Global (25): The Reorganization
I sought advice from my senior as a junior who had caused trouble. Of course, I had to come clean about everything I'd done.
"Things don't work out that way." —USarmy(41.3)
"Don't you have some organization in South America you can pin this on?" —USarmy(41.3)
"Would NATO even buy that story?" —GB(38.5)
"Guess not." —USarmy(41.3)
"They might just be fishing for an excuse to shake things up. Sorry for getting worked up." —USarmy(41.3)
"No problem. You're one of the few seniors I have left, so I should treat you well." —GB(38.5)
"Sly as ever. You've grown a lot." —USarmy(41.3)
"But how did you know it was me?" —GB(38.5)
I asked the question. Last time, Mr. Gonzales had taken the fall for the Interpol warrant, and everything since had been purely transactional.
"You didn't die, did you?" —USarmy(41.3)
He'd figured it out after receiving contact. Should I sell off a new ID? What was done was done, so I told him to reach out if any problems came up later. And if he needed product, to contact me—I'd give him a good price. He chuckled at that.
"Take care of yourself and stay healthy." —USarmy(41.3)
The next day, while heading down to the welfare center, I caught the news that Russia had begun its special operation.
"Director Ha, how have you been?"
"I've been well."
"Director Ha, did you hear about Russia? It's war, right?"
"Looks that way. With the world's second-largest military drawing its sword, it probably won't end quickly."
I thought the same. They had nuclear weapons, abundant conventional forces, and a massive population. Ukraine wouldn't be a pushover either, but Russia held the advantage.
Director Ha, Director Jo, and I discussed how the war might unfold. Then the conversation naturally shifted to the main topic.
"What's the matter?"
"It feels like we do this almost every quarter, but I think we need to make some organizational changes."
Again? When I asked why, Director Jo answered.
"With the increase in overseas transactions handled by the Sales Division, we're losing control."
Ah... that made sense.
"Do you have any proposals in mind?"
"We benchmarked a trading company's network but added some of our own characteristics. We also mixed in elements from export manufacturers. They printed everything on A3 instead of A4—now it doesn't even fit on A4."
"First, we've split the Sales Division into two."
Looking at the chart, it was divided into the Domestic Sales Division and the International Sales Division.
"And here's the list of personnel to transfer from the Domestic Sales Division to the International Sales Division."
The International Sales Division was broken down by country: China, Japan, and the Philippines. When I asked about the others, they explained the remaining markets were too small to require a full organizational structure.
For the Domestic Sales Division, the suggestion was to maintain the three-director system while recruiting additional staff. I approved it.
For the International Sales Division, the proposal was to promote three directors per country and establish proper structures. I told them to proceed.
For China, Manager Kim could be promoted. For Japan and the Philippines, they recommended promoting Manager Yoo from the third domestic division for the Japan role. I didn't know him personally, but his profile showed he'd been primarily managing the Japanese market since the Osaka operation.
For the Philippines, a special connection came up—my brother.
"Actually, he didn't want the position, but I asked him personally."
The last time I'd seen him, he'd been loafing around. I said it was fine. Giving him work would keep him from getting bored.
While reviewing the Sales Division structure, something felt stagnant.
"Director Ha, how about a promotion?"
"Again?"
"Again" was what I'd said twenty minutes earlier.
"Keep the title as Sales Division Head, but promote the rank to Senior Managing Director."
"Haha, I'm retiring soon and you're handing me a heavy load."
"You haven't been caught yet, have you?"
"You never let up."
"And let's promote the domestic Sales Division heads to Director level. We'll handle up to Director; give the rest decision-making authority."
"Let's see... We'll need to promote quite a few. They have the money, so let's do it."
"The international directors are already selected. We just need to handle the domestic directors. Promote the managers as they are. We'll need two more—no, there are retirees too. We'll need to hire four."
"What are the retirees planning to do?"
"One's opening a math academy, and another's opening a gym."
Everyone was finding their own places. That was good.
"Prison Director Yoon is moving up a bit fast, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is. He received a special promotion last year, so promoting him again feels off."
In the end, we decided to specially promote deputy managers within the same division based on performance rankings.
After finishing the major Sales Division restructuring, it was lunchtime.
We went to the restaurant we'd visited before. The banner we'd seen last time was gone.
"What happened to the incinerator?"
Director Jo answered with a smile.
"It moved to another region. The local government there was tempted by the subsidies."
I felt a bit disappointed too. We should have taken that on ourselves.
Director Ha, who seemed to have read my mind, answered.
"We absolutely won't do it."
I hadn't said anything about doing it? Oh—right, I had in the past.
We entered the welfare center, had a cup of coffee, and continued the discussion.
Especially Deputy Manager Seong—his performance was so strong it made the entire Sales Division look small by comparison.
"I heard he's pulling out two hundred billion this time? At that level, he's already broken even, so just let him do his thing."
"Even if it fails, it won't come back to bite us."
The next part was probably that there wouldn't be any losses. Lately, I could read his true intentions.
"Still, with that kind of achievement, we should promote him."
"Yes, based on performance alone, a special promotion wouldn't be a problem."
We discussed promoting Deputy Manager Seong to Deputy General Manager Seong and assigning a colleague who had worked with him.
Until Secretary Ko interrupted.
"Chairman, I'm sorry, but the colleague under Deputy Manager Seong—no, Deputy General Manager Seong—doesn't want to be placed under him. It would be fine to just leave him as is."
When asked why, he said it was due to that person's characteristics. Director Jo pressed for a clearer answer, but Secretary Ko stood his ground, apologizing and saying he didn't know either. It was hard to understand. Then he shared an episode.
After Deputy General Manager Seong had taken the lead and evacuated to the Philippines, some time later Secretary Ko had spoken with that friend and found him very different from ordinary common sense. He didn't particularly want money—just to do what he wanted and achieve what he aimed for. That was all there was to him.
The executives nodded at those words and sought my agreement. So I withdrew my opinion. There were many things in this world that couldn't be understood.
The remaining manufacturing lines, factories, and farms would stay as they were. There were no requests from below for changes, and they were performing their duties well on their own.
As we were wrapping up, I brought up the security team, which I'd been curious about.
"During the training in the Philippines this time, the location and equipment were more than sufficient—almost excessive. Where's the budget coming from, by any chance?"
I asked out of concern. Director Ha answered.
"After the hotel president took office in the Philippines, tribute money came up for about two months, then stopped."
So they were reinvesting it. If they'd spent all the money earned in the Philippines, that level of quality was to be expected.
I resolved my last curiosity and was about to end the meeting when Director Ha raised his hand.
"Please speak."
"I think we should establish a Purchasing Department."
I gave him a look asking for more details.
"Until now, external imports have been handled through your sales, Chairman, but it would be good to have a team specialized in imports."
That made sense. Our organization consumed a lot and exported a lot externally. And how anxious I'd been without inventory, worried about losing customers.
"Is there someone for the job?"
I asked because the person in charge mattered as much as the work itself.
"Ali would be good."
Express Ali? Good. But his quality sense had slipped a bit? Last time he'd brought crack instead of pure product and got chewed out.
"He'd squeeze them harder than us when working from our side."
"Did Ali say he'd do it?"
"The request came from him first. He wants to work exclusively."
So I voiced my doubt about whether it was necessary to create the department. Then Director Ha, as if prepared, handed me a piece of paper.
Reading it, it was an import plan. Currently importing from his hometown Pakistan and Myanmar, but planning to expand by contacting warlords in Southeast Asia, especially the Golden Triangle region. There was also a plan attached to secure the sales network lost during the Russia cleanup and import surplus volume. And the last part I liked the most: developing import routes through Skylight for diversification and responding to urgent demand.
"Give him deputy-level status with three staff positions. And if performance is good, we'll promote him."
"The personnel selection is already in the plan."
Oops—reading it, they were founding members of our organization. Mai and the Vietnamese brother. Including Ali, that should be enough.
"Approved."