Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 883 Management is an Art

On the other end, the old man who hung up Chen Mo's call let out a long sigh.

"Ugh, that brat!"

In fact, they had already paid attention to the current public opinion storm, but they disagreed on how to handle it, and the blame was flying everywhere but could not be put on.

This situation is like a homeroom teacher facing a conflict between two top students in the class. Both are equally important, and criticizing either one would affect the overall class performance. As a result, this delay allowed an international student from another class to catch up.

Even without Chen Mo's phone call, a conclusion would have been reached by now, since the National Day holiday is approaching.

The saying "Remain calm in the face of great events" is not just a saying.

Since the other party has offered a way out, it's fine to take it, partly to give Chen Mo face.

After all, in another sense, Chen Mo was still a sort of "creditor" to him—some of the promised benefits hadn't been fulfilled yet, such as the television appearance.
Speaking of the incident they named "DD" last time, they initially planned to stand by and watch, thinking that with Chen Mo's family background, it was nothing more than Old Liu getting a bad bite, and the pain would pass after a while.

Unexpectedly, after a few days, the situation escalated to the point that it almost caused Lao Liu to contract rabies and suffer a serious injury.
Afterwards, they reviewed the incident and were shocked to find that the other side, represented by Chen Mo, demonstrated extremely strong capabilities in areas such as overall intelligence monitoring, technical offense and defense and data processing, overall resource coordination, public opinion manipulation, and mobilization of legal and government resources.

Just like their spectacular appearance at the military parade, they really flexed their muscles.

This gave them a comprehensive understanding of Chen Mo and the overall strength of the other side, and also attracted a certain degree of attention.

Regardless, the other party successfully prevented the loss of critical data and did something beneficial to the country, so giving them a little something in return is not a bad idea.

That's why his heart skipped a beat when he heard Chen Mo say he wanted to get involved on the phone.

The relationship between Bi'an and Xiaomi is well-known. If this kid is going to take charge, he will definitely favor Xiaomi. On the other side is Lao Ren, who is from the same era as the victim in the last incident.

He was genuinely afraid that Chen Mo, that little madman, would make a move, since the kid was reckless and didn't know his own strength.

In the past, he might have been able to laugh it off, but now he was genuinely worried that this little madman would lose his temper. Old Liu had only been in exile for two months, and if he were to cause Old Ren to suffer the same fate as Old Liu, no one could bear the consequences.

It's really unreasonable for another old friend to leave his hometown.
What troubled him was that the two sides in this public opinion storm were difficult to handle.

Xiaomi has been doing its job properly and hasn't made any mistakes. Is it wrong for them to vigorously develop domestic products?
Moreover, Xiaomi is one of the twin flagship technology companies in Beijing, and its relationship with Chen Mo is well-known.

Moreover, Lei Jun was in the news recently. If he were to criticize Xiaomi now, wouldn't he be shooting himself in the foot?

But is the other side easier to handle?
The other party has been deeply involved in the South for many years, with a complex web of relationships behind them. A single move could have far-reaching consequences, and who knows which thread might pull out a powerful figure.

Both are national technology companies, so this is a tough situation where both sides are equally important to them, and attacking either one would offend someone.

I never expected to encounter such a distressing thing just before retirement.

The old man recalled the principle he had believed in all his life: when in doubt, consult your superiors.

He then pressed an internal phone on the table: "Anyway, that's the situation. I'm awaiting instructions from my superiors!"

A stern voice came from the other end of the phone: "The matter is already very clear, why haven't you dealt with it yet to quell public opinion?"

If it were easy to handle, would I need to make this call?
The old man suppressed the urge to complain and asked, "I'd like to ask for your opinion: should we deal with Xiaomi or Huawei? Or should we deal with both together?"

"Can't you make your own judgment? In short, don't let it affect the overall situation, try to minimize the damage, don't let it escalate to an irreparable point, and don't create new trouble, otherwise..."

"."

The old man understood immediately, feeling somewhat speechless; this was exactly the direction it was heading.

I'm retiring in a year anyway, what am I afraid of? Who are you trying to scare?
He steeled his resolve and uttered, "I await instructions from my superiors!"

"You're a veteran comrade, and this is just passing the buck when you encounter difficulties; it's a sign of inaction!"

"Awaiting instructions from superiors!"

"You are not taking responsibility for your superiors or your subordinates; you are only taking responsibility for yourself. This lack of accountability is a hidden dereliction of duty!"

"I await instructions from my superiors. If I fail in my duties, then I may apply for early retirement!"

"Could you say something else?"

"I've been in this position for three years, and I only have one more year before I retire. I just want a peaceful retirement and don't want any complications."

"Hey... where's your sense of responsibility? Didn't you handle things quite clearly before? Although this time it's indeed difficult to handle, we can't just ignore it. If everyone else is like you, constantly asking for instructions when faced with a difficult situation, how am I supposed to get my work done?"

"Awaiting instructions from superiors."

At this moment, the elderly man, who had become like a broken record, stubbornly repeated the same phrase over and over: "I'll listen to the traffic police."

"Then call them both over, I'll talk to them! Is that alright?" "Okay!"

On September 29, Ren Zhengfei (Ren Zhengfei) secretly and discreetly went to Beijing at the request of the authorities, and at the same time, Lei Jun was also summoned there temporarily.

That evening, after the talks, Lao Ren returned to Shenzhen and immediately convened a high-level meeting to convey the latest directives.

At the end of the meeting, Lao Ren said, "I remember Xiao Yu was on the previous list of alternates for the board of directors, right?"

Let's remove that for now. I'm still acting a bit too rashly and impulsively. Let me reflect for another two years before making any further decisions. That's all for now."

Just like Alibaba's partners and Baidu's president's office, Huawei has a standing board of directors, composed of a rotating chairman and some core directors, responsible for the company's strategic decisions.

In contrast, the highly centralized other side seems so illogical and out of place.

In this context, Ren is not the chairman of the board. As the founder, he retains the "veto power" and does not participate in management on a daily basis. His position is only the nominal "CEO".

Originally, a board reshuffle was scheduled for March next year, with 4 alternates among the 16 board members. This reorganization is an important adjustment in Huawei's implementation of the "collective leadership system," aiming to bring more young people and business line leaders into the decision-making level, including Yu Dazui.

In fact, since taking over Huawei's terminal business in 2011, he has transformed the mobile phone business from a white-label brand to one of the top five globally (only behind Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi), making it the core engine of Huawei's revenue growth.

The Consumer Business Group (CBD) accounts for over 40% of Huawei's total revenue. In addition, the group is pushing for a younger management team, and Yu Chengdong, as a representative of the "middle generation," has been selected to join the reserve team.

But this incident has resulted in Ren being directly criticized by name, so someone has to take responsibility!

On the last day of September, the online situation changed dramatically overnight. Although people were still discussing Mix and Mate 10, the level of discussion and the intensity of the online debate were completely different from before.

It was as if a raging wildfire had collided head-on with a torrential downpour.
Yu Dazui was called to Lao Ren's office.

"Chairman, you wanted to see me!"

"Chengdong, actually I'm a little disappointed with your recent performance." The old man took off his reading glasses and gently wiped them with a soft cloth, a gesture that made Yu Chengdong feel uneasy.

"Chairman, regarding the media war with Xiaomi, I was thinking..." Yu Chengdong tried to explain, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the other man wiping his glasses, and he stopped talking.

"What are you thinking?" Ren Zhengfei looked up, his expression unreadable. "Do you want to prove you're better at arguing than Lei Jun? Or do you want the whole world to laugh at us?"

Yu Dazui's breath hitched. Just as he was about to defend himself, Ren Zhengfei raised his hand to stop him, pulled a document from the table, and coldly threw it in front of him.

"Take a look for yourself. This is the public opinion analysis report of the Consumer Business Department for the past three months."

Because of your inappropriate strategies, our brand reputation has dropped by 18 percentage points!

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have forgotten the company's 'customer-centric' value, and I shouldn't have tried to prove myself by belittling our competitors."

"You still haven't realized where you really went wrong?" Ren Zhengfei interrupted him. "Do you know what the higher-ups said when I went there this time? They said we disrupted the healthy competitive ecosystem of the industry."

"I..." Yu Dazui's voice trembled slightly, "I just wanted to..."

"What you think is not important! What's important is what the company needs!"

A long silence fell over the office.

Old Ren walked to the window, his back to Yu Dazui, and his voice suddenly became low: "As a subordinate, what you should do is share the burden of your superiors and solve problems, not create problems!"
If you could crush Xiaomi directly, any means would be fine. But by launching the first attack, you've gotten yourself into a protracted war, which is detrimental to the overall situation. Moreover, your methods are blatant and naive. Anyone with eyes can see that we're the ones behind this. That's the core issue.

That's your mistake! Do you understand?
For the past thirty years, we've relied on technology and brains. You, on the other hand, rely on neither of those, just your mouth. Are you leading your team to hurl insults like a shrew from the streets?

Suddenly, Old Ren sighed, turned around, and softened his tone: "Chengdong, how many years have you been with me?"

Yu Dazui was taken aback, his face turning ashen. In most movies and TV dramas, asking such a question usually meant certain death, like a cunning rabbit being killed and a hunting dog being cooked. He smiled bitterly and said, "Twenty-three years."

"Twenty-three years." Old Ren nodded, his eyes deep.

"Back then, you led your team to work for three days and three nights without sleep to overcome the base station problem, if I remember correctly?"

Unexpectedly, the chairman still remembered this matter, and Yu Dazui's eyes welled up with tears: "Yes."

"Back then, all you cared about was technology and customers."

Old Ren walked up to him and gently patted his shoulder. "And now? How much of your original aspirations are left?"

Then, Lao Ren took a new document out of the drawer and handed it to him: "Take a look."

On the desktop, the title "Huawei Intelligent Vehicle Business Strategic Plan" was prominently displayed, with the section for the person in charge blank.

(End of this chapter)