The man credited with growing eBay Germany into eBay's top marketplace outside of the U.S. is coming to eBay headquarters to evangelize the auction platform. Philipp Justus, currently Senior Vice President and General Manager of eBay Europe, will relocate to San Jose and will report to eBay North America President Bill Cobb. The move is part of a reorganization at eBay that features cross-functional teams designed to promote faster decision-making focused on the user experience.
VP of eBay Europe Philipp Justus to head new Auctions Group in US
Vice President of Communication for eBay North America Brad Williams said the reorganization of eBay Marketplaces, headed by John Donahoe, was part of the company's annual planning process that determines the focus of the company for the next calendar year. Part of that reorganization this year is the creation of the Auctions Group, headed by Justus, and the creation of cross-functional teams.
Williams said, "In the past, we've done reorganizations that have been more around the edge, more optimization of the existing structure. This time, we've taken a more holistic approach, and we're excited about it."
In the past, eBay has had product, operations and marketing organizations that have come together to work on particular projects like eBay Express, Williams said. But rather than wait for cross-functional teams to be created, eBay is building that flexibility into the organization. There are now a number of cross-functional teams consisting of product people and people from business analytics, marketing and strategy. These cross-functional teams will be aligned around certain areas, such as the buying experience and the selling experience. "We feel like we're organizing the site as our members use it. Before, we took a more traditional approach to the lines of business," he said.
eBay's decision to create a special group within Marketplaces to focus on auctions comes after the company's messaging over the summer about "rebalancing the marketplace," when it felt sellers were listing too much in Store format and not enough in the auction format to the detriment of the buying experience. Williams said eBay hopes that cross-functional teams would be able to sound the alarm earlier when such problems occur.
Asked whether the creation of the new group could be seen as a sign that rebalancing efforts haven't been successful, Williams said that while eBay hasn't said a lot on the record about it, they are cautiously optimistic. "We are encouraged by the progress, so we're putting more behind it.
The decision to put Philipp Justus in charge of the Auctions Group was a real statement of the importance of the group, Williams said, calling Justus "one of our best leaders around the globe."
Addressing the question of whether Justus' move from head of eBay Europe to reporting to the head of eBay North America could be considered a lateral move, Williams said it is less about who reports to whom, and more about eBay's strategic priorities. Bill Cobb oversees North America Marketplaces, which includes eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay Motors, eBay Express and Shopping.com. Cobb had formerly headed eBay International, a position now held by Lorrie Norrington, who was named President of eBay International in July, replacing Matt Bannick. Norrington will lead eBay Europe on an interim basis.
Of the reaction internally to the reorganization, Williams said there is "a lot of energy in the halls right now." He said eBay is looking to be a flatter organization with faster decision-making. "We are empowering people to make decisions faster, on their own."
Jamie Iannone, Vice President of Tailored Shopping Experience, will head up the Buyer Experience team, and Jim Ambach, Senior Director of Product Management, will head up the Seller Experience team. Beginning January 1, 2007, they will report to Phillip Justus.
