Wiley

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Company Website

http://www.wiley.com/

Location

Hoboken, NJ, USA

Financial Information

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (2006)
    On November 11, 2006, "John Wiley & Sons Inc announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Blackwell Publishing Ltd, for a consideration of GBP 572 million, consisting of cash and debt. The deal will be implemented through a UK Scheme of Arrangement and is expected to be completed in early 2007." (Source: ORBIS)
  • Anker Publishing (March 2007)
    On March 20, 2007, "John Wiley & Sons Inc. [...] announced that it has acquired Anker Publishing Company Inc., the Bolton, Massachusetts-based books and journals publisher." (Source: ORBIS) Anker Publishing's titles are now under Wiley's imprint Jossey-Bass.
  • Cengage Learning Divestments (July 2008)
    "In July 2008, Wiley acquired a list of business and foreign language titles that Cengage Learning was divesting to gain U.S. Justice Department approval for its acquisition of the Houghton Mifflin College Division. In business, Wiley gained entry into the Introduction to Business segment with the acquisition of Contemporary Business by Boone and Kurtz, previously published by Cengage Learning’s South-Western unit." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 186)

Product Divisions

  • K-12: yes (AP courses)
  • Higher Education: yes

Summary

Wiley's "core businesses produce professional and consumer books and subscription products; scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products; and textbooks and educational materials, including integrated online teaching and learning resources, for undergraduate and graduate students, teachers and lifelong learners. The company's three core businesses develop and cross-market products to its diverse customer base of professionals, consumers, researchers, students, and educators." (Source: ORBIS)

"Wiley operates in three segments, and with the Blackwell acquisition, Wiley’s Scientific, Technical and Medical segment accounted for 58% of total global revenue in fiscal 2008. Professional/Trade accounted for 28%, and Higher Education accounted for 14%. In total, Wiley generated $1.67 billion in revenue in fiscal 2008, ended April 30, 2008." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 184)

  • Scientific, technical, and medical (STM): "John wiley & sons, inc. is a publisher for the scientific, technical, medical and scholarly communities worldwide including, scientists, researchers, clinicians, engineers, students and professors, and academic and corporate librarians. STM products include journals, major reference works, reference books and protocols, in print and online. STM publishing areas include the physical sciences and engineering, medical, social science and humanities, life sciences, technology and professional. STM develops products for global distribution through multiple channels, including library consortia, subscription agents, direct sales to professional society members, bookstores, online booksellers and other customers." (Source: ORBIS)
  • Higher Education: "The company publishes educational materials for the higher education market in all media, focusing on courses in the sciences, geography, mathematics, engineering, accounting, business, economics, computer science, psychology, education, and modern languages. In Australia, the company is also a publisher for the secondary school market. Higher education customers include undergraduate, graduate, and advanced placement students, educators, and lifelong learners worldwide. Product is delivered principally through college bookstores, online booksellers, and web sites. [...] John Wiley & Sons, Inc. also provides the services of the Wiley Faculty Network, a peer-to-peer network of faculty/professors supporting the use of online course material tools and discipline-specific software in the classroom." (Source: ORBIS)

Business Strategy

Wiley "is working to expand its penetration in modern languages, psychology and education" (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 184). Strategically speaking, "Wiley considers its advantage to be its ability to leverage its professional and journal businesses in its higher education publishing initiatives" (ibid.).

"Wiley targets the for-profit career college market as well as the traditional two- and four-year college and university market. The company also sells into high schools, particularly Advanced Placement classes." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 184)

Digital Content Solutions

WileyPLUS Course Management Software

WileyPLUS is a "Web-based learning management system for higher education", offering "electronic versions of textbooks, supplemental materials, and content provided by instructors and administrative tools" (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 184).

"John Wiley & Sons CEO William Pesce calls WileyPLUS the 'most successful new-product launch we’ve had in the history of our Higher Education business'". (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 13) "A redesigned WileyPLUS Web site proved successful in fiscal 2008, ended April 30, 2008, with sales up 35% over fiscal 2007 and digital-only sales (unaccompanied by a print textbook) nearly double fiscal 2007 results" (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 14).

Competition: Pearson#MyLab Course Management Software

Strategic Alliances

  • Angel Learning (January 2008)
    "Wiley and learning management software provider Angel Learning forged an alliance providing access to WileyPLUS through the Angel Learning Management Suite." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 185)
  • LibreDigital (May 2008)
    "Wiley will use LibreDigital’s content delivery technology to help deliver published content across its three core businesses for any-time, anywhere delivery. The first application to come out of the partnership will be more efficient distribution of e-books to resellers and an improved system for creating custom college textbooks." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 185)

Custom Publishing

"The WileyFlex program makes textbooks available in a variety of formats and a range of prices. Options include binder editions at 20% less than traditional texts, dowloadable desktop editions at 60% off the retail price of print and custom services, as well as WileyPLUS." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 185)

Online Marketing

"In fiscal 2008, online sales directly to students grew significantly, as Wiley participated in a number of marketing promotions for online retailers. In the first half of the year alone, online sales of the Higher Education group’s publications increased 70% over the same period in fiscal 2007. Wiley extended its partnership with Amazon by participating in promotions and creating new marketing vehicles. Wiley also continued to make use of CourseSmart, the multi-publisher supported digital sampling and e-commerce platform, to distribute complimentary digital samples to faculty." (Mickey and Meaney 2008, 186-187)

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