As part of a restructuring of McGraw-Hill Companies' professional book group, Ted Nardin, longtime group v-p, has resigned. Also leaving the company is Brandon Nordin, who had been group v-p of McGraw-Hill/Osborne and who also oversaw McGraw-Hill Technical Education.
A MHC spokesperson said the company plans to reduce the book group from three divisions to two. The group has comprised the trade operations plus the Osborne computer books division and the scientific, technical and medical division.
Under the new alignment, MHC will create a consumer division and a professional division. The consumer side will house the trade division and Osborne, while the STM operations will form the professional division. MHC is also moving the Technical Education unit into the MHC higher education group. The changes are being directed by Brian Heer, president of higher education, professional and international. Managers for the two divisions will be named at a later date.
The MHC spokesperson said the goal of the restructuring is to become "more customer focused." She said MHC was "looking at everything" and that no decisions had been made about whether titles will be cut.
MHC's computer and technical book operations have had to contend with a prolonged slump in both markets. In its recent second-quarter financial report, the company said that sales in the computer and technical segments were soft, although MHC said there was "some improvement in the latter part of the quarter."
