Business Strategy Division eting (1)
My welco party had ended.
It was uncomfortable, but there was nothing I could do. I had brought it upon myself.
When I checked my phone, there was a ssage.
[Chairman: Believe in yourself. And find soone people believe in you.]
What is this, seriously? What's with this random ssage? I had no idea why the chairman sent sothing like this so late at night.
Anyway, higher-ups always... Even if they say sothing vague, they expect us to understand it perfectly.
"Director Lee Hyunmin, could we have a word?"
I was about to head ho when soone stopped .
He was a man in his fifties, a bit balding, thin, and wearing black glasses.
"You're the finance team leader, aren't you?"
"Yes, that's right. You might have forgotten my na... I'm Kang Sangsu."
Although he was much older than , he was quite polite. Even his voice was careful.
"I apologize for being rude, but I have sothing I wanted to ask."
"Please, feel free."
"I was just curious why you brought up the parade earlier."
What's his intention?
He didn't seem to be picking a fight or complaining.
I felt a bit of caution, but honestly, even if I gained more enemies here, nothing much would change.
And then there was the chairman's ssage: Believe in myself.
Was it because of that?
I started believing that the most appropriate action was to speak my truth honestly.
I showed him the photo I had sent Min Jina earlier.
A picture taken from the secret room, overlooking the the park.
"I really love this view."
I shared with him my vision for the the park. Once I finished, I felt a bit embarrassed.
What was ant to be brief had turned into a thirty-minute monologue while standing there.
"I... I must have talked too much."
He shook his head.
"Oh! Not at all. Now, if I may speak, I'm not as great or as determined as you are, director. I'm timid, always worried..."
He glanced around and spoke even more quietly.
"I'm just the powerless finance team leader who does whatever the executive vice president says, but I'm worried. Is our the park really going to be okay like this? Since my job is handling the money, I can't avoid seeing so uncomfortable truths."
He let out a heavy sigh.
"I like my workplace a lot. It's close to ho... Though I'm not originally from Nonsan. I moved here because of my health. At my age, it would be hard to go sowhere else, so I hope to work here until I retire. But no matter how many tis I punch it into the calculator, I really wonder if the chairman can keep pouring money into the the park."
Sharp observation.
This the park has five years left on its life.
As I stayed quiet, he eyed and continued.
"I don't know exactly what role you ca here for. But from what you said, at least your will to save the the park seems sincere."
"Yes, I will definitely save this the park."
"That's why I'm telling you this—there's the Business Strategy Division eting tomorrow, right?"
Tomorrow at 3PM—the Business Strategy Division eting.
The Business Strategy Division is in charge of the managent of the the park.
Under it are the Marketing & Public Relations Team, business Strategy Team, HR Team, finance Team, General Affairs Team, event & Performance Team, and Legal & Audit Team—a total of seven teams.
Since managent is involved, and the executive vice president—who is the company's number three—directly oversees it, you could say it ranks above the other three divisions: The Park Operations Division, external Business Division, and my Reform Division.
Tomorrow's Business Strategy Division eting will include the executive vice president, all departnt heads, and the team leaders and key personnel from the seven teams.
"They'll make a point of saying they'll listen carefully to your Reform Division director's view, but will likely barrage you with questions that will be hard to answer. The idea is to make it seem like the new director knows nothing."
I see. Because I had made comnts that rubbed the executive vice president and other long-standing people the wrong way today.
Maybe I should've kept quiet earlier?
No, I did the right thing.
If we hadn't had that gathering today, I would've made those remarks in tomorrow's eting, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to respond to their attacks properly.
I would've started off on the wrong foot.
"Thank you very much for telling this."
I bowed in gratitude, and he added one more thing.
"There should be a folder in the Business Strategy Team's intranet called sothing like 'Obsolete Docunts'. There's so useful material in there."
Kang Sangsu, the finance team leader, bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle. We exchanged farewells and turned to go our separate ways.
"Ah! Director, there's sothing I really wanted to say."
"What is it?"
"I envy you."
I was so taken aback that I just stared at him blankly. Then he gave a faint smile and said,
"Having sothing you love and working hard for it. People my age don't have that anymore."
He clenched his fist.
"I may not be soone impressive, so I can't be of much help... but hang in there."
It was truly a curious experience.
Who knew that a simple word of encouragent could be so comforting?
Especially coming from a much older man.
On a late night waiting for spring, I realized the wind was warr than I had expected.
***
Even though I was still a little drunk, I returned to the office.
I logged into the intranet and checked the folder the finance team leader had told about.
While skimming through the docunts there, I discovered a file.
[History of Next Planet's Business Failures]
Was this from a consulting firm? It's way too cynical for a docunt written by an insider.
No matter how much you're writing a report on failure, the title is usually more optimistic.
That's just business etiquette.
[Author: Choi Hyena / Departnt: Business Strategy Team]
Wow... An internal staff wrote this.
Curious, I opened the file. The number of Word pages wasn't in the tens, but the hundreds. The volu was enormous.
It was a docunt summarizing the attempts, perspectives, and failures of the the park's past general managers.
I had wanted to know what processes the current the park had gone through to reach this point, so this was perfect.
Until now, everything had been so fragnted that I had to search bit by bit and organize things myself. That would take forever.
This was precisely the kind of material I needed right now.
With curiosity, I started reading.
The the park's first CEO was David.
He ca from a Disney park in California—the best of the top elites in the industry.
What kind of attempt did he make? What was his perspective?
[Clear the, the, the. Find a the that will be loved by many for a long ti.]
I nodded.
As expected of a Disney elite. So what kind of the did he propose?
[Rock and Heavy tal Paradise]
Huh? Did I read that right?
I checked the initial plans for the the park. The overall design was like a venue for a rock and heavy tal festival.
The design itself was art. If I liked rock or heavy tal, I would've fallen in love with this park.
But in Korea, this isn't it. It was overambitious.
I checked more information about him.
[I'll strike the lukewarm hearts of Koreans with the spirit of rock and heavy tal.]
He was just a huge rock and heavy tal fan, wasn't he? How ridiculous.
Naturally, this concept was never realized. He was fired.
"He's nuts."
Still, this crazy guy accomplished sothing. He connected our the park with so of the world's best attraction manufacturers.
Shall I look at the second general manager?
His na was Rooney, from London. While David was soone who had been at one firm for a long ti, rooney had vast experience at major the parks in the US, France, China, and Japan.
[The importance of space utilization and efficient flow]
Rooney believed that having lots of top-quality rides arranged efficiently was the key.
Our the park's layout was truly excellent—this was thanks to him.
[Resigned voluntarily two months after the park opening]
Huh? At such a crucial ti? Why?
[Main reason: hosickness, especially the food didn't suit him.]
I could understand hosickness, but... What? An Englishman complaining about the food?
That's weird.
So I dug a bit more into his personal record.
He'd lived in Korea for three years. He moved around the world too.
He just used hosickness and food as an excuse to run away after the park didn't perform well.
Shaking my head, I checked the third general manager's approach.
The third was soone I knew: Kim Myungmin.
He was from headquarters and regarded as one of the most competent PDs in the industry.
He was also the youngest ever executive at headquarters.
I'd heard that he requested to be assigned to the the park, boldly declaring he'd realize the chairman's dream.
[We follow Neentendo now, but one day, nintendo will follow us.]
It was an ambitious sentint.
Neentendo achieved massive success by plastering its the park with its ga IPs.
It seed Kim Myungmin decided to follow Neentendo's strategy to the letter.
Was it because he loved the company too much?
Or because he was overconfident?
The parent company's flagship IP 'Battle Fire' was indeed a globally successful ga.
It generated hundreds of billions in profit.
But it was a battle royale ga where a hundred people fought to the death until there was only one survivor, all in a confined space.
Pushing that IP at a family-oriented the park?
Other headquarters gas had so success, but the IPs weren't strong enough to attract the general public.
It was on point to approach the essence of a the park, but it was also a choice that was bound to fail.
The fourth manager was passionate about performances.
Trying to bring in idols and musical actors for daily mini-performances to draw crowds.
At the sa ti, giving unknown entertainers opportunities.
A good intention.
The fifth tried to leverage local festivals and connect with regional businesses.
Since there's an army training center in Nonsan, he even tried to link that with 'Battle Fire' IP.
Pretty desperate moves.
I smiled wryly.
Why did they keep pushing forward with impossible ideas, believing the impossible was possible?
Because they were incompetent, stupid, or inflexible?
No, absolutely not.
No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't overco the limitations of Nonsan as a location.
They were all high-stakes gamblers throwing their last card. If their gamble failed, they beca failures, that's all.
And the current general manager, vice CEO Choi Younghoon's winning move was to not do anything reckless. That's exactly the kind of person he is.
Even if I'm not the general manager, what should I do?
[Super The Park Tycoon]
I launched my favorite ga. My PC specs were great, so it ran perfectly.
I looked over the the parks I'd created. Of those, I'd posted the ones I thought turned out well to the ga's fan club.
One of the most popular:
[Lotus The Park in the Middle of a Lake]
I designed the the park as if it were a lake. The main point was combining the paths with the waterways.
In the center, I set a roller coaster shaped like a lotus, making it a statue-like symbol.
A kind of concept-thed park.
A the beloved by many.
Just like David, the first manager, said, this might be the only way to save 'Next Planet.'
What's needed to find it? Maybe a mindset of trying different concepts from the ga, in reality.
Ironically, the most popular the parks I made in-ga always ended in bad endings.
Because they didn't fit the ga system.
But in real life, it seems what failed in the ga is exactly what's needed.
Thinking I was losing my mind, I gave my temple a little slap with my palm.
But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I beca.
If anything, it was because it was reality that I should try to play it like a ga.
"Am I crazy?"
I found myself mumbling alone, which I don't usually do.
Three out of the top ten the parks in the fan club rankings were mine. I was the only one with more than two in the top ten.
By that standard, I was clearly the best person for the job.
For so reason, I smiled, a burst of confidence welling up in .
***
Wow... my eyes kept closing by themselves.
Even though I'd overloaded on coffee and energy drinks, I was so worn out that I wanted to collapse straight into bed.
But I had no choice.
To participate in the Business Strategy Division eting, I had to read through a mountain of the park docunts.
I had no idea how much I'd read. It reminded of pulling all-nighters before college exams.
But once I entered the eting room for the Business Strategy Division, my mind cleared imdiately.
Perhaps it was the tense atmosphere.
The executive vice president, who was also the division director, the other two division directors, and the seven team leaders had all arrived before .
The mont I opened the eting room door, they all shot sharp gazes at .
So were hostile, others curious. The mixture of looks swept over my body.
But this was sothing I had to deal with.
I made my way to the so-called head seat in the U-shaped eting room. The place fitting for soone at director level.
It was my first ti sitting sowhere like this.
"Alright! Let's begin the Business Strategy Division's regular eting for the second week of March."
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