“I ordered them?”
“That’s right, Meredith.”
“Tom, you must be mistaken,” she said coolly. “I haven’t had anything to do with that Malaysia line.”
“Actually, you have,” Sanders said. “You made two trips there, in November and December of last year.”
“Two trips to Kuala Lumpur, yes. Because you mishandled a labor dispute with the Malaysian government. I went there and resolved the dispute. But I had nothing to do with the actual production line.”
“I’d say you’re mistaken, Meredith.”
“I assure you,” she said coldly. “I am not. I had nothing to do with the line, and any so-called changes.”
“Actually, you went there and inspected the changes you ordered.”
“I’m sorry, Tom. I didn’t. I’ve never even seen the actual line.”
On the screen behind her, the videotape of the newscast began to play silently with the sound off. The newscaster in coat and tie speaking to the camera.
Sanders said, “You never went to the plant itself?”
“Absolutely not, Tom. I don’t know who could have told you such a thing or why you would say it now.”
The screen behind the newscaster showed the DigiCom building in Malaysia, then the interior of the plant. The camera showed the production lines and an official inspection tour taking place. They saw Phil Blackburn, and alongside him, Meredith Johnson. The camera moved in on her as she chatted with one
of the workers.
There was a murmur in the room.
Meredith spun around and looked. “This is outrageous. This is out of context. I don’t know where this could have come from-”
“Malaysia Channel Three. Their version of the BBC. I’m sorry, Meredith.” The newscast segment finished and the screen went blank. Sanders made a gesture, and Cindy began moving around the table, handing a manila folder to each person.
Meredith said, “Wherever this so-called tape came from-”
Sanders said, “Ladies and gentlemen, if you will open your packets, you will find the first of a series of memos from the Operations Review Unit, which was under the direction of Ms. Johnson in the period in question. I direct your attention to the first memo, dated November eighteenth of last year. You will notice that it has been signed by Meredith Johnson, and it stipulates that the line will be changed to accommodate the labor demands of the Malay government. In particular, this first memo states that automated chip installers will not be included, but that this work will be done by hand. That made the Malay government happy, but it meant we couldn’t manufacture the drives.”
Johnson said, “But you see, what you are overlooking is that the Malays gave us no choice-”
“In that case, we should never have built the plant there,” Sanders said, cutting her off. “Because we can’t manufacture the intended product at those revised specifications. The tolerances are inadequate.”
Johnson said, “Well, that may be your own opinion-”
“The second memo, dated December third, indicates that a cost-savings review diminished air-handling capacities on the line. Again, this is a variance in the specifications that I established. Again, it is critical-we can’t manufacture high-performance drives under these conditions. The long and the short of it is that these decisions doomed the drives to failure.”
“Now look,” Johnson said. “If anybody believes that the failure of these drives is anything but your-”
“The third memo,” Sanders said, “summarizes cost savings from the Operations Review Unit. You’ll see that it claims an eleven percent reduction in operating costs. That savings has already been wiped out by fabrication delays, not counting our time-to-market delay costs. Even if we immediately restore the line, this eleven percent savings translates into a production cost increase, over the run, of nearly seventy percent. First year, it’s a hundred and ninety percent increase.
“Now the next memo,” Sanders said, “explains why this cost-cutting was adopted in the first place. During acquisition talks between Mr. Nichols and Ms. Johnson in the fall of last year, Ms. Johnson indicated she would demonstrate that it was possible to reduce high-technology development costs, which were a source of concern to Mr. Nichols when they were meeting at-”
“Oh Christ,” Ed Nichols said, staring at the paper.
Meredith pushed forward, stepping in front of Sanders. “Excuse me, Tom,” she said, speaking firmly, “but I really must interrupt you. I’m sorry to have to say this, but no one here is fooled by this little charade.” She swept her arm wide, encompassing the room. “Or by your so-called evidence.” She spoke more loudly. “You weren’t present when these management decisions were carefully taken by the best minds in this company. You don’t understand the thinking that lies behind them. And the false postures you are striking now, the so-called memos that you are holding up to convince us . . . No one here is persuaded.” She gave him a pitying look. “It’s all empty, Tom. Empty words, empty phrases. When it comes right down to it, you’re all show and no substance. You think you can come in here and second-guess the management team? I’m here to tell you that you can’t.”
Garvin stood abruptly, and said, “Meredith-”
“Let me finish,” Meredith said. She was flushed, angry. “Because this is important, Bob. This is the heart of what is wrong with this division. Yes, there were some decisions taken that may be questionable in retrospect. Yes, we tried innovative procedures which perhaps went too far. But that hardly excuses the behavior we see today. This calculated, manipulative attitude by an individual who will do anything-anything at all-to get ahead, to make a name for herself at the expense of others, who will savage the reputation of anyone who stands in her path-I mean, that stands in his path-this ruthless demeanor that we are seeing . . . No one is fooled by this, Tom. Not for a minute. We’re being asked to accept the worst kind of fraudulence. And we simply won’t do it. It’s wrong. This is all wrong. And it is bound to catch up with you.
I’m sorry. You can’t come here and do this. It simply won’t work-it hasn’t worked. That’s all.”
She stopped to catch her breath and looked around the table. Everyone was silent, motionless. Garvin was still standing; he appeared to be in shock. Slowly, Meredith seemed to realize that something was wrong. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter.
“I hope that I have . . . that I have accurately expressed the sentiments of everyone here. That’s all I intended to do.”
There was another silence. Then Garvin said, “Meredith, I wonder if you would leave the room for a few minutes.”
Stunned, she stared at Garvin for a long moment. Then she said, “Of course, Bob.”
“Thank you, Meredith.”
Walking very erect, she left the room. The door clicked shut behind her.
John Marden sat forward and said, “Mr. Sanders, please continue with your presentation. In your view, how long will it be until the line is repaired and fully functioning?”
It was noon. Sanders sat in his office with his feet on his desk and stared out the window. The sun was shining brightly on the buildings around Pioneer Square. The sky was clear and cloudless. Mary Anne Hunter, wearing a business suit, came in and said, “I don’t get it.”
“Get what?”
“That news tape. Meredith must have known about it. Because she was there when they were shooting it.”
“Oh, she knew about it, all right. But she never thought I’d get it. And she never thought she’d appear in it. She thought they’d only show Phil. You know-a Muslim country. In a story about executives, they usually just show the men.”
“Uh-huh. So?”
“But Channel Three is the government station,” Sanders said. “And the story that night was that the government had been only partially successful in negotiating changes in the DigiCom plant-that the foreign executives had been intransigent and uncooperative. It was a story intended to protect the reputation of Mr. Sayad, the finance minister. So the cameras focused on her.”
“Because . . .”
“Because she was a woman.”
“Foreign she-devil in a business suit? Can’t make a deal with a feringi woman?”
“Something like that. Anyway, the story focused on her.”
“And you got the tape.”
“Yeah.”
Hunter nodded. “Well,” she said, “it’s fine with me.” She left the room, and Sanders was alone again, staring out the window.
After a while, Cindy came in and said, “The latest word is the acquisition is off.”
Sanders shrugged. He was flat, drained. He didn’t care.
Cindy said, “Are you hungry? I can get you some lunch.”
“I’m not hungry. What are they doing now?”
“Garvin and Marden are talking.”