The Reform Plan for Ilhyeon Watch
Hwang Do-beom stared at the proposal Kim Seong-ho had brought and clicked his tongue in open amazement.
"This is truly brilliant. How does he even come up with ideas like this?"
"I'm just as astonished."
Chairman Lee Tak-hyeon gazed quietly at the seat Kim Seong-ho had occupied only moments before.
"That boy is something else."
"I never imagined a plan like this was possible. Making the employees leave of their own free will… Truly remarkable."
"But theory remains theory until he actually pulls it off."
Lee Tak-hyeon eyed the proposal still held in Hwang Do-beom's hands.
"What a man conceives in his head and what unfolds in reality can be two very different things. In business the gap is even wider. Turning the thoughts you've laid out on paper into something real is an entirely separate matter."
He laced his fingers together and let the corner of his mouth lift.
"Let's see whether that bastard can actually deliver."
Still holding the proposal, Hwang Do-beom studied the seated chairman's shoulders and sank into thought. After long years of serving Lee Tak-hyeon, he could read the man's mood from those shoulders alone.
He's enjoying this.
The slight bounce in the chairman's shoulders told Hwang everything he needed to know. He suspected that once Seong-ho's plan became known inside Ilhyeon Watch, the backlash would be far fiercer than Seong-ho anticipated. Curious to see how Seong-ho would handle that storm, he looked again at the proposal the younger man had brought.
Yet contrary to Hwang Do-beom's concern, the present situation was thoroughly familiar to Kim Seong-ho. In his previous life one of his principal duties had been taking the surgical knife to failing companies.
The moment he received Lee Tak-hyeon's approval, Seong-ho returned to Ilhyeon Watch and posted the relocation notice. Almost at once the company was thrown into turmoil.
Employees gathered before the headquarters bulletin board traded bewildered looks and low voices.
"What the hell is this? They're relocating the company?"
Those who had read the posted notice turned to one another.
"Relocating the company… What is that supposed to mean?"
"I heard Group headquarters sent down some officer to clean up our mess… Is this his doing?"
"Who does he think he is, deciding a company move on his own? Is the guy insane?"
Another employee who had been silently studying the board cut in.
"He's somebody, that's why."
"What's that supposed to mean? Somebody?"
"He's the Chairman's youngest son-in-law."
"Youngest son-in-law? You mean that… male Cinderella who used to be at Ilhyeon Distribution?"
"That's the one. The Cinderella man. Word is he came here as the special officer."
At the mention of Kim Seong-ho the whole group burst into laughter.
"Isn't he just an Assistant Manager? What power does an Assistant Manager have to decide whether somebody else's company moves or not? Did he post that notice after eating something weird?"
"Hard to say that when the seal stamped underneath is the real thing."
The employee who had identified Seong-ho pointed at the official seal. There, clear as day, sat Lee Tak-hyeon's name and personal stamp. Still pointing, the man went on.
"Assistant Manager or whatever—he's still the Chairman's son-in-law. And if he actually persuaded the Chairman and got that approval, the whole story changes."
"No way… This is insane."
While the rank-and-file muttered that the sudden thunderbolt made no sense, a knot of Ilhyeon Watch executives approached from behind. The employees quietly stepped aside to let them pass, whispering among themselves.
"Looks like even President Do didn't know about this."
"Not just President Do—Executive Director Bang, Managing Director Ju, the whole lot of them seem blindsided. Look at their faces. They look ready to go to war."
Face flushed crimson and breathing hard, President Do Eun-cheol of Ilhyeon Watch led the executives straight to the office where Kim Seong-ho sat. He did not bother to knock; he simply flung the door open.
Seong-ho, already inside, recognized Do Eun-cheol through the open doorway and rose from his seat.
"What seems to be the matter?"
"What's the matter? Listen here, Assistant Manager Kim."
"I believe I asked you to address me as Special Officer. Perhaps you don't remember."
"Special Officer my foot. Assistant Manager Kim isn't even in management—ah, forget that useless talk."
Do Eun-cheol waved a hand as if the whole subject were beneath him and dropped uninvited into a chair. From there he fired the reason for his visit straight at Seong-ho.
"Company relocation? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"The secretariat should have contacted you. Did you not receive the message?"
"I heard it. That's why I'm asking! And right now that isn't even the problem."
"Then what, precisely, is the problem? This is a decision handed down from Group headquarters. The Chairman himself has already given his approval. Are you saying there is some issue with that?"
Seong-ho looked back and forth between Do Eun-cheol and the executives standing in a line behind him, as though genuinely puzzled. The sight only stoked President Do's fury; his voice rose.
"You should have reported to me first! We're talking about relocating Ilhyeon Watch, and you bypass me and go straight to the Chairman? Just because you're the Chairman's son-in-law, you think you can ignore the chain of command?"
"How strange."
Where Do Eun-cheol's volume climbed, Seong-ho's steadily dropped. He never lost his composure.
"Am I under any obligation to report to you, President? I was sent down from headquarters with orders to restructure Ilhyeon Watch. I was specifically instructed not to discuss even the smallest restructuring matter with anyone on the Ilhyeon Watch side, and the reporting line was set up to go directly to headquarters, bypassing you entirely. Yet now you're angry because I didn't report to you?"
Bang. Bang.
Do Eun-cheol slammed his fist on the desk. His voice shook with rage.
"This is a company relocation! A company relocation!"
"The company relocation is the first step in the restructuring of Ilhyeon Watch."
"How the hell is that the start of any restructuring?!"
Do jabbed a finger at Seong-ho. The angrier the president became, the colder and more measured Seong-ho's tone grew.
"Ilhyeon Watch's debt already exceeds one hundred billion won. That is more than ten times our equity capital. Most of it was borrowed at interest rates approaching ten percent. We are paying over a billion won a month in interest alone. Do you not agree the debt has to be cleared?"
"Even so…"
"There was no other way to shed the debt except through relocation. Do you know of another method I have overlooked? If so, please tell me. If you can provide one, I will cancel the relocation at once."
At those words the mouth that had been roaring fell shut. Even Do Eun-cheol could see no option other than selling the headquarters building and the factory land.
When the president remained silent, Executive Director Bang Ju-gyeol of Ilhyeon Watch spoke carefully from behind him.
"Well… We haven't been coming to this place for just a day or two. If you unilaterally move the company like this, what are we supposed to do?"
"Those who wish to follow may follow. Those who feel they cannot may leave."
"Now see here!"
Managing Director Ju Seong-su exploded at Seong-ho's casual invitation to quit.
"How can you say such a thing? Follow or resign? Is that any way for a company to treat people who have devoted their entire lives to it?"
At the Managing Director's protest that a company had no right to behave that way, Seong-ho's face hardened into ice. Expressionless, he looked from President Do to the rest of the executives, then held out a hand toward Section Chief Jeong Byeong-ju standing nearby. Jeong placed a single sheet of paper in Seong-ho's palm; Seong-ho laid it on the desk in front of Do Eun-cheol.
"Do you know what this is?"
The president and the executives examined the document Seong-ho had set down.
Regarding Schedule Adjustment Due to Production Issues
Executive Director Bang studied the paper, then looked at Seong-ho with a puzzled frown.
"Isn't this the document saying a production issue had arisen at the Gumi plant and that the production schedule would need to be adjusted?"
"Yes, that's correct. Do you remember it?"
"Of course I remember. I signed it myself about two weeks ago."
Bang pointed to his own signature on the approval line. Seong-ho indicated the neighboring signature lines.
"And you, President? Managing Director, do you remember as well?"
"Of course I remember. But what on earth does this have to do with the relocation discussion?"
Do asked, irritation thick in his voice. Seong-ho tapped the document with one finger and explained why he had produced it.
"This is a document I asked Section Chief Jeong here to prepare the moment I arrived at Ilhyeon Watch."
"What?"
"I wanted to see exactly how long it would take for a document originating at the plant to make the round trip back again."
"Are you saying… you ran a test on us?"
"Yes. Exactly."
Seong-ho's voice was perfectly steady.
"It took precisely twenty days for a schedule-adjustment request from the plant to climb all the way to the president. And another ten days for the approved document to travel back down."
President Do and the executives flinched as if struck.
"Because the office is in Seoul and the plant is in Gumi, even a simple schedule adjustment consumes an entire month. Look—this was a request to push the schedule back by only one week. By the time you, President, actually signed it, that week had already passed."
Do Eun-cheol's face turned scarlet. Beyond the inefficiency of the bloated approval chain, the shame of having signed a document without even checking the dates burned him. Seong-ho read the flush for what it was, gave a faint smile, and calmly retrieved the paper.
"It was a test to demonstrate just how convoluted and inefficient the system has become."
Managing Director Ju frowned.
"So you're saying we should merge the office and the plant to raise efficiency?"
"Precisely."
Seong-ho nodded and addressed the entire group of executives.
"It clears the financial debt and raises operational efficiency at the same time—killing two birds with one stone. That is why the first button in reforming Ilhyeon Watch is the integration of headquarters and plant through company relocation."
The executives fell silent as if they had swallowed honey. From beginning to end, not a single point in Seong-ho's argument could be faulted.
President Do, however, had no intention of retreating. He forced the color from his face and spoke again.
"And the employees? What do you intend to do about them? Are you really going to tell those who will follow to follow and those who won't to simply resign?"
"That will be the second reform of Ilhyeon Watch."
"You call cutting people a reform?"
"Removing unnecessary personnel and trimming the fat is reform. How could simply firing people at random ever be called reform?"
"Telling people to follow or quit is firing them. How is that trimming fat?"
At Do's words a faint smile touched Seong-ho's lips.
"If the company fires them on the pretext of relocation, of course there will be problems. But if they leave of their own free will, there is no problem at all, is there?"
"So what you're saying is that Assistant Manager Kim intends to make life so miserable for the employees that they quit on their own?"
"Hahaha. You misunderstand me."
Seong-ho laughed lightly and waved a hand.
"I intend to have them thank me for letting them go, and then leave. That way there is no problem, is there?"
"That… well, that may be true, but…"
Do's voice trailed off as he glanced back at the other executives. None of them could imagine how an employee could possibly leave the company while expressing gratitude. The president and his executives stared blankly at one another, then filed out. Seong-ho saw them off with a smile. And so the razor-edged confrontation ended in empty futility.