This month, nothing happens. When we remove the guards, it is silent at first. Suddenly an “event” – in rage I call the production director, asking for an immediate meeting, rejecting replacement for the facility is safely installed, this is now my tool for blackmailing. ShuXin’s customers will sooner or later exceed pressure, “sooner or later” meaning within 24 or 36 hours.
I take a flight to the customer at once. During the meeting next day we agree on a further phase of one month of continuous monitoring. I insist also on extracting each day a sample from the process line. Once again for four weeks nothing happens. We have collected more than 30 samples. Two weeks later another event – now I’m sure. I tell our engineer: “Take a sample, we will analyse that, but we do not replace the chemical, ShuXin will have to stew in its own juice.”
Three days later, I receive the written analysis: An additional substance has surfaced after the “event”, a substance that is not included in our chemistry. At once I know where this stuff comes from: from a process line of our competitors in the same building, just 100 metres off. This is the final proof that I present a few days later to the production director.
All of his excuses and attempts to explain I can wipe off. There is no doubt about it: Someone throws waste from the competitor’s process line into our system. I can even calculate how much: there are between 5 and 10 kilograms, so not as small an amount as could be carried hidden in a handkerchief, because the various tanks in our facility hold 1,200 litres of chemicals each! All alternative theories of how this stuff can get into our system I can refute, they would be even more embarrassing for ShuXin than admitting that there was a saboteur.
I leave no doubt that if this pollution gets into the process line due to weaknesses in the internal system, we need to immediately cancel any supply of chemicals. If the contamination is the result of sabotage (“events”) in the plant, it winds up to the same effect, unless the sabotage will stop.
The process line has been stopped. Customers jostle: “Where are the products?” I remain freezing cold-blooded and ask to speak to the supreme boss. At last we meet. He is a young open-minded manager, the son of the majority shareholder, he is fluent in English. He knows the market and the technology inside out.
From the very beginning we go well with each other. I ask him outright: “Do you want to have saboteurs in your company? If the saboteur is not stopped, we can give you no more chemicals, but I will tell you this: It was the competitor that has caused this, do you want to have such a supplier?” I’m as brutally straightforward as possible, violating all the rules of communication with Chinese people, SunLi is silent, pale and speechless with horror. But during those months in which we are having this discussion, I have always left my opposite the chance to save face. I always accepted the proposals of the production director (as long as they were targeted), even if they included a further delay of two months. And now in discussion with the boss I do not insist that he will admit I was right, but I will give him the opportunity to show that he is acting honourably and ethically.
The boss replies: “Yes, I can’t tolerate any saboteurs in my company. We’ll install a video camera. Please send fresh chemicals. If during the video surveillance no ‘events’ should happen, I’ll pay back every replacement that was so far invested by you.” An exclusively oral agreement was made, without any document, I have not even confirmed by e-mail, but we have used an ancient (German?) handshake.
This is what happened, even if it took an additional year to settle everything, lighten things up and enforce the payments. Finally we could even make an educated guess about which ShuXin employee carried out the sabotage on behalf of the competitors, I leaked a little, the employee was transferred. All our expenditures were refunded, the total amounted to a sum equal to one complete annual turnover we have with ShuXin!
That has tied the trust between us most deeply, because of my firm stand, me and the whole company were met with enormous respect, the boss, the production director and many other top managers have become good friends of mine, not friends in the sense that we are playing golf together or go to KTV (neither are my hobbies), but in the sense that we are very honestly (and criticisingly!) interacting with each other and have full confidence in each other on business issues.
Bribery and corruption are the sheer opposite of genuine confidence. They are the basis of cronyism, which holds only as long as money flows. Both sides are also vulnerable to blackmail. Confidence is built over a long period of time, starting with small steps that involve small risks, until the confidence is perfect.
One example of “full trust” is most remarkably the (self-organising and probably illegal) system of betting in China. Here you do not go into a betting shop, deposit and get a betting ticket issued. No, here you call a friend who is a betting agent. He calls the organiser of the bets (or perhaps another intermediate friend). Football World Cup and European Football Championships, but also Champions League games are events challenging some (or many?) Chinese to bet. The Chinese passion for gambling and betting is legendary.
Before the start of the game, HuXie calls his friend, the agent, betting, for example, “thousand RMB on Chile to win”, if that will come to pass, he will get back 1600 RMB, thus make a profit of 600. In case of a draw, he will get 500 refunded (i. e. lose 500), if Honduras wins, he has lost everything. But he can still bet more and does so: “500 RMB on Chile to win by at least two goals.” – “Do you want to bet as well when the goals will score? All of them in the second half, or at least one in the first, at least one in the second half?” – No, this HuXie considers for now too risky, especially since there are three games this evening, and there are still many days, many games to bet on.