With Pearson plc's purchase of all but Simon &Schuster's consumer group finally completed November 27, the company wasted little time in announcing the management structure of the combined S&S and Addison Wesley Longman subsidiaries. The combined unit, which forms the largest educational publisher in the U.S. with pro forma 1997 sales of $2.8 billion, is now called Pearson Education and will be headed by Peter Jovanovich. The company's headquarters will be in Upper Saddle River, N.J.
The top managers of Pearson Education's different divisions are a mix of former S&S and AWL executives, and all will report directly to Jovanovich. The U.S. school unit will consist of the elementary and secondary groups and will be led by Kathryn Costello and Martha Smith, respectively. The elementary group includes the basal publisher Scott Foresman, which was formed through the merger of Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley and Silver Burdett Ginn. The elementary group's supplementary operation will be known as Pearson Learning and includes Modern Curriculum, Cuisenaire, Dale Seymour, Good Year Books and Celebration Press. Computer Curriculum Corp., a major provider of electronic courseware, is also part of the elementary group.
The secondary group includes Prentice Hall School, which consists of the merged Prentice Hall and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley middle school and high school programs. The group also includes Globe Fearon, a publisher of secondary supplementary products.
The higher education group will be headed by Henry Hirschberg. The group features a number of imprints, including Prentice Hall, Allyn &Bacon, Addison Wesley Longman and Macmillan. Pearson said the group plans to expand the group's Internet and technology capabilities, both to augment textbooks and to provide distance learning programs.
Steven Dowling will lead the international group, including all the company's English Language Teaching businesses, which fall primarily under the Longman brand. Other aspects of the international group include a local language publishing infrastructure, a position in the translation and export of U.S. programs and a presence in Asia, Europe and Latin America. Pearson Education International will consist of established regional publishing and distribution centers directed by publishers from AWL and S&S staffs.
William Oldsey will head the professional group, which includes Appleton-Lange, Prentice Hall Direct, Jossey Bass, Library Reference, New York Institute of Finance, Bureau of Business Practice and Master Data Center. Oldsey will also serve as senior v-p, planning and market development for Pearson Education.
In addition to creating new operating groups, Pearson also announced a new Pearson Technology Centre (PTC). The PTC mandate is to help leverage Pearson Education's technology resources and expertise across all Pearson companies.
