Chapter 47: <System behaviour>
Shin Semi asked Na Jaeman as soon as he entered the room.
“Is this Woosung’s project?”
Na Jaeman nodded.
“Do you know which algorithm is being used to make the predictions?”
“It analyzes the pattern of the winning stocks from last 5 years. It then recommends any current stocks that follow a similar pattern.”
“That explanation is an easy version. Do you know the details?”
He didn’t. He was the CEO, not a developer. “I don’t know the specifics. This is only a Beta version. When its trial ends next week, we are going to get rid of it.”
“You won’t keep it?”
“We have received a lot of complaints regarding this new function. I believe it is the reason why our performance went down this period. Of course, we should remove it.”
“Do you have any solid evidence this function is the reason for your performance decline?”
Na Jaeman hesitated. He didn’t have clear proof. It was just a guess. The only thing he had was the complaints.
“We have had an increase in negative VoC about this function.” Na Jaeman answered cautiously. Shin Semi looked at him for a further explanation. He continued quickly. “It was a controversial idea even before it was released. What if the recommendation caused users to lose money and they ask for compensation? In fact, this is exactly what’s happening now. We decided to give it a try because we trusted Woosung Kang, but it was a mistake. We can’t keep it.”
Shin Semi asked. “You’re assuming the increase in VoC equals an increase in the number of users leaving our website. Are you sure? Because recently I heard the number one reason for an increase in the number of new users is this new recommendation function.”
“Umm…”
Na Jaeman didn’t know what to say. Shin Semi considered probing further, but it was not wise to upset a CEO.
“Alright. By the way…”
Shin Semi bit her lip. She felt like this function needed to stay. She didn’t know why, but she knew this function was crucial.
“When does the trial end?”
“At the end of May. It coincides with when Woosung is planned to leave Daesan. There is a rumor this new function is his way of telling us off.”
Shin Semi answered emphatically. “There is no way Woosung would do something like that.”
Na Jaeman knew what Shin Semi wanted to hear. He offered. “I will do whatever you ask me to do.”
“Let’s just keep an eye on it till the end of May. There must be a reason why Woosung set its trial end date till that time.”
“Alright.”
Na Jaeman left and Shin Semi’s secretary walked in.
“Here is the information you asked for.” action
“Ok.”
Name: Woosung Kang
Age: 26
Address: xxx Huikyungdong, Dong Dae Gate, Seoul
GPA: 3.02
Friends
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Yoon Chanjong: Woosung's college friend. Helped Woosung academically.
Currently working at Daeyang System. Has a good reputation.
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Park Jonghyun: Woosung's college friend. Currently unemployed. Known to be annoying.
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Cha Yeoreum: Woosung's college girlfriend and first love. Currently working at Daeyang System.
Shin Semi stared at Cha Yeoreum’s name.
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Kwak Jungwook visited Woosung to discuss the recent increase in the customer complaints.
Woosung read the reviews himself. There were many, and all of them were about his recommendation function. Some even attacked Woosung directly.
Woosung smiled. Yoon Gihwan asked with a worried expression.
“Do you think this is okay? As Manager Kwak said, many users are unsubscribing. There are so many complaints about it.”
“Angry users are always louder than the happy ones. It’s their way of venting out.”
“But what about losing customers?”
“There is an obvious reason for it. There are many other companies copying our speed trading and HTS system. This means many customers will choose our competitions over us.”
Yoon Gihwan nodded.
“I guess. What about the rumor you created a bad program on purpose? Your reputation means everything in this field.”
Woosung wasn’t worried.
“You saw the data result. Our recommendation has a 55% success rate as we claimed. That means there are 55% of users who made money using our system. Good VoCs will start rolling in.”
“I know what the data says but the positive reviews need to start right away. If we don’t, then the headquarter will get rid of the program.”
“If you are that worried, I can do something about it.”
“Really? What?”
“Easy. I can change the parameters to decrease the number of recommendation items. This will increase the success rate, but only for a little while.”
“What kind of increase?”
“At least 5%. But like I said, it will go down back to normal in time. I guess it wouldn’t matter though. We’ll be long gone by then.”
Woosung murmured as he turned on the Visual Studio.
At the same time.
On the website Darth Insider, reviews on Nuri Finances started to appear.
“I made a lot of money by following its recommendation.”
“Nuri Finances HTS! It’s awesome. I did very well recently using its new recommendation function. Everyone needs to go try it out.”
“You can’t lose with this program.”
Some were still negative reviews, but it was enough to pique many people’s interest. Soon, Nuri Finances HTS became a popular search term online.
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Nuri Finances CEO room.
Woosung entered and saw both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Woosung greeted everyone and sat down. Na Jaeman explained.
“We asked you to come because we have a few questions about the newly added recommendation function.”
Then he introduced everyone to Woosung.
“Risk Management Team.”
“Product Development Team.”
“Smart Finances Team.”
“IT Support Team.”
These were the people running this company. Everyone looked at Woosung with their gazes piercing through him. The head of the Risk Management Team asked first.
“I am the chief of the Risk Management Team. The main reason why we called for this meeting is because of all the negative VoCs. I don’t know if you read them, but we received 121 yesterday.”
Woosung already heard this from Kwak Jungwook.
“I am aware of it.”
“And many customers are unsubscribing from our website.”
“I know that too.”
“Then I will be blunt. Can you give us a good reason why we should continue to keep this new function?”
Woosung didn’t falter. He answered confidently.
“Without new innovative functions like this, Nuri Finances will not be able to grow.”
The chiefs looked at each other.
“Won’t grow…Don’t you think you are being too dramatic?”
“Consider this a step back to achieve two steps forward.”
Na Jaeman looked at Woosung with interest.
‘Look at this guy.’
Others looked at Woosung similarly. Jo Youngsuk asked Woosung.
“Many of us disagree with you. You’ll have to explain better.”
Jo Youngsuk’s tone was kind. It was clear he believed in Woosung. Woosung hesitated for a few seconds before answering.
“I believe in the data. I don’t know what proof you have, but based on my analysis, this will work out soon.” Woosung drank a sip of water and continued. “Kwak Jungwook helped with the analysis. In fact, he knows more about it than I do. Would you prefer to call him up for a more detailed explanation?”
Woosung had already prepared Kwak Jungwook for this, so he felt confident. Na Jaeman nodded and called for Kwak Jungwook.