Vantaggi
in early days of expedia one was given huge freedom in doing things. the bigger the company got the more specialised people had to become. means that organisation grew like hell and added more and more complexity to communication and management infrastructure. still a great company driving precision execution, goal orientated and numbers driven. I learned that hard work will be noted and praised. Fair company in regards to promotions and career opportunities. latest reorg plans to put a matrix organisation into place looked good on paper.
Svantaggi
today decision processes are to complex so that fast reaction or implementation of new ideas is hardly impossible. new matrix org made country teams obsolete - which I think is a big mistake especially when thinking about Europe as European countries can't be compared to States in the US. We have different cultures, different market needs etc etc. Having that said you can actually see that getting away from local teams in the EU markets costs market shares. Local competitors smiling as it gets easier to grow for them w/out a strong local Expedia competitor. more and more external people got into the company w/out experience in travel sector. (ex-consultants etc.) - not good for someone who wants to become the largest travel marketplace in the world! Expedia needs hands-on people with industry (travel and/or e-commerce) and not powerpoint creators!