Yahoo was once a giant in the internet world, experiencing rapid growth and soaring stock prices after being founded in 1994. But currently Yahoo is struggling against fierce competitors such as Google and Facebook. It was clear to their Board of Directors and shareholders that radical change was necessary in order for Yahoo to remain competitive. In 2012 former Google executive Marissa Mayer was named as the new CEO.

Since joining Yahoo, Mayer has not been shy or hesitant about bringing about change. This has included the purchase of over 20 companies, banning teleworking, strict new hiring policies, and clashes with other senior executives and shareholders. The results so far have been mixed, with some observers saying her hard-nosed approach is what is needed for a struggling company like Yahoo and others saying that her style is overbearing and unnecessarily harsh.

After you have reviewed the background materials on managing change and finished your research on Marissa Mayer, write a five-page paper addressing the following issues. Make sure to cite both required background readings such as Avery (2004) or Luthans, et al. (2015) as well as specific articles on Marissa Mayer such as Quinn (2014) or Cook (2013) in your paper:

Overall, how would you describe Marissa Mayer’s approach to leadership? Discuss her leadership style the best you can in terms of being a charismatic leader, a transformational leader, and/or a transactional leader. Draw upon the definitions of these types of leadership from the background readings and discuss them as they apply to Marissa Mayer. What do you believe are the main benefits and drawbacks of Mayer’s approach to leadership and change? How do you think Marissa Mayer should change her leadership style?

References:

Leadership. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions, Pearson, New York.

Barine, A. & Minja, D. (2012). Chapter 2: Definitions of transformational leadership. Transformational Corporate Leadership. Andrews LTD., Luton, Bedfordshire, GBR, pp. 32-47 [eBook Business Collection]

Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2015). Chapter 13: Effective leadership processes. Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-based Approach. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, pp. 390-393 [eBook Business Collection. Note: you don’t have to read the whole chapter, just the pages on charismatic, transformational, and transactional leadership]

Yukl, G. & Michal, J. (2014) Chapter 8: A Critical Assessment of Research on Effective Leadership Behavior in Schriesheim, C. & Neider, L. Advances in Authentic and Ethical Leadership Research in Management Vol. 10 Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, pp. 212-213 [eBook Business Collection. Note: you don’t have to read the whole chapter, just the pages on charismatic, transformational, and transactional leadership] Also, to find books in the eBook online libraries don’t copy and paste the entire reference into the search engine. Instead only use the title of the book. For example, use the following search terms into the eBook search engine to find this book “Advances in Authentic and Ethical Leadership” ]