- Elkan Harrison Powell
Elkan Harrison Powell (
21 November 1888 –8 May 1966 ) was the visionary president ofEncyclopædia Britannica Inc. who introduced the policies of continuous revision and of leveraging the "Britannica's" fame to market successful spin-off products, such as historical overviews, compilations of good "Britannica" articles, children's encyclopedias and atlases. These policies are still in practice today.Powell was a vice president at Sears Roebuck in 1932, when the publisher of the "Britannica",
Benjamin J. Cox , resigned. Powell quickly analyzed the factors affecting the profitability of the "Britannica" and hit upon the continuous revision policy in 1933. New "Britannica"-branded products such as the 12-volume children's encyclopedia, "Britannica Junior", appeared only a year later.
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