Vol. 1 - Ch. 10 - 199,900 Won

Jae-Yoon was surprisingly cautious by nature. To be precise, he was the type to think in various ways. He would anticipate multiple situations regarding a single event.Lost in thought, he tapped on the desk with his index finger. Team Leader Park Choong-In. He was not someone who could be persuaded merely with words; more solid performance was necessary than just a few statements.

First, he looked into the members of the General Team. Excluding the Team Leader, there were a total of six team members. Even for a team belonging to the Product Planning Department, it had one of the smallest headcounts.

Jae-Yoon slowly read the personnel assessments of the team members.

Team Leader Park and his ‘children’. They were a rather well-known bunch in the company. Everyone in the Product Planning Department knew that they spent all day in the conference room, whispering among themselves about what they were doing.

Out of the six, I wonder how many are actually his ‘children’.

Jae-Yoon sorted out the employees who were originally assigned to the General Team at random and the employees who moved to the team at Team Leader Park’s request. Toss the Rotten Brew, No Filter Can Make it Dew; he slowly memorized each person’s face and looked over their background.

The next day, at 9:50 a.m., the outside of the CEO’s office was quite noisy.

There had not been any personnel changes since Yoon Jae-Hee joined eight months ago, meaning, they were teammates who had been together for at least eight months. It looked like Team Leader Park had unexpectedly taken good care of his team members, so a prudent approach was necessary.

Soon, Team Leader Park entered the CEO’s office, shuffling along with his team members.

“Hello, General Team members. Please, have a seat.” Jae-Yoon gestured towards the table prepared with juice and snacks.

‘Human affairs are unpredictable,’ This was a sentence Jae-Yoon always tried to remember. Nothing was as foolish as guaranteeing anything in any situation. It was better to slowly assess the situation and make judgments rather than rush to conclusions.

“The team showed remarkable performance in 2022. Although late, thank you for your hard work. I hope you will do well in the future.”

They must have gotten an earful from Team Leader Park. There’s no fun if they attack me for nitpicking! Jae-Yoon imagined.

They were the ones who had already heard about Park Choong-In’s notorious temper. Contrary to expectations of them picking a fight from the start, they simply exchanged awkward glances over the complimentary opening.

Park Choong-In sat down and twisted his short neck from side to side. His vertebrae made a creaking sound as if they needed some lubrication.

Unfazed, Jae-Yoon spoke up, “As you may have heard from Team Leader Park, It’s Food has decided to broadcast only with the Food Team. You must have prepared an alternative for this?” He slowly looked around the table.

Deputy Manager Kim Tae-Hyeong, who was plastered to Team Leader Park’s side, raised his hand. As Jae-Yoon nodded, he politely bowed his head then calmly began to speak, “That is a clear overstepping of authority.”

At Deputy Manager Kim’s response, Jae-Yoon coldly glanced down at the corner of his agenda and asked, “I’m sure you know what overstepping authority means. Well, if you felt that way, what part seemed like it was overstepping authority?”

“In 2022, among the ten teams, only the General Team achieved rapid growth, and It’s Food was a meaningful contributor…”

“Mr. Kim, hold on a moment.”

“...?”

“That was already discussed with Mr. Park. I can predict what you’ll say next as well. Reruns are a bit tedious. Reruns don’t get good viewership either, do they? Please get the related information from Team Leader Park.”

Kim Tae-Hyeong’s gaze turned toward Park Choong-In.

Park Choong-In cleared his throat once, then spoke up, his tone noticeably calmer than yesterday, “The team members have not fully accepted it yet.”

“Yes. Persuading is the manager’s job. There may need to be a notice given. If I get involved with notifying team members, that really could be overstepping authority.” { E/N: Lol… }

“I clearly relayed what was discussed at the meeting yesterday to the team members. It seems there are still employees who do not understand, so, please understand that it was my oversight in failing to deliver it properly.”

Team Leader Park bowed his head. As it was an unexpected gesture, the team members gaped as they looked at Park Choong-In.

What an asshole. Doesn’t know anything and yet, just blabbers. Needs to get the team in order. When is he not gabby though? Yet, seeing him come out humble in front of the CEO is quite startling. { Gabby: Talkative, chatty. }

But, Jae-Yoon clearly saw a flash in Team Leader Park’s eyes.

“Yes. Bringing clueless employees along is also part of the leader’s capability. The General Team shows strength, particularly in small appliances. Health products are good too. As expected of a young team, your ability to read trends is outstanding. I look forward to the product launch as well. Among them...”

Was this a praise or a competency assessment? In this preposterous atmosphere, the meeting went on for a considerable amount of time.

“We need a product with a high unit price that doesn’t necessarily need discounts and that customers will wait to buy.”

“Like the Dyson Airwrap, you mean.”

“Yes. There is no point in having the lowest price for such products. People buy them even if they have to pay a lot, so we need to come up with a plan to secure the quantity.”

“Please, let us know whenever there is something that cannot be resolved within the team, whether it’s marketing, personnel, or finance. You should take advantage of the work request system.”

As Jae-Yoon met each employee eye to eye for conversation, they turned out to be unexpectedly ordinary. No, even better than that.

That was how it was. No matter how crummy the backside of the team was, Park Choong-In could not have achieved this performance if the members had not accepted it.

It felt like a team that belonged to It’s Food’s affiliate rather than It’s Home Shopping’s Product Planning Department; still, it didn’t matter what was different. It seemed like Team Leader Park had only picked aces from the company.

“Okay, that’s enough about the past. Shall we talk about the future now?”

The atmosphere, which had been quite lively, quieted down again. As everyone sat silently with their eyes darting around, Jae-Yoon showed the data with an interested expression. It was a document summarizing the major products to be launched in 2023. The purpose behind today’s guise of a team meeting was clearly the Home Run robot vacuum cleaner.

The Home Run product plan appeared on the conference room roll screen.

“Looks like this product is expected to be the highlight of the second quarter. It’s rare to see a product praised so highly. I’d like to see the actual product. Mr. Kim, can you prepare a sample right away? You’re the person in charge, right?”

“If it’s about the sample, that is…”

As Deputy Manager Kim hesitated, Team Leader Park swiftly cut in, “I apologize, Mr. Min. The sample is currently not prepared. Tae-Hyeong, don’t you remember? We sent them back to the Icheon center while organizing the sample room.”

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What’s wrong with you guys? It’s not even a complete robot.

As they awkwardly glanced at each other, the employee sitting erect like a broomstick at the end of the conference room raised his hand. It was Manager Seo Tae-Min.

Jae-Yoon recalled Manager Seo’s documents. He was the sore thumb that did not fit in with the team. Unfazed by Team Leader Park’s sloppy excuses, he smirked and spoke, “I have a sample.” { E/N: Expose them!}

“Hm? Mr. Park? What’s going on here? He says there’s a sample.”

“I personally kept a sample. I will prepare it right away.”

At Manager Seo’s unexpected response, Park Choong-In stomped up from his seat. He rolled up his sleeves and sharply spat out, “Mr. Seo, what are you saying right now? There is no sample, is there? How are you going to conjure up a non-existent sample? Huh? It seems you’re mistaken about something.”

Paying no mind to Team Leader Park’s intimidation, Seo Tae-Min looked straight at Jae-Yoon and reiterated clearly, “I will prepare the Home Run robot vacuum cleaner sample right away. It’s a product that especially needs the CEO’s objective judgment.” { E/N: I like him already… }

Executive Seo immediately stood up from his seat, briskly walked out the conference room door, and strode off.

“Hey! Tae-Min! Aren’t you coming back?!”

“Mr. Park. Your reaction is too extreme. Have a seat.”

An atmosphere cold as the Siberian air followed. Team Leader Park picked up and put down his cell phone, fidgeting nervously. Soon, Manager Seo returned, holding a large box.

It was a box with a robot vacuum picture on it. The packaging made the best effort to mimic Apple products. It had a clean white box with pink handles for the finishing touch to appeal to housewife tastes.

“Open it.”

One-touch packaging. As if by magic, the robot vacuum cleaner revealed itself when the string at the bottom was pulled.

It’s appearance was ordinary. No, it definitely wasn’t in line with recent design trends. Was it so outdated it could be called tacky?

Team Leader Park spoke as if he knew exactly what Jae-Yoon was thinking, “These days, domestically made robot vacuums have luxury designs. Yes, this has no embellishments and is just plain, but is the sophisticated design the essence of a robot vacuum cleaner? Not at all. There is a different meaning behind it being important.”

“I wonder what’s so important.”

At Team Leader Park’s cue, Deputy Manager Kim quickly brought out a tablet.

[ 199,000 won ]

Even Jae-Yoon could not help but be surprised here. Robot vacuum cleaner, alongside dryers and dishwashers, was revered as the ‘trio of aunties’ by homemakers. The trio could be called essential appliances that lessened housework for them. Also, like any other appliance, there was quite a large price range.

If you included the latest technology, such as an automatic cleaning function, it would exceed 1.5 million won. Even the basic domestic products of large companies such as Liv Electronics and Galaxy Electronics cost at least 500,000 won for basic vacuuming. Recently, prices had dropped to as low as 300,000 won, due to the influx of Chinese OEM products, but, still…

“199,000 won. Is this really viable?”

“Oh, Mr. Min. You sure are skeptical. I’m sitting here because I have this capability, and our general team has the best performance in the company.”

Park Choong-In’s confidence reflected in his broad smile and lifted corners of his mouth. There was enough reason for that. In terms of pricing, Jae-Yoon had no choice but to nod. It was also evidence of how the General Team was able to exist until now. It was a product prepared by going all in.

This time, Deputy Manager Kim stepped up and said, “Mr. Min, the reason the price is 199,000 won is because this product is made in China. Of course, you will probably worry about performance since it’s made in China.”

“Yes, indeed.”

“This product does not simply have a cheap price. Chinese companies these days are not like before. Their technology has greatly improved. And it’s a product that has gone through rigorous testing. It’s quite smart. It crosses thresholds well.”

“Is its performance comparable to domestic products?”

“Honestly, it’s slightly inferior to domestic products. But it reaches 90% of their performance level. There’s documentation on the technology, so it would be good to check. Anyway, the important point is that the price is less than half of the competition’s... No, it’s a product that can bring a fresh shock to the market.”

“Remarkable. With such an excellent product, securing supplies must not have been easy. How much stock do we have?”

Team Leader Park stepped up again, smiling like a winner. “With this, 100 million won sales per minute is not a dream. It’s not anybody that can get a hold of this product.”

100 million won sales per minute… The term 100 million won sales per minute hadn’t been around for that long. Not just for It’s Home Shopping, but for the entire industry. It was a term that could only be applied to a handful of products.

Team Leader Park clapped and fully pushed out his stomach as he spoke, “Alright! Let’s end today’s meeting here. I know everyone is busy. Thank you for your hard work.”

Look at this. Jae-Yoon could only let out a hollow laugh. Ending by himself with the CEO here?

Jae-Yoon spoke in a relaxed tone, “Wait a moment. I still have some questions left.”

At Jae-Yoon’s words, an expression of annoyance appeared on Team Leader Park’s face. He brushed his bangs up and let out a sigh. “Come on, if we keep doing this when everyone is busy...”

“A performance level of 90% of domestic products, right? I get the content of the document, but it seems like there might be a problem.”

“There are no issues.”

“Is that so?”

Jae-Yoon ripped open a pack of instant coffee mix on the table. He said as he scattered instant coffee, sugar, and creamer powder onto the conference room floor.

“Let’s test the robot vacuum cleaner.”

Why was he doing this here? Because Jae-Yoon knew the robot vacuum cleaner’s flaw extremely well. It was an item he had examined several times in the past.