New Oriental: Language is power
December 15th, 2009, Posted in Uncategorized by huo xuwen
If you happen to meet a Chinese student on an American campus, ask whether he or she was ever a New Oriental student. 70% of the time, you will get a “yes”. In fact, it is very hard to find anyone who studied English in China that have not at one point benefited from New Oriental, either through training workshops, digital materials or books. That’s probably enough to illustrate the size and influence of our guest company, New Oriental School.
The school got its humble start 16 years ago from an inexpensive TOFEL test preparation workshop by Michael Yu Min Hong. Within a very short time, his name was spreading among graduating students in Beijing as a magical teacher whose courses were worth every penny. Sixteen years later, the school has become a gigantic education group that has expanded into multi-language education, school level tutoring and education media production. It has also become a philanthropic company in many aspects. So what are the interesting points about New Oriental?
“We started when the overseas education market was HUGE”
Well how much does a rising market contribute to a company’s success? In the case of New Oriental, it must have been the top one or two reasons. “We started just at the right time, the big time”, said our host, Dr. Zhou Chenggang, COO of New Oriental. Even today, short-term preparation training still remains as New Oriental’s most important revenue stream. And now, as the private education scene gets more and more competitive in China, New Oriental’s latest strategy was to actively merge and acquire businesses that will become its potential competitors.
“We are anti-traditional”
The company has its unique method of hiring teachers: they must possess full-rounded knowledge with special expertise in certain areas; they must also deliver their courses well and has some unconventional ways to arouse the learning interest of students. “In a way, we try to complement what the education system failed to achieve for Chinese youth”, said Dr. Zhou.
Besides, our host also told us that New Oriental actively listened to feedback about its courses and its means of delivering courses (books, CDs, or e-classes). It also has a dedicated team to conduct research on teaching methodologies and suggest platforms for its training programs.
However if we think about how New Oriental is able to do all these, I guess it all boils down to profitability. Michael Yu persuaded his former PKU classmates to join him in the endeavor and formed the powerful management team, because he showed them the money; New Oriental hires and keeps talented teachers, because the handsome paycheck is enough to decline a position in most universities; its active R&D is by all means backed by its profitability. And where does so much money come from? Right timing entering the market, I’ll say. =)
Social model
Four things: direct donations (with a focus on youth education in low income households), training teachers in Western China, setting up schools (in collaboration with Project Hope), and other non-monetary projects (such as interactions with juvenile prisoners). I once read online that one of Michael Yu’s ultimate visions was to inspire as many Chinese youths to seek a purposeful life. In that sense, I think they have done a great job. We can’t define New Oriental as a social enterprise, but its teaching philosophy and philanthropic activities have successfully made a positive social impact not less than most social enterprises.
Many take-aways, and much inspired. That’s what I felt with our visit to New Oriental. Is it possible to learn from New Oriental’s teaching model and enhance Chinese language teaching in Singapore? Will China see more and more private schools that not only complement its education system and make a positive impact on youths? What do you think? =)
