Report: Yahoo CTO's duties may expand

Carol Bartz, Yahoo's newly minted CEO, is reportedly preparing for a management shake-up that could result in an expanded role for its chief technology officer, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The changes, which could be announced as soon as this week, are aimed at putting Yahoo's decision-making process on a faster track, as well as consolidating some of the company's operations to create a more uniform appearance across its sites, according to the report.

Under Yahoo's prior management with Sue Decker as president, the organizational structure and decision-making process were not only complex, but were further complicated by Decker's highly analytical mind, which one former employee described to CNET News as creating analysis paralysis.

According to the Journal, some areas, such as product development and marketing, which were sprinkled throughout the company, will be consolidated into their own respective standalone departments.

Companies across a number of industries have faced similar decisions: whether the benefits of having specialized teams wrapped around a single product line is more effective than having a single marketing department or a standalone product development group to cover all product lines of a company.

Yahoo's chief technology officer, Aristotle Balogh, could find his role expanded to include leading the product development strategy. Meanwhile, Hilary Schneider, who oversees Yahoo's North America advertising, publishing, and audience groups would assume the title of North America head, according to the report.

Within Yahoo's media operations, one item on the table is to potentially separate the group into three areas--vertical programming, network programming and search monetization--according to a report in AllThings D.