Global (3)
The "forced smile" operation seemed to have worked. Executive Director Ha and Director Jo finally laughed. That's more like it.
"I could go for something sweet."
"How about a mix coffee? It's been a while."
"That sounds good."
Once I let my guard down a little, the surroundings came into focus. Beyond the window stood the completed factory and dormitories, and children were running around the playground.
"There are a lot more kids now."
"Yes. A local orphanage closed down, so we took in some children after receiving support funds."
"Aigoo. I heard the economy was bad, but it came to that?"
"It wasn't just the economy. The director there was skimming off the top."
Business targeting children never changes, it seems.
"Is the welfare center doing all right? No shortage of funds?"
"Actually, that's the problem. There's nowhere left to spend the money. And we can't exactly invest it."
When I asked what he meant, he explained that while welfare and local budgets had steadily increased, population decline and outflow had reduced the number of recipients, causing the surplus to pile up at the welfare center.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Civil servants keep coming around."
That's not good.
"So we may need to relocate the fourth farm as well."
That made sense if outsiders were coming and going.
"Where are you thinking of moving it?"
"It ties into what I was about to tell you."
"There are quite a few people hoping to live as naturalists."
I gave him a questioning look, and he sighed.
"A lot of people in the sales division want to retire."
Why? Deputy general managers and above don't even go out in the field, and they make good money.
"Well, if they want to quit, they should quit. We can't force them to stay."
"It's not because of any shortcomings, is it? Like performance pressure like in private companies?"
"It's a structure where they take what they sell, and aside from the kids who got into that accident last time, there haven't been any issues."
"That's something they put on themselves. I don't know, but maybe that's just how organizational life is."
It didn't seem like a problem I could solve. If someone's lacking ability, they should accept what they get accordingly.
"So what's the reason?"
"Director Jo and I think it's because the chairman treats us so well."
He smiled while taking a jab at me, and I couldn't even counter it. It almost sounded like a compliment.
"Even a deputy general manager takes home a hundred million a year, so it's good money, but the work is hard and dangerous, so they probably want something easier."
They made a lot of money, so now they want an easy life? That was normal. I couldn't really blame them for it. But what did that have to do with the farm?
"This doesn't seem related to the farm you mentioned earlier."
"The retirees want to start their own farm and cover their living expenses."
"They asked us to buy some product from them."
"How many teams are there?"
I was ready to approve if it was just one or two teams at most.
"One team, and about three individuals. One of the directors stirred things up."
The list was heavy. One director, two department heads, four deputy general managers.
"I heard Sales Division 1 was doing the best. Why are they leaving?"
"They want to launder their identities and get married."
I'd assumed the director was older, but he was only in his early thirties. Our organization had grown like a storm. It would be a waste to lose talent like this...
"What do you think, Director Jo?"
"We should let them go. Since they're leaving on good terms, they won't go around talking, and we'll continue to manage them."
"Couldn't we think of the product purchases as a kind of retirement pension?"
"Yes, let's do that. We'll create four more sites based on the existing fourth farm and move them there."
"Do we need a new farm manager? When I contacted the last one, he said he didn't want to come out."
"We have plenty of grass ourselves."
"Help them with the identity laundering too. I know from experience it's not easy."
"Understood."
After settling the retirees' treatment, it was already lunchtime. We went to a nearby Korean restaurant for a meal, and on the way out, two banners caught my eye.
-Oppose the construction of the incinerator!-
-Welcome investment!-
"Executive Director, what do you think about that incinerator?"
"No one wants to do it, and it would create jobs for the staff."
"If the welfare center uses its funds for that, wouldn't they get even more support money?"
"Chairman, I came down here to retire. I'm fine as is."
I was rejected.
"Then since you mentioned a lack of space last time, let's at least put up a dormitory building. We can call it volunteer housing or something."
This time he didn't reject it. It sounded plausible enough.
We went back up and started the meeting in earnest. I brought Secretary Ko and Yeoni along because I needed someone to organize the meeting notes and provide support. They said it was the practical manager's responsibility. When I praised Secretary Ko for doing good work, Director Jo looked pleased. Yeoni got jealous, so I decided to stop.
"Phew... I've sorted out the ones who want to leave and the ones who already left."
The organizational chart used the same color coding as last time: green, red, and purple. Green meant people who needed follow-up, red meant those who had been dealt with, and purple, judging by the directors, meant retirees.
"What about the purple ones below section chief?"
"Those are the ones quitting."
"Right. At least give them severance pay."
"We were planning to."
As I began speaking, Secretary Ko started taking minutes beside me. If that document got out, it would be trouble.
"Secretary Ko, make sure that doesn't leak."
"Yes!"
"Let's start with Sales Division 1."
"Phew, the division head is already gone. Let's work our way down from the top."
"Let's make internal promotion the policy. If that doesn't work, we'll pull someone from another division."
"Understood. The five of us started playing Tetris."
"Let's make the administrative department head the new division head."
"Yes, that works."
"If we do that for Sales Division 1, there won't be any department heads left."
"We'll promote from deputy general managers based on performance. No choice. Let's look at the deputy general managers in Division 2 as well. If their performance is good, we can move them to Division 1."
"Chairman, sorry to interrupt, but I think we should avoid transferring between divisions. It makes sense when you hear the reason. A deputy general manager is connected to both department heads and division heads, so they'd end up knowing about both divisions."
"You're right."
"Then let's handle the department heads through internal promotion within Division 1."
"Director Jo, there might be lines of influence. Do you have anything from your investigation?"
"Yes, I prepared it just in case. After the former department head incident, we cleaned up a lot of the lines, but there are still connections above and below. It's not serious—just giving certain people preferential treatment when placing orders or making requests."
"From what I've studied, it seems impossible to have no lines at all. I grew up that way myself."
"Looking at this, these friends seem like the ace line. It might be worth developing them, but it's hard to judge. I'd appreciate your advice."
One section chief in Sales Division 2 was requesting and receiving shipments from six deputy general managers. The most noticeable one was Deputy General Manager Yoon, the former corrections officer who'd been promoted last time.
"I think we should develop them. I'll make sure they don't cross any lines."
"I agree as well."
"Good. Your confidence is reassuring."
"I know Deputy General Manager Yoon from reports, but who's this one?"
"He's from Incheon's Chinatown. He has connections in China, so he handles exports. To export, you need a certain volume, so he collects goods from multiple deputy general managers and ships them out."
A talented guy. Our organization set volume and credit limits by rank, but he was selling so well that even the section chief limit wasn't enough. From the lines, he wasn't delegating to subordinates and was handling things himself, so there probably wouldn't be any problems.
"There are a lot of hidden talents on the organizational chart. What do you think about giving these two a special promotion?"
"A special promotion? Ah... straight to department head?"
"Yes. Deputy General Manager Yoon and Section Chief Kim here. I read in a book that it's the best for motivation. I don't know how it'll look in our organization, but it seems fine."
When I brought it up, Secretary Ko and Yeoni's eyes lit up. If things stabilized around Deputy General Manager Yoon—soon to be Department Head Yoon—the division could reach full scale. We only handled up to deputy general manager appointments and sent the rest down according to the delegation rules. The division heads could handle promotions and hiring themselves.
"We don't need to touch manufacturing or support departments, right?"
"No. They were promoted recently, and the IT team has already been reinforced. Deputy General Manager Seong introduced someone and left."
That's a relief. Our organization was starting to run like clockwork. Whether it was because decisions from above were coming down smoothly or because the people were highly capable, the personnel report came up in just a week. Director Jo also reported on the internal atmosphere. It was burning with enthusiasm. The reward of organizational life really is promotion, after all.
"You all probably heard this in the introductory lecture, but trade has many problems when it comes to building trust due to time and spatial constraints."
That's true. It takes forever to receive a single shipment, and it has to come from thousands of kilometers away.
"Since trade began, humanity's quality of life has improved greatly, but conversely, maritime trade in particular has seen many accidents."
Caribbean pirates came from there, after all.
"As a result, those involved in trade faced all kinds of risks, and means of avoiding them began to develop."
I was listening to a lecture at school. It was truly an excellent class. The female professor had such clear pronunciation. The very model of precise enunciation?
After class, as I was heading to the parking lot, I got a call from Yeoni. A container had arrived at Pyeongtaek Port. Looking at the map, Cheonan was close to Pyeongtaek Port, so I asked them to deliver it to the Cheonan factory. I was also looking forward to what kind of treasure hunt the internal affairs team support might bring this time.