Faced with the challenge of the 'Qi Ai Company' from the Jewish brothers, senior executives of the Yangtze River Industrial Group and the Yangtze River Plastic Factory sat together and had a discussion. It’s not that Changjiang Plastic Factory does not allow competitors to exist, but that Changjiang Plastic Factory must maintain sufficient competitiveness, analyze the advantages of competitors, and formulate strategies accordingly.
At the meeting, everyone had a heated discussion.
Deputy General Manager Wang Liang: "Qi'ai Company's share in the United States is growing rapidly. It is said that there are 10,000 retail points, including large department stores Woolworth and Bloomingdales. My The idea is that the global demand for plastic flowers is still increasing anyway, so we will simply expand the team of workers, especially in the factories of Qi Ai Company to release the news.”
The implication is that skilled workers from the Qai'ai factory have switched jobs at the Yangtze River Plastic Factory. As a result, the Qai'i factory may be affected.
Tao Derong, the general manager of the Yangtze Plastic Factory, immediately said: "But the salary of our plastic flower workers is 1.5 times that of other companies. Only by cooperating with the external processing model can we reduce the cost of workers."
There are two advantages to handing over 25% of orders to outside factories: first, you don’t have to support people when orders are idle; second, OEM products are generally relatively cheap. As for how the cooperative factory squeezes workers, it doesn’t matter. It’s about the Changjiang Plastic Factory.
A group of management members discussed the opinions of two people. Because Lin Zhichao is here, everyone can speak freely and are not afraid of offending others. What they want is to express their thoughts.
A senior executive came up with a 'bad idea' and said: "I think the opinions of Deputy General Manager Wang and Manager Tao can be combined. We continue to adhere to the self-processing and OEM model, but we can still go to Qiai Factory to release the news. In this way First of all, as the number one and number two plastic flower factory in Hong Kong, but the salary and benefits are different, obviously the workers of Qi Ai Company will also have ideas. If any skilled workers change jobs, we will accept them."
Harming others does not necessarily benefit oneself. What he wants is to make life difficult for his opponent, even if it means causing a little trouble. This is probably what he thinks.
Everyone's eyes lit up, and then they looked at Lin Zhichao.
Lin Zhichao said calmly at this time: "This is a rumor after all. If the wages of Qi Ai's workers are really low, there may be trouble. Then it will be reported by the American "Plastics" magazine. How much more Qi Ai will do? At least it is an influence. Of course, we cannot participate in this kind of thing. The most we can do is reveal our salary and benefits to the workers of Qi Ai Company a little bit, and let other things take their own course. If something really happens, then in the end, why did I say yes? Xiaodao, because this may not get us what we want, so we will eventually have to go to the United States to win orders, so be prepared."
Everyone was immediately in admiration. The boss took one step and thought four steps:
In the first step, the workers of Qi Ai Company were divided and made some noise;
In the second step, the news was reported by plastic magazines around the world, and Qi Ai Company was known as a 'sweatshop';
In the third step, there may be dealers who are disgusted with Qi'ai Company's actions, and this will be the opportunity for Yangtze Plastic Factory;
The fourth step is that no matter what, Yangtze Plastic Factory needs to win orders from the United States.
Tao Derong knew Lin Zhichao's character, so he immediately said: "Okay. We are a conspiracy and aboveboard. We only need to pass it on to the circle of workers in Qi Ai Company, and things will be OK. I will continue to work hard on sales in the United States. "
Plastic flowers are already the third or fourth largest industry in Hong Kong, so as the chairman, Lin Chi-chao has never made any industry salary suggestions. There are two reasons: first, it involves a wide range and is easy to offend people; second, there are no wigs The profit is high and it is not easy to promote.
"Okay, let's leave it as it is! Don't be discouraged, everyone. I'm still very satisfied with Yangtze Plastic Factory."
Today's meeting has made progress.
Mid-February.
As the Spring Festival approaches, the workers of Yangtze River Industrial Group are in joy because it is time to pay benefits again.
I saw factory trucks pulling bags of rice and barrels of oil into the factory.
In this era, what everyone eats is rice and oil, these are the two most core things. The poor people's daily meals are almost all white rice, fried with some vegetables in oil, and a little more luxurious, that is, eating a meat dish - salted fish; as for pork, chicken, duck, and goose, these are eaten every week and every day. You will only eat when your life improves once a month.
Even if Lin Zhichao sympathizes with the workers' difficulties, the lunch of the Yangtze River Industrial Group only has one dish, and there may be some lard residue in the dish, making it impossible to eat meat (in the previous life, in the 21st century, mainland factories still only had this treatment) ), it’s good to have some fishy meat. Occasionally, you can add 2 pieces of salted fish as a snack.
In fact, most factories in Hong Kong provide lunches in workers’ own food boxes without meal stickers. Usually it’s just white rice and stir-fried vegetables, which may not be as good as the Yangtze River Industrial Group’s lunch.
If compared with the situation on the other side now, Hong Kong workers would feel like they have entered paradise. After all, the workers on the other side don’t even have rice to eat.
"The boss said that the performance this year was good and the workers worked very hard, so each person received 50 kilograms of rice and two kilograms of oil!" Worker supervisors promoted internally.
For a time, the entire workshop was filled with joy.
"That's great! Other plastic factories don't have any money. Only our Yangtze Plastic Factory provides benefits on three festivals every year. This year, we get 50 kilograms of rice and 2 kilograms of oil."
"That's right, we just distributed double grains last month (January), and this month we received rice oil. It's really exciting."
The workers of Yangtze River Industry Group felt a sense of pride during the discussion.
In fact, Lin Zhichao discovered a secret long ago, that is, the worker efficiency of Yangtze River Industrial Group is higher than that of outside factories; that is to say, although the welfare is 1.5 times higher, he may not lose money after the worker efficiency increases; moreover What's more, he pays attention to the added value of the product, so he doesn't care about the extra labor.
Some are happy and some are sad.
In the production workshop of Qi Ai Company, employees were also talking a lot.
"Have you heard? The Yangtze Plastic Factory distributed Spring Festival benefits yesterday. Each worker received 50 kilograms of rice and 2 kilograms of oil. I heard that there is a day and a half holiday during the Spring Festival, with salary."
"Really, their boss is so good?"
"Not only that! It is said that Yangtze Plastic Factory distributes rice oil during the Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival every year. At the end of the year, there is double pay, overtime pay is 1.5 times the hourly wage, ten and a half hours of work per day, and one holiday per month."
"Oh my god, how come the pay is so good! We work for foreigners for 90 Hong Kong dollars per month. We have to bring our own lunch at noon, and there is no overtime pay."
With the help of caring people, soon thousands of Qi Ai Company's 2,000 employees learned the news.
At the same time, workers at Qiai Company also complained.
"What the hell, don't give out anything during the Spring Festival, and don't take a holiday, bah, it's a sweatshop!"
"Shh, keep your voice down, you don't want to do it!"
"What are you doing! I plan to change jobs and go to work in the Yangtze River Plastic Factory."
"Really? Are they recruiting people over there?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm a skilled worker, so I should want it!"
"I think we should protest with the factory first. Maybe if we unite, we can get some benefits and holidays this year!"
"That makes sense!"
Soon, the workers of Qi Ai Company began to protest. They walked out of the workshop and gathered together.
"We want a salary increase, and we have to go to work during the Chinese New Year, and we won't give overtime pay or benefits. What a shame!"
"That's right!"
The supervisor quickly said: "What are you doing? You want to rebel! If you don't want to, get out!"
"Get out of here, we won't do it anymore!"
"Yes, let's unite and quit!"
More and more people are going on strike.
When the supervisor saw something was wrong, he immediately changed his expression and compromised with the workers: "If you have anything to say, go to work first. If you have any demands, I will report them to the boss."
“I’ll go to work after getting a raise, otherwise I won’t get it!”
For a time, the factory was in chaos, and some people who originally didn't want to make trouble joined in to watch the fun.
After all, it is human nature to fight against the odds.
A large number of workers walked out of the Qiai factory and gathered on the road;
Subsequently, a large number of reporters came to interview, and of course the police also came to maintain order.
Things have become big!
But this has nothing to do with the Yangtze Plastic Factory. In fact, the Yangtze Plastic Factory only revealed the company's generous treatment to some workers at the Qiai Factory. Everything else develops naturally.
When the management saw this, they quickly went to ask their boss for instructions.
Harold, the younger brother of the Jewish brother founder of Qi Ai Company, was sent to Hong Kong by his elder brother to supervise the factory, while his elder brother was in charge of sales in the United States.
"Boss, it's not good. The factory workers have gone on strike and gathered outside the factory in large numbers." A senior executive broke into Harold's office and said urgently in English.
When Harold heard this, he stood up from his office in shock and said, "Strike, why? The wages in our factory are the same as those in factories outside, or even higher."
In his opinion, other plastic flower factories in Hong Kong offer a lot of salary of HK$50 to HK$80, while the salary of Qi Ai Company is still HK$70 to 90 per month. It is incredible that this can lead to a strike.
The management said: "I heard from the workers that they didn't know where they heard that the Yangtze Plastic Factory distributed Spring Festival benefits yesterday, and there was also a day and a half holiday for the Spring Festival, so they felt unbalanced."
Harold suddenly said angrily: "What the hell is Spring Festival? We don't have this festival in the West!"
The management could only say: "Then let's go and try to persuade them. If that doesn't work, let the police drive them away?"
Harold was not stupid and thought that the matter could not get too big, so he quickly went to the factory in person to see the specific situation.
This time, I was so angry that I almost vomited blood!
The worker representatives had too many requests, and they were all based on the treatment offered by the largest plastic flower factory in Hong Kong. Harold was naturally unable to agree, but was only willing to increase his salary by 10 yuan a month, and all other benefits were negotiable. .
This commotion took almost 24 hours before the workers were invited into the factory to continue working.
Qi'ai Company promised to raise wages by 10 yuan per month and give out another 20 yuan in bonuses during the Spring Festival; at the same time, Qi'ai Company fired a dozen workers who made trouble.
Although the matter was resolved quickly, the Hong Kong media still reported it immediately. Some media even used the term "sweatshop" to describe Qi Ai Company.
At the same time, these news naturally appeared in the American "Plastics" magazine, causing a great impact on public opinion.
Changjiang Plastic Factory did not take any superficial actions in this incident, and did not take the opportunity to recruit skilled workers, let alone those who caused trouble in Qiai Company.
However, Tao Derong immediately went to the United States to look for new orders.
The Spring Festival is coming, New Year's Eve.
Lin Zhichao has started vacation mode. This year his career will have a bumper harvest and he can have a good year.
Together with his employees, they also had a "good year" and truly realized "sharing the blessings".
In Villa No. 79, Deep Water Bay, Lin Zhichao held three-year-old Lin Wanzhu in one hand and Lin Huizhu, who was under one year old in the other, playing in the living room on the first floor and enjoying the happiness brought by his family.
Including Xu Caiying and Audrey Hepburn's children, Lin Zhichao's children will reach nine;
These nine children are probably the second generation of the Lin family.
Of course, it is not ruled out that Lin Zhichao may have other women and give birth to children in the future. Regarding this aspect, Lin Zhichao has no limitations on his ideas. For him, since genes are so excellent, why not contribute to mankind?
With the current nine children, he will have more or less time to cultivate them into talents in the next ten years or so.
As for the future of the family property, Lin Zhichao is not worried. His children may not outlive him, so there is no point in arguing about it; models such as family trust funds and family offices are enough to resolve those troubles!
Moreover, in Lin Zhichao's view, only families with insufficient money and half-finished wealth will fight over family property, such as the Huo family and the Guo family in the previous life.
Xu Caiying held out her 6-month pregnant belly and said, "Husband, don't spoil the two princesses!"
It turned out that Lin Wanzhu, who was almost three years old, wanted to repay Baba, but Lin Zhichao had already held her and ran many laps.
Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "It's okay, it's rare for me to accompany them!"
"I love you, Barbie!" Lin Wanzhu said in a weird and flattering way, much like her mother Xu Caiying.
The four boys can only envy them. After they turned three, their father rarely hugged them.
Xu Caiying deliberately pulled her daughter's pigtails and said, "Little guy, if you don't come down yet, you want to tire out your dad!"
Lin Wanzhu was smart. She looked at Lin Zhichao with big eyes and said with a wink, "Daddy, are you tired?"
Lin Zhichao smiled, he looked like an elf, how could he be tired? He had always been a 'superman' in front of the children.
However, it was not difficult for him.
"Why don't you come down and let's go and see what gifts you have for this Spring Festival?"
Lin Wanzhu was indeed fooled and said, "Okay!"
Lin Zhichao put her down with a smile, Tang Caiyun also took Lin Huizhu, and then Lin Zhichao took everyone to a house.
The boy's gift is a 'Rubik's Cube', and the girl's gift is the new 'Barbie Doll'.
Lin Ruihuan, Lin Ruijiang, Lin Ruihai, and Lin Ruikai picked up the 'Second-Level Rubik's Cube' and 'Third-Level Rubik's Cube' in their hands, with confused expressions on their faces, wondering what the hell are these?
It turns out that after three years of research and development, Yangtze Toy Factory finally developed the 'Second-order Rubik's Cube' and 'Third-order Rubik's Cube'. The two Rubik's Cubes were two project teams from the beginning. Even so, it took more than two and a half years. time.
This is because the Rubik's Cube they developed has a solid internal structure and can be twisted at will. Unlike the first second-level Rubik's Cube in the previous life, it was glued together with something and had a very short service life.
Lin Zhichao picked up a 'Second-order Rubik's Cube' and began to explain how to play it to the children. He quickly attracted everyone's attention, and then they began to practice it themselves.
In fact, although things have been developed and patented, it will take many years to become popular around the world. What Yangtze Toy Factory can do is keep an eye on patents so that it can collect considerable patent fees.
Fortunately, Yangtze Toy Factory is an expert in the field of 'hard glue', otherwise it would be difficult to develop a Rubik's Cube.
"The Rubik's Cube is an educational toy that tests one's brain. If you want to play well, observation and geometric knowledge are very useful." Lin Zhichao told his eldest son Lin Ruihuan.
Lin Ruihuan is almost nine years old and is already in the fifth grade of elementary school. It is not difficult to understand Lin Zhichao's words; the other three children can only play around, after all, they are less than seven, six and four years old.
After playing for a while, everyone left the room satisfied. Everyone was very satisfied with the new toys.
In fact, even though these children come from wealthy families, they don't buy ordinary toys whenever they want. Parents give them gifts and toys only on special days.
Normally, Lin Zhichao and his two wives would refuse toys if they wanted them. The purpose of this was to teach them to cherish them.
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Zhichao, his wife and children, and the whole family came to the home of Tang Zhongyuan and Song Qiaoling to pay New Year's greetings.
No matter how much wealth he has and how high his status is, he will pay New Year greetings to his parents-in-law on this day every year, and he must show the utmost sincerity in etiquette. After all, Lin Zhichao's two wives were raised by them.
If he did not support Tang Zhongyuan, it is unknown whether his two wives would have other thoughts in their minds; but for the sake of family unity, Lin Zhichao has always been very fond of providing advice to Tang Zhongyuan.
During the dinner, Lin Zhichao said: "Father-in-law, you can only rank among the top five in the textile industry, but you have never thought about whether you can make up for it?"
Tang Zhongyuan said calmly: "Textile competition is fierce and it is the largest industry in Hong Kong. It is not easy for me to stay in the top five!"
In fact, because the added value of the garment industry is higher, he is more willing to invest his energy and funds in the garment industry.
Lin Zhichao said: "I know there is an opportunity. You can think about it carefully. There is a country in Africa called Nigeria. It is still a British colony, but it became autonomous in 1954 and is expected to become independent in the next few years. This country has a unique characteristic. That is billions of pounds of foreign exchange. It is the second largest cotton-producing country in the world. The people of Nigeria regard cloth as more important than money. If they have money, they will farm cloth, one piece at a time, and a lot of it. ...They are also a country with a large population. Perhaps the only drawback is that social security is poor."
Tang Zhongyuan's eyes started to glow green when he heard this, and he quickly said: "With this condition, if I go to open a textile factory, it will be like picking up money! However, with this poor security, there are indeed great risks. The money was robbed in the end, it was not in vain!”
Lin Zhichao said: "This is a gamble! Of course, my father-in-law can take the time to go and investigate, first invest a million Hong Kong dollars to try it, and send his cronies to manage it there. While making money, he has to inspect, and he also needs to establish relations with the other side. The pace Slow down, and by the time other people want to invest, you’ll have been entrenched for years.”
Tang Zhongyuan nodded and said: "Risk always goes hand in hand with wealth. You are right. We should investigate everything in this country!"
To be honest, Lin Zhichao told Tang Zhongyuan in advance that it would be difficult for him to succeed even if he wanted to. This is the advantage of poor information, which is simply terrifying.
He also suggested: "With the money you make from your initial investment, do more good deeds for the local area and don't take the profits back. In this way, you will not only establish a good upper-level relationship in the local area, but also have the prestige of the lower level. Wait until the factory is expanded in the future and then think about it again." Taking the money back, taking a long-term view, and catching big fish will be more conducive to the investment strategies of these poor countries."
Tang Zhongyuan said: "I understand these principles. To put it bluntly, if I really invest, I will definitely take root in the textile industry there for a long time, and I must have good relationships."
At this time, Song Qiaoling said: "Africa, we have been to South Africa, and it is still managed by white people. Nigeria will be independent. When the British escape, the security problem will be very bad."
Tang Zhongyuan immediately said: "What do you know! It's a country where you can just pick up money. As long as it doesn't fight every day, a lot of people dare to invest. Moreover, Xianqian will graduate in one year. By then, he will be trained to open up new fields." overseas market."
Song Qiaoling stopped talking! In fact, she heard that it was a country with billions of pounds of foreign exchange, the second largest cotton producer, a country with a large population, and people like to hoard cloth. She also knew that any risk was worth taking.
Lin Zhichao smiled and said: "The security issue is not simple. Money will clear the way. If you know some local military personnel, it will be possible for these people to directly send troops to protect the factory in the future. Father-in-law, don't be anxious. Do more research. You will know the information years before others. , we have time to make arrangements. The key is to stabilize the base camp in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is still too late to wait for Xianqian to graduate and for Nigeria to become independent."
Tang Zhongyuan said: "I understand!"
He said it sincerely, after all, his son-in-law has such a vicious vision that he even knows everything about Africa.
Tang Zhongyuan added: "The local textile industry in Hong Kong is indeed very competitive. I even considered building a factory in Southeast Asia, but later I found that the production costs there were higher than in Hong Kong, so I forgot about it. The conditions in Nigeria are really suitable for overseas. If We have really succeeded in breaking in. From now on, Oriental Textile Group will be able to advance hand in hand in textiles and garments, and it can also take care of real estate."
By the end, Tang Zhongyuan was already excited.
Wealth and career, who doesn't desire to move to the next level. Especially the bigger the boss is, the more eager he is.
He has two sons, so he naturally hopes to learn from his son-in-law and build a huge group that can be passed on to future generations.
Lin Zhichao said: "The cost in Southeast Asia is indeed higher than that in Hong Kong, and things that are unfriendly to the Chinese break out there from time to time. It is not as good as a country like Nigeria. After all, it was also managed by the British. There is no chaos, and it also attaches great importance to economic development. .”
When Tang Zhongyuan went to Nigeria for development, it was an opportunity to make money. There was no need to invest much at the beginning. He would first get to know the local area for a few years and gradually expand the factory.
(End of chapter)
