Crispin Davis

Reed Elsevier announced the appointment of Ian Smith as chief executive officer. Smith, who will succeed Sir Crispin Davis when he retires from the position in March 2009, will join Reed Elsevier's board as CEO-designate on Jan. 1, 2009.

It has been another year of increasing challenges and opportunities for book publishing executives as manufacturing and distribution costs escalate, and the media landscape shifts and shimmies before our very eyes. As costs continue their steep incline and new opportunities on the digital horizon demand more and more attention, many of you have been increasingly tasked with wearing additional hats—whether you’re the president, the head of operations or manufacturing, the production director, marketing director, or just about any other position. While publishing has never been a cakewalk (for most, anyway), it seems that now is a time when you certainly need to earn your

Reed Elsevier put its Harcourt Education unit up for for grabs to the highest bidder this week, as the company announced its plans to focus in on its other segments. Harcourt Education, which serves the Pre-K to 12th-grade assessment and trade markets, was the only Reed division to post a decline in sales last year. It saw its profits drop 20 percent in 2006. According to Reed Elseveir’s 2006 financial report released yesterday, the company said it will focus more on its science and medical, legal and business segments. The report said Harcourt’s business dynamics and strategy have increasingly differed from the other three divisions. “The planned

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