Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Announces Formation of K–12 Business Division, Streamlining of Business Operations

Former president of School Publishers, Mike Lavelle, to lead new organizational structure, marking the culmination of integration activities designed to transform the publishing industry

Posted at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s web site

Last update: 11:12 a.m. EST Nov. 12, 2008
BOSTON, Nov 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, the world’s largest publisher of pre-K–12 educational materials and a global leader in literacy education, today announced the formation of a new K–12 division to serve the educational market. The company also announced that former School Publishers president, Mike Lavelle, has been named president of the new K–12 division.

"Since acquiring Harcourt," Company Chairman and CEO Tony Lucki explained, "we have undertaken a great deal of integration activity to become one company. As we approach the one-year anniversary as a single company, we are now shifting from integration to transformation — transforming our business and processes to enable Houghton Mifflin Harcourt to drive highly strategic product development, marketing, and sales, and to better respond to the demands and opportunities of the global educational marketplace."

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s K–12 division combines five former stand-alone divisions into a single, unified business that is able to provide unsurpassed educational materials across the continuum of education. "By combining those five former divisions — School Publishers, Holt McDougal, Supplemental Publishers, Heinemann, and International Publishers," Mr. Lucki continued, "we make a major transformation into a market-driven, customer-centric company, while achieving substantial operating efficiencies."

Continue reading full press release at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt…