Chapter 11 Paid Services (1)

  In general, those who sacrifice the interests of their unit for personal gain are unlikely to be strict disciplinarians themselves. In a sense, they also hope that their subordinates will treat them in the same way they treat their superiors. While Deputy Director Dong Xin provides meticulous service to the bureau leaders, he is also thinking about how to use the existing resources of the administrative logistics support center to gain more benefits for himself.

  Before Deputy Director Dong Xin came to the Logistics Support Center, he conducted extensive research on the center's development, particularly the business development of Zheng Qi Property Company. He knew where there were opportunities to be seized and how to get benefits. Deputy Director Dong Xin is actually a very greedy person in terms of economic interests, just like Director Shu Daming. However, Dong Xin is smarter than Shu Daming. Dong Xin's smartness lies in his understanding of the principle of "slow and steady wins the race", whereas Shu Daming's stupidity lies in his desire to get rich overnight.

  As the saying goes: if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. Any social phenomenon has its own soil to exist. Dong Xin uses the collective resources to provide refined services for the leadership, and while being appreciated by the leadership, he also enjoys the refined services provided by his subordinates. Nowadays, people are very smart, they understand what is beneficial to themselves and how to get recognized by their leaders. Therefore, the key to a unit's style lies in its leadership. Of course, there are also many people who have their own principles and ways of dealing with others.

  Thanks to the efforts of Deputy Director Dong Xin, the Party Group of Jiangnan Bureau led by Director Zhao Yi finally agreed to allow Zhengqi Property Company to carry out external business activities. The main businesses include undertaking some small-scale engineering projects, providing paid services and flower rental services. However, in order not to affect the normal logistics service work and prevent internal unfair distribution and small group interests, Director Zhao Yi put forward three instructions when agreeing to start the external business, as a discipline for carrying out this work.

  "I. When conducting foreign business, it is essential to ensure the quality of internal logistics services, and this work should not affect the internal logistics support services; II. Strengthen management, properly handle collective and individual interests, ensure that the unit gets the big head, and individuals get the small head. At the same time, pay attention to internal balance, and do not engage in small group interests; III. All benefit distribution plans must be approved by the bureau leadership before implementation, to prevent the occurrence of similar damage to public property for personal gain."

  It should be said that the party group of Jiangnan Bureau, led by Director Zhao, is very open-minded and humane in management. They understand the principle of "clear water has no fish". While enjoying the "fine" service of Deputy Director Dong Xian, they have not forgotten the interests of the staff members of the Logistics Guarantee Center. They agree to undertake some external engineering projects, carry out paid services, and then take a certain percentage of the profits as commissions, trying to solve the welfare problems of the center's staff members, allowing them to benefit in reality without violating institutional regulations.

  This was originally a good thing, but due to management reasons, the good thing turned into a bad thing. Gong Zhong clearly remembered that at the time, property companies were prohibited from conducting business activities outside and focused on internal services, mainly for two reasons: one was the uneven handling of benefits, which affected the enthusiasm of some employees; the other was the cost accounting problem, which provided convenience for breeding corruption.

  For this, the deputy director in charge of financial work, Hong Jizong, at the staff meeting of the Logistics Support Center, on strengthening financial management, standardizing paid service commissions, and strictly calculating engineering costs, once said with a questioning tone: "Comrades, why can't the problem of engineering cost calculation be rectified? Don't think you are smarter than others, or that others are stupider than you. The party group has not explicitly stated it, but only gave you face, giving you an opportunity to correct."

  At that time, in the external project accounting, the main method was to adopt the way of paying profits. The specific approach is that management personnel borrow funds from the finance department and pay engineering costs directly; after the completion of the project, the project manager goes to the tax window to open a temporary account, settles with the construction unit directly, and the payment does not enter the company's account but is received by the project manager in cash or by transfer. The project manager uses the settlement funds to repay the loan and then pays a certain profit; finally, based on the paid income, a bonus is awarded according to a prescribed ratio, which is handled within a small scope.

  The problem with this approach is that the project's cost, income and profit are all out of control. The unit does not know how much profit is being handed over or how much profit there actually is. The lack of supervision over income, costs and profits not only provides a convenient opportunity for corruption but also affects internal unity and the enthusiasm for normal work. In the face of repeated failures to correct this situation, the Party Group at the time made the decision to prohibit property companies from providing external services. Vice Director Hong Jizong criticized the team in charge of logistics support and project management at the agency at the time without directly naming them.

  Now, Zheng Qi Property Company has started to carry out external business work again under the efforts of Deputy Director Dong Xian. In a sense, it is to fight for an increase in welfare channels for all cadres and staff of the center. "Comrades, this is the concern of the bureau party group for all cadres and staff of our center. We must work hard and not disappoint the leadership's care and love, and do a good job in internal service work. Here I want to emphasize that we cannot affect internal service work due to external business work. This is the requirement of the bureau party group and also the prerequisite for carrying out this work."

  When Deputy Director Dong Xin announced the news at the meeting of all cadres and staff in the center, the atmosphere on the scene became lively for a while. The benefits of this are well understood by everyone. In terms of operation, the cadres and staff of the center, especially those engaged in engineering management such as Ma Zhibing, have a deep understanding. Then, Deputy Director Dong Xin made specific arrangements for carrying out this work.

  According to the arrangement of Deputy Director Dong Xin, Gong Zhong was responsible for drafting the "Paid Service Management Measures of Zhengqi Property Company". According to this method, all external service income, expenditure and profit are incorporated into the company's financial management; at the same time, the scope, base number, ratio and distribution of profit commission are specified. It ensured that the unit gets a big head and the individual gets a small head as required by the Bureau Party Group; it takes into account the comprehensive balance of all cadres and staff in the center, and also considers the enthusiasm of specific construction personnel.

  It should be said that for the property company's paid service management issue, the bureau party group's instruction is clear and correct; the company's management regulations are also clear and reasonable. However, as the saying goes, "above there are policies, below there are countermeasures." Later, on the issue of paid service management, due to Deputy Director Dong Xian's support, and considering more small-scale interests, this plan was not implemented, and the problems that occurred in the past reappeared. As a result, Gong Zhong and Dong Xian inevitably had conflicts again.

  In cost management, the engineering service personnel led by Ma Zhibing, deputy general manager of the property company, proposed a profit margin control method under the support of Dong Xian. That is, all income, costs and profits are fully accounted for, but profits are surrendered at a fixed profit rate, and cost units do not need to be managed, they can handle it themselves and make their own reimbursement. However, Gong Zhong raised an objection, advocating that income, costs and profits should all be accounted for according to the actual situation, and all under the control of the unit's finance, especially the engineering costs, finance needs to strengthen audit.

  "Director Gong, your point of view is essentially that you don't trust us. The ancients said 'use people without suspicion, suspect and do not use'. If everyone thinks like this, we might as well just stay at home and do a good job serving, why bother with external business? I'm not even concerned about this little bit of money, let's all just go home and die together."

  "Director Ma, this is just a financial regulatory issue, it's a procedural problem, and has nothing to do with trust or distrust. You're really overthinking this."

  Both sides were at an impasse, and in the end, they had to ask Deputy Director Dong Xian to make a decision. After listening to the different opinions of Ma Zhi Bing and Gong Zhong, Dong Xian thought for a moment and said: "Gong Zhong is not wrong, he is thinking about financial systems, it's a matter of financial procedures; General Manager Ma is also not wrong, he is considering everyone's enthusiasm, it's a matter of convenience at work."

  "Director Gong, General Ma, the launch of small-scale engineering business is approved by the Party Group of the Bureau and is the result of our collective efforts. The re-launch of this work is a care for us from the Party Group of the Bureau, we must cherish it and do a good job, not to disappoint the leaders' concern."

  "When carrying out this work, we must pay attention to the way and method. If there are contradictions, we must communicate well and never be impulsive. This is originally a good thing, if we don't pay attention, it will turn into a bad thing, not only disappointing the party group's care but also failing the center's staff. The restart of this work, in simple terms, is for the benefit of the employees' welfare. Therefore, during the operation process, we should revolve around this center and be more humanized, not too rigid."

  Deputy Director Dong Xin paused for a moment, then finally decided: "I think that's how it should be. For external paid services, income, expenses, and profits, strictly follow the financial system regulations and enter them into the account in full. The unit's finance department will conduct strict control, and it is not allowed to circulate outside of the account like before. This is the requirement of the bureau party group and the regulation of the financial system. We cannot do anything that violates the system regulations, and we must remember the lessons from the past."

  "But in the specific supervision process, finance should also be flexible and not too rigid. After all, it's for the benefit of employees' welfare, if it's too rigid, it will affect everyone's enthusiasm. I think as long as the project's profit margin is not lower than our standard, that's fine, this is a principle. Other issues are minor problems, finance should focus on whether the procedures are complete, whether the invoices are legal, and other issues shouldn't be pursued too much."

  Here is the translation:

  So, with the support of Deputy Director Dong Xian, the financial management of external engineering projects was fully carried out in accordance with Deputy General Manager Ma Zhibing's thinking. This was exactly what the Logistics Support Center had been doing for over a decade, but it caused a huge stir at Jiangnan Bureau and was eventually suspended by the Party Committee. On the surface, all income, expenses, and profits were entered into the unit's financial account, strictly under the company's financial control. However, in reality, it went back to the "pre-liberation" era, where the unit's finance could not audit the project's costs and expenses. In other words, as long as they reported costs and expenses within the prescribed profit margin range, Ma Zhibing and others had no power to question them financially.

  This makes the profit margin of small engineering projects undertaken externally extremely important. It not only relates to personal and collective interests but also to the balance between internal services and external services within the Logistics Support Center, and even more so to the private interests of engineering management personnel led by Ma Zhibing.