An Action Plan for Yahoo!'s New Chief

Now that the speculation surrounding the new Yahoo! (YHOO) CEO is finally over, with Carol Bartz getting the nod over Sue Decker, it's time to start the hard work of turning around the company.

With that in mind, here are some suggestions for an action plan for Bartz, the former chief at Autodesk (ADSK), as she starts her first 100 days at Yahoo!:

Immediately:

• Push out the December-quarter earnings date until later in February. Jerry Yang set the tone for his tenure with a poor performance on his first earnings call as CEO -- with the promise for a more concrete action plan that never materialized on the subsequent earnings call.

  Given the lackluster reception that the share price has had to the news of Bartz's appointment, it's critical to present an action plan on the first earnings call. She should give herself as much time as possible to prepare for the call. Currently the December-quarter earnings results are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 27.

• Take the deep writedowns in the December quarter. Impair the goodwill. Clean the slate. Take all the charges that are reasonable and allowable. Set the stage for 2009. Analysts are forecasting consensus earnings of 13 cents a share for the December quarter (high of 18 cents and low of 7 cents).

  Investors should realize that there is a very good chance Yahoo! generates a loss in the quarter -- even on a cash basis.

• Walk away from a transaction with AOL. Clean up Yahoo! without the distractions of trying to integrate with Time Warner's (TWX) AOL. It's unlikely the property is going to get sold to anyone else. Perhaps the transaction can be accomplished with a lower purchase price in 2010. Display advertising is a disaster.
• Make it clear that you plan to revive the company -- not dress it up for sale. There are no buyers in the current market for all of Yahoo! anyway.
• Use punctuation in internal memos. This one is symbolic. Yahoo! needs a morale boost. Yang was frequently criticized for internal memos that lacked proper punctuation, ultimately becoming a symbol of a leader who had no exclamation point.
• Be clear on search. Needed or not? End the embarrassing back and forth in the press between Yahoo! and Microsoft (MSFT). Take a stance, make your statement, bring it to an end.
• Resign your board seats. Yahoo! needs all your energy now.