Cengage Learning Consolidates Operations, Gale and Other Units To Be Combined
Gale president Pat Sommers is retiring; a new consumer-focused unit will be headed by John Barnes. By Josh Hadro Jul 8, 2010Gale parent company Cengage Learning is consolidating. Two former business units—Gale, and the Academic and Professional Group (APG)—will now operate as a single group along with the company's international operations.
Though it will cease to exist as a separate company, Gale's name and brand will continue. As part of the consolidation, two former unit presidents will exit: Gale President Pat Sommers is retiring this month, and Ron Mobed, APG president, is leaving the company.
Asked about any savings associated with the streamlining, Ronald Dunn, president and CEO of Cengage Learning told LJ, "cost-savings will be incidental."
(Publishers Weekly reported that the APG "is by far the larger of the two units," with some six times the sales of Gale.)
Synergies in the classroom
The move seems designed to further leverage Gale's traditionally library-oriented content in the classroom and academic markets. Dunn said that the move "allows us to create products that span the gap between the library and the classroom."
As an example, Dunn cited Global Economic Watch, a resource center aimed at student and business customers, which pulls content from Gale's Global Issues in Context, and positions it with business books from other Cengage Learning brands, which include South-Western, Delmar, Wadsworth, and Brooks/Cole.
"It's a way to take advantage of all of the assets, all of the talents, and all of technology" under the aegis of Cengage Learning, Dunn said.
Dunn and Frank Menchaca, EVP of publishing, also stressed to LJ that the company's commitment to the library market remain unchanged by the reorganization. "It's foundational, and central to what we want to do," Menchaca said.
New consumer-focused role for Barnes
In addition, John Barnes, currently Gale's EVP of Strategic Marketing and Business Development, will take on a new role in charge of a unit focusing directly on the consumer market, something that has become an increasingly important strategy for Gale in recent months.
The unit also will identify business opportunities through bookstores, wholesalers, and other intermediaries. AccessMyLibrary will be included under this initiative, as will online learning platforms Education To Go and Computaught.
The reorganization, effective immediately, is expected to be completed in September 2010.
