Such would be the future of the company, as it focused its efforts on the less glamorous, yet nevertheless profitable, science and professional side of publishing.
Sales of textbooks climbed steadily as college enrollment rose in the United States, while in Asia and in Europe, where countries struggled to rebuild themselves in the postwar era, the demand for textbooks increased as well.
It was during this postwar upswing in business that W. After serving as president for 15 years, W. Also in , Andrew H. Neilly, Jr. After establishing a medical division in , which a decade later would publish an average of 60 medical titles a year, W. Bradford Wiley took steps toward repositioning the company to compete in the future. The company's th year of business, however, marked the beginning of bad times. Quickly, confidence was replaced by consternation. Starting in the late s, college enrollment in the United States began to ebb, causing the sales of college textbooks to drop as well.
By , the growth rate of college textbook sales had dropped to 4. If help was expected from the acquisition of Wilson Learning Group, it did not materialize. The subsidiary had been given considerable autonomy, but that proved to be its undoing, as Wilson Learning Group recorded robust growth--expanding at a 30 percent clip--but posted paltry profits. When McMullin was talking with a Forbes reporter two years after joining the publishing firm, she reflected on her assessment of the company at the time.
A new management team took over during the early s. Charles R. Bradford Wiley and the great-great-great-grandson of the founder, succeeded his father as chairman in The program called for the divestiture of poorly performing businesses, the strengthening of core businesses, and entry into new niches of the publishing market; its success restored the image of one of the country's oldest companies.
The law publications division of Professional Education Systems, Inc. Further gains were recorded in this area in , when the company acquired Chancery Law Publishing Ltd. Sparking this growth was a multipronged approach encompassing organic growth, acquisitions, strategic alliances, and an increasing emphasis on electronic distribution. To raise cash for further growth, Wiley went public in , trading on the Nasdaq until , when it moved to the NYSE.
During the s, Wiley more than tripled in size. When Brad Sr. Deborah had recently joined the company; Brad II and Peter were pursuing their own interests. Neilly was later promoted to CEO. To lessen its dependence on the fluctuations in the textbook market, Wiley entered the promising field of corporate training when it purchased the Wilson Learning Corporation.
While the Wilson acquisition proved disappointing, Wiley learned a valuable lesson, which it applied to future acquisitions: A transition team made up of leaders from both companies would smooth the integration process. Wiley continued to make acquisitions to strengthen its scientific and professional and trade divisions, but during the s the company was in crisis.
Its weaknesses attracted takeover offers, which Brad Sr. Neilly, who had been with the company for almost 50 years, was approaching retirement. Brad Sr. She had started working in the business in , one of the first women to work in sales in the publishing industry, and had held several managerial positions. Peter had never worked in the business. Neither Deborah nor her brothers aspired to be CEO. The Wiley family has done that.
Although she had held responsible positions in several large corporations and had the financial expertise Wiley needed, she lacked management experience and an understanding of the publishing industry. Under his leadership, Wiley refocused on its core publishing businesses, divested underperforming programs and dramatically increased investments in technology and acquisitions.
Between and , Wiley made 60 acquisitions. Among the most significant were Jossey-Bass Publishing; J. Wiley has already paid down a substantial portion of the loan. To keep pace with the fast-moving market, the company recently announced the sale of a number of its general-interest publications, such a travel, culinary and CliffsNotes titles.
Over the past decade, Wiley has simultaneously expanded its Internet presence with Wiley Interscience, which provides access to 3 million articles and 1, journals, and WileyPLUS, which offers digital higher education texts and interactive resources for online study.
The company has also negotiated partnerships with research, scholarly and professional societies. Professionalizing the board By the late s Brad Sr. Although he was losing touch with the business, according to his family, he stayed on as board chair, with Brad II serving as de facto chair for several years. In , Brad Sr.
With the business now under the control of the sixth generation, the three siblings initiated the long overdue changes to professionalize the board. The current board has 13 members: nine outsiders and four insiders. The association the Wiley business had with the 19th century's greatest writers gave the company a unique and pivotal role in the development of the American publishing community.
For the future of the company itself, though, the next Wiley to assume command of the company would direct the publisher toward the path it would pursue until the end of the 20th century.
The years of disseminating the country's greatest literary works were over for the company. Instead of publishing the novels of Melville and Dickens, the company was making its money in another field, earning its largest profits from publishing books on mechanical and electrical engineering. Such would be the future of the company, as it focused its efforts on the less glamorous, yet nevertheless profitable, science and professional side of publishing.
Sales of textbooks climbed steadily as college enrollment rose in the United States, while in Asia and in Europe, where countries struggled to rebuild themselves in the postwar era, the demand for textbooks increased as well. After establishing a medical division in , which a decade later would publish an average of 60 medical titles a year, Bradford Wiley took steps toward repositioning the company to compete in the future.
The company's th year of business, however, marked the beginning of bad times. Quickly, confidence was replaced by consternation. Starting in the late s, college enrollment in the United States began to ebb, causing the sales of college textbooks to drop as well. By , the growth rate of college textbook sales had dropped to 4. If help was expected from the acquisition of Wilson Learning Group, it did not materialize.
The subsidiary had been given considerable autonomy, but that proved to be its undoing, as Wilson Learning Group recorded robust growth--expanding at a 30 percent clip--but posted paltry profits.
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