WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Conglomerate Heir Just Wants to Fail ◈
Chapter 30
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“What good is working ourselves to the bone and bringing in money? In the end, it’s the flashy types the world recognizes. And now, materials... The Vice Chairman really understands what matters at the core.”
“The core... That’s right. No matter how excellent the design or engineering methods are, without materials to support them, they’re nothing but a house of cards. What the Vice Chairman meant by essence must be the same thing.”
President Kim slowly swirled his whiskey glass, watching the light refract through the liquid.
“Then the target of our dismantling is clear.”
President Geum spoke in a low voice.
Another keyword the Vice Chairman had emphasized in the interview.
“He told us to pay attention to Japan and China. Look at the state we’re in. Semiconductor specialty gases, display films, core battery materials, the Japanese have us by the throat on all of them. And when it comes to specialty steel and rare earths, all China has to do is tighten its grip and shake us around, and we have no choice but to take it. That’s our reality.”
“Then surely the Vice Chairman means for us to dismantle this entire global supply chain and bring its center to Daeseung Group?”
President Kim’s voice trembled with shock.
It was a national-scale objective, far too vast for a single company to bear.
Yet President Geum looked back at him with eyes full of conviction, as though it were only natural.
“Why else would he call on us at this time?”
President Geum raised his refilled whiskey glass and lightly tapped it against President Kim’s.
Clink!
The clear, hard sound split through the bar’s heavy air.
It was the sound of two veteran soldiers swearing to gladly devote their lives to a new war.
.
I flipped through the thick stack of reports that Chief of Staff Lee Jinju had set down beside a tablet.
Stamped on the cover was the grand title: “Global Advanced Materials Market Trends and Measures to Strengthen the Group’s R&D Capabilities.”
‘Materials engineering? When did I ever...?’
With a sigh, I turned to the first page.
Right. I had to study first.
You had to understand something well to ruin it properly.
At the Financial Services Commission last time, if I’d immediately understood the proposals placed on the negotiating table, I could’ve rejected them quickly and minimized Daeseung Group’s gains with more generous terms.
But until recently, I’d been wracking my brain over financial theories and economic terminology. Now it was advanced materials?
The report was filled with words that sounded like alien language: graphene, carbon nanotubes, rare-earth elements, quantum dots, extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, photoresists...
It laid bare how far Daeseung Chemicals and Daeseung Metals lagged behind Japan and Germany technologically, as well as how China’s low-price offensive was eating into their market share.
Complex molecular structural formulas and incomprehensible graphs seemed to mock my ignorance.
‘Maybe because I’ve been studying lately, I can at least follow the flow of the numbers.’
Once I tried my best to ignore the unfamiliar technical terms, the report’s contents began to come into view, at least roughly.
Market share, R&D investment costs, operating profit margins, projected investment recovery periods.
In the end, it was a matter of how much money you poured in and how much you could make.
Except that those technical terms were the entire point of the report.
I carefully reviewed the detailed expenditure items.
“The research and development costs are... quite high. Higher than I expected.”
As a group built on manufacturing, Daeseung Group invested heavily in R&D.
“Hm? But this is a little strange.”
The technology royalties paid to foreign companies every year were astronomical. Yet the royalty income earned domestically and abroad was absurdly small in comparison.
“What exactly are our research institutes researching that they’re always buying other people’s technology? They spend money, and there are no results. This is terri... No, this is very desirable.”
A satisfied smile crossed my face without me realizing it.
They said it was darkest beneath the lamp.
The surest way to ruin the company had been right in front of me.
Few things made money disappear as perfectly as inefficient R&D investment.
.
A few days later.
I summoned the presidents of the four affiliates responsible for the group’s core R&D.
They were President Park of Daeseung Heavy Industries, President Oh of Daeseung Bio, President Kim of Daeseung Chemicals, which handled new-materials-related businesses, and President Geum of Daeseung Metals.
Their faces were visibly tense as they drank the tea Chief of Staff Lee Jinju had served amid the awkward silence.
I had them sit on the sofa, then casually placed the report summary prepared by the Chief of Staff on the table.
“Presidents, I just reviewed the status of R&D expenditures across the entire group.”
At my words, the four presidents straightened their backs and looked at me like new recruits standing at attention.
“I was wondering something. We pour such enormous sums into research and development every year, so why do we still have to pay so much for foreign technology? What are our researchers doing that we don’t have even a single patent worth showing off?”
My question had come purely from looking at the numbers in the report.
An inefficient structure where patent revenue from licensing out was close to zero compared with the enormous R&D spending.
I had thought it was the perfect environment for ruining a company: money spent with no results to show for it.
But the presidents looked flustered and gave awkward smiles at my question.
What was this?
It didn’t seem like the question had been too sharp.
“That isn’t the case, Vice Chairman.”
After watching one another, the first to speak was President Oh of Daeseung Bio, the youngest and lowest-ranked among them.
“The drug candidates and technologies developed at our laboratories are, naturally, assets of Daeseung Bio. We use our own company’s technology ourselves, so why would royalties arise? The value of our internal technological assets, which does not appear in the reports, is considerable.”
“That’s right. It’s the same for us.”
President Park of Daeseung Heavy Industries added, as though he had been waiting.
“The welding technologies and next-generation vessel-design patents we develop ourselves are all used to build our ships and offshore plants. They reduce costs and secure competitiveness. We don’t make money by selling the technology.”
President Geum drove the point home.
“The core patented technologies we develop are the group’s next-generation growth engines and the source of its competitiveness. Naturally, they must be applied exclusively to our products, so we don’t license them out externally at all. The lack of royalty income is not because our technological capabilities are lacking. On the contrary, it’s because they’re so outstanding that we don’t let them leak outside.”
President Park of Daeseung Heavy Industries spoke again, proudly puffing out his chest.
“And when promising technologies are developed domestically, our legal team and technology assessment team evaluate their value very efficiently, then purchase the patents themselves from small and medium-sized companies at ‘very reasonable’ prices. Thanks to that, we save hundreds of billions of won every year.”
“Daeseung Group’s legal team is extremely capable.”
At that, the other presidents nodded with satisfied smiles, as if on cue, and I could only clutch my head.
‘Damn it. I should’ve looked more closely. Those conglomerate bastards...’
They hid internal technology away because it was too valuable, then bought external technology cheaply by taking advantage of powerless small and medium-sized companies?
It wasn’t that they spent money and got no results. They were using the results created with that money to save even more money in a more vicious way.
It was a perfectly closed, selfish, and efficient system.
“I understand. You’re right, Presidents. I hadn’t considered that far.”
I readily admitted my mistake.
If I dug any deeper, I would only expose my ignorance.
But I couldn’t back down like this.
‘Hm... Wait. Then I can just distribute the royalties they saved.’
I set the report down on the table and addressed the presidents again.
This time, I tried to wear a more relaxed, benevolent expression.
“Going by what you’ve said, our researchers are doing truly remarkable work. But I wonder if we haven’t neglected these excellent people too much... What kind of technology-development reward system does Daeseung Group currently have?”
This time, President Kim answered at once.
“Yes, Vice Chairman. When a technology developed by a researcher is registered as a patent, we provide a small reward in accordance with our internal compensation regulations. In addition, when that patent is commercialized and generates sales, we have a system that provides further performance bonuses according to the person’s contribution.”
“When you say a small reward... exactly how much are we talking about?”
“It differs by affiliate, but under the Employee Invention Compensation Regulations, we assess the patent’s grade and expected value, then pay between one million and twenty million won depending on the assessment.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
They might have developed a technology worth tens or even hundreds of billions of won, yet the maximum reward was only twenty million won.
Perhaps reading my expression, President Park of Daeseung Heavy Industries raised a more practical issue.
“To be frank, Vice Chairman, research in capital-intensive industries like heavy industry and chemicals is conducted not by one or two geniuses, but by teams of dozens or hundreds of researchers. As a result, even when a patent is produced, it is often difficult to divide contributions clearly. Rewards are also paid by team, so the amount received by each individual is not large in reality.”
“I see. Since they work as a team, they share the rewards too... That makes sense.”
I rested my chin on my hand and nodded.
President Oh of Daeseung Bio then offered a slightly different case.
“Of course, our biotechnology side is somewhat different. If we succeed in developing a blockbuster drug, an astronomical success reward is promised. But as you know, the odds of producing a new drug are extremely slim, and most researchers retire after devoting their entire lives to the work without any notable achievement.”
“I’ve listened carefully to what you’ve all said. In short, our researchers work hard for the company, but their compensation is extremely realistic and limited.”
I paused and watched their reactions.
The four presidents stared at me with tense eyes, as though trying to discern my intentions.
“Isn’t that somewhat contradictory? Daeseung’s researchers are the best talents, and Daeseung earns enormous profits through R&D, yet the rewards they receive are very limited.”
The presidents fell silent at my point.
“Then let’s change the way we do things from now on.”
“Yes, Vice Chairman!”
The presidents took out their notebooks as if ready to write down every word I said from this point onward.
That’s right.
I was going to completely tear apart the research system that was currently operating so efficiently.
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