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Segment Information
6 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2017
Segment Information [Abstract]  
Segment Information
8. Segment Information
Effective August 1, 2016, the Company completed several changes to its organizational structure that resulted in a change in how the Company manages its businesses, allocates resources and measures performance. As a result, the Company revised its reportable segments to reflect how management currently reviews financial information and makes operating decisions. The Company's new segment reporting structure consists of three reportable segments as follows:
The Research segment supports researchers, professionals and learners in the discovery and use of research knowledge to help them achieve their goals in research, learning and practice.  Research provides scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals, as well as related content and services, to academic, corporate, and government libraries, learned societies, and individual researchers and other professionals. Journal publishing areas include the physical sciences and engineering, health sciences, social science and humanities and life sciences. Research also includes the Company's recent acquisition of Atypon, a publishing software and service provider that enables scholarly and professional societies and publishers to deliver, host, enhance, market and manage their content on the web.  Research customers include academic, corporate, government, and public libraries; funders of research; researchers; scientists; clinicians; engineers and technologists; scholarly and professional societies; and students and professors. The Company's Research products are sold and distributed globally in digital and print formats through multiple channels, including research libraries and library consortia, independent subscription agents, direct sales to professional society members and other customers. Publishing centers include Australia, China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Publishing segment acquires, develops and publishes scientific, professional and education books and related content, as well as test preparation services and course workflow tools, to libraries, corporations, students, professionals and researchers. Communities served include business, finance, accounting, workplace learning, management, leadership, technology, behavioral health, engineering/architecture, science and medicine, and education.  Products are developed in print and digitally for worldwide distribution through multiple channels, including chain and online booksellers, libraries, colleges and universities, corporations, direct to consumer, websites, distributor networks and other online applications. Publishing centers include Australia, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Solutions segment delivers online program management services for universities and corporate learning and assessment services for businesses. Online Program Management services include market research, marketing, student recruitment, enrollment support, proactive retention support, academic services to design courses, faculty support and access to the Engage Learning Management System, which facilitates the online education experience. Graduate degree programs include Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, Healthcare, Engineering, Communications and others.  The Corporate Learning business offers online learning and training solutions for global corporations, universities, and small and medium-sized enterprises, which are sold on a subscription or fee basis. Corporate Learning topics include leadership, diversity, value creation, client orientation, change and corporate strategy. The Company's professional assessment services include pre-hire screening and post-hire personality assessments, which are delivered to business customers through online digital delivery platforms either directly or through an authorized distributor network of independent consultants, trainers and coaches. The Company's assessment tools enable employers to optimize candidate selections and develop the full potential of their employees. These solutions include pre-hire assessments, including those designed to measure and match personality, knowledge, skills, managerial fit, loyalty, and values; and post-hire assessments, focused on measuring sales and managerial effectiveness, employee performance and career potential.
The Company reports its segment information in accordance with the provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 280, "Segment Reporting," ("FASB ASC Topic 280").
The Company uses occupied square footage of space; number of employees; units shipped; specific identification/activity-based; gross profit; revenue and number of invoices to allocate shared service costs to each business segment.
Segment information is as follows (in thousands):
 
  
Three Months
  
Six Months
 
  
Ended October 31,
  
Ended October 31,
 
  
2017
  
2016
  
2017
  
2016
 
Revenue:
            
Research
 
$
228,870
  
$
205,994
  
$
452,497
  
$
413,218
 
Publishing
  
164,985
   
163,300
   
296,263
   
308,261
 
Solutions
  
57,876
   
56,294
   
114,415
   
108,394
 
Total Revenue
 
$
451,731
  
$
425,588
  
$
863,175
  
$
829,873
 
                 
Contribution to Profit:
                
Research
 
$
71,163
  
$
60,292
  
$
132,624
  
$
120,727
 
Publishing
  
42,476
   
36,490
   
47,485
   
55,832
 
Solutions
  
7,309
   
5,359
   
5,341
   
5,506
 
Total Contribution to Profit
 
$
120,948
  
$
102,141
  
$
185,450
  
$
182,065
 
Corporate Expenses
  
(38,177
)
  
(54,497
)
  
(88,179
)
  
(90,494
)
Operating Income
 
$
82,771
  
$
47,644
  
$
97,271
  
$
91,571