Xu Dami carried his boss' briefcase all the way to the door of the chairman's office before handing it to President Wang. He heard a knock on the door, and someone inside asked, 'Is that Lao Wang? Come in!'
President Wang walked in with a smile on his face, while Secretary Xu looked a little strange. In the whole company, only the chairman could call President Wang by his first name, and the other vice presidents rarely called him 'Lao Wang'.
'Auntie Li, what is the chairman probably going to discuss?' In the whole company, only the chairman's secretary was a woman, and of course, she had to be a middle-aged woman.
'How would I know?' Sister Li didn't say a word, but thinking that the chairman would soon lose power if he pushed, and that this Xiaoxu might one day take her place, she whispered, 'These past two days, he has gone over all the reports on Jiasheng.'
'Thank you, Sister Li,' Xiaoxu couldn't help but make a bad guess when he heard this about the reports on Jiasheng.
The two in the office were discussing this, and the chairman of the board pressed the stack of newspapers and asked Vice President Wang, "Have you read these?'
'Yes," Vice President Wang said with a smile, 'that young man is quite good. Although I haven't read his book yet, so many people praise it, so I think it must be insightful. This also shows that our province is a great place to produce talent,'
'Yes, Jin Ling is also very good. Lao Wang, looking at it now, we let go of a rare talent back then. Just look at it, in just a few years, she has already created such a big situation with that company,' the chairman of the board said with some emotion.
At that time, Jin Ling had been tossing and turning about leaving, and Director Jin had even said hello to him. At the time, he didn't think much of it, thinking that it was because the young man hadn't settled down yet, and he agreed readily. Now that he thinks about it, it was because the person didn't want to work under him and didn't want to waste time.
'Yes, Jin Ling is a good girl, capable,' Vice President Wang was at a loss for a moment, wondering what the chairman wanted with him.
'Their convenience stores are likely to leave our group behind by next year,' the chairman said.
Vice President Wang now had a clue: 'Our shopping malls are also developing well,'
'Yes, the shopping mall is not bad, but look at Jiamei, it's been a few years, and they're almost a national chain over there. We, on the other hand, are still spinning our wheels in the same place. If you look at their financial statements, you'll be shocked when you see how little sales have increased while costs have risen. There aren't many profitable stores,'
'Jiamei's development has been less than ideal, but the headquarters' positioning of Jiamei has been inconsistent. Several people have never been in favour of Jiamei developing in other places,' explained Vice President Wang.
'They have valid concerns. The provincial capital has such good conditions, so to speak we have the best of everything. If these stores in the provincial capital cannot make a profit, won't it be even more difficult for those in the counties and cities below? The more stores you open, the more you lose!
Zhi Tao is the third general manager, right? It seems that only in the month before Xiaojin left, did he make some big moves and things just about broke even,'
The problem is that there is no comparison. While things are going well on one side, they remain stagnant on the other. It really doesn't make anyone happy.
'So I think, Jiamei, just forget it. Either close it down or sell it. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner you'll be done. You handle this. Yes, and remember to transfer Zhi Tao back here first. He's a good talent. Don't let him get depressed in that position,' the chairman of the board said, revealing his decision.
Vice President Wang was a little stunned. He had not expected the chairman to make such a decision so suddenly. However, it could be considered a favour to him. He knew that He Zitao was his trusted subordinate, and he had been asked to make arrangements early.
However, this was a major matter, and he was the one who had been asked to do it. He really wanted to decline, as this was a task that would offend people.
But now, he really could not consider or decline. The chairman was looking over here.
He agreed readily, 'Okay, I'll come up with a plan right away,'
The leader, who will retire in a few days, is more sensitive, unpredictable, and irritable than a menopausal woman. Vice President Wang dares not offend him, and I believe the other vice presidents of the company will not offend him either. Therefore, he didn't even ask if this matter would be passed at the meeting.
'Well, then you go ahead and take care of it, and keep it confidential,'
...
He Zhitao's mood today was especially not beautiful.
To be honest, he has always been a loyal fan of the company website, checking it at least three times a day to keep up with the latest developments. Now, looking at the good news typed out in red, 'The company chairman was cordially received by the prime minister,' and 'The company chairman discussed the blue ocean strategy with the chairmen of Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart and more than ten other well-known companies,' he was beside himself with anger.
So when he answered the phone, his voice was not very good, 'Hello, Chief Xu, what are your instructions?'
Secretary Xu was a little surprised. 'Lao He, have you already received the news?'
'What news?' He Zitao asked.
'Oh, nothing. The leader told me to inform you to come to his office immediately,'
'Secretary Xu, buddy Xu, don't keep us in suspense, what is it?'
'Good news, it seems that you and I will be working together at headquarters again,' said Secretary Xu.
'Are you transferring me back?' He Zhitao asked loudly.
'Yes, I was told to ask you here to discuss your arrangements. Also, the company has just decided that Jiamei will be officially closed down. However, you have to keep this news confidential for now. Hey, He, can you hear me?'
He Zhitao still held the phone, unable to say a word. He never expected that the end of Jiamei would be in his own hands. The feeling was quite complicated.
He felt a little relieved because he finally had the opportunity to leave this place where he was unable to make a difference, but also a little lost. After all, this was the first company he had managed on his own. Thinking about the lofty ambitions he had when he took office at the beginning of the year, General Manager He Zhitao felt very uncomfortable.
He had fallen at Jiamei, and it looked like he would not have the opportunity to get up again.
...
As Vice President Wang had predicted, at the company meeting, everyone unanimously agreed with the chairman's proposal to abolish Jiamei Convenience.
Although it was repeatedly emphasised that the decision would not be spread downwards at the moment, everyone knew at the meeting that this was completely impossible.
After the senior management meeting, it was just a matter of time before the news spread, and even some salespeople in the stores knew the news.
The most excited were the few unwavering middle managers. They went to He Zhi Tao, but He Zhi Tao was busy organising the various tasks at hand. He still had a sense of responsibility and decided to stand his last post before taking up his new position.
At this time, these guys who didn't do much of the real work and were preoccupied with petty squabbles naturally didn't have a good attitude. 'Things are just the way they are, it's useless to come to me. However, personally, I still feel that I owe the company. Everyone should think about it. I hope everyone can stand the last watch with me,'
Those old foxes, where do they have the heart to stand guard for the last shift? They all went to find their backers immediately. As a result, when the afternoon shift ended, the ordinary employees who had heard the news generally left early, but they all returned to the office, which was rare. They looked at each other, and it seemed that there was no good outcome.
In fact, the boss's greatest hope is that his superiors are easy to fool, his subordinates can get things done, and he can relax. From this perspective, they are not very capable people. In view of their previous loyalty, their backers have helped several times already. This time, they don't want to help, and they can't help.
Of course there will be work, but it is impossible to be as comfortable as they are now.
At this point, they finally realised that it was really not appropriate to only care about themselves and not the company's profits and losses. It was really unrealistic to hope to find another comfortable position like the one they currently had.
'It's all the old man's fault. He's about to retire, and he's still doing this,' said Lao Wei, the head of human resources, who usually had the best temper, but today he was the first to complain.
'It's no use talking about this. Let's think about what to do next,' said Director Sun, who was in charge of procurement, with a long face.
'Hasn't the company's future been decided yet? Is there still any room for manoeuvre?' Director Yu of the office was not giving up.
'Why hasn't it been decided? Either sell or close,'
With their comfortable jobs about to be lost, these people, for the first time, felt remorse. If they could go back to the past... Alas!
The head of the finance department, who usually didn't say much, took a deep drag on his cigarette and then stubbed it out in the ashtray. 'I have an idea,'