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Chapter 730: Chapter 633 Microcrystal Sets Sail (Seeking Subscription!)_1
October 22nd.
United States.
Seattle.
This is a city located on the Pacific coast of Washington State.
It is also an important technology industrial cluster area in the United States, with many large and small high-tech companies.
The headquarters of Microcrystalline Technology are located in the southeastern suburb of Seattle, on a massive factory site covering hundreds of acres. All branches of Microcrystalline Technology, including the production division, research and development, and management, are located here.
It only maintains offices in downtown Seattle and New York.
8:15 AM.
The two vice presidents and all the department managers of Microcrystalline Technology are standing at the entrance.
They stand in the shadow of the huge arch, away from the heat.
One by one, dressed in suits and ties, all but the head of the laboratory are Caucasian. Today is the day the new CEO takes office and they dare not neglect it.
Different though American society may be.
Workplace culture is still rigid.
They too are powerless, as this company has been bought and sold by the tycoons like a toy, made a capital game. Yet this is their work, perhaps even their dreams. For the matter of changing bosses, Americans also loathe deeply.
Beyond money.
They also hope that what they do has value.
But those values are often used by capitalists as chips to gain greater capital, the same under Ge Feng’s ownership.
Therefore, they have zero expectations for this new CEO. Recently, a company called Sky Eye came and thoroughly inspected Microcrystalline Technology causing uproar.
They have heard that the CEO of Microcrystalline Technology was also recruited by Sky Eye. Due to limited interaction, they don’t know what kind of company Sky Eye is.
The previous CEO was from Ge Feng’s team, naturally, he left when the company was sold.
Thinking about this.
They all feel uncertain about the future.
Soon.
Two Audi off-road vehicles stop at the gate of Microcrystalline Technology.
Everyone immediately perks up. These cars are driven by Sky Eye’s employees.
The door opens.
Six Chinese get out, four of whom they’ve met before – they are from Sky Eye. The other two are new faces, one of them must be the incoming CEO. They are not surprised in the least that the CEO is Chinese; Chinese bosses naturally prefer Chinese employees.
Leading the group is the US branch manager of Sky Eye – Kong Hao.
He heads towards the congregation at the entrance.
Kong Hao had previously returned from overseas and had many years of work experience in the United States. Therefore, he was quickly sent here and promoted to be the general manager of the Sky Eye’s United States branch, responsible for this acquisition case and taking on missions in the United States.
Today is his last visit to Microcrystalline Technology.
The purpose is to bring the CEO hired by Sky Eye for Microcrystalline, and thereafter, the management & oversight work will be completed by the Sky Eye’s employees. The new role of the CEO makes Kong Hao feel this is an impressive headhunting case.
The CEO of Microcrystalline Technology is Zhou You, a Chinese individual who had served as a deputy general manager in another well-known photovoltaic company. He is outstanding and it took Kong Hao several rounds of deep discussions to convince Zhou You. Of course, there were practical reasons involved too. Otherwise, Zhou You would not have left the company so easily.
Glass ceiling.
The inevitable situation for Chinese at American companies.
Means you can only rise to a certain position before the promotions stop. You then watch your less competent Caucasian colleagues be promoted to become the leaders, which makes anyone unhappy. Only when he knew he would be managing a company did Zhou You agree.
Speaking of his resignation, his previous employer didn’t even attempt to retain him, which greatly disheartened Zhou You.
Kong Hao stepped forward and introduced several senior management personnel of Microcrystalline Technology to Zhou You. To be honest, looking at these cautious people, Zhou You could only lament that one’s position is indeed determined by their foothold. He never received this treatment before.
"Let’s go to the conference room." said Kong Hao.
"Alright."
Upon entering the conference room, Kong Hao read out the Board’s appointment. The only director is Tang Qing. From the moment the reading is completed, Zhou You is the CEO of Microcrystalline Technology.
"Zhou, I have completed my task. From now on, it’s all in your hands." Kong Hao smiled at Zhou You.
"Thank you, Manager Kong." Zhou You nodded in thanks.
"You’re welcome."
Kong Hao finished speaking and sat down, with nothing to do after this.
Zhou You straightened his attire, and under the respectful gaze of everyone below, began the first development meeting of Microcrystalline Technology.
After an encouragement and review of the company’s past glory.
The conference returned to the topics of technology and the market.
Zhou You spoke solemnly: "I am here to convey the directive of the board of directors. We plan to form a strategic partnership with a research institution for the research and development of a new generation of solar energy cell technology and its components. The research will be conducted in a semi-outsourced, semi-collaborative fashion.
Of course, your original research and development budget will remain unchanged. Before the new generation technology or product is developed, the technical department will not expand, nor will the research and development expenses increase."
"Why? Our products and technology are very advanced, and now the photovoltaic industry is on the brink of major growth, I believe we should invest more funds into our technical department." The deputy general manager hasn’t spoken yet, but the African laboratory director started to object.
Not increasing the research and development budget.
The technical department people would never agree.
From Zhou You’s tone, first, they did not trust their technology, second, the money that should have gone to their department was given to other laboratories for outsourced research and development. You have to pay for it, don’t you? They disagreed.
Zhou You was not surprised.
This was within expectations, but since this was decided by the boss himself, he had no right to object or question, and could only implement it. If the overall direction was correct, once Tang Qing made a decision, he had to follow it.
Zhou You said: "This is a decision made by the board and cannot be changed. If you can produce satisfactory results, I will apply to approve additional funding for your research. However, if the commercial value of the product remains the same as before, I’m afraid I won’t be able to submit a report requesting additional funds."
The meaning was clear.
If your product isn’t good enough, don’t groan. Show some real technology.
The commercial value mainly evaluates the cost, conversion rate, and lifespan of the solar cell components. Otherwise, even if the conversion rate was high, the cost would be too high to have any commercial value.
"But with more funds, our research progress will surely be faster." The African’s tone weakened a bit.
Actually, it wasn’t his lack of spirit. It was just that major breakthroughs in this field were impossible. The conversion rate, which was the most advanced silicon technology, only improved by about five percent in ten years, and it was getting harder and harder.
Zhou You’s response remained the same, and he continued: "I remember that the company’s research budget increases by one million dollars every year. Yet, the overall growth in commercial value is minuscule. We continue to use technology that was readily available two years ago. How will this data convince me to persuade the chairman."
To Zhou You’s question, the African director also understood. Indeed, technology’s progress was too slow, but he was unpleased, "Can that laboratory improve the commercial value of the company’s products?"
Zhou You was only following Tang Qing’s orders and did not intend to dwell on this issue. He simply said: "Whether or not they have this capability, you will soon find out because this laboratory will cooperate with you on technology to some extent.
If you find that after some time of cooperation, they are not as good as you or their technology is not up to par, I will apply to approve your research budget."
"Ok, I understand." The African knew this was the best outcome.
Zhou You added: "That’s good. The technical aspects will be arranged by Deputy President Kyle. Our main topic is the research direction of future products. From now on, our large-scale grid-connected power generation will only be an ordinary project.
Home storage and portable solar power generators will be the focus of the company’s future market...Three days later, I want to see your planning report. Upload it to me through the Sky Eye management system, understood?"
"Understood."
""
And so.
A meeting about the future of Microcrystalline Technology hastily ended.
This also marked
The formal launch of Microcrystalline Technology.
""
After the meeting.
Zhou You and Kong Hao sat in the main conference room of the president.
The white and blue factory building outside was very distinct in the sunlight, coupled with the clear blue sky, it really was a nice environment.
The two were sipping tea.
"President Kong, I hope we can help each other in the future. We’re brothers in the same trench now." Zhou You said with a smile.
Kong Hao quickly shook his head.
"You can’t say that. We’re all working for the chairman. As long as we do our jobs well, the chairman won’t mistreat us."
Sky Eye’s internal affairs could not tolerate any factionalism. Their primary role was to prevent factionalism in corporations they supervised. Once there were signs, they would report it upwards, and Tang Qing would decide whether to reshuffle staff.
As a general manager of Sky Eye’s subsidiary, Kong Hao would not dare to defy this. Although Tang Qing would not care much, Dou Jiao would definitely suppress this trend. With Tang Qing’s support, he didn’t want to create any misunderstandings and get dismissed.
"President Kong, have you met our chairman?" Zhou You asked curiously.
Kong Hao shook his head and chuckled bitterly: "I haven’t met the chairman either. Since joining Sky Eye, the chairman has never shown up. I guess we might only see him in person at the Sky Eye annual meeting."
"That’s a pity. Honestly, I admire the structure created by our chairman, managing a company in this way. We will have to work together in various areas in the future." Zhou You said appreciatively.
"Yes, our chairman is not ordinary." Kong Hao said proudly.
"..."
The two chatted in the office.
Once the staff below finished the transition, Kong Hao would return to New York.
Because Dou Jiao gave him the authority to increase the staff of Sky Eye’s United States branch from sixty to eighty people, he was also busy with this.
Aside from their own corporate service personnel, they had to set up two collaboration departments to handle business intelligence collection and collaboration consultation. Since these two areas did not have a separate subsidiary, they were nominally under them.
The management was still directly supervised by two departments in the country.
PS: Regular updates are like breathing pain...
