The Japanese and French subsidiaries got new leaders in early 2005, and Microsoft added a new chief financial office (CFO) and replaced its head of Human Resources. The moves create temporary vacancies for the top positions in Microsoft's units for consumer software and small to mid-size business sales.

For the latest view of the Microsoft corporate organization, see the online edition of the Directions on Microsoft OrgChart.

Huston to Japan, Rawding to MSN

Darren Huston has been named president of Microsoft Japan. Huston assumes a position previously held by Michael Rawding, who has been appointed corporate vice president of MSN Global Sales and Marketing.

Huston, formerly corporate vice president of the U.S. Small and Midmarket Solutions and Partners Group, is a relative newcomer to Microsoft, having joined the company in Sept. 2003, but he has previous international experience as an executive with Starbucks and in McKinsey & Company's marketing and strategy practices unit. As a senior vice president at Starbucks, Huston was responsible for new ventures, one of which was a partnership between the coffee company and Microsoft to provide wireless services in Starbucks coffee outlets.

As president of Microsoft Japan, Huston will report to Kevin Johnson, group vice president for Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Services.

Rawding has spent six years in Microsoft's Asian operations, heading the company's Greater China region in 1998, then leading the entire Asia-Pacific region before becoming president of Microsoft Japan in early 2003 when Japan, one of Microsoft's largest markets, was split off from the Asia-Pacific region. Rawding replaces Judy Gibbons, who has taken a personal leave of absence. Rawding will report to David Cole, senior vice president of the MSN and Personal Services Division.

France Led by Enterprise Exec

Eric Boustouller has been promoted to general manager and president, Microsoft France. He says that his three priorities will be to raise the profile of Microsoft as a part of the French economy, solidify relationships with enterprise clients, and strengthen the work environment in the subsidiary.

Boustouller came to Microsoft from Compaq in 1988. He was most recently director of the Enterprise and Partner Group in France, a role now taken by Vincent Demange. Boustouller replaces Christophe Aulnette, who left to become CEO of Altran Technologies, a French IT services provider.

New CFO Has Restructuring, Acquisition Experience

Chris Liddell began as Microsoft CFO on May 9, 2005. Liddell had served as CFO for International Paper, the world's largest forestry products company, since Mar. 2003. During his tenure, the company earned US$302 million on US$25.2 billion in revenue in 2003, and lost US$35 million on US$25.9 billion in revenue in 2004.

Prior to his tenure at International Paper, Liddell was the CFO and CEO at Carter Holt Harvey, a New Zealand forestry company, where he led a major restructuring of the company into smaller business units (some of which were later spun off), created a new venture capital fund and employee-feedback program, and oversaw some significant divestments and small acquisitions. Liddell replaces John Connors, who left Microsoft on Mar. 31; like Connors, he will report to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

Consumer Software Boss Joins HR

Lisa Brummel has left her role leading the Home and Retail Division to become vice president, Human Resources (HR). On her watch the Home and Retail Division grew to a profitable US$1 billion business selling consumer software such as Works, Money, and Encarta. She replaces Ken DiPietro, who held the HR position for the last two years and has left the company.

An important challenge will be retaining senior technical people as the company continues to grow: Brummel arrives after a series of high-profile departures by senior technical staff, including Windows architect Mark Lucovsky (to Google) and COM designer Pat Helland (to Amazon.com).

New Technology VP to Engage Scientists

Tony Hey has been hired as vice president of the Technical Computing Initiative (TCI), a new effort by Microsoft to woo the scientific computing world. Hey was most recently director of the e-Science Initiative, a US$500M government effort to build up shared scientific and engineering computing infrastructure in the United Kingdom. Microsoft has been paying more attention to large-scale scientific and engineering computing, a traditional Unix stronghold, and is currently developing a specialized Compute Cluster edition of Windows Server 2003 for that market. Hey will report to Craig Mundie, chief technical officer and senior vice president for Advanced Strategies and Policy.

For the latest information on the Microsoft corporate organization, see the online edition of the Directions on Microsoft OrgChart.