Getting tough with unproductive employees resulted that those who were not ready to put in hard work, moved away. The 14th part of a series describing the unknown triumphs and travails of doing international business in Asia in the seventies and eighties

After my return from Iraq via Kuwait, there was a lot of paper work to do and answer all the irate telexes from our Saudi customers who were still screaming for our blood. Some of them, in fact, had received their shipments, in parts, and they still had to get bulk of the cargo that were “shut out”, though they had paid for the same.

Telexes were exchanged, back and forth, but, ultimately, we still had to bank upon someone from the shipping company reporting that, in fact, all the goods have “since been loaded” on so and so vessel. Of course, we were just as sceptical as the Saudi customers and had to wait for another ten days for them to confirm that they have received the goods.

Some of the clients asked us to return back to Riyadh for new orders, and had sent us invitations, so that the embassy/consulate may release the visa for Vijay and me. Our worry was that this was period of Holy Ramadan when business, if any, would be transacted mostly after sunset, and shops and business would be open till almost early hours of the morning,

In the meantime, pig iron supplies had also suddenly improved, thanks to some imports also coming in and we had enough stocks for the next 6-8 weeks for fresh commitments. More consignments were on the way or were assured of supplies.

I cannot recall exactly when, but a week or so later, after Vijay and I worked out our strategy, we took our flights to Riyadh via Bahrain. By this time, the Concorde was in operation and they had huge lounge for their passengers. Vijay carried further shipment details, always our face saving tactics.

We did not even notice this, but had accidentally walked into the lounge, still admiring the plane, which was parked close by. A little earlier, we had seen it land and what we felt, for the famous mythological bird, Garuda was landing!! It was awesome. As we entered, the hostess offered champagne, when only we realised our folly. We apologized, and retreated, to sit outside, until our flight was announced.

The Saudi government had promised the construction of the causeway, connecting the mainland to Bahrain (the island), and the traffic was heavy of Saudis coming to Bahrain to spend the weekends.

Abdullah had more orders on hand, as he had won some tenders; he would, of course, be making a lot in his plant, but he wanted more supplies; he was really desperate, and hinted that he was willing to pay a little more to ensure prompt shipments.

We were equipped with data on international pig iron prices, and the increasing costs of shipments; besides, the labourers were asking for more, as manufacturing these special manholes were not as simple as making elbows or p-traps, for ordinary use. We spent, almost three days in our negotiations and in the end came back loaded with orders. We had to not only increase the production, but also ensure that our goods were actually loaded on the vessel for each promised shipment. 

This was possible in our closed-door sessions; other clients were unavailable, and we could generally meet them later in the evenings.

During the day, we had hardly anything to do; by this time, we had an English newspaper in Riyadh, but it was no comparable to reading Khaleej Times or Gulf News in Dubai.

There was nothing else to do except watch movies on TV and whatever the hotel (I think it was called, Al Batha) would air on the cable. Vijay was a regular smoker, and I had given up a few months earlier.  He would tease me, provoke me and say: “If you have such tremendous control, why don’t you keep company, have a couple of cigarettes a day and just give up when you get back to Dubai.” I think this sort of torment was going on for a few days, and, one day, just to accept his challenge; I smoked couple of them, coughed and threw them away.

We then moved on to Dammam. Dhahran International Airport was also very crowded and the traffic was very heavy. It was impossible to get seats to Bahrain, and a little less difficult to get to Dubai. We had skipped a visit to Jeddah and after meeting our clients, took the first available flight to return to Dubai, couple of days later.

Luckily, on the day we arrived we had further news of confirmed shipments which we gladly passed on to some the very clients we had met and assured, only a couple of days earlier, and they were overjoyed to hear the news, though, all of them said, that “ we have to really see the goods in the port”.

It was almost nine days on this trip; when we came to the office, it was all very quiet and we came to know that Ajay had gone hammer and tongs and got rid of a number of ‘temporary’ staff who had promised to deliver the moon, but in reality, could not even get off the ground. Many of these ‘buyers’ were actually meant for procuring supplies for our clients in Iraq and this time he had it made it clear that unless there was actual clear margin of profit, the buyers did not get a ‘percentage’ of the invoice value, but on the actual net profit made. Also, we could not give them any ‘retainers’ for their services.  Thus, a lot of dead wood simply floated away.

Krishnan travelled between Hong Kong and London, stopping over at Dubai, once in a while and took care of the expenses, at the same time building strong connections with various suppliers. Khoury was doing a fine job, and all looked quiet everywhere, and it looked so on the surface. 

But there were signs of discontent and lack of appreciation; I myself felt that, may be the time had come for me to move on, because for some unexplainable intuitive reasons, my sixth sense kept telling me to move out and look for a suitable opportunity. My body and mind were tired due to incessant travelling and the pressure of work all round.

I drove from the office directly to the Indian Sports Club, of which I was an active member, enjoyed a couple of drinks, and met my family before returning home. I began to seriously think on these issues.

(AK Ramdas has worked with the Engineering Export Promotion Council of the ministry of commerce and was associated with various committees of the Council. His international career took him to places like Beirut, Kuwait and Dubai at a time when these were small trading outposts. From being the advisor to exporters, he took over the mantle of a trader, travelled far and wide, and switched over to setting up garment factories and then worked in the US. He can be contacted at [email protected].)

You may want to read more:

•  Dubai Landing...
• Dubai Landing—teething troubles
• Job Change—competition from Chinese products
• Market conditions: Dealing with errant buyers and shortage of supplies
• Northward to Beijing: Our first encounter with Chinese bureaucrats
  

• Pig iron contract; signing of our first deal with the Chinese
  
• OGL cancellation and back up from other suppliers
• Sorting out supply delays with irate customers
• Iran-Iraq War: Seizing business opportunities in Kuwait
• In the midst of the Gulf War: Travelling from Safat to Basra
• Baghdad to Kirkuk: Resolving a client’s complaint in the oil city of Iraq
• Kirkuk to Baghdad: Mission accomplished!
  
• Changes at base: Trimming expenditure and staff