Case Study on eBay: Managing Growth Under Meg Whitman
In this case study, explore Meg Whitman's tenure at eBay and the challenges faced during rapid growth. Discover insights into eBay's history, marketing strategies, and key decisions under Whitman's leadership. Gain perspective on addressing communication, technological, and structural issues in a growing business environment.
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Presentation Transcript
Meg Whitman A Case study on eBay As presented by Team United- Nations
Short History of eBay, Inc. Meg Whitman Challenges - dramatic and rapid growth. Advice on how eBay can best deal with the challenges What team united nations would do about the Kruse acquisition if we were Meg Whitman. Pros and cons of each decision Influences over our decision. Our Decision and reason for our choice. Overview of case presentation
eBay is a user-empowered online community auction site . Sells stuffs ranging from small antiques to cars. Bottoms up; Hands- off approach Transaction alone. Founded in 1995 by Pierre Omidyar as a pet project. (He was anti-commercial). First named Auction Web site. Expanded and Pierre had to quit at General Magic and joined by Jeff Skoll. By Jan 1997, Pierre felt eBay s expansion warranted a new CEO. eBay: A Short History Marketing expertise and Cultural Fit.
Meg Whitman Marketing strategy & cultural fit. Youngest of 3 children raised on Long Island. Graduate of Princeton University 1977 Harvard Business school 1979. Worked at Proctor & Gamble, Bain & co., Walt Disney Co. & Florist Transworld Delivery. Hasbro s Inc. Pre School. Then EBay. Meg Whitman Currently at HP.
March 1998 : Meg Whitman signs on as CEO of eBay. April 1998 : Developed strategy for system capacity and eBay s marketing strategy. May 1998: Reorganize Engineering department. June 1998: Scot Cook and Howard Schultz join eBay s board. August 1998: Brian Swetteand Michael Jacobson join eBay. September 1998: eBay s IPO January 1999: Respond to community safety issues & Matt Bannickjoins eBay. March 1999: Sign strategic partnership with AOL. Timeline of Key activities during Whitman s Tenure May 1999: Announce decision to open Salt Lake city customer service facility
Adjusting to a formal business structure Communication between departments Technological issues Challenges eBay will face during growth
Creating a business structure with employees not used to the structure Bloomberg situation Initial employees mindset (engineers) Creating a formal business structure
Inability to understand the jargon of each different department Setting up a system to put a band aid on the problem Come up with a plan to either hire business people with an IT background or have a structured training for each department to understand basic jargon of each other Communication between departments
Website was crashing. Too much online traffic at once. Hackers (creates trust issues with customers) Technology issues
Meet with Pierre and Upper leadership at eBay. Culture - Needs. - Benefits. - Deal Agreements. Team United Nation in Meg Whitman s Position
Meet with Kruse International - Their Plan & Vision. - Mutual Benefits. - Kruse s Culture & Vision Money or Culture. - Other Common Grounds. Team United Nation in Meg Whitman s Position
Pros Cons ROI CEO conflicts. Expanding Clientele Cultural Differences. Bringing in new ideas and strategies. Outrageous Growth. Loss of Community Spirit. Increased Profile with Wall street. May Dilute EBay'sprofit Weighing the Options Technology
We will "KRUSE" Our Decision
Acquisition of Kruse will result in: - Increase in EBay's revenue through auction of high-end collectible cars. - Increase in eBay clientele. - Stay ahead of online payment competition through Ball point. - Increased profile with Wall street. Decision - Rationale
Acquisition of Kruse will resulted in: - Cost $275 million dollars but was worth it. - Increase in eBay clientele. - Stayed ahead of online payment competition through Ball point. - Increased profile with Wall street. Retained its online community spirit till date. Still very much relevant despite the stiff competition. Decision - Reality
Cnet.com (1999). Ebay acquires two firms. Retrevied from https://www.cnet.com/news/ebay-acquires-two-firms/ Flowers, Rodney. (2016) Leadership theories. Powerpoint Hill A. Linda, Farkas T. Maria (2005). Meg Whitman at ebay inc. Harvard business school. Norton, Jim (2014). Top websites crash as web 'starts to run out of space Web. Fears major technical problems could become regular occurrence. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2724495/Top-websites-crash-web-starts-run-space-Fears-major- technical-problems-regular-occurrence.html References
Thank you The end
