As part of a reorganization of its international operations, Diebold, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) today announced that James L. M. Chen and Joao Abud, Jr., have been promoted to lead the international business operations for the company.
In addition to leading the company's Asia Pacific operations, Chen will lead all sales and service operations in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region as vice president, EMEA/AP Division. Abud, in addition to his current leadership responsibilities in Brazil, will oversee the sales and service operations throughout all of Latin America as vice president of the company's expanded Latin America Division.
Also, Diebold is consolidating its EMEA operations in a new headquarters location in Switzerland, effective Dec. 31, 2006. As a result of this transition, Henrik Funch, division vice president, EMEA, has opted not to relocate and is leaving the company, also effective at the end of the year.
Chen and Abud report to Michael J. Hillock, president of the company's international operations, who is retiring effective Dec. 31, 2006. Both Chen and Abud will report to Thomas W. Swidarski, president and chief executive officer.
"Looking ahead, James Chen and Joao Abud are proven leaders who thoroughly understand our international markets and will help us expand our business into these promising areas," said Swidarski. "Additionally, consolidating our EMEA leadership and support operation in Switzerland puts us in the geographical center of Europe and will help us better support our customers and country managers throughout the continent.
"Our global growth over the past few years has been remarkable," Swidarski continued. "We have increased our international revenue to more than $1 billion annually, grown to nearly 90 countries and introduced major new products globally. Henrik Funch has played a key role in that success in Europe, and he will be missed as we centralize our European operations in Switzerland. I appreciate his talents and accomplishments, and wish him well in his future endeavors. James is evaluating the management structure within EMEA and AP, and will announce key leadership appointments in the near future."
Miguel (Mike) Mateo, vice president and managing director for Latin America, will now report to Abud under the new organizational structure. Mateo, a 26-year veteran of Diebold, has led the Latin America division since 2004 and will continue in his current capacity to oversee the company's Latin American operations outside of Brazil.
Chen joined Diebold in 1998 as corporate vice president and managing director, Asia Pacific, based in Shanghai. During his eight years with Diebold, Chen transitioned Diebold's AP business from a 20-year history of partnerships with other companies to a direct business operation. Sales today are nearly six times larger than they were in 1999 when Diebold established its own AP organization. Chen has significantly expanded Diebold's AP security sales and service business, while spearheading the introduction of advanced self-service solutions in the area. Prior to joining Diebold, Chen was general manager of business electronics at Philips Electronics China in Beijing. Earlier, Chen spent 14 years with NCR Corporation in a variety of management positions in the Asia/Pacific region, including managing director of NCR's Chinese subsidiary. Chen received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the National Chengchi University in Taiwan.
Prior to this promotion, Abud had served as president of Diebold Procomp since April 2003. During that time, he developed and maintained a diversified line of products in Brazil, including voting systems, lottery systems, healthcare systems, branch teller automation and others. Six years ago, Abud started the Integrated Services Business which provides sophisticated management of customers' operations, significantly growing the revenue and profitability of Diebold Procomp's services. Abud joined Procomp Amazonia Industria Electronica, S.A. in 1988 as marketing and sales director. He earned his bachelor's degree in engineering and master's degree in systems engineering from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In addition, he has completed executive education programs at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and the Kelly School of Business at the University of Indiana.