With All My Heart

Chapter 7

Zee stared at the papers in front of him. He doesn't need to be the Harvard summa cum laude graduate that he is to figure out that the cost of desalination plant that his uncles wanted to pursue was too high.
He look at his Uncle Jimmy and Uncle Tommy.

"We wanted to give back to the community the wealth that we have." Said his Uncle Tommy.

Tommy Panich looks too formal and too stiff. There's no trace of warmth or even a tiny smile in his aristocratic face. It's as if they weren't relatives, more of a complete strangers who happen to do business together. Well, he's already use to it. Most of the Panich treated him like that.

"This is good for us. And even before you came here, we've been doing projects that would benefit the community. This Build, Operate, Transfer project with the government would be beneficial for us in the long run. There's no potable water in Ayutthaya Province yet. It would be a very good project for us. Sure it won't be that profitable but it would certainly help many less priviledge Thais."

Zee nods in agreement. He had nothing against the BOT projects with the government. He doesn't mind too that the project will only give them a little income as long as it will give benefit to the community.

"I agree with you. But the project cost is above acceptable. This is not cost effective. We need to bring the cost down by forty percent. This is too high. Cut back the cost contingency to five percent. And why do we need to bring construction workers from Bangkok to Ayutthaya? Why don't we just hire workers from Ayutthaya instead? Whatever manpower or materials that we can get in Ayutthaya, we should utilize it to lower down cost. It would help boost employment within the community as well. Since helping them is our main priority, we should look at other avenues to boost their economy with the help of this project."

If it is even possible, his Uncle Tommy look even more formal and more stiff. But he remains firm with his decision.

When Zee read the reports of the Panich Group of Companies' past projects, he can't help but shook his head. He found some of the projects impractical and didn't go through the right process. They maybe one of the most successful conglomerates in Asia, but unsound business decisions like this when accumulated would ruin even the best and strongest units.

"Are you out of your mind?" Tommy hissed. "For years, We always project our cost of contingency at twelve percent in every projects that we have. It was base on data of our past projects. You think we just project that out of nowhere? Those are standard cost per square benchmarking data! It's been like that even during our great grandfather."

He didn't missed what his uncle was trying to tell him. His Uncle Tommy wanted to slap in his face that he knows what he's doing. That the new Vice President of The Panich Group of Companies doesn't know the process of The Panichs. His uncle wanted to make him feel like an outsider who had no right to interfere with family related affairs, Panich Group of Companies included.

"I am very well aware that these are standard ranges we have been using for the last sixty years. But times have changed, Uncle Tommy. The competition nowadays are more tougher. And let us not forget that every project is unique. We need to adopt changes. Changes and adjustments are the only way to keep this corporation strong. We need to cut back the cost of contingency if we want to avoid bloated overhead cost for this project."

He saw his Uncle Tommy's jaw clenched, as if telling him that he's not giving up. But his Uncle Jimmy hold his cousin's shoulder.

"Zee is right." Jimmy said. "We may have been too rigid when it comes to this issue. I think he's right with the idea about employing workers in Ayutthaya. That would cut back the operating cost considerably as well."