When her father’s factory director failed to finish an order that was to be delivered the next day, Gloria Liang finally lost her cool. After a heated argument, the director threatened to resign. This startled her semi-retired father, who then decided to fly in from another city to mediate.
“It was like throwing pebbles into a pool of stagnant water,” Liang, 27, told Beijing Review when describing her feelings about taking over her father’s metal processing business. In her first six months at the helm, whatever efforts she exerted to reform the production processes all proved to be in vain, she explained.
After a lot of back and forth, Liang finally decided to heed her father’s advice and reconcile with the director.
A golden decade
In Liang’s eyes, her father was always “clear-headed.” Thirty years ago,
