公司职员的工作问题(1/3)

Well, now it's all over,

I can only hope we've learnt the right lessons from the experience.

Although the consultants at the time urged caution,

the board were sure of the plan. After all,

it was the sort of thing they'd pulled off before,

and ploughed ahead with the launch of the new division.

But the board wouldn't accept that the predicted boom in these new overseas markets

was bound to be unstable

because of likely fluctuations in currency rates and share prices,

and that's where it all came unstuck.

They reacted sensibly, though,

and now we have established a good joint venture there,

which is a better bet than going it alone,

or slashing costs all over the place and laying people off in a panic.

In the end, you'd have to say we had a lucky escape.

I mean, it could have been a lot worse.

It's very difficult to know where your brand is really positioned.

We've always accepted

that our research almost inevitably will be running a bit behind.

Consumer tastes change so quickly these days,

and that's where we suffered,

and lost market share.

The directors,

once it was clear what was happening,

attacked the problem and looked at various options.

They could have looked to generate revenues with a share issue,

but I think they were right to go for clipping back

by reducing expenditure wherever possible.

You're better placed to regroup with a tight ship.

The plans to develop higher quality products

for the future look pretty plausible now.