Zondervan Realigns, Cuts Staff

By Lynn Garrett -- Publishers Weekly, 5/27/2008 4:20:00 PM

Zondervan announced Tuesday afternoon that it has reorganized into eight strategic business units “to streamline the company’s operations by reducing management layers,” according to a statement. Each business unit will have its own dedicated publishing and marketing staff, a structure designed “to create clear accountabilities and focus for each of Zondervan’s core markets: Youth Specialties, Vida (Spanish), Bibles, Trade Books, Church/Academic Reference and Resources, Zonderkidz, Digital, and Church Engagement,” the statement said.

According to Moe Girkins, president and CEO of Zondervan, “This realignment is intended to increase our velocity and ensure that Zondervan can remain competitive, healthy, relevant and true to our mission for years to come.” Parent company HarperCollins has said that Zondervan has been a soft spot in the overall performance of HC.

As part of the realignment, five executive positions have been eliminated, including that of long-time executive v-p of publishing Scott Bolinder. “Scott has played a critical role in the company’s success over the past two decades,” said Girkins. “His leadership has been integral to Zondervan’s ability to produce meaningful and life changing resources. We will all miss him.”

Other executive positions eliminated include Tom Betts, v-p of marketing/consumer engagement; Mark Hunt, v-p/publisher of new media; Leslie Mosier, senior director of operations and strategic alignment; and Jim Brazel, senior director of general market sales. “About a dozen” other employees in the sales, children’s, editorial and HR departments were also let go, resulting in staff reduction of “just less than 5% of our workforce,” according to corporate spokesperson Tara Powers.

In recent years Zondervan had annual title output in the high-500 to low-600 range. Powers confirmed the reorganization would lead to a reduction in titles, but said the company would not release specifics now. Zondervan said Girkins was not available for an interview.

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