Following the merger of Penguin and Random House into a single global entity, a new corporate website is already live, complete with a merged company history and new @penguinrandomhouse.com email exchanges (though the company says the “immensity and technical complexity of the project” means US and Canadian staffers won’t switch over to the new email addresses for months.)
In a letter to US staff, Penguin Random House ceo Markus Dohle said he has “learned a lot” from meetings and conversations since the merger announcement eight months ago. “You have delivered a strong performance over the past eight months, during a time when many of you have taken on additional roles with our integration planning teams…[and] there is a strong mutual respect among us. In the integration-planning discussions I’ve witnessed a shared sense of purpose, transparency, and a collaborative spirit that makes me especially enthusiastic about our future. The ability to focus and to engage in open dialogue will be at the heart of our corporate culture at Penguin Random House and a key success factor as we become a united company.”
Dohle added that while combining the two companies “will lead to change, continuity will far outweigh it.” As he underscored to us, “connecting with our people is really important to me,” so Dohle is traveling to multiple continents over the next three weeks to meet with employees around the world. “We want to preserve our small company feel,” he added, preserving “our agility and nimbleness…without complexity and overhead.” Global corporate spokesperson Stuart Applebaum indicates Dohle will hold Town Hall meetings to meet employees and take their questions “for as long as the colleagues wish to ask them.”
The company continues to indicate very little global-level publishing division restructuring is “anticipated in the near or medium-term.” Applebaum explained: “The stability and creative mojo of the imprints in North America and across the territories has been the core strength of the two companies, separately, in the respective territories, and now, united. Why would we risk diluting that potency in the quest of consolidation or ‘synergies’?”
Separately, the executive team for Penguin Random House in Canada, reporting to ceo Brad Martin, was announced. Nicole Winstanley continues in her role as president and publisher of Penguin Canada, as will evp, executive publisher of McClelland & Stewart Doubleday Canada Publishing Group Kristin Cochrane and Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group evp, executive publisher Louise Dennys. Winstanley now reports to Martin, as does evp, cfo for Random House of Canada Doug Foot and Penguin Canada vp, sales Don Robinson (Random House of Canada vp, sales Duncan Shields continues in his role.)
In addition, Trish Moore has been appointed svp, director of human resources for Penguin Random House in Canada, while Tracey Turriff has been appointed svp, director of corporate communications for Penguin Random House in Canada; she will also continue in her role as director of marketing for Random House of Canada.