Reborn since 1993

Chapter 1287 A dead Taoist friend is not dead but a poor Taoist

Changhong also builds employee housing, which is part of the Changhong Family Compound.

Not only were residences built, but they were also built on a large scale, including multiple living areas and hundreds of residential buildings. Employees were assigned to different areas and houses of different sizes based on their seniority, professional title, and position.

Of course, the residential buildings in Changhong's family compound are completely different from the modern community design of Dongfang Jiayuan, which has elevators, balconies, underground parking, and greenery. The style is still mainly based on the old family compound style.

However, Changhong Family Compound has more supporting facilities than Dongfang Jiayuan, including kindergarten, children's school, hospital, canteen, staff activity center, cinema, shops and so on.

Changhong is a typical state-owned enterprise, operating as a self-contained entity that takes care of all the needs of its employees from birth to death.

This model is neither good nor bad. When the company has money, frankly speaking, these expenses are completely affordable and can motivate employees. After all, they are working for the company, which is also equivalent to working for themselves.

But if the market is bad, it's hard to say whether they can afford to maintain facilities such as the canteen, hospital, and cinema in the residential compound.

While Dongling High-Tech also built Oriental Garden to provide housing for its employees, it was a welfare benefit, and the apartments were sold to the employees rather than given away directly. This ensured that Oriental Garden was self-sufficient and would not become a burden for Dongling High-Tech.

When the market is good, Dongfang Jiayuan builds more houses; when the market is bad, it builds fewer. It's completely different from Changhong.

The villa where Mr. Ni lives was also built by Changhong.

After all, given Mr. Ni's current status, he is not only the head of Changhong, but also the king of color TVs in mainland China, and holds various other social positions.

When traveling, I often need to receive city government officials and foreign business partners at my home. Not only is it inconvenient to stay in my original place, but safety is also a major concern.

So Mr. Ni is now living in this villa, but at this moment Mr. Ni looks very unwell, his chest heaving violently, clearly in a state of extreme anger and resentment.

The impact of Dongling Hi-Tech's year-end bonus is not limited to its peers; well-known companies in China are also affected.

Just like Changhong, this year's year-end bonus is in an awkward situation, especially compared to Dongling High-Tech.

As soon as Dongling Hi-Tech's year-end bonus plan was released, Dongling Hi-Tech's suppliers, such as Chuanrong Co., Ltd., immediately followed suit and launched the same year-end bonus plan.

This year, however, Changhong plans to distribute television sets to its employees as year-end bonuses, which has drawn widespread discontent within the company.

After all, you can't eat or drink from a TV, and this is Changhong's home turf, where every household has a Changhong TV installed.

Changhong currently has some unsold inventory. Where are they supposed to sell these TVs? It's Chinese New Year, and people need money to buy meat, clothes, and other necessities. They can't possibly go hungry on New Year's Eve and watch two TVs on the go, can they?
But what angered Mr. Ni was not that Changhong was outcompeted by Dongling Hi-Tech's subsidiary in terms of year-end bonuses.

What angered Mr. Ni was the report in Sanlian Life Weekly, which practically screamed, "A coup!"

"What are they going to do?"

"So you want to get rid of me so soon?"

Mr. Ni angrily slammed his hand on the Sanlian Weekly, making a loud banging sound on the table.

"Calm down, Lao Ni, you can't afford to get angry right now!"

Upon hearing the commotion, Mrs. Yang, the wife of Mr. Ni, quickly came out and spoke to Mr. Ni.

Changhong is currently in its most dangerous moment. Similarly, Mr. Ni has been working hard and is suffering from serious leg problems, now needing a wheelchair or crutches to walk.

This year, in order to cope with the increasingly fierce competition and price wars in the domestic color TV industry, Mr. Ni launched the most famous battle in the mainland TV industry, aiming to win in one fell swoop. Changhong joined forces with eight major color picture tube manufacturers and began to frantically stockpile picture tubes.

According to Mr. Ni's plan, he would leverage Changhong's strong cash flow to buy up 70% of the 21-inch, 25-inch, and 29-inch color picture tubes in the domestic market.

Changhong is so eager to not give a single picture tube to its competitors like Hisense, Konka, Haier, TCL, and Panda.

After all, without picture tubes, televisions cannot be produced, which is equivalent to defeating the enemy without a fight.

However, this tactic did not work. On the one hand, the status of those TV brands in their respective regions was no less than that of Changhong in Fucheng and Sichuan.

These television manufacturers collectively complained, and many regions joined together to accuse Changhong of its domineering and monopolistic practices to the Ministry of Information Industry.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology put pressure on Changhong, but the most crucial factor was the assistance provided by picture tube manufacturers from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and other countries.

These suppliers were also unwilling to see Changhong dominate half of the domestic television market and instead supplied large quantities of products to manufacturers such as Konka and Hisense.

The fierce price war, coupled with the large-scale stockpiling of picture tubes, consumed a lot of Changhong's cash flow, directly slashing its profits. In addition, it accumulated 77 billion yuan in inventory. It can be said that Changhong was at its most dangerous moment.

Along with the danger, Mr. Ni's status at Changhong is also at risk.

Changhong and Fucheng are inextricably linked. Everyone knows that Mr. Ni led Changhong to where it is today.

However, Changhong is ultimately a state-owned enterprise under the jurisdiction of Fucheng City. The true controlling stake in Changhong belongs to Fucheng, and even the Sichuan Provincial Government. In other words, who becomes the head of Changhong is actually decided by Fucheng and the Sichuan Provincial Government.

Now, the report by Sanlian Life Weekly has made Mr. Ni smell a strong conspiracy.

According to domestic practice, when something is about to be implemented, it is usually announced through the media. After public opinion arises, it is denied first, and then after a period of time, it is officially implemented.

Similarly, this report in Sanlian Life Weekly almost attacked Mr. Ni, saying that it was a move to reduce the power of Changhong's distributors across the country.

However, the words clearly point directly at Mr. Ni, implying that Changhong's current crisis is due to Mr. Ni's management problems.

"How long can Changhong's flag be held high?"

This report caused a huge stir in Fucheng and the domestic home appliance industry, almost equivalent to directly questioning a "godfather" figure in the domestic home appliance industry.

To say that no one was behind this would be to treat Mr. Ni like a three-year-old.

Ms. Yang picked up the report and read it through, her expression showing concern. She could tell that this was a prelude to removing Mr. Ni from his position as head of Changhong.

"Old Ni, you still need to be prepared."

“If it’s not working out, it’s a good thing to retire. You haven’t had much rest in the past ten years, so it’s time for you to take a proper rest!” Ms. Yang said to Mr. Ni.

"I will step down, but not be forced out!"

Mr. Ni found it hard to accept. He knew that if he withdrew, his life would likely be essentially over.

After this year's crushing defeat, he has no chance to turn things around. Mr. Ni is somewhat unwilling to accept this and doesn't want to end his career so easily and without a clear explanation.

Ms. Yang looked at Mr. Ni with worry in her eyes. She knew that neither Fucheng nor the Sichuan provincial government wanted Changhong to continue such a disastrous defeat this year. Changhong was a pillar company in the area. Even if Mr. Ni had worked hard and made great contributions, he would probably be replaced when Changhong was in a crisis!
Suppressing his dissatisfaction, Mr. Ni rubbed his aching legs and continued flipping through the newspaper. When he saw the news about Dongling High-Tech again, he fell silent.

Back when Dongling Hi-Tech was just emerging, some people even compared it to Changhong. At that time, the outside world and the media were still discussing whether Dongling Hi-Tech, as a rising star, could catch up with Changhong...

But now, Mr. Ni shook his head helplessly. No one compares the two companies anymore. After all these years, Changhong is still waging a price war in the television industry.

However, Dongling High-Tech has already entered the world's top 500 companies, so the two are no longer comparable.

"A stargazing set-top box?"

"A television revolution?"

Looking at the new terms in the newspaper, Mr. Ni's eyes flickered a few times. He felt that the reports were too far-fetched and he was somewhat skeptical.

But if he had the time, Mr. Ni really wanted to go to Pingyang and meet with Mr. Li, the great philanthropist.

……

"Founder's computer shipments rank second among domestic computer manufacturers!"

"Founder computers have already been sold to Siam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and South America!"

Founder Computer announced that it will pay its R&D team 18 months' salary this year!

Inside the Founder Group in Yanjing, President Zhang Yufeng looked at the newspaper in his hand and couldn't help but rub his cheeks.

If you ask what the most embarrassing thing is, without a doubt it's being slapped in the face by someone you looked down on back then.

Now, Zhang Yufeng faces the same awkward problem: Founder Computer, which was sold off by Founder Group, is experiencing an epic boom.

Without even leaving his office, Zhang Yufeng knew that everyone inside Founder Group was probably talking about it. After all, Founder Computer had given out such a large year-end bonus, so would Founder Group give one too?
If they don't issue it, wouldn't that prove that Founder Group is doing worse now than a discarded asset they sold off back then?
Another issue is the questioning of Zhang Yufeng's judgment. He actually sold Founder Computer, a cash cow, for only one hundred million US dollars.
If they don't sell, will the group also get a share of the profits Founder Computer made this year?
There are doubts not only within Founder Group, but also likely some dissatisfaction with Zhang Yufeng at Yenching University.

But Zhang Yufeng has something to say about this. The sale of Zhengcheng Computer was decided by a board vote, and everyone agreed. He can't be made to take the blame alone now.

Furthermore, selling it for one hundred million US dollars back then was really not cheap. Moreover, at that time, the Southeast Asian financial crisis had depleted Founder Group's cash flow, and it urgently needed this life-saving money.

Moreover, Founder Computer only really took off after it was acquired by Dongling Hi-Tech. If you don't believe me, just look at the struggling domestic computer industry now. Brands like Lianxiang, Great Wall, and Tongfang have seen their sales increase this year, but their profits have plummeted due to price wars!

"Pay attention to media opinion. It's best to keep matters concerning the computer industry within the computer industry itself. Founder Group no longer makes computers!"
Yes, you need to get the media to report the "correct" information!

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yufeng decided that it was better to sacrifice himself than his friend. He called the public relations manager of Fangzheng Group and asked him to shift the blame to someone else.

Instead of focusing media attention on competitors like Lenovo, Hasee, and Founder Computer, these computer manufacturers have also experienced significant declines in performance and stock prices this year. Shouldn't we be asking them if they're still paying year-end bonuses? Why keep targeting Founder Group?
As for how those companies will deal with public opinion and whether they will be criticized, that's not something Zhang Yufeng needs to worry about. As long as he gets through this year-end, that's fine.

(End of this chapter)