’ll
want more detail than what’s below–you can learn more on Backyard: http://backyard.yahoo.com/ourorg .

Products: We’ve combined Tech and Product groups under one roof, led by Ari Balogh as EVP Products & CTO. Ari’s charter is to deliver global products that enable extraordinary consumer and advertiser experiences. Ari’s direct reports now include one leader for each product group–we’ve taken care of the “two in a box” problem.

One important note: The Connected Life team has been integrated into various parts of the new organization. Our mobile strategy remains a key part of Yahoo!’s focus going forward and all of our product groups will own mobile innovations. After leading Connected Life for four years, Marco Boerries has resigned from the company to spend more time with his family in Europe. We thank Marco for his important contributions at Yahoo!.

Regions: There are now two: North America and International. As I’ve said before, international growth is critical for Yahoo!, which has become too reliant on its U.S. business over the years.

The regions deliver Yahoo!’s products, programming and services to consumers, partners and advertisers in local markets. They will partner closely with the newly formed Regional Solutions & Products group in Ari’s organization to help drive a significant shift in how Yahoo! develops products for different geographies. The goal is to have global platforms on which regional product offerings are based.

The North American region–comprised of the U.S. and Canada–is led by Hilary Schneider. The leader of our International region, to be hired soon, will be responsible for a cohesive Yahoo! global strategy and seizing our international growth opportunities. Until we determine who’ll lead the International region, Rose Tsou (Asia), Rich Riley (Europe) and Keith Nilsson (Emerging Markets) will continue to report to me.

Marketing: Elisa Steele will be joining Yahoo! as our Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), effective March 23. Elisa joins us from NetApp where she was SVP, Corporate Marketing. Previous to NetApp, she held executive positions in marketing at Sun Microsystems. Elisa will oversee our global marketing strategy and provide direction for our marketing function. She’ll bring together the various Yahoo! marketing teams that have been spread across the company. Reporting into Elisa will be Brand Marketing, Audience Marketing, Corporate Communications, Insights, Policy & Privacy, Community Affairs and related central teams. I’m delighted to have Elisa joining the team.

Customer Advocacy: As I said, we can do much better in hearing the voice of the customer across Yahoo!, and incorporating what we hear into all of our work day-to-day. We have opened a search for a leader, who will oversee Customer Care and Ad Operations globally with the goal of improving how we support Yahoo!’s users and advertisers. In the interim, these teams will continue to report to Hilary.

Service Engineering & Operations: This new team is responsible for delivering common technology services at scale, including application management and infrastructure. No matter how cool our products are, the customer’s experience won’t be great unless our applications consistently deliver. Note that we’re bringing Service Engineering together as one group because these engineers bring expertise that is best applied horizontally. Leading this organization is David Dibble, who joined Yahoo! in December. David’s team also will be accountable for delivering more effective corporate IT systems.

Corporate Functions: Blake Jorgensen will be leaving Yahoo! and I am searching for a new CFO. Blake will remain through a transition with his successor, and I want to thank Blake for all of his great contributions to Yahoo! over the past two years. Mike Callahan will continue to lead our Legal team, and David Windley leads our Human Resources function. Joel Jones joins the team as my Chief of Staff.

So that’s the high-level view. These changes are effective immediately, but we’ve got more work to do in filling out the structure of each group. In the short term, this transition will be challenging for many of our people. My executive staff will be working with their organizations as quickly as possible to create further clarity. For example, we’ll need to recast budgets and adjust work areas so we have the right people working side-by-side.

I want to thank all of you who’ve shared your ideas and views with me since I arrived. Several leaders across Yahoo! came together to design this new structure–I’ve been very impressed with their dedication to the right outcomes, particularly how they’ve embraced the need to eliminate the silos that have been a drag on this organization for so long.

I think this organizational structure has the potential to solve many of the issues you’ve helped me better understand. Of course, new issues will emerge. But I know we’ll be aligned and nimble in tackling them together.

This is a tremendous, proud company with a powerful brand, great products and a bright future. Now’s the time to get more focused than ever on delighting our users and advertisers. Let’s show them how great Yahoo! can be.

Carol

It’s pretty much what BoomTown has been reporting all week about the reorg.

Top-down simplification, which is another word for: Carol rules over Yahoo (YHOO).

CTO Ari Balogh gets a lot of stuff as new head of products, and so does U.S. head Hilary Schneider, including mobile, as EVP of North American Region. Both report to Bartz.

Unmentioned, but Audience Products head Ash Patel is still in. So is General Counsel Michael Callahan.

New chief marketing officer is Elisa Steele, who come from NetApps (NTAP). Bartz happens to be on the board of NetApps, by the way.

New International head TBD.

Bartz also sent an email to employees about the changes.

Here is the entire memo:

New Yahoo! Management Structure Overview

February 26, 2009

· Our goal as a company is simple: to consistently deliver awesome consumer and advertiser experiences everywhere in the world we do business. So we’re creating an organization to enable improvements in our product quality and operational efficiency, as well as clear decision making and accountability.

· Tech and Product groups will be combined to create a single organization called Products. Products will be led by Ari Balogh as EVP of Products and CTO, reporting to Carol Bartz, with the goal of enabling extraordinary consumer experiences tied to compelling advertiser and publisher offerings. This organization is responsible for the vision, strategy, and quality of every product we create–regardless of region, device format or category.

· There are now two regions–North America and International. The regions are responsible for delivering Yahoo!’s products, programming and services to consumers, partners and advertisers in local markets. North America will be led by Hilary Schneider, EVP, North American Region, reporting to Carol Bartz. International’s leader will be hired soon.

. Mobile will continue to be a key priority for Yahoo!. Going forward, David Ko will lead the mobile business, strategy and monetization teams for Yahoo! (Head of Global Mobile Business, reporting to Hilary Schneider). All of our product teams will be responsible for incorporating mobile innovations into their products.

· A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role has been created to oversee our global marketing strategy and provide direction for our marketing function. Today, we named our new CMO, Elisa Steele. Elisa starts on March 23. She will bring together the various marketing teams that have been spread across the company.

· A new Customer Advocacy group will help us to better hear the voice of the customer (consumers/advertisers) across the company and incorporate what we hear into all our work throughout Yahoo!. We will hire a new leader for this team.

· The newly created Service Engineering & Operations (SE&O) team will be chartered with delivering common technology services at scale, including application management and infrastructure. The team will be led by David Dibble, SVP of SE&O. We’re bringing Service Engineering together as one group because these engineers bring expertise that is best applied horizontally.

· Our corporate functions will consist of HR led by David Windley, Legal led by Michael Callahan, and our CFO is to be hired, with Blake Jorgensen remaining through the transition. Joel Jones will serve as Carol Bartz’s chief of staff.

· This structure is designed to last two to four years; however, we’ll continue to make adjustments as needed. But we expect this core structure will stay in place.

· These changes become effective immediately.

Here is her entire memo:

Getting our house in order

Posted February 26th, 2009 at 9:16 am by Carol Bartz, CEO

A month and a half in the saddle and today I have the perfect excuse to get blogging.

I’ve been on a whirlwind tour for the last six weeks, talking with everybody from executive leaders to the guys who configured my laptop. I’ve been in student mode, slowly getting smarter about what makes this place tick. And most recently, I’ve been gathering information on what it’s going to take to get Yahoo! to a great place as an organization–and one that brings you killer products.

People here have impressed the hell out of me. They’re smart, dedicated, passionate, driven, and really nice. There’s so much great energy and frankly lots of optimism. But there’s also plenty that has bogged this company down. For starters, you’d be amazed at how complicated some things are here.

So today I’m rolling out a new management structure that I believe will make Yahoo! a lot faster on its feet. For us working at Yahoo!, it means everything gets simpler. We’ll be able to make speedier decisions, the notorious silos are gone, and we have a renewed focus on the customer. For you using Yahoo! every day, it will better enable us to deliver products that make you say, “Wow.”

I’ve noticed that a lot of us on the inside don’t spend enough time looking to the outside. That’s why I’m creating a new Customer Advocacy group. After getting a lot of angry calls at my office from frustrated customers, I realized we could do a better job of listening to and supporting you. Our Customer Care team does an incredible job with the amazing number of people who come to them, but they need better resources. So we’re investing in that. After all, you deserve the very best.

We’re also leaning on this team to make sure we’re all hearing the voice of our customers (consumers and advertisers). I’m singularly focused on providing you with awesome products. Period. The kind that get you so excited, you have to tell someone about them. Whether on your desktop, your mobile device, or even your TV.

And that takes a real understanding of what you want/need/love/hate, how you’re using our products, and what you find simple, intuitive, easy and fun. Who wants innovation for innovation’s sake if it doesn’t make your life easier, more efficient, more productive? So expect us to hear you better and take better care of you.

Finally, a note about our brand. It’s one of our biggest assets. Mention Yahoo! practically anywhere in the world, and people yodel. But in the past few years, we haven’t been as clear in showing the world what the Yahoo! brand stands for. We’re going to change that. Look for this company’s brand to kick ass again.

Big thanks to the many of you who’ve reached out with positive comments. It’s clear people want Yahoo! to succeed. I’ll try to pop by here again soon, though probably not too soon. I have a pretty long to-do list.

Carol Bartz

CEO

“It’s being changed every minute,” joked one Yahoo source about the reorg now in process at Yahoo, which is being shepherded by new CEO Carol Bartz.

Actually, it’s kind of true, as execs at the troubled Web company are being moved around the board like chess pieces, while other players are added.

According to numerous sources, mostly in Yahoo’s Sunnyvale, Calif. HQ, things are still in flux and not completely settled as yet.

But one thing is clear: Layers are being collapsed quickly, as fewer people are in charge of more, with all roads leading to Bartz.

Here’s the current lay of the land, in what is fast becoming Carol Country at Yahoo (YHOO):

Ari, Ari, Ari!

As BoomTown reported earlier this week, it looks like CTO Ari Balogh will be the biggest winner in the management restructuring, getting to ride herd over the entire product organization, both development and technology.

Most interesting is that Audience Product head and longtime Yahoo veteran Ash Patel is still staying–at this point at least–and report to Balogh (Patel had previously reported directly to outgoing President Sue Decker).

Many at Yahoo think Patel will eventually leave, even if he is not out in the current set-up.

But, if he stays, Patel will apparently focus more on product architecture, if he does remain, which is kind of the purview of Venkat Panchapakesan, EVP of the Audience Technology Group, who already reports to Balogh.

Superman exec Ari will surely sort it all out!

In this scenario, Front Doors head Tapan Bhat could get more product development responsibility, especially since media product development is being moved centrally under Patel.

Hilary Gets More Stuff

As someone perceived internally as a favorite of Decker, U.S. head Hilary Schneider seems to be scoring anyway.

She’ll run a new U.S. division, with media head Jeff Dossett under her, as well as advertising sales head Joanne Bradford.

Some Yahoos, though, think Bradford could report directly to Bartz, given her purview is the most important part of Yahoo’s business.

Schneider will also apparently get a much diminished Connected Life unit, which focuses on mobile and other devices, after the departure of its longtime head Marco Boerries.

I posted news of his leaving earlier today, which now means that part of Yahoo will not stand on its own as a separate fiefdom.

Who Is Joel Jones?

Indeed. Yahoo’s current VP of corporate strategy and former McKinsey consultant, Joel Jones (pictured here), is one of the nominees to be tapped to be Bartz’s chief of staff.

In the new, more centralized organization that Bartz is obviously creating, that will be much more than a bag-carrying role, to be sure.

“Joel is as sharp as they come,” said one former Yahoo. Sharp enough to help Bartz negotiate with Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer?

No news on a possibly COO for Bartz, but she is getting a chief marketing officer to head up the brand and PR functions. Many are suggesting an exec like Pepsi-Cola North America interactive marketing exec John Vail, as I have previously reported, although Yahoo brand exec Allen Olivo is the internal candidate.

Also apparently staying for now is another Decker favorite, CFO Blake Jorgensen.

More to come!

A few weeks ago, BoomTown got a rather compelling email from Marion Vermazen, who once worked at Sun Microsystems with new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz.

Sun (JAVA) was one of the many companies where Bartz was an exec, before heading Autodesk (ADSK) and, now, Yahoo (YHOO)–and where Bartz actually fired Vermazen.

Her take on the experience?

“Amazing,” said Vermazen, whose last name was Brown at the time, given how Bartz handled it herself–driving 30 minutes to Vermazen’s office–in a very straightforward way that made the pain of the firing easier.

In other words, a kinder, classier Donald Trump “Apprentice” style, but without the cameras and bad hair.

It’s instructive, given that Bartz is likely to have to give several big Yahoo execs the heave-ho in the days ahead as she unveils her new management structure soon.

(By the way, though big change is a-coming, Yahoo sources said that Bartz will not be making a noisy announcement about her reorganization. Instead, she apparently will just do it–letting the internal memos leak, presumably–and move on to “putting some points on the board” before talking publicly.)

In any case, here’s Vermazen’s email, which she said I could post. She sent it to me after some pieces I did about Bartz’s take-charge style (also, you can see the now-retired Vermazen’s blog here):

This all sounds very familiar. 20+ years ago I was in the service organization at Sun when Bartz took over. In a staff meeting of the Service directors, she said that if we didn’t get our act together we’d be gone. I was in way over my head and a couple of weeks later she came to my office for a meeting with me and told me that I was being replaced. She said they weren’t going to take me out and shoot me, but that I would no longer be managing the software support group. I have enormous respect for her that she told me this to my face in my office. Most executives would have had HR do it or whatever. She is an amazing person.”

On Friday, BoomTown first reported that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz is likely to be announcing a sweeping new management structure soon, which can only mean the possibility that some existing top execs are likely to be broomed out, even as some new ones are ushered in.

“This is going to be a full-scale peanut butter recall,” joked one exec, referring to the infamous “Peanut Butter Manifesto,” which was sent around the company several years ago by former exec Brad Garlinghouse. It laid bare the problems at Yahoo (YHOO), most especially a decided lack of decision-making and lugubrious levels of managers.

But the reorganization of Yahoo’s top-heavy management structures–I once dubbed it the “attack of the Yahoo vice presidents”–will be a bit sticky, given all the (slow-)moving parts at Yahoo (YHOO).

Nonetheless, Bartz signaled a “big week” ahead in one internal memo I obtained, which was sent out Friday.

So what’s to come?

Here’s a rough primer, based on talking to numerous sources inside and outside of Yahoo:

The Basics:

In order to start to revive Yahoo, Bartz is likely to impose a more top-down management style on the hopelessly confusing “matrix” organization now in place at the company.

She has spent the last six weeks touring Yahoo, getting to see a lot of presentations on its many, many products and conducting a whirlwind of meetings with execs.

Broadly, most expect Bartz to severely roll back a variety of previous reorganizations done by former CEO Jerry Yang and outgoing President Sue Decker, in order to impose more centralized control over the place and focus it more narrowly.

Presumably, lattes–paid for by Yang and co-founder David Filo–will remain free.

Out With the Old:

There’s no question that Yahoo is going to see the departure of several top execs, along with the elevation of others.

Among those who are more likely to be definitely in, though, is CTO Ari Balogh (pictured here), a relatively recent hire who has been a popular exec within Yahoo.

The Wall Street Journal first noted the possible rise of Balogh in a follow-up piece to this column’s story on the overall reorg over the weekend, noting that he would become head of product.

Presumably, Balogh will be one of the point men on what to do about search, in the should-I-stay-or-should-I-sell-now debate that never seems to end at Yahoo.

One interesting idea floating around Yahoo is that he becomes head of all its products, as well as continuing to run its tech arm.

That’s a good idea, since Yahoo has desperately needed an empowered leader under Bartz, who focuses like a laser beam on products.

“It all starts with that,” said one former exec. “One single person has to be the champion of what Yahoo makes.”

But what does that mean for Ash Patel, EVP of Yahoo’s Audience Product Division? Well, the longtime Yahoo veteran could now report to Balogh (he had previously reported to Decker directly) or, presumably, leave.

Patel’s fate, of course, impacts that of many others, such as Front Doors head Tapan Bhat, who is in charge of a major homepage redesign that Bartz just delayed the launch of to make it better.

Venkat Panchapakesan, EVP of the Audience Technology Group, seems safer, given that he reports to Balogh already and is responsible for the company’s overall product technology and platform strategy, such as its open efforts.

Also safer than not is General Counsel Michael Callahan, as well as U.S. EVP Hilary Schneider.

But Schneider’s purview might change a bit if U.S. advertising sales head Joanne Bradford–who now reports to her–is elevated to a higher position or if sales is taken out from under Schneider.

It’s not a stretch to imagine Bartz wanting more control of the part of Yahoo that brings in the bucks.

The fate of Connected Life Division EVP Marco Boerries is dicier–think Yahoo mobile and other devices–as it is for CFO Blake Jorgensen and David Windley, who heads human resources.

Both Jorgensen and Windley were favored by Decker, which does not necessarily make them goners. But both are in jobs on which Bartz will have to rely much more, so she might want her own choices in place.

Boerries (pictured here), a talented but more freewheeling exec under Yang, is another question all together. Already wealthy from selling several companies, the entrepreneurial exec is most often mentioned by sources as someone unlikely to stick around, especially if Bartz tries to rein him in more. (In addition, Boerries has family issues requiring that he spend a lot of time in his native Germany.)

As to the many Yahoo SVPs and VPs? Let’s just say it is likely there will be many fewer of them, as Bartz cuts, consolidates, simplifies and centralizes divisions more.

In With the New:

One hire that is definitely coming is a new chief of marketing to take over Yahoo’s brand, as well as its PR function. Yahoo has not had that kind of powerful exec in a long time, and it is more likely Bartz will go for an outside star here.

One outside name skittering around Yahoo for the role is John Vail (pictured here), director of interactive marketing for Pepsi-Cola North America, who knows Yahoo well.

(An obvious internal candidate for the job would be Yahoo’s Global Brand Marketing SVP, Allen Olivo, who could hit the road if not selected.)

Also a possibility is adding a COO with more Web experience to come in to help Bartz. There are plenty of candidates for that job all over the Internet sector.

But Bartz seems to be the kind of exec who favors flying solo and having key execs report to her to keep a finger on the pulse of a company. She is most definitely not going to have an entourage around her.

In fact, said one person familiar with the situation: “It’s long past time for new plumbing, and [Bartz] seems ready to flush a lot out that has long needed to go.”

Besides the more massive management reorganization that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz could announce this week, as BoomTown reported on Friday, the Internet company’s powerful media arm might also see a drastic shift in management structure even sooner.

According to several sources inside the company, U.S. Audience SVP Jeff Dossett (pictured here) has been working on the changes for a while, part of an overall change in how Yahoo (YHOO) makes and delivers content. The new organization could be announced this week too.

Under a plan being considered, the media unit will be split into three parts: Vertical programming, network programming and search monetization.

It is not clear under this new set-up if Yahoo will keep its more traditional structure of having powerful general managers, each in charge of its big properties.

But that seems likely to be scaled back, at the very least, since the shift in management comes after some major recent changes in the way content is made, as was also reported here last week.

Already, the media group’s product development for all its major properties–such as News, Sports and Finance–is set to be moved to a central global product development organization at Yahoo’s HQ in Sunnyvale, Calif.

Until now, such development has been mostly done by individual media properties, many of which are located down south, in Santa Monica.

The argument for the shift posits that centralizing the product development of a Yahoo media offering drives efficiencies, saves money, eliminates redundancies and accelerates growth across the world.

Those who do not like the idea think it is wrong to separate the development of a product from the programming because the two are intricately dependent and need to be tweaked delicately.

Dossett will remain overall head of media efforts, but there is a lot of speculation inside the group about who will head the three new parts of media unit. But that is still being worked out by Dossett and his boss, U.S. head Hilary Schneider, and is still not decided.

But several inside sources said that vertical programming is probably a lock to roll up under current Sports GM Jimmy Pitaro.

Former “60 Minutes” producer and News GM Neeraj Khemlani seems be the most likely candidate to head network programming, but that is not yet complete.

And Tim Mayer–who is now VP of search monetization and distribution–would probably remain in his job, with perhaps even more monetization duties added.

Several sources inside and outside Yahoo told BoomTown that new Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz could be ready to announce a major reorganization of its management structure as early as next week, most likely on Wednesday.

While that shift could be pushed out a week or two or rolled out in pieces, Yahoo (YHOO) execs are nervously awaiting the moves by Bartz to put a new regime in place in order to more easily power through a massive reset of the troubled company.

Interestingly, many top execs are very much in the dark about what Bartz will do since she manages very close to the vest, mostly moving around Yahoo with only her longtime executive assistant in tow.

Thankfully, she also loves to write detailed memos to the staff, and she signaled the “big week” ahead in one Boomtown just obtained (see here) that was sent out today.

Those are code words for reorg, according to many sources I spoke to, coming after Bartz has spent a lot of time visiting many parts of Yahoo and conducting a whirlwind of meetings with execs.

I will be posting my Heidi-Klum-you’re-in-and-out predictions of the fate of various execs later this weekend.

But broadly, most expect Bartz to severely roll back a variety of previous reorganizations done by former CEO Jerry Yang and former President Sue Decker.

That will mean many top execs will likely be quite out–already, Decker’s chief of staff, Jeff McCombs, has quietly departed the company, several sources said–while others will be elevated.

Most sources I spoke to who have interfaced with Bartz think she will likely go with a more traditional and more accountable structure like the one she employed while rehauling Autodesk (ADSK), the computer-aided design software company she once headed, rather than the matrix-tangled Yahoo.

A change in how Yahoo makes media, which I wrote about today and was approved by Bartz, is a classic globally-centered development organization. (By the way, a significant reorg of the media organization, headed by Jeff Dossett, is also set for next week, said sources.)

Thus, most expect Bartz to do a C-level-style set-up, with execs like a COO, CTO and a new, more powerful CMO (who will also head PR), all reporting to her.

In addition, several suggested she might also junk a recent reorg that split the world into four regions. Instead, one exec could head the U.S., where most of Yahoo’s current business is, and one head international efforts.

Whatever happens, it’s clear that “Hurricane Carol”–a nickname she has been given by some employees in admiration–is getting ready to blow right through Yahoo.

Batten down the hatches–more to come…

How much does BoomTown love the Friday weekly memos that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz sends out to the troops?

Very, very much since they are so full of significant news–a slowdown of Yahoo’s homepage redesign and a major limiting of the global rollout of its new advertising platform, APT, to name a few.

But they also have a weird but compelling kind of energy that nearly jumps off the page, giving clear insight into how Bartz thinks and operates.

Like the Energizer Bunny, I would say.

Here are two memos Bartz sent out to Yahoo (YHOO) staff, one from today and one from last week on Feb. 13, both of which discuss just how busy she is keeping herself.

This past week, for example, Bartz spent the weekend with advertisers and partners at the AT&T golf tournament in Pebble Beach, after which she threw some serious love in the direction of U.S. sales head Joanne Bradford and gave the advertising minions under her an A+.

Bartz also cheerily admits with a “whatever” that a “Brand Pride Memo,” which a Yahoo marketing exec asked her to rename in case it leaked–oops!–from last week (see below), was still a list of Yahoo embarrassments.

And she is headed to Europe in April, followed by Asia TBD, although this weekend, a husband-free Bartz is catching up on chick flicks–might I suggest, “He’s Just Not That Into You”–and resting up for the “big week” ahead.

That’s Bartz’s coy term for her massive reorganization of management, which is slated, many sources tell me, to be announced Wednesday. (See my post on that here.)

Last week, was much more newsworthy, as Bartz did a lot of business unit and product reviews–reportedly scaring the bejeesus out of staff who had to present–because, she said, they had not been done in a dog’s age at Yahoo.

Stressing a “need for speed” in the decision-making process at Yahoo and a “WOW” experience for users, Bartz seems to be whirling through Yahoo like Mr. Clean’s white tornado.

As BoomTown reported this week (correctly, Tapan!), for example, Metro–the Yahoo homepage redo–was delayed by her “until we feel it will be a great product for our users.”

Bartz then said she had decreed that ads were to be taken out of mail products in emerging markets, which will mean a drop in revenue (probably minuscule), but make for a better customer experience.

Most significantly, she also limited the global rollout of APT, Yahoo’s new advertising system, which was much touted by previous Yahoo management, to just the U.S. and one other country in order to “perfect” it.

This is a polite way of saying it is buggier than an Amazon jungle.

And, my favorite and hers: Bartz wrote that “we are assembling a list of products that we are embarrassed about for various reasons so we can make the important decision as to whether we fix them or discontinue them.”

Speaking of curdling, and to keep up the kooky quotient, Bartz also thanked Texas Yahoos for something called “Purple Cowboy wine,” as well as employees in Oshkosh, Wis., for cheese curds.

Then, it was off to make Valentines with her ubiquitous assistant, Judy Flores, after which she was set to do some major kissing up to ad customers at that golf tournament (not her strong suit, apparently, as it had been former Yahoo CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang’s).

But, experience the full-Carol yourself in the two entire memos below:

February 20:

My week started last Friday down at the AT&T golf tournament where we hosted many of our important U.S. customers and partners. I thought I’d use this week’s note to give you some impressions:

First, I really want to congratulate Joanne Bradford’s team for hosting and running a first-class event. I know many of you in the company have absolutely no idea what happens in our regions or what salespeople do for a living (in fact, my past history has shown me that the way most engineers perceive salespeople is as lightweight, backslapping meeters and greeters). In fact, I’m delighted to report that Yahoo! has an A+ sales team. I watched them in action with customers such as Pepsi–it was clear they had the respect and trust of the customer and represented all of us Yahoos very well. It was very interesting to learn how creative our salespeople are in helping our clients devise interesting and profitable campaigns. I received a lot of compliments about how well-supported these customers and partners felt. Likewise, it was very clear to me that they support Yahoo! in return and very much want us to succeed.

Hey, that doesn’t mean they think we’re perfect! They had several ideas about our products and how we could do better, especially in this tough economic environment. This plays right into our focus on excellence and great products.

Last week I told you we were going to have our first pass at deciding which products embarrass us as a company. Kudos to Allen Olivo and his team for worrying that one of you might leak my email, so instead he called it the “Brand Pride List.” Whatever, the point is still important and we had a great discussion on which products to stop and which to make a lot better. More to follow…

I realize this is a very U.S.-centric message but that’s because I spent three days with U.S. customers. Just wait until I blow through Europe in April–I’ll be sharing all sorts of European goodies with you! And yes, I am going to Asia as well–we just haven’t settled on the date yet.

My husband is out of town this weekend, so I’m looking forward to watching all the “chick flicks” that he refuses to watch with me. I hope you all have a fun weekend. Get well-rested, because next week’s a biggie.

Carol

February 13:

A great illustration of my need for speed.

Had a big staff meeting this week. We spent all day Monday and Tuesday reviewing our strategies and major products on both the audience and advertising sides. It was a great introduction for me and even an eye-opener for the entire team when they realized that many of these strategies and products hadn’t been delved into in a long time (a big thanks to all the presenters who worked so hard):

· We talked a lot about the importance of having a WOW experience for all of our users around the world. As an example, we are delaying the launch of Metro until we feel it will be a great product for our users.

· Similarly, we discovered that we are losing mail share to the competition in many slower-bandwidth, emerging markets so we have made a decision to remove mail ads in those countries to improve the user experience. This will mean a drop in revenue for us but it’s the right thing to do strategically.

· We have also decided to “perfect” APT! in the US and only one international market before we roll it out globally.

· And finally, my favorite–we are assembling a list of products that we are embarrassed about for various reasons so we can make the important decision as to whether we fix them or discontinue them.

What does this have to do with the need for speed? Many of the things I just talked about could have and should have been decided earlier but we haven’t been an organization that has embraced the need for speedy decisions, even when they are the tough ones. We can all be part of changing this and getting back to an organization that is fast on its feet.

On a personal note, thanks to Team Texas Sales for the Purple Cowboy wine and the Care Center Service Desk in Oshkosh for the Wisconsin bag of goodies–my favorite were the cheese curds!

Judy and I went to URLs today and made Valentine’s for our sweeties–everybody remember yours so we can all have a big Yahoo! Valentine’s Day. I’m off to Pebble Beach tomorrow to meet, entertain and play golf with some of our biggest customers. Actually, it’s a great strategy because normally you have to “let” the customer win–fortunately, this is not a problem for me!

Carol

Today, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has convened a two-day offsite of its managers, to bring them all together to talk about the company.

Aside from a colorful all-hands meeting she held with the whole company, the gathering is Bartz’s first major one of its top execs, sources said, and is being held on Yahoo’s campus in Sunnyvale.

Sources said they believe Bartz has prepared an organizational structure that she will unveil soon, but has not told Yahoo’s senior staff what will be shifted, what will be consolidated and what will perhaps be cut.

Her close-to-the-vest style so far, especially about her reorganization, is what has Yahoo (YHOO) execs on edge, given it is clear to those who have spoken to her that change is surely coming.

Several people inside and outside the company who have spoken with her said she has indicated that Yahoo is still overstaffed and needs to get leaner and meaner, while others said she has expressed concern about the complex decision-making process.

Today’s offsite with top staff is a shift from Bartz’s getting-to-know-’Hoo efforts since she got to Yahoo a month ago, which have largely been her meeting execs one-on-one or dropping into various staff meetings and, from all reports I have gotten so far, asking very pointed questions.

So far, it has been Bartz flying solo, with no entourage or staff, except for her executive assistant, Judy Flores, who came with Bartz from Autodesk.

“Wherever Carol goes, Judy goes,” said one exec. “But that’s it.”

And as she goes, Bartz has let loose with a lot of questions.

“She is asking the right ones, although the tone is much more tough than employees are used to,” said one Yahoo exec.

That’s the polite version, of course, with some at Yahoo reeling from Bartz’s laser-gun queries and some thrilled that those kinds of tough questions are finally being asked out loud.

“She doesn’t seem to know the current state of the Internet business that well, but she does know how to whip a company into shape,” said another exec. “It can be a little disconcerting for those Web heads at the company to get that kind of scrutiny.”

At a recent smaller meeting of top execs, for example, Bartz went around the table and asked what each did, making comments as it went on.

Two execs were a “two-in-one box,” meaning they did the same thing, to her mind. And she had to get well around the room until she could find someone who made some dough. “Finally, revenue,” Bartz reportedly joked.

Bartz has already displayed that no-holds-barred style in public, tsk-tsking those who give Yahoo unsolicited advice and offering bounties for those employees who leak info.

(BoomTown’s personal favorite from the Bartz repertoire so far: “This is not a company that needs to be pulled apart and left for the chickens.”)

Pulling apart Yahoo internally and remaking it is another story. That’s why the company is practically humming with gossip about what will happen to a variety of execs–especially those close to the former regime of co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang and President Sue Decker.

More on the possible management shifts later…