Episode 119. sword dance.
The manager was right in line with my words.
“yes. After all, even if the chaebols earn one job, they rarely do it in vain.”
“Only those people become chaebols. Anyways, you did a good job. I think I chose one chief of staff well.”
“I paid off my debt, but I have to do this. haha.”
“Then I will have a meeting with the World Telecom executives tomorrow, so please prepare. It looks like it will be a good day to dance the sword properly.”
Perhaps he felt an eerie aura from my words, and this manager trembled slightly.
World Telecommunication Headquarters conference room.
Before the meeting with the executives, I called Do Joon-tae, president of Segye Telecom, first.
“It’s my first time seeing you. This is Jaewoon Kang.”
“hello? CEO. My name is Do Joon-tae.”
I continued looking through Do Jun-tae’s personnel file.
“You have about 15 years of experience in the telecommunication industry, and have you been here for 3 years as the president of World Telecom?”
“Is it true that there are only four brothers who are not well established in society and have two children and one daughter?”
“Hmm, you have a lot of family members with you.”
“..That’s right.”
I put my personnel file on the desk and looked up.
“So was it?”
“..what are you talking about?”
“They intentionally deteriorated the company’s business performance under the direction of Doosung Group Chairman Koo Yeo-beom.”
At my words, the president’s face hardened like a tree.
“..what do you mean, why would I deliberately undermine sales performance? We are actively fighting for market share, so the subsidy is just a little excessive .”
“Isn’t that a little bit? Since the end of last year, compared to other competitors, marketing expenses have been paid 20% more?”
“..Doosung Telecom, the No. 1 company in market share, had such a strong dominance that subsidies were needed to break through it.”
“Well. He said he needed a lot of subsidies. Well, that’s right. But there is another problem. If you have spent such marketing money, your market share should go up, but surprisingly, your market share has dropped. How would you explain this?”
By that time, Doo’s face was already full of cold sweat.
I couldn’t answer any more.
“If you can’t tell me, I’ll tell you for you. Since the end of last year, we would have significantly increased the subsidy paid to existing subscribers when they renew their contract. And the subsidy given to new subscribers would have been greatly reduced. It was supposed to be the other way around.”
I continued to speak, staring sharply at the president.
“For that reason, Do Jun-tae! As of today, I am dismissing you from the position of president of World Telecom. Please come back and clean up your seats.”
I didn’t know it could be cut with a single knife like this, so Do Joon-tae looked at me with a surprised face.
“CEO! You’re wrong. The market share is due to the fierce competition, not the subsidy.”
“You must know who the fool is, but I’m telling you after I’ve already completed the on-site investigation. Moreover, the punishment for Do Jun-tae does not end there.”
At my words, Do Joon-tae’s voice began to tremble.
“..Isn’t that the end?”
“The severance pay will be forfeited. And you will have to return the full salary you received during the three years as president.”
Do Jun-tae, who was looking at my face blankly, shouted in a fit of paroxysm.
“Forfeiture of severance pay? Salary return? It’s all unfair! What great sin have I committed to deserve such treatment?”
“Is it unfair? Do Jun-tae’s intentional damage to the company alone amounts to tens of billions of dollars. Moreover, he promises to receive compensation from the Doosung Group, and if he does, it is clearly a breach of trust. Originally, it wasn’t meant to end like this, but it was something that should be reported to the prosecution, but I didn’t want to decorate the beginning so it ended up like this. Please be grateful and arrange it well so that there is no noise when you leave.”
“..Is there any evidence that I did?”
“Evidence? First of all, we have already secured testimonies that Do Jun-tae ordered a change in the subsidy payment method and signed approval documents. And I know that I had a back deal with Doo. It is because we have already secured the testimony that we have met several times with Doosung officials. If I file a complaint with the prosecution, I will face at least five years in prison.”
Do Jun-tae, who was staring at me with clenched fists, finally lowered his head.
“..I will do as you said.”
“yes. Then go out.”
Do Joon-tae is leaving.
I opened up a list of executives who should be fired.
“Marketing strategy manager, data business manager, network manager, etc… Ha, there are a lot of them.”
I told the manager next to me.
“Executives to be dismissed, please ask them to enter the conference room first.”
About 15 minutes later, the executives to be dismissed gathered in the conference room.
Rumors that Do Jun-tae had been fired had already spread, so the faces were not good from the beginning.
They looked at each other’s faces and bowed their heads as if they had guessed their fate.
“hello. I am Jae-Woon Kang, the largest shareholder of World Telecom.”
“..hello. CEO.”
“yes. Prior to the meeting, I would like to inform you that former CEO Do Jun-tae resigned due to an unfortunate incident, and was severely punished for confiscation of severance pay and the return of his salary for three years.”
At my words, the executives looked startled.
“You said your severance pay was forfeited?”
“..heavy discipline!”
“And as some of you may have guessed, the people here are those who are involved in the unsavory work led by former president Do Jun-tae. It is judged that the damage caused to the company is large, and as of today, all of them will be dismissed.”
The executives let out sighs with confused faces.
“Ah…I thought it was going to be like this… Our severance pay must have all gone…”
“President Do, why are you talking about that person?”
I waited until they despaired enough before continuing.
“However, I think that there will be many of you who were forced to take part in the work under the direction of former CEO Do Jun-tae, so I will take special care.”
An executive asked with a face as if he had seen a rope that came down from the sky.
“If you say good-bye…”
“Of course, retirement is inevitable. However, severance pay will be paid normally.”
The face of the executive who asked the question brightened.
“yes. As long as it doesn’t cause any special problems in the future.”
The executives breathed a sigh of relief.
“Whoa.. where is that?”
“Yeah, that’s great!”
I looked at them laughing and crying at my words, and opened their mouths.
“So, if you feel my favor, please hand over it well when you leave, and finish it neatly so that there are no problems.”
The executives bowed their heads.
“Okay, sir. Thank you for your generosity!”
The executives to be dismissed were sent out, and this time the executives to be retained were called.
As the executives with nervous faces gathered, they said to them.
“I am the largest shareholder and representative of Damoye, Kang Jae-woon. nice to see you.”
“Nice to meet you. CEO.”
“First of all, congratulations on your stay. Everyone in this position is subject to retention.”
At the thought of surviving, the executives’ faces regained a little leeway.
“..Thank you for a good look.”
“yes. Ex-President Jun-Tae Do made the wrong decision, so many executive positions were vacant, but we do not intend to fill them in a hurry. For the time being, I will also assume the position of president. However, if there is a suitable person, I am willing to hand it over to you, so please show your abilities generously.”
My words changed the eyes of the executives.
Crisis turned into opportunity.
There has never been such a large number of vacant positions for executives since the company was founded.
For them, this situation was the best time to aim for the desired position.
They answered my words with full of anticipation.
“I will do my best! CEO.”
“yes. Then, I trust you will do well and I will end the meeting with this one. We will schedule a working-level meeting separately, so you can all go back.”
After the executives left, the manager asked cautiously.
“CEO. If more than half of the executives resign at once, wouldn’t it be a hindrance to the company’s operation? You could send them out sequentially, but is there any reason you are in a hurry?”
“Rather than rushing, I just needed to show it with an impact. If it harms the company, I don’t just fall for it, and I’m a cold-hearted person who isn’t afraid of cutting people, and so on. ”
“Ah, I mean, you wanted to give tension to the organization.”
“yes. I wanted to create an atmosphere like that, where every single word I spoke moves in an orderly fashion. No, I can’t, it’s a waste of time to quarrel like this.”
“.. that is surprising.”
“The fact that people who seem to seek freedom more than anyone else want their employees to act like the army when they start a business.”
“haha. It just depends on the situation.”
“What is the situation?”
“yes. Moving like an army is poison if you don’t know the answer. It could be that you’re fooling around. But if you know the answer, it’s the other way around. To get to that answer quickly, you have to move like an army.”
The manager asked with a puzzled face.
“..you seem convinced you know the answer. It is true that the CEO has succeeded in various businesses, but is it your first time in the telecommunication business? Aren’t you worried that you might make a mistake?”
I’ve never had such a worry.
“I do not know. I haven’t made any mistakes yet. If I make that mistake later, I’ll go back then and think about it again. haha.”
#Suwon Sungwoon Logic’s headquarters conference room.
When I presented two blueprints to President Lee Byung-hoon, he asked with excitement.
“Is this the drill 3 that can use that multi-core?”
“Right. Like Drill 2, it will take a long time to do core customization, so I gave it to you in advance. And this time I brought something else.”
“Other? Oh, by the way, there are two drawings. What about the other one?”
“It’s a communication chip.”
“A communication chip?”
“yes. It’s a chip that processes radio signals that go into telecommunication company’s base station equipment.”
In the future, Hwansung Electronics will use the technology accumulated while making mobile phones to enter the communication equipment market.
Among them, the communication modem chip, which is the core of the base station communication equipment, was developed by the system semiconductor division, so I knew the blueprint.
The modem chip design drawing was handed over to President Lee along with the drill 3 drawing.
The boss looked at me with a subtle expression.
“Hmm, it’s a communication chip…well, since CEO Kang made it, it must be a great guy. However, there is not much demand for communication chips. There was a lot of demand when upgrading to 2G a few years ago, but now there is little other than the need to replace broken equipment. Even the broken equipment will be used as it is, so it cannot be called demand from our point of view.”
“If there is no demand, we can make it. It’s a chip we’ve made for the next generation of communications equipment.”
“If it’s a next-generation communication device, you mean it was made for 3G?”
“no. It was made for use in 4G equipment.”
The boss said with a surprised face.
“4G? There is no place where telecommunication companies have introduced 3G yet, but it is 4G. And just in case, from 3G onwards, there is no set standard yet. No one knows yet whether 3G will go to WCDMA or CDMA2000.”
Except for me, it would be
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
It is a communication method that allows multiple users to access at the same time by using a unique code for each user.
Currently, 2G communication, called 2G, is predominant, and all of them use this CDMA method.
The technologies developed by inheriting this are WCDMA and CDMA2000.
The two will compete fiercely for the 3G technology standard.
But I know.
It’s technically complicated, but instead, the WCDMA method with superior performance will eventually win.
“It’s now, but eventually, one method will be decided. And I’m pretty sure that the way I’ve chosen is going to become mainstream.”
“What method did CEO Kang choose?”
“LTE. 4G will go to LTE.”
